Ketuvot 8b ~ When Some Plagues End, and Others Begin — Talmudology
March 18, 2020Recording: Public Health Webinar for Rabbis on COVID-19
March 18, 2020Coronavirus: Kelim Mikvah / Birkat Hachodesh
March 18, 2020
I spoke with Rav Mordecai Willig this morning about concerns raised regarding the safe use of a kelim mikvah. He suggested:
- People should wear latex gloves when immersing vessels. (If available, it is a good idea for the mikva’ot to provide them.)
- People should wash their hands both before and after using the mikvah.
- The surfaces should be wiped down appropriately as often as possible.
He also said that there is no problem in reciting Birkat ha-Chodesh without a minyan.
Mark Dratch
Rabbi Mark Dratch was appointed Executive Vice President of the RCA in September, 2012.
In 2005, Rabbi Dratch founded JSafe: The Jewish Institute Supporting an Abuse Free Environment, an organization addressing issues of domestic violence, child abuse and institutional and professional improprieties in the Jewish community. He served as Instructor of Jewish Studies and Philosophy at the Isaac Breuer College of Yeshiva University from 2002-2012.
Rabbi Dratch served as a pulpit rabbi for 22 years at Congregation Agudath Sholom, Stamford, CT; Shaarei Shomayim, Toronto; Kehillath Jesurun, New York, NY, and other pulpits. He served as both a Vice President and Treasurer of the RCA and a member of the Executive Board. He served as chair of Task Force on Rabbinic Improprieties, which worked to establish policies and guidelines for the RCA in dealing with allegations against one of its members, and was author of the Resolution on Rabbinic Improprieties.
In addition to JSafe, Rabbi Dratch was involved in combatting abuse a member of the Leadership Council of the FaithTrust Institute, Seattle, WA, and is featured on a number of its training videos on issues of abuse in religious communities. He was a member of the Clergy Task Force of Jewish Women International and a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Abuse and Religion.
He served as Camp Rabbi at Camp Morasha and was a member of the Board of the American Friends of Nishmat. Rabbi Dratch served as the Orthodox Union's "Webbe Rebbe," answering “Ask the Rabbi” questions posed through their website. He has published many articles in scholarly, rabbinic and popular journals in English and Hebrew.
Rabbi Dratch is a graduate of Yeshiva University (1979), its Ferkauf Graduate School (Jewish Education), Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (semicha) (1982), and Wurzweiler School of Social Work (MSW). He is married to Rachel Levitt Klein and is the proud father of four children, four stepchildren, and a grandfather of one.