Who is DovBear? What does he stand for? The answer to those questions is: I don’t know. But I’m not sure anyone who does not know him personally knows exactly what he stands for. In fact, quite the opposite is probably the case. People will often make snap judgments about others based on a single misread or misunderstood comment.
It is the nature of blogging that commenters are often brought to inflammatory remarks. This is due in part to the anonymity feature. That enables anyone to post their thoughts without any concern about the repercussions. It used as a “release”… a way of saying what you really think and not worrying about what your family, friends, or neighbors will say or think about you.
But the knee jerk type comment that is often the result of not caring what others will say can result in snap judgments about people that are highly inaccurate. People will quickly jump to conclusions about others without bothering to analyze that individual’s words. I experience this all the time from the some of the anonymous commenters on this blog.
For the most part bloggers with controversial opinions have learned to shrug off the misperceptions and/or ad hominems. But every once in a while if you are a blogger it can “get to you”. Someone will make an assumption or accusation so outrageous or inaccurate that it will “press your hot buttons”. This has happened to me as well.
A few days ago I received a personal e-mail from the mega popular Dov Bear. He had mentioned to me that he often feels unjustly vilified by some of the people who comment on my blog. He asked me if I would agree to help clear up misconceptions about him and I agreed. The result is the following interview. I would just like to state that all answers given in this interview do not necessarily reflect my own view. They may or may not. But I do feel that any individual who feels unjustly characterized deserves to set the record straight about himself and provide a bit of a profile about exactly who he is and what he stands for. And this is certainly true for a prominent blogger who is all too often an easy target. With that in mind, here is the interview.
HM (Harry Maryles): Are you married?
DB (Dov Bear): Yes.
HM: Children?
DB: Yes.
HM: Are your parents religious?
DB: Yes. And so were my grandparents, who, not incidently, were American-born. They were here, living rich Jewish lives before the war.
HM: Where were you educated?
DB: I went to a right wing Jewish day school. We were co-ed in theearly grades, strictly separate after that and, from sixth grade andon, almost all of the limudei kodesh teachers were rabbis from name-brand yeshivot. I don't think I had a "YU Rabbi" until the very end of high school and, in general, we mocked them, I'm sorry to say.I grew up thinking I was pretty frum. Fast forward to my early twenties, though, and suddenly my Judaism isn't Jewish enough. It was very hard. (perhaps you've seen the blog?)
HM: Did you attend university and do you have any degrees?
DB: Yes.
HM: Did you attend any post high school Yeshivas?
DB: Yes.
HM: Where and what type?
DB: In the US and Israel. They were both "black-hat lite" places.You'll be surprised to hear this, but I fit in there, pretty well. It's also where I "discovered" Samson Rephael Hirsh, the Morah Nevuchim, the Igeret Harambam, and others.. Some of what these books said about hashkafa was radically different from what the Rabanim were saying. I was almost always able to point this out, however, and good conversations usually ensued.
HM: Has your Hashkafa changed at all since you finished your formal schooling?
DB: Of course. I can't imagine anyone could say otherwise.
HM: Why did you change?
DB: I read more, studied more, met more people, from different perspectives and different backgrounds. In other words, I grew up.
HM: Do you send your children to day schools?
DB: Yes, to yeshivot, and bes yaakovs in fact.
HM: Why?
DB: I ask myself that every day. No, kidding. The real answer is this:I want my kids to understand their community and their culture. Iwon't mind one bit if they start making the same discoveries I made (and I plan to help them, of course) but I want it to be rooted in the baseline knowledge you can only acquire from formal Jewish schooling.
HM: Do you consider yourself Orthodox?
DB: Yes. I keep Orthodox law.
HM: Are you Koveiah Itim?
DB: Yes. I keep three regular learning sessions: Tanach, and two different mesechtas.
HM: What is your Hashkafic perspective now?
DB: I don't fit neatly into boxes (again, perhaps you've seen theblog? :) ) I can try to tell you what I think about specific hashkafic issues, if you like.
HM: OK. How do you feel for example about Chasidim or Lubavitch?
DB: I don't think Hasidut will withstand the test of time. From the time of the Alter Rebbe, Hasidut has been trying to integrate itself into the Torah world, and they've had very good success, of course.They'll either complete this intergaration or go the route of the Karriaites. We'll know in 200 years or so. I think messianicLubavitch, unfortunately, is exactly where the Church was at the timeof the kerygma (ie in the 40-80 years between the death of Jesus and the publication of the gospels) . The similarities are numerous.
HM: Charedim?
DB: I have no problem at all with the non-Hasidic community called "Haredi" though I'm fond of pointing out that SOME of them can be narrow-minded, ignorant of history and science, unfair to women and fraudulently pious. This is one of my many deficiencies. (again,perhaps you've seen the blog.) I hasten to add though that none of this is unique to Haredi Judaism. Its an unfortunate symptom of fundementalism.
HM: Modern Orthodox? Religious Zionists?
DB: Zionists and MO Jews can be fundementalists, too, and where they are the same kind of bad behavior is often exhibited.
HM: What is your view about the State of Israel?
DB: It's the fulfillment of ancient prophesy, and the world's teshuva for 2000 years of crimes against us.
HM: Do you say Hallel on Yom Hatazmaut?
DB: No [see this post]
HM: Tachanun?
DB: No, I don't say tachanun. When the Jewish world is celebrating tachnun is inappropriate. As I have said before: Hasidim, typically,take every possible excuse to avoid saying tachnun. They don't say it at mincha. Many won't say it on Friday or Sunday. They skip it on important yartzheits. Lubovs, in fact, skip it on the day their Rebbe was released from jail. So why not skip it on the day that every Jew in the world was released from jail?
HM: Those are my practices as well. Are you happy with the way Charedim in Israel treat their governmentt?
DB: No. Israel is the world's best father-in-law, and it should be appreciated.
HM: Do you support universal army service for all able bodied residents?
DB: No, but more haredim should serve. There's no reason for the ordinary guy to have a free pass. The best and the brightest should stay in the Beis Hamedrash, even on the public's dime. The hamon am should not.
HM: What is your view about Gedloim andDaas Torah? How far does yourrespect for the current Gedolim go, if at all?
DB: Depends. Some of them are more deserving of respect than others,but I know little about them in particular.
HM: Who would you include or not include as a Gadol?
DB: I don't even accept the idea of a category called "Gedolim." Someof the people called Gedolim are great, transcendently great; others are out of their depth. And there are great people who no one calls "Godol" , though by every objective standard they are.
HM: Do you accept that they are Daas Torah? Do you even believe in theconcept of Daas Torah?
DB: No. Of course not. They have wisdom, experience, and other resources. They often give sage advise and expert counsel. But theycan't speak ex cathedra.
HM: Of the following rabbinic leaders, who do you most identify, Rabbi Avi Weiss? Rabbi Hershel Shacter? Or RavMatisyahu Salomon?
DB: Defacto, I identify more completely with Rav Hershel Shachter.
HM: Have you ever publicly denigrated a Torah personality?
DB: No. I'm a mild mannered guy who enjoys good realtions with the local clergy.
HM: What is your view of organizations like Agudah, MIzrachi, NCSY,Bnei Akiva?
DB: I think they should merge. Too much duplication of services, and they create unecessary divisions between Jews.
HM: How do you feel about the singles situation? Do you have an opinion on the problems facing singles today?
DB: Not really, no.
HM: Why do you choose to remain anonymous?
DB: I don't trust people. yetzer machshevot libo rak rah kol hayom
HM: Are your views not known by your community?
DB: My friends know where I stand on most things.
This ends the interview. I hope this dispells any misconceptions about DovBear. And by the same token I hope this interview makes clear that one should never make snap judgements about anyone based on an isolated random comment "here or there". It is almost always inaccurate and a completely unfair apparisal of an individual's character and beliefs.
