Last night (Wednesday), a ceremony was held at Rabbi Kook's house in Jerusalem to conclude Tractate Yevamot by the Institute for Halacha Berura and the commentary on Halacha by the Graeme Kook zt"l. The institute explains the halacha from the aspects of the Gemara through the controversies of the Rishonim and the Nefka Mina among the Acharonim. The head of the institute is the rabbi Aryeh Stern, the candidate of religious Zionism for the position of Ashkenazi rabbi of Jerusalem. The event was honored by the rabbis Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg (the rabbi), Nachum Eisenstein, head of the World Conversion Administration, Chaim Druckman, and Menachem Eliezer Rabinowitz. Also present were Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, Rabbi Eliezer Ben Dahan, and Finance Committee Chairman MK Nissan Slomaniansky. During the closing ceremony, which was held by the Graeme Stern, he dedicated the study to the salvation of the kidnapped, who will soon return to their homes safe and sound. The evening was primarily educational and dealt with issues in Tractate Yevamot, but those present did not ignore current issues such as the ruling of the Safed Court and the issues of conversion in practice, when the Grand Rabbi Eisenstein spoke about disagreement in Halacha, but also about peace between scholars of Torah, and especially about avoiding the disagreement caused by the activists. He added and strengthened the hand of the Gra Stern and said: "The rabbi is young and has long years ahead of him in the rabbinate" - alluding to the Jerusalem rabbinate. Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan spoke in praise of Rabbi Uriel Lavi of Safed, saying that he is the most prolific dayan in the rabbinate today. He went on to say: "Very soon the Gra Stern will be in his rightful place," also alluding to the Jerusalem rabbinate.























