This Is My Covenant

The question of Jewish identity in the modern era, in light of the enormous changes the Jewish people has undergone in recent generations, troubles religious and non-religious people alike, in Israel and throughout the world. This book brings together three halakhic essays by Rabbi Shagar dealing with issues closely tied to this question: conversion in the Israeli reality, the attitude towards secular Jews, and civil marriage – issues that continue to occupy the Israeli public to this day.

Rabbi Shagar argues that in light of the tremendous changes that have taken place in the Jewish people and in the world at large, the halakhic tools and concepts that decisors have used in their discussions of these fundamental issues must be replaced with other tools and concepts, which he draws mainly from the rulings of Maimonides.

In each of these essays Rabbi Shagar examines the prevailing halakhic positions on the subject in light of the sources, and outlines a new and original halakhic and public position, built on an in-depth analysis of the social and ethical questions the subject raises.

This book offers a window into Rabbi Shagar’s halakhic world, which until now had not been revealed to the wider public. The essays it contains present an innovative and unique perspective on Israeli society and on the place of halakha within it.