The Integral Halachah Institute
To honour the memory of our beloved Reb Zalman and to further his living legacy ALEPH Canada has become the home of the Integral Halachah Institute with Rabbi Daniel Siegel as its Founding Director.
Integral Halachah is Reb Zalman’s way of anchoring innovation in the traditional halachic process by adding this new category which goes beyond the classical system while simultaneously including it. It is, in Reb Zalman’s words, both renewing and “backwards compatible.”
In the words of Rabbi Sherril Gilbert of Montreal, we envision Integral Halachah “as a remedy for engaging with our communities in the sacred work of seriously wrestling with the questions that arise for us about our spiritual practices, ethical standards, and the routine challenges of trying to live our faith. Indeed, I believe that this work can only be done communally.… Indeed, we are the ones being called to create an integral halachah at the growing edge of our spiritual foresight.
Our hope is that the IHI will serve to bridge gaps between generations, between denominations, between communities, and between the affiliated and unaffiliated as we ask and explore the meaningful questions of our time.” Memorial contributions and tzedakah to the Integral Halachah Institute for the Continuation of Reb Zalman’s work may be made by clicking on CanadaHelps and choosing the IHI as your designated fund.
Rabbi Daniel Siegel's Introduction to the Inaugural Ordination of Dayanim in the Integral Halachah Institute (January 2017, Boulder, CO).
...So today I fulfill the promise I made to myself and to Reb Zalman. I bring these individuals forward because they have all been my students, because each has a unique perspective on the halachic process which does not duplicate my own but complements it. I bring them forward not to establish a beit din, an arbitration panel (though that could happen in a particular instance if the parties request it), but rather as a group of in-house consultants on matters where backwards compatibility and seven generations forward are central to the resolution of the question at hand. ...To continue to read, download the pdf.
Rabbi Daniel Siegel ordains three new dayanim at the OHALAH 2017 conference. Left to right: Rabbi Daniel Siegel, Rabbi Sara Leya Schley (California, USA), Rabbi Simcha Daniel Burstyn (Kibbutz Lotan, Israel), and Rabbi Hannah Dresner (British Columbia, Canada).
Ensouling the World – Spiritual Teachings about Shabbat and Shmita
ALEPH Canada is incredibly proud to bring you the first offering of the Integral Halachah Institute. Rabbi Daniel Siegel has just completed the first text of the IHI, called “Ensouling the World – Spiritual Teachings about Shabbat and Shmita." In this deep and timely offering, Reb Daniel and rabbinic student, now Rabbi Esther Azar, with support from Rabbis David Seidenberg and Elliot Ginsburg, explore the teachings of the Netivot Shalom and the Ohr HaChayim which “recognize that the cycles of seven are a healing for the soul and a renewal for the next cycle. This message … contains the secret to our ultimate healing as individuals and as a planet.”