Simchah Roth (; died 2012) was an Israeli

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and a scholar who edited the first

prayer book A prayer book is a book containing prayers and perhaps devotional readings, for private or communal use, or in some cases, outlining the liturgy of religious services. Books containing mainly orders of religious services, or readings for them are ...

of the Masorti movement. He advocated

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

Career

Roth moved to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1969, serving as the rabbi and resident lecturer of the WUJS Institute in Arad and later taught in the town of Yeroham. In 1989, Roth moved to Herzliyya, where he served as the rabbi of Torat Hayyim Masorti Congregation from 1989 until his retirement from that position in July 2007. Roth served as a member of the Herzliyya Mo'etzah Datit, the Municipal Religious Council. He also held several posts in the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel such as the Va'ad Halakhah (Law Committee), the vice-president and a past member of the Executive Committee. He has been the chairperson of the Religious Services Bureau of the Masorti Movement. Roth was the editor of the first Masorti prayer book, ''Siddur Va'ani Tefillati''. He is known for his attempts to reconcile four characteristics in this prayer book namely - Masorti (Conservative), Israeli-Zionist, pluralistic, and innovative. According to the analysis of David Ellenson, Roth's prayer book claims that "the demands of the past are not absolute, nor is Jewish liturgical tradition frozen. The claims and sensibilities of the present are vital as well."

Notable Rulings

Over the course of his career, Roth issued a number of notable rabbinic rulings. * 2003 - He ruled that

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

was not forbidden by biblical law and that rabbinical schools should be open to gay and lesbian Jews. * 2005 - He ruled that, at Passover time,

chametz ''Chametz'' (also ''chometz'', ', ''ḥameṣ'', ''ḥameç'' and other spellings Transliteration, transliterated from ; ) are foods with leavening agents that are forbidden to Jews on the holiday of Passover. ''Chametz'' is a product that is b ...

should be donated to needy non-Jews. * 2007 - He ruled that kissing

mezuzah A ''mezuzah'' ( "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew language, Hebrew verses from the Torah, which Jews affix in a small case to the doorposts of their homes. These verses are the Biblical pa ...

s should be avoided, in order to avoid the risk of contracting an infectious disease. * 2009 - Roth ruled that a

Torah scroll A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Interior, Tora Cases.jpg">Torah cases at Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India ...

written by a woman is permissible for use in a communal

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. He argued that since contemporary rabbis today obligate women in the learning of Torah, they should certainly be eligible to write a scroll.

Veganism

In 2010, Roth argued that Jews should adopt a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

diet, based on four arguments: * Modern mass-slaughter of animals constitutes cruelty to animals (

tza'ar ba'alei hayyim ''Tza'ar ba'alei chayim'' (), literally "suffering of living creatures", is a Jewish commandment that bans causing animals unnecessary suffering. This concept is not clearly enunciated in the written Torah, but was accepted by Talmudic scholars a ...

) which is forbidden by the Torah * Consumption of animal products as we moderns do contravenes the command of the Torah to maintain ourselves in good health * Religious Jews should stop eating animal products (meat, eggs, milk etc.) in order to lessen greatly the damage we are doing to the planet * If religious Jews adopt a vegan diet, they will be greatly contributing to promoting righteousness and justice in the world and to a hastening of the

messianic age In Abrahamic religions, the Messianic Age () is the future eternal period of time on Earth in which the messiah will reign and bring universal peace and brotherhood, without any evil (through mankind's own terms). Many believe that there will be s ...

References

2012 deaths 20th-century Israeli rabbis 21st-century Israeli rabbis Israeli Conservative rabbis Israeli veganism activists Jewish vegetarianism {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Simchah