The following was written in collaboration with my daughter. She had participated in an event last Sunday that has become part of the staple of community involvement that is so typical in Chicago. I wanted to tell the story of this little piece of ‘Jewish Chicago’. It is a tribute to the spirit of Achdus, caring, and commitment that is I so often write about. What follows is a valuable lesson in microcosm about how things can be if only there is the will to do it.
"We're making a wedding next week...can you come?" This was the question asked of my daughter by her neighbor last Shabbos, not referring to her own simcha, or that of any of her relatives. In fact, she did not even know the couple getting married.
So began yet another ‘Simcha Wedding’. That’s what it’s called. The name is a bit misleading. Although these weddings are definitely Simchos, they are not intended for the general public. They are only available to those who simply do not have the financial means to make weddings for their children. It is not limited to the poverty stricken, although of course they are certainly included. It is designed for those people who are able to live very modestly on a very limited income, often living paycheck to paycheck, and just cannot afford to pay for a wedding. Many of those for whom these ‘Simcha weddings’ are made are fine upstanding and respected members of the community. They just do not have the means to pay the tens of thousands of dollars that are the minimal costs these days for a nice wedding for their children.
The project was conceived by two very dynamic young women. One of the women in charge runs a very successful business and the other is a well respected teacher and mentor at Ida Crown Jewish Academy.
They saw a need. They felt that every person in our community should be able to feel that they can have a beautiful wedding ... even when they can’t afford it. The weddings are not free. The costs are on a sliding scale, according to what the Baal Simcha can afford. Once that price is decided, the details are taken care of by "Simcha Weddings."
Last Sunday morning there was another Simcha wedding in town. These two young Chesed entrepreneurs and a voluntary staff of over 50 people cooked all the food, set all the tables, prepared the desserts, and set up the room. They also, plated and served the meal to every guest, and cleared and washed every dish. All came to the large modern Orthodox Shul, K.I.N.S. where these wedding always take place.
Volunteers included men and women, younger and older, married and single, Charedi and modern Orthodox, business men, Avreichim from Kollelim, high school students, yeshiva students, college kids, and married couples...basically everybody, from every facet of everything. At last Sunday’s event, there were 3 former ’Simcha wedding’ Chasanim and one former ‘mother of the bride’ who came to help.
Every "simcha wedding" provides an appetizer, meal, drinks, desert, wine for the Kabbalas Panim, wine for the tables, the chupah, the centerpieces, and the linens.
The raw materials of food are purchased at cost and prepared by the voluntary staff. The exuberant volunteers come either as a result of an e-mail about an upcoming wedding or by word of mouth.
Once, a young nursing home owner who volunteered noticed that every dish was being washed by hand. The very next day he had ordered and had delivered an industrial strength dishwasher to the shul for these weddings.
The entire concept was the idea of the Ida Crown teacher. She approached her business woman friend and they created the ‘Simcha Wedding’.
What about Hashgacha fees? Well there aren’t any. The Hashgacha and all matters of Halacha is decided by Rabbi Shmuel Feurst, Dayan of Agudas Yisroel and Rabbi Leonard Matanky, the Rav of the Shul and the Menahel of Ida Crown Jewish Academy
The shul can hold about 250 people. A fully edited video is often done free of charge by two former students of Ida Crown.
These two heroines of the Chicago Jewish community have been making weddings like this for 7 years. This last one was the 47th. These two women would not want any credit for what they do and would not want me to identify them by name. And that is so typical of their Anivus, both coming from families renowned for their Chesed.
Mi K’Amcha Yisroel
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Kosher Sex
Kosher Sex. That is the name of a book written by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. I haven’t read it so I have no opinion one way or the other. But I’m told that Chabad basically cut him off after it’s publication.
For the record, I have no problem with writing a book about sexual matters and Halacha. If that is what he did, then I am curious as to why he was ostracized by them. But that aside, the fact is he was. He has not, however, repudiated them. And he still venerates the late Lubavitcher Rebbe as he writes in this... yet another in the seemingly never ending topic on Dr. Noah Feldman. It makes me kind of wonder how Dr. Fledman feels about all the attention he’s getting in the media from Orthodox Jews. If he thought he was ignored by his alma mater by their airbrushing him and his wife out of a class reunion picture before, that has certainly been made up for now. He has been anything but ignored. Although much of the press has been negative.
That is not the case with Rabbi Boteach. I highly doubt that the kosher sex Rabbi Boteach writes about includes intermarriage. Yet he may be the only Orthodox rabbi who stands staunchly by his friend.
The argument he makes isn’t really that off base. As I originally wrote, I sympathize with his views. One might ask how that’s possible? After all, the criticism Dr. Feldman has received is well deserved. He is a public figure well respected by his peers and by the culture. And he was a pretty knowledgeable Jew, having been raised in a religious home and having attended an Orthodox school through high school. Does not one who intermarried under these circumstances deserve to be publicly condemned? I think so. How can I then sympathize with Rabbi Boteach’s approach? Let me see if I can better explain the conflict I feel on this issue.
It is one thing to understand some one who has little of no Jewish education. A man falls in love and follows his heart. As another Jew, Woody Allen once said about it when he divorced his wife to marry their adopted daughter, “The heart wants what it wants”. It is wrong and they may know it but they do not feel it or understand it.
When a knowledgeable Jew like Dr. Feldman does it, there is no real excuse. He knows better. Falling in love with a non Jew is a non starter for someone like this. It is a highly unlikely scenario. That Dr. Feldman let it happen is indicative at least to me, that he had already left observance. When a religious Jew does this, he deserves nothing but condemnation in the public arena.
Rabbi Boteach claims, however, that his approach to Dr. Feldman is that of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. That no matter what Averia a man does because of Taavah… desire. He is not to be ostracized.
I kind of share that view too... right along with the view that he deserves public condemnation. I do not think he ought to be completely ostracized. On a personal level one should take him at face value in the same way Rabbi Boteach says. If he is still inclined to some observance, then on a one to one basis, one ought to act in ways that encourage it while at the same time letting him know of our disapproval for what he did. And to make him aware why he is criticized publicly.
As Rabbi Boteach puts it, there are 613 Mitzvos. If one violates one of them, that does not mean we just throw him to the wolves. There is always a possibility and hope that his wife will convert at some point in the future
But I would disagree with the example that Rabbi Boteach uses to show how we accept people all the time who are not fully observant. He says that there are many people who need to remove their Yarmulkees at work and yet we acccept them without hesitation. Is he kidding?
Rav Moshe Feinstein was very clear about this. It is permitted. And in fact he Paskins that covering one's head is not really a Halacha at all but a Midas Chasidus, a sign of piety as I wrote not long ago. (It is a very strong Minhag today and has risen to great significance to Orthodox Jews so I am not advocating taking off one’s Yarmulkee in public, But it is not a Halacha.)
But even if it were a Halacha, it is certainly not to be treated in the same way intermarriage is. Rabbi Boteach’s comparison is silly. Can one compare eating chicken together with milk to murder? Both are Halacha. Comparing intermarriage to wearing a Yarmulkee is just as silly. But that should not make one lose sight of the point he made which I think is a reasonable one.
There is one thing that bothers me greatly about Dr. Feldman that was not addressed by Rabbi Boteach.. Dr. Feldman slipped in some misleading and embarrassing facts about Judaism. It was presented is an unforgivable way, in my view. The subject is the comparative way in which Jews and non Jews are viewed in Halacha with respect to matters of life and death on Shabbos. His presentation was very misleading and irrelevant. Halacha, Jewish law is very clear. Both Jews and non Jews are treated alike. Does it really matter how our sages arrived at this Halacha? It is practice we should be concerned with, not how a Halacha was developed. Yet Dr. Feldman chose to focus on a disparity without even attempting to explain it. That is unforgivable.
When Dr. Feldman was asked about it, he responded by saying that in this age of instant information we couldn’t keep the theology out of the discussion. Better to bring it out in the open and deal with it. He’s right about that. The only problem is that he just brought it out into the open. He did not deal with it in any way except to embarrass us. But Rabbi Yitzchak Addlerstein did so brilliantly and I highly recommend reading his article at cross-currents.
For the record, I have no problem with writing a book about sexual matters and Halacha. If that is what he did, then I am curious as to why he was ostracized by them. But that aside, the fact is he was. He has not, however, repudiated them. And he still venerates the late Lubavitcher Rebbe as he writes in this... yet another in the seemingly never ending topic on Dr. Noah Feldman. It makes me kind of wonder how Dr. Fledman feels about all the attention he’s getting in the media from Orthodox Jews. If he thought he was ignored by his alma mater by their airbrushing him and his wife out of a class reunion picture before, that has certainly been made up for now. He has been anything but ignored. Although much of the press has been negative.
That is not the case with Rabbi Boteach. I highly doubt that the kosher sex Rabbi Boteach writes about includes intermarriage. Yet he may be the only Orthodox rabbi who stands staunchly by his friend.
The argument he makes isn’t really that off base. As I originally wrote, I sympathize with his views. One might ask how that’s possible? After all, the criticism Dr. Feldman has received is well deserved. He is a public figure well respected by his peers and by the culture. And he was a pretty knowledgeable Jew, having been raised in a religious home and having attended an Orthodox school through high school. Does not one who intermarried under these circumstances deserve to be publicly condemned? I think so. How can I then sympathize with Rabbi Boteach’s approach? Let me see if I can better explain the conflict I feel on this issue.
It is one thing to understand some one who has little of no Jewish education. A man falls in love and follows his heart. As another Jew, Woody Allen once said about it when he divorced his wife to marry their adopted daughter, “The heart wants what it wants”. It is wrong and they may know it but they do not feel it or understand it.
When a knowledgeable Jew like Dr. Feldman does it, there is no real excuse. He knows better. Falling in love with a non Jew is a non starter for someone like this. It is a highly unlikely scenario. That Dr. Feldman let it happen is indicative at least to me, that he had already left observance. When a religious Jew does this, he deserves nothing but condemnation in the public arena.
Rabbi Boteach claims, however, that his approach to Dr. Feldman is that of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. That no matter what Averia a man does because of Taavah… desire. He is not to be ostracized.
I kind of share that view too... right along with the view that he deserves public condemnation. I do not think he ought to be completely ostracized. On a personal level one should take him at face value in the same way Rabbi Boteach says. If he is still inclined to some observance, then on a one to one basis, one ought to act in ways that encourage it while at the same time letting him know of our disapproval for what he did. And to make him aware why he is criticized publicly.
As Rabbi Boteach puts it, there are 613 Mitzvos. If one violates one of them, that does not mean we just throw him to the wolves. There is always a possibility and hope that his wife will convert at some point in the future
But I would disagree with the example that Rabbi Boteach uses to show how we accept people all the time who are not fully observant. He says that there are many people who need to remove their Yarmulkees at work and yet we acccept them without hesitation. Is he kidding?
Rav Moshe Feinstein was very clear about this. It is permitted. And in fact he Paskins that covering one's head is not really a Halacha at all but a Midas Chasidus, a sign of piety as I wrote not long ago. (It is a very strong Minhag today and has risen to great significance to Orthodox Jews so I am not advocating taking off one’s Yarmulkee in public, But it is not a Halacha.)
But even if it were a Halacha, it is certainly not to be treated in the same way intermarriage is. Rabbi Boteach’s comparison is silly. Can one compare eating chicken together with milk to murder? Both are Halacha. Comparing intermarriage to wearing a Yarmulkee is just as silly. But that should not make one lose sight of the point he made which I think is a reasonable one.
There is one thing that bothers me greatly about Dr. Feldman that was not addressed by Rabbi Boteach.. Dr. Feldman slipped in some misleading and embarrassing facts about Judaism. It was presented is an unforgivable way, in my view. The subject is the comparative way in which Jews and non Jews are viewed in Halacha with respect to matters of life and death on Shabbos. His presentation was very misleading and irrelevant. Halacha, Jewish law is very clear. Both Jews and non Jews are treated alike. Does it really matter how our sages arrived at this Halacha? It is practice we should be concerned with, not how a Halacha was developed. Yet Dr. Feldman chose to focus on a disparity without even attempting to explain it. That is unforgivable.
When Dr. Feldman was asked about it, he responded by saying that in this age of instant information we couldn’t keep the theology out of the discussion. Better to bring it out in the open and deal with it. He’s right about that. The only problem is that he just brought it out into the open. He did not deal with it in any way except to embarrass us. But Rabbi Yitzchak Addlerstein did so brilliantly and I highly recommend reading his article at cross-currents.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Of Nazis and Hot Dogs
A few months ago I saw a U-tube video by an anti Semite who spoke of a Kosher tax. It was from one of these extremist neo-Nazi types. The speaker in this video goes about ‘explaining’ the meaning of all those kosher symbols seen on various products and that these symbols are paid for by the food manufacturers and then passed off to the consumer in the form of an increase in the price of the product. And what did the consumer get for that extra fee? A blessing over the food from a rabbi!
I remember being rather amused by this stupid video, firstly because of its inaccuracies and distortions. But also because of his presentation. It was so buffoonish it reminded me of the Mel Brooks comedy, ‘The Producers’. He was a virtual parody of himself. But it wasn't intentional. That neo-Nazi with a swastika in the background was so smug and sure of himself.
There was a time where such videos were a source of worry to me. You never know who is watching or how they will be influenced. And on the surface what he said kind of made sense despite the fact that it wasn’t true. Hechsher organizations like the OU are multi million dollar corporations. That money comes from the fees paid for their supervisions. It makes sense to say that increased cost to these major food corporations are passed off to the consumer.
And what were they buying? A blessing from a rabbi?! To people who have little or no contact with Jews or understanding about what kosher means, it isn’t all that difficult to sell them this 'bill of goods'. But I still wasn’t worried in the slightest and basically just laughed the whole thing off although it did make me a little angry that it exists even at the fringe level.
How could I do that… you ask? Isn’t there a thousand year history of anti-Semitism that has resulted in many massacres, forced conversions and ultimately the holocaust?! Shouldn’t I be concerned about even a fringe Neo-Nazi like this? Isn’t possible that he can convince a few people… who will then convince a few more and before you know it we will be well on our way down a slippery slope to another holocaust? I don’t think so. Not by a long shot.
First because of the reasons I have written about recently. Christianity has done a 180 with respect to the Judaism. But also because of things like the popularity of kosher food as described in a Y-Net article.
There is of course no kosher tax. The cost of a Hashgacha is so miniscule that it would be almost impossible to express it in terms of additional cost per item. That cost is far less that a penny. But even if there were an additional cost most people would gladly pay it!
What’s more important is that if there is a misunderstanding about kosher supervision, it is in the direction of giving it too much credence. Many people who look for a kosher symbol think it is an extra layer of protection beyond that of the FDA. With mad cow disease and ecoli bacteria food contamination that one hears about in the media of late, people are looking for better food supervision. They do not understand that kosher supervision is not necessarily about protecting the food supply against contamination from ecoli bacteria. As the article points out the supervision can entail something as simple as not mixing the meat utensils with milk utensils
The point is that a great number of people value Kosher food. And if one reads the article it seems to be mostly the politically liberal who seek it out more than the religious conservatives. Unless vegetarians and vegans are political conservatives... or Maddona …or Paris Hilton… or Bono. Kosher food is mostly purchased by non Jews. That is the majority of its market. The number one hot dog in America is Hebrew National. Not Oscar Mayer.
This phenomenon adds to my belief that the citizens of the United States do not have a anti-Semitic bone in their body (Yes there are exceptions, of course.) To support this contention, I often point to Vatican Two or the religious right. Or people like Pastor John Hagee. But choosing kosher food is a-political at best and if judged by the examples in this article it is the liberal elite who choose it the most.
Is there still anyone left in this country who thinks there is any significant even latent anti-Semitism in this country? Well if there is, I've got a news-flash for them: There isn’t. Yes… there are people out there trying to foment anti-Semitic feelings. But that just isn’t working.
I remember being rather amused by this stupid video, firstly because of its inaccuracies and distortions. But also because of his presentation. It was so buffoonish it reminded me of the Mel Brooks comedy, ‘The Producers’. He was a virtual parody of himself. But it wasn't intentional. That neo-Nazi with a swastika in the background was so smug and sure of himself.
There was a time where such videos were a source of worry to me. You never know who is watching or how they will be influenced. And on the surface what he said kind of made sense despite the fact that it wasn’t true. Hechsher organizations like the OU are multi million dollar corporations. That money comes from the fees paid for their supervisions. It makes sense to say that increased cost to these major food corporations are passed off to the consumer.
And what were they buying? A blessing from a rabbi?! To people who have little or no contact with Jews or understanding about what kosher means, it isn’t all that difficult to sell them this 'bill of goods'. But I still wasn’t worried in the slightest and basically just laughed the whole thing off although it did make me a little angry that it exists even at the fringe level.
How could I do that… you ask? Isn’t there a thousand year history of anti-Semitism that has resulted in many massacres, forced conversions and ultimately the holocaust?! Shouldn’t I be concerned about even a fringe Neo-Nazi like this? Isn’t possible that he can convince a few people… who will then convince a few more and before you know it we will be well on our way down a slippery slope to another holocaust? I don’t think so. Not by a long shot.
First because of the reasons I have written about recently. Christianity has done a 180 with respect to the Judaism. But also because of things like the popularity of kosher food as described in a Y-Net article.
There is of course no kosher tax. The cost of a Hashgacha is so miniscule that it would be almost impossible to express it in terms of additional cost per item. That cost is far less that a penny. But even if there were an additional cost most people would gladly pay it!
What’s more important is that if there is a misunderstanding about kosher supervision, it is in the direction of giving it too much credence. Many people who look for a kosher symbol think it is an extra layer of protection beyond that of the FDA. With mad cow disease and ecoli bacteria food contamination that one hears about in the media of late, people are looking for better food supervision. They do not understand that kosher supervision is not necessarily about protecting the food supply against contamination from ecoli bacteria. As the article points out the supervision can entail something as simple as not mixing the meat utensils with milk utensils
The point is that a great number of people value Kosher food. And if one reads the article it seems to be mostly the politically liberal who seek it out more than the religious conservatives. Unless vegetarians and vegans are political conservatives... or Maddona …or Paris Hilton… or Bono. Kosher food is mostly purchased by non Jews. That is the majority of its market. The number one hot dog in America is Hebrew National. Not Oscar Mayer.
This phenomenon adds to my belief that the citizens of the United States do not have a anti-Semitic bone in their body (Yes there are exceptions, of course.) To support this contention, I often point to Vatican Two or the religious right. Or people like Pastor John Hagee. But choosing kosher food is a-political at best and if judged by the examples in this article it is the liberal elite who choose it the most.
Is there still anyone left in this country who thinks there is any significant even latent anti-Semitism in this country? Well if there is, I've got a news-flash for them: There isn’t. Yes… there are people out there trying to foment anti-Semitic feelings. But that just isn’t working.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Beating Up a 70 Year Old Woman L’Shma
This is from an Areivim list member and it so important that it needs to get wider exposure. It happened yesterday.
Sorry to bring up an old topic; but it hit close to home this time. This is addressed at all those readers who don't believe that this happens without provocation:An hour ago my brother left my parents in Ramat Bet Shemesh and got on a Mehadrin bus with 2 of his kids - and my Mother came on behind him with the baby, intending to put the baby down and get off before the bus leaves.
A Kanoi jumped up and pushed my 70 year old mother (holding a baby) backward and pinned her to the front of the bus, yelling at her to get off, ignoring her explanation of why she was on the men's side. Of course she couldn't get off because she was being pinned against the front of the bus.
Her arms are aching so badly so can hardly function; and the only person who intervened on a full bus of Frum Yidden was the Arab bus driver!!!!
What's the heter to touch women? - What's the heter to attack anybody? - Whatever has happened to simple common decency?And you still wonder why Moshiach hasn't come...
I echo this writer’s sentiments.
What this demonstrates is that the large community of wild animals that inhabit Ramat Bet Shemesh B are still acting like… well, wild animals. They are the absolute worst among those of us who claim the Torah as our guide. Here is what is important about this.
When a similar story happened to Mrs. Miriam Shear, she was trashed by some defenders of that community as having a feminist agenda. Those same defenders said not to judge an entire community by a few of its hooligans.
I said then that this was a complete misreading of what happened and a total fabrication of Mrs. Shear's motives. But since she had a religious Zionist background, the defenders of that community just chose to believe what they wanted. They judged her unfavorably, L’Kav Chova and the criminals who beat her up favorably, L’Kav Zechus! Why? Because they looked like Charedim.
But there can be no such claim made here. This was a 70 year old woman holding a baby! And the good people on the bus just stood by and did nothing! Who was the hero here? A righteous gentile!
Who can look at this event and honestly say that these incidents are an aberration ...or that most of the citizens of Ramat Bet Shemesh B are fine upstanding people? One must deal with the reality of what happened here. They must deal with the fact that, though stemming from there, these are not the same people who live in Meah Shearim and have violent trash and tire burning riots These are no the same people who beat up Mrs. Shear. They are different people.
But they do have one thing in common. They have all been raised to behave in certain ways to things they don’t like. What we are witnessing here is an actual Hashkafa. It is an Hashkafa of Kanaus about one’s belief that permits using violence in achieving goals acceptable!
I want to be clear. I am not talking about Charedim in general. Most of Charedim are on the same page as I am here. But I am talking about an entire community pf people, not just a few hooligans from it.
Nor I do say that the rabbinic leadership of this community condones what is going on. They clearly don’t. But, I blame them! They are responsible for instilling extreme values in their people. The protesters and thugs who do this kind of thing have maybe gone futher than their leadership intended or condone. But they are nevertheless given a pass of sorts for doing it. Violent protest has been interpreted by most people from this community is a legitimate means in achieving their goals even while the leadership tepidly condemns it.
The condemning posters in Ramat Bet Shemesh B put up by the Edah HaCharedis have been pointed to as eveidnce that the rabbinic leadership is strongly opposed to violent protest. But those posters in the same breath endorsed the very goals sought by those violent demonstrators. That is almost the same as excusing it. Not much of a protest, if you ask me. What happened to a 70 year old woman happened after these posters had been put up. It wasn’t a gang member doing it to her. It was an upstanding citizen of that community who rose to the occasion! …while others watched!
I said it before but it bears repeating.
They need more than a poster. They need more than the Edah. They need a unified and public condemnation by all Torah leadership across the board. And not just on a poster, but a public and unified statement in person in front of all the media, print and electronic... broadcast on national Television and videotaped so that the world can know.
These people must be made to understand that rabbinic condemnations are not just put up just for public consumption. Although I'm sure the Edah was serious in their poster, this community did not take it seriously for that reason.
It should contain hard and unmistakable condemnations... backed up by support for police arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for those who violate the law. No apologetics about their just cause. No blaming the police.
Future violators will then be the unmistakably criminal. They will be treated accordingly by the police, the criminal justice system and the rabbinic leadership. If the entire Torah world comes down hard and backs the police and the courts, this will stop.
Sorry to bring up an old topic; but it hit close to home this time. This is addressed at all those readers who don't believe that this happens without provocation:An hour ago my brother left my parents in Ramat Bet Shemesh and got on a Mehadrin bus with 2 of his kids - and my Mother came on behind him with the baby, intending to put the baby down and get off before the bus leaves.
A Kanoi jumped up and pushed my 70 year old mother (holding a baby) backward and pinned her to the front of the bus, yelling at her to get off, ignoring her explanation of why she was on the men's side. Of course she couldn't get off because she was being pinned against the front of the bus.
Her arms are aching so badly so can hardly function; and the only person who intervened on a full bus of Frum Yidden was the Arab bus driver!!!!
What's the heter to touch women? - What's the heter to attack anybody? - Whatever has happened to simple common decency?And you still wonder why Moshiach hasn't come...
I echo this writer’s sentiments.
What this demonstrates is that the large community of wild animals that inhabit Ramat Bet Shemesh B are still acting like… well, wild animals. They are the absolute worst among those of us who claim the Torah as our guide. Here is what is important about this.
When a similar story happened to Mrs. Miriam Shear, she was trashed by some defenders of that community as having a feminist agenda. Those same defenders said not to judge an entire community by a few of its hooligans.
I said then that this was a complete misreading of what happened and a total fabrication of Mrs. Shear's motives. But since she had a religious Zionist background, the defenders of that community just chose to believe what they wanted. They judged her unfavorably, L’Kav Chova and the criminals who beat her up favorably, L’Kav Zechus! Why? Because they looked like Charedim.
But there can be no such claim made here. This was a 70 year old woman holding a baby! And the good people on the bus just stood by and did nothing! Who was the hero here? A righteous gentile!
Who can look at this event and honestly say that these incidents are an aberration ...or that most of the citizens of Ramat Bet Shemesh B are fine upstanding people? One must deal with the reality of what happened here. They must deal with the fact that, though stemming from there, these are not the same people who live in Meah Shearim and have violent trash and tire burning riots These are no the same people who beat up Mrs. Shear. They are different people.
But they do have one thing in common. They have all been raised to behave in certain ways to things they don’t like. What we are witnessing here is an actual Hashkafa. It is an Hashkafa of Kanaus about one’s belief that permits using violence in achieving goals acceptable!
I want to be clear. I am not talking about Charedim in general. Most of Charedim are on the same page as I am here. But I am talking about an entire community pf people, not just a few hooligans from it.
Nor I do say that the rabbinic leadership of this community condones what is going on. They clearly don’t. But, I blame them! They are responsible for instilling extreme values in their people. The protesters and thugs who do this kind of thing have maybe gone futher than their leadership intended or condone. But they are nevertheless given a pass of sorts for doing it. Violent protest has been interpreted by most people from this community is a legitimate means in achieving their goals even while the leadership tepidly condemns it.
The condemning posters in Ramat Bet Shemesh B put up by the Edah HaCharedis have been pointed to as eveidnce that the rabbinic leadership is strongly opposed to violent protest. But those posters in the same breath endorsed the very goals sought by those violent demonstrators. That is almost the same as excusing it. Not much of a protest, if you ask me. What happened to a 70 year old woman happened after these posters had been put up. It wasn’t a gang member doing it to her. It was an upstanding citizen of that community who rose to the occasion! …while others watched!
I said it before but it bears repeating.
They need more than a poster. They need more than the Edah. They need a unified and public condemnation by all Torah leadership across the board. And not just on a poster, but a public and unified statement in person in front of all the media, print and electronic... broadcast on national Television and videotaped so that the world can know.
These people must be made to understand that rabbinic condemnations are not just put up just for public consumption. Although I'm sure the Edah was serious in their poster, this community did not take it seriously for that reason.
It should contain hard and unmistakable condemnations... backed up by support for police arrests, prosecutions, and convictions for those who violate the law. No apologetics about their just cause. No blaming the police.
Future violators will then be the unmistakably criminal. They will be treated accordingly by the police, the criminal justice system and the rabbinic leadership. If the entire Torah world comes down hard and backs the police and the courts, this will stop.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Noah’s Choice
Well, it seems like this story just won’t go away. There has been more ink spilled on this story in the Orthodox Jewish media than just about any other story that I can think of in recent memory.
What Dr. Noah Feldman has swerved into, is the very basic issue of how one should deal with a Jew who has intermarried. I don’t know if that was his intent exactly, perhaps it was at an unconscious level despite the title of his article in the New York Times. My original comments dealt with the substance of what he wrote. But most of the people commenting on it focused almost entirely on his intermarriage. Properly so. Indeed the rejection by his alma mater is what motivated Dr. Feldman to write the piece.
There has been a wide variety of reaction to that article but I think Gary Rosenblatt’s editorial in the Jewish Week really hit the nail on the head.
What Dr. Noah Feldman has swerved into, is the very basic issue of how one should deal with a Jew who has intermarried. I don’t know if that was his intent exactly, perhaps it was at an unconscious level despite the title of his article in the New York Times. My original comments dealt with the substance of what he wrote. But most of the people commenting on it focused almost entirely on his intermarriage. Properly so. Indeed the rejection by his alma mater is what motivated Dr. Feldman to write the piece.
There has been a wide variety of reaction to that article but I think Gary Rosenblatt’s editorial in the Jewish Week really hit the nail on the head.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Inter Faith Relations
I’m not exactly sure what Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is advocating here. Does he advocate dialogue about strengthening the relationships between two faith communities? Or does he advocate actual theological dialogue? And where does one stop and the other begin? In a rather lengthy op-ed in the Jerusalem Post he tries to address this issue. And he proclaims his ‘sea change’ in attitude about inter-faith relations with Christianity.
Early in his career he as strongly opposed to it. Now he seems to actually facilitate it. He reasons that things have changed in our day so dramatically that it justifies this change of attitude.
I am with him up to a point. The truth is things have changed dramatically for all the reasons he has stated. I have written about those changes myself, many times. But does that mean we should now have inter-faith dialogue? I’m not sure these changes justify going that far. Maybe they do. I don’t know but the reasons given are not enough in my view... if I understand him correctly.
But those reasons are enough to change our relationships with Christendom in every other way, in my view. We can and should unite in areas where we have common ground in the true spirit of the brotherhood of man and goodwill. We can and we should now look at Christianity in a different more positive light. More now than ever before.
For the over 2 millenia since its creation, Christianity has been a thorn in our side. A mixed blessing. In fact it was in some ways a blessing but in far more ways a curse.
The Rambam looked at the advent of Christianity as a step toward Messianic times. Christendom literally changed the world. They turned a world of idol worshippers into a world of monotheists who believe in one God, albeit through Shituf… the idea of the Trinity.
That was the plus. The minus as Rabbi Riskin points out is the over two millennia of Christians looking at Jews as infidels requiring conversions; otherwise to be despised as the ‘rejected of God’. Today ever since Vatican Two, they no longer look at us that way. They now look at us as the original and still chosen of God whose permanent treaty with us has never been dissolved... never can be dissolved! They no longer look at themselves as the replacement ‘chosen’ of the now fallen Jewish people, but as a people who grafted themselves on to our covenant.
And it isn’t only Catholics, but fundamentalist Christians as well. More so than even Catholics… as has been so eloquently demonstrated by people like Evangelical Pastor John Hagee, and many many more Evangelical preachers.
So yes, we do need to re-adjust our thinking about Christians. They are no longer out to convert us. …at least not actively… granting us our own independent merit. There has never been a better time to do so than now. This is an historic first in Christian Jewish relations and we ought to work on it and develop it.
The only question is how. Inter-faith dialogue has been discouraged by leading rabbinic figures of the 20th century, including Rabbi Riskin’s own mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. The reasons for doing so are not so clear to me but I assume it probably has something to do with the possibility of corrupting our beliefs by listening to what Judaism considers heretical views.
It can be argued, as Rabbi Rsikin does that because of the sea change in attitude, that we no longer have to worry about that and that if properly constructed, dialolgue can only have beneficial results. Inter faith dialogue will only help Christians better understand their roots and thereby appreciate our religious views. That’s probably true.
But is it enough to change the near universal rulings by the great rabbinic leaders of the past? Would they change their views knowing what we know now? I’m not so sure. Dialogue goes both ways and listening to Christian theology may in fact negatively impact our own beliefs.
I am not worried about ‘winning’ a theological debate. I have enough confidence in the truth of Judaism to know that it wouldn’t sway me. But that state of mind is not universal. Why take the chance that someone could God forbid be swayed by what we consider heresy?
I think that should be the overriding consideration. Inter faith relations does not necessarily require inter faith dialogue. What it does require is our own ‘sea change’ in attitude. We need to re-adjust how we look at their theology from a negative one that is so common in our circles to a positive one.
It won’t be easy. The negative attitude has been around for a long time and for good reason. There has hardly been a period in Jewish history that Jews weren’t in some way persecuted by Christendom in some way. Whether directly as in the Inquisition, or indirectly as in the holocaust. Christian attitudes towards the Jews were certainly a factor in Hitler’s ability to do what he did.
Christianity is reaching out to us now as never before. We should not miss this opportunity to better our relationship. We need to put our past attitudes aside, and not bear any grudges. This is a new era and the Rambam’s theological understanding of the advent of Christianity should be our focus, not the Crusades, the Inquisition or the holocaust. By facilitating a more positive relationship with Christendom we will surely expedite the advent of Moshiach.
Early in his career he as strongly opposed to it. Now he seems to actually facilitate it. He reasons that things have changed in our day so dramatically that it justifies this change of attitude.
I am with him up to a point. The truth is things have changed dramatically for all the reasons he has stated. I have written about those changes myself, many times. But does that mean we should now have inter-faith dialogue? I’m not sure these changes justify going that far. Maybe they do. I don’t know but the reasons given are not enough in my view... if I understand him correctly.
But those reasons are enough to change our relationships with Christendom in every other way, in my view. We can and should unite in areas where we have common ground in the true spirit of the brotherhood of man and goodwill. We can and we should now look at Christianity in a different more positive light. More now than ever before.
For the over 2 millenia since its creation, Christianity has been a thorn in our side. A mixed blessing. In fact it was in some ways a blessing but in far more ways a curse.
The Rambam looked at the advent of Christianity as a step toward Messianic times. Christendom literally changed the world. They turned a world of idol worshippers into a world of monotheists who believe in one God, albeit through Shituf… the idea of the Trinity.
That was the plus. The minus as Rabbi Riskin points out is the over two millennia of Christians looking at Jews as infidels requiring conversions; otherwise to be despised as the ‘rejected of God’. Today ever since Vatican Two, they no longer look at us that way. They now look at us as the original and still chosen of God whose permanent treaty with us has never been dissolved... never can be dissolved! They no longer look at themselves as the replacement ‘chosen’ of the now fallen Jewish people, but as a people who grafted themselves on to our covenant.
And it isn’t only Catholics, but fundamentalist Christians as well. More so than even Catholics… as has been so eloquently demonstrated by people like Evangelical Pastor John Hagee, and many many more Evangelical preachers.
So yes, we do need to re-adjust our thinking about Christians. They are no longer out to convert us. …at least not actively… granting us our own independent merit. There has never been a better time to do so than now. This is an historic first in Christian Jewish relations and we ought to work on it and develop it.
The only question is how. Inter-faith dialogue has been discouraged by leading rabbinic figures of the 20th century, including Rabbi Riskin’s own mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. The reasons for doing so are not so clear to me but I assume it probably has something to do with the possibility of corrupting our beliefs by listening to what Judaism considers heretical views.
It can be argued, as Rabbi Rsikin does that because of the sea change in attitude, that we no longer have to worry about that and that if properly constructed, dialolgue can only have beneficial results. Inter faith dialogue will only help Christians better understand their roots and thereby appreciate our religious views. That’s probably true.
But is it enough to change the near universal rulings by the great rabbinic leaders of the past? Would they change their views knowing what we know now? I’m not so sure. Dialogue goes both ways and listening to Christian theology may in fact negatively impact our own beliefs.
I am not worried about ‘winning’ a theological debate. I have enough confidence in the truth of Judaism to know that it wouldn’t sway me. But that state of mind is not universal. Why take the chance that someone could God forbid be swayed by what we consider heresy?
I think that should be the overriding consideration. Inter faith relations does not necessarily require inter faith dialogue. What it does require is our own ‘sea change’ in attitude. We need to re-adjust how we look at their theology from a negative one that is so common in our circles to a positive one.
It won’t be easy. The negative attitude has been around for a long time and for good reason. There has hardly been a period in Jewish history that Jews weren’t in some way persecuted by Christendom in some way. Whether directly as in the Inquisition, or indirectly as in the holocaust. Christian attitudes towards the Jews were certainly a factor in Hitler’s ability to do what he did.
Christianity is reaching out to us now as never before. We should not miss this opportunity to better our relationship. We need to put our past attitudes aside, and not bear any grudges. This is a new era and the Rambam’s theological understanding of the advent of Christianity should be our focus, not the Crusades, the Inquisition or the holocaust. By facilitating a more positive relationship with Christendom we will surely expedite the advent of Moshiach.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Tisha B'Av 1944
On this day of Tisha B’Av we mourn the destruction of our two Holy Temples. It is the anniversary of their destruction. And my mind has been focused on those tragic events since late yesterday afternoon… before and during the recitation of Eicha last night and during the recitation this morning of the Kinnos.
But now as I sit on the floor in a corner of my house… laptop in front of me, my thoughts turn to the holocaust. As is well known many tragedies are remembered on this day. Since this tragedy is so recent and so enormous, I cannot help but turn my attention to it. It is almost impossible for me to not think about what happened to my family: my parents, my brothers, my uncles and my aunts. The holocaust was a fulfillment of the Tochecha, the Torah’s promise of punishment for not living according to its dictates. I am not, God forbid, judging any of the six million holy martyrs who were tortured and murdered. I am only saying that a description of what many Jews including survivors went through can be found in that portion of the Torah.
Strangely enough, Tisha B’Av is also considered a Yom Tov. Though we practice many of the rituals of mourning, like sitting on the floor and not wearing leather shoes...we do not say Tachanun or Avinu Makenu on this day. I believe this is because of our belief that in the Messianic era Tisha B’Av will turn from the day of mourning into a time of great celebration and joy. Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the year, but it is also a day of hope… a day of inspiration. In every tragedy, even one as evil and painful as the holocaust inspiring events have occurred. There were ordinary people who rose to extraordinary heights. Heroes were born. Jews were saved by non Jews who in some cases paid the ultimate penalty for their actions. My father in law, Reb Mordechai Sauerhaft, ZTL, a brilliant Talmid Chacham of the old European school was saved by one such individual.
Mr. Mlodnicki (…unfortunately I do not know his first name) was a religious Roman Catholic who was a deacon and organ player in his Church, in the small village of Mikolyow near the large Ukrainian city of Lvov. The Ukraine was one of the most anti Semitic enclaves in Europe. Mr. Mlodnicki’s connection with my father in law prior to the holocaust was strictly business. He was a customer at my father in law’s family textile business. He saw in my father in law honesty and fairness. Mr. Mlodnicki was treated like the Tzelem Elokim that he was. In an honorable and forthright fashion.
When Mikolyow was occupied at first by Russians my father in law decided to hide his stock of better fabrics. The Russians did not take too kindly to private enterprise in general and Jews in particular.
When the Nazis later occupied the Ukraine, its citizenry couldn’t wait to give up the Jews. Jews were rounded up and forced into doing the most disgusting manual labor imaginable. When the Nazis were done with their Jewish slave laborers they sent them to the death camps. My father in law who was such a slave laborer thinking the end was near dug up those fabrics and gave them to Mr. Mlodnicki. He did not want the Germans to have them!
Soon enough came the time for those deportations. My father in law managed to hide while most of the deportations took place. After three days when things quieted down he took a chance and went to see how his town had fared. What he saw was devastation. He saw not a single human being in the city. Torn Seforim were strewn all over the ground,… broken utensils… broken glass. It was a ghost town. He found an old piece of bread and some water and drank it mixed with tears. His body was so weak after three harrowing days of hiding that he fell asleep for 24 hours. When he awoke he thought he was dreaming! Having basically fasted for three days he knew that if he did not get food soon he would die. Eventually he found a few remaining Jews who fed him and told him that almost the entire town was transported to a death camp.
But the Nazis weren’t finished.
A few weeks later the remaining Jews were again put into forced labor. The cycle had begun again. Once this project was completed, these Jews would be shipped off to a death camp too. As the project neared an end, one of my fathers in law’s fellow Jewish slave laborers mentioned that he had heard that a gentile was hiding Jews. His name was Mlodnicki. My father in law told his fellow worker of his relationship with him. The worker suggested that my father in law contact him to see if he would be able to take him in.
My father in law was skeptical. He didn’t believe it was possible to hide from the Nazis for any great length of time and he had no guarantees that if push came to shove, that he wouldn’t be handed over. One day by chance he met Mr. Mlodnicki in the street and decided to ask him on the spur of the moment if he could take him. His answer was that if the Jews that he was already hiding were not opposed, he would. After they OK’d it, he decided to see for himself what this entailed and spent one night there. The following is what my father in law saw.
Mr. Mlodnicki had a wife and three children who showed constant kindness and compassion. The house had one bedroom. It was given over to a Jewish couple. The windows were covered and one could peek and see who was at the door from there. The Jews of that household were given free reign of the house and treated like honored guests... always being addressed as sir or madam.
There was no indoor plumbing in those days especially in small rural towns. Jews dared not go outside. Mr. Mlodnicki and his family carried out human waste everyday. The Mlodnickis had also dug a large pit in the utility room and camouflaged it just in case his guests needed to hide. Mr. Mlodnicki would go shopping once a week and buy enough groceries for everyone in the house.
My father in law was still reluctant to put his fate in the hands of another. But Mr. Mlodnicki was persistant. He relented. A place was prepared for my father in law to sleep in the utility room. Eventually 13 people were hidden in this one house.
Polish newspapers were provided every day to the guests so they could learn progress of the war. Life was as normal as could be for these Jews under those circumstances. Whenever anyone came to the door the ‘guard’ at the window informed everyone so that they could go hide in the ultility room.
Meanwhile the barbarism going on outside could be seen from the windows of Mr. Mlodnicki’s house.
One time Mrs. Mlodnicki’s brother, a Polish priest had come to visit. He knew what his sister and brother in law were doing. He also knew the penalty for being discovered. It was immediate death. Mrs. Mlodnicki had developed heart trouble from the daily fear of being caught and she felt she could no longer handle it. She asked her brother to try and convince her husband that it was too much for her. Mr. Mlodnicki refused to renege on his promise to hide them. He told his wife if she could not take the fear she should stay away as long as she wanted.
Twelve months had passed. The Germans were losing the war and retreating from the Russians. The Germans started requisitioning local houses. Mr. Mlodnicki thought the end was near. For three months they live in perpetual fear. The intensity of the fighting increased one August day and the shelling and bombardment of the town was very heavy. Finally At 4:00 in the afternoon it was all over. The Russians had taken the town and the Jews were liberated. It was on Tisha B’Av, 1944.
Mr. Mlodnicki was one of the greatest heroes of the holocaust. He was truly a righteous gentile. A man truly was worthy of having Kaddish said for him when he died.
Can one say Kaddish for a Gentile?
That Shaila was asked of Rabbi Ephraim Oshry during the holocaust. He saved all of his Shailos and Teshuvos from the Kovno Ghetto. He wrote them on scraps of paper and later published them. The Teshuva can be seen excerpted here from the amazing volume called ‘Responsa from the Holocaust’.
But now as I sit on the floor in a corner of my house… laptop in front of me, my thoughts turn to the holocaust. As is well known many tragedies are remembered on this day. Since this tragedy is so recent and so enormous, I cannot help but turn my attention to it. It is almost impossible for me to not think about what happened to my family: my parents, my brothers, my uncles and my aunts. The holocaust was a fulfillment of the Tochecha, the Torah’s promise of punishment for not living according to its dictates. I am not, God forbid, judging any of the six million holy martyrs who were tortured and murdered. I am only saying that a description of what many Jews including survivors went through can be found in that portion of the Torah.
Strangely enough, Tisha B’Av is also considered a Yom Tov. Though we practice many of the rituals of mourning, like sitting on the floor and not wearing leather shoes...we do not say Tachanun or Avinu Makenu on this day. I believe this is because of our belief that in the Messianic era Tisha B’Av will turn from the day of mourning into a time of great celebration and joy. Tisha B’Av is the saddest day of the year, but it is also a day of hope… a day of inspiration. In every tragedy, even one as evil and painful as the holocaust inspiring events have occurred. There were ordinary people who rose to extraordinary heights. Heroes were born. Jews were saved by non Jews who in some cases paid the ultimate penalty for their actions. My father in law, Reb Mordechai Sauerhaft, ZTL, a brilliant Talmid Chacham of the old European school was saved by one such individual.
Mr. Mlodnicki (…unfortunately I do not know his first name) was a religious Roman Catholic who was a deacon and organ player in his Church, in the small village of Mikolyow near the large Ukrainian city of Lvov. The Ukraine was one of the most anti Semitic enclaves in Europe. Mr. Mlodnicki’s connection with my father in law prior to the holocaust was strictly business. He was a customer at my father in law’s family textile business. He saw in my father in law honesty and fairness. Mr. Mlodnicki was treated like the Tzelem Elokim that he was. In an honorable and forthright fashion.
When Mikolyow was occupied at first by Russians my father in law decided to hide his stock of better fabrics. The Russians did not take too kindly to private enterprise in general and Jews in particular.
When the Nazis later occupied the Ukraine, its citizenry couldn’t wait to give up the Jews. Jews were rounded up and forced into doing the most disgusting manual labor imaginable. When the Nazis were done with their Jewish slave laborers they sent them to the death camps. My father in law who was such a slave laborer thinking the end was near dug up those fabrics and gave them to Mr. Mlodnicki. He did not want the Germans to have them!
Soon enough came the time for those deportations. My father in law managed to hide while most of the deportations took place. After three days when things quieted down he took a chance and went to see how his town had fared. What he saw was devastation. He saw not a single human being in the city. Torn Seforim were strewn all over the ground,… broken utensils… broken glass. It was a ghost town. He found an old piece of bread and some water and drank it mixed with tears. His body was so weak after three harrowing days of hiding that he fell asleep for 24 hours. When he awoke he thought he was dreaming! Having basically fasted for three days he knew that if he did not get food soon he would die. Eventually he found a few remaining Jews who fed him and told him that almost the entire town was transported to a death camp.
But the Nazis weren’t finished.
A few weeks later the remaining Jews were again put into forced labor. The cycle had begun again. Once this project was completed, these Jews would be shipped off to a death camp too. As the project neared an end, one of my fathers in law’s fellow Jewish slave laborers mentioned that he had heard that a gentile was hiding Jews. His name was Mlodnicki. My father in law told his fellow worker of his relationship with him. The worker suggested that my father in law contact him to see if he would be able to take him in.
My father in law was skeptical. He didn’t believe it was possible to hide from the Nazis for any great length of time and he had no guarantees that if push came to shove, that he wouldn’t be handed over. One day by chance he met Mr. Mlodnicki in the street and decided to ask him on the spur of the moment if he could take him. His answer was that if the Jews that he was already hiding were not opposed, he would. After they OK’d it, he decided to see for himself what this entailed and spent one night there. The following is what my father in law saw.
Mr. Mlodnicki had a wife and three children who showed constant kindness and compassion. The house had one bedroom. It was given over to a Jewish couple. The windows were covered and one could peek and see who was at the door from there. The Jews of that household were given free reign of the house and treated like honored guests... always being addressed as sir or madam.
There was no indoor plumbing in those days especially in small rural towns. Jews dared not go outside. Mr. Mlodnicki and his family carried out human waste everyday. The Mlodnickis had also dug a large pit in the utility room and camouflaged it just in case his guests needed to hide. Mr. Mlodnicki would go shopping once a week and buy enough groceries for everyone in the house.
My father in law was still reluctant to put his fate in the hands of another. But Mr. Mlodnicki was persistant. He relented. A place was prepared for my father in law to sleep in the utility room. Eventually 13 people were hidden in this one house.
Polish newspapers were provided every day to the guests so they could learn progress of the war. Life was as normal as could be for these Jews under those circumstances. Whenever anyone came to the door the ‘guard’ at the window informed everyone so that they could go hide in the ultility room.
Meanwhile the barbarism going on outside could be seen from the windows of Mr. Mlodnicki’s house.
One time Mrs. Mlodnicki’s brother, a Polish priest had come to visit. He knew what his sister and brother in law were doing. He also knew the penalty for being discovered. It was immediate death. Mrs. Mlodnicki had developed heart trouble from the daily fear of being caught and she felt she could no longer handle it. She asked her brother to try and convince her husband that it was too much for her. Mr. Mlodnicki refused to renege on his promise to hide them. He told his wife if she could not take the fear she should stay away as long as she wanted.
Twelve months had passed. The Germans were losing the war and retreating from the Russians. The Germans started requisitioning local houses. Mr. Mlodnicki thought the end was near. For three months they live in perpetual fear. The intensity of the fighting increased one August day and the shelling and bombardment of the town was very heavy. Finally At 4:00 in the afternoon it was all over. The Russians had taken the town and the Jews were liberated. It was on Tisha B’Av, 1944.
Mr. Mlodnicki was one of the greatest heroes of the holocaust. He was truly a righteous gentile. A man truly was worthy of having Kaddish said for him when he died.
Can one say Kaddish for a Gentile?
That Shaila was asked of Rabbi Ephraim Oshry during the holocaust. He saved all of his Shailos and Teshuvos from the Kovno Ghetto. He wrote them on scraps of paper and later published them. The Teshuva can be seen excerpted here from the amazing volume called ‘Responsa from the Holocaust’.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Intermarriage
One of the biggest Jewish tragedies of our time is that of intermarriage. Approximately 50% of all Jews marry out. That is a staggering figure by any measure. On this day before Tisha B’Av that statistic truly stands out. Tisha B’Av we commemorate the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash considered to be the single biggest tragedy of our existence as Jews. Even the loss of 6 million Jews during the holocaust doesn’t surpass it.
How can this be? This is a question that I have never had fully answered. I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend it. A typical answer given is that the loss of Jewish life as a percentage of the whole was greater then. But still… the actual numbers were greater during the holocaust.
And theologically nothing could be greater than the loss of God’s presence on this earth in His Holy Temple. Our ability to commune with him has forever been diminished… until the advent of Moshiach. We can no longer offer sacrifices to atone for our sins. We can only pray, which is a poor substitute.
The only conclusion one can make here is that a spiritual holocaust is a more serious loss than a physical one. And that brings me to intermarriage. If a spiritual holocaust is greater than a physical one, then intermarriage is its gas chamber.
It is bad enough when secular Jews who are uneducated about their heritage do it. But when an educated Jew does it, especially one who has gone through 12 grades of Yeshiva education the tragedy is even greater. In the case of a Jew who was one of the most brilliant minds that Yeshiva ever had on its campus, well the tragedy is immense. I ask myself over and over, how could this happen? How could someone, like Noah Feldman who was educated in Torah and has such a brilliant mind do something like this?
Noah Feldman’s resume reads almost like an ArtScroll Gadol book… with list of accomplishments, almost right out of the womb. Both secular and religious.
More than making me sad, it makes me wonder what happened? I’m not sure we will ever know the answer to that question.
The reaction to his article in the New York Times has brought near universal condemnation of what he did. Understandably so. He has willingly crawled into the spiritual gas chamber of intermarriage. Outrage and condemnation seem like the only appropriate response, on this day the eve of Tisha B’Av. How can anyone say a good word about some like this… who did something like that?
Well, someone has. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written an op-ed in the subject and to be honest I kind of sympathize with his views. If one reads the article written by him in this matter, one will see that the Noah Feldman that he knew is a lot different than the Noah Feldman that intermarried. Here is Rabbi Boteach’s description:
“Noah Feldman was a brilliant, Orthodox Jewish Rhodes scholar who arrived in Oxford in my fourth year as rabbi there in 1992. We quickly hit it off. For one thing, there was scarcely a subject - Jewish or secular - upon which Noah did not have some profound knowledge. We studied Talmud together several times a week and I made Noah a kind of secondary rabbi at our L'Chaim Society, such was the range of his Jewish erudition and his phenomenal capacity for teaching.”
“Noah was one of the most accomplished young students I had ever met. He was valedictorian of Harvard, a Rhodes and Truman scholar, and completed his Oxford doctorate in about 18 months, which may or may not be a university record. It was a source of great pride for me that Noah was observant and wore a kippa. We all marveled every Shabbat at Noah's incredible ability to read any section of the Torah at our student synagogue.”
How does one go from this, to intermarriage? And in the process still feel that his religious education informs his every inner thought? This is truly fascinating.
Rabbi Boteach goes on to say that we ought to not ostracize him and instead encourage him to continue doing as many Mitzvos as possible. By doing so we keep him close to our community and perhaps his wife will one day see the beauty and truth of Torah and convert. Ostracizing someone who marries out as a means of preventing others from doing so has never worked, Rabbi Boteach says, as can be se today from the 50% intermarriage rate.
I am truly conflicted. I understand the severity of what he did and the increased magnitude of it by virtue of his brilliance and Jewish education. It is truly a Chilul HaShem! On the day before Tisha B’Av my feelings should be those of outrage. This one act by one individual is a Churban on the level of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. An entire world was destroyed by it! The generations of Jewish children he could have had will now never happen.
But I can’t help but see Rabbi Boteach’s side of it. People can do Teshuva. Tisha B’Av should be not only lament about our great losses but a hope and a prayer about our future. A future of Teshuva for all of us, including one of the perhaps most brilliant minds the Jewish people currently have.
How can this be? This is a question that I have never had fully answered. I don’t think I will ever fully comprehend it. A typical answer given is that the loss of Jewish life as a percentage of the whole was greater then. But still… the actual numbers were greater during the holocaust.
And theologically nothing could be greater than the loss of God’s presence on this earth in His Holy Temple. Our ability to commune with him has forever been diminished… until the advent of Moshiach. We can no longer offer sacrifices to atone for our sins. We can only pray, which is a poor substitute.
The only conclusion one can make here is that a spiritual holocaust is a more serious loss than a physical one. And that brings me to intermarriage. If a spiritual holocaust is greater than a physical one, then intermarriage is its gas chamber.
It is bad enough when secular Jews who are uneducated about their heritage do it. But when an educated Jew does it, especially one who has gone through 12 grades of Yeshiva education the tragedy is even greater. In the case of a Jew who was one of the most brilliant minds that Yeshiva ever had on its campus, well the tragedy is immense. I ask myself over and over, how could this happen? How could someone, like Noah Feldman who was educated in Torah and has such a brilliant mind do something like this?
Noah Feldman’s resume reads almost like an ArtScroll Gadol book… with list of accomplishments, almost right out of the womb. Both secular and religious.
More than making me sad, it makes me wonder what happened? I’m not sure we will ever know the answer to that question.
The reaction to his article in the New York Times has brought near universal condemnation of what he did. Understandably so. He has willingly crawled into the spiritual gas chamber of intermarriage. Outrage and condemnation seem like the only appropriate response, on this day the eve of Tisha B’Av. How can anyone say a good word about some like this… who did something like that?
Well, someone has. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has written an op-ed in the subject and to be honest I kind of sympathize with his views. If one reads the article written by him in this matter, one will see that the Noah Feldman that he knew is a lot different than the Noah Feldman that intermarried. Here is Rabbi Boteach’s description:
“Noah Feldman was a brilliant, Orthodox Jewish Rhodes scholar who arrived in Oxford in my fourth year as rabbi there in 1992. We quickly hit it off. For one thing, there was scarcely a subject - Jewish or secular - upon which Noah did not have some profound knowledge. We studied Talmud together several times a week and I made Noah a kind of secondary rabbi at our L'Chaim Society, such was the range of his Jewish erudition and his phenomenal capacity for teaching.”
“Noah was one of the most accomplished young students I had ever met. He was valedictorian of Harvard, a Rhodes and Truman scholar, and completed his Oxford doctorate in about 18 months, which may or may not be a university record. It was a source of great pride for me that Noah was observant and wore a kippa. We all marveled every Shabbat at Noah's incredible ability to read any section of the Torah at our student synagogue.”
How does one go from this, to intermarriage? And in the process still feel that his religious education informs his every inner thought? This is truly fascinating.
Rabbi Boteach goes on to say that we ought to not ostracize him and instead encourage him to continue doing as many Mitzvos as possible. By doing so we keep him close to our community and perhaps his wife will one day see the beauty and truth of Torah and convert. Ostracizing someone who marries out as a means of preventing others from doing so has never worked, Rabbi Boteach says, as can be se today from the 50% intermarriage rate.
I am truly conflicted. I understand the severity of what he did and the increased magnitude of it by virtue of his brilliance and Jewish education. It is truly a Chilul HaShem! On the day before Tisha B’Av my feelings should be those of outrage. This one act by one individual is a Churban on the level of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. An entire world was destroyed by it! The generations of Jewish children he could have had will now never happen.
But I can’t help but see Rabbi Boteach’s side of it. People can do Teshuva. Tisha B’Av should be not only lament about our great losses but a hope and a prayer about our future. A future of Teshuva for all of us, including one of the perhaps most brilliant minds the Jewish people currently have.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
The Modern Orthodoxy Conundrum
After reading an aritcle on the paradox of Orthodoxy and modernity I was left with some thoughts of my own.
Noah Feldman writes in the New York Times of the conflcting tensions between the religious world and the secular. His perspective stems from his current status in the modern world combined with the 12 formative years he spent in Maimonides, the co-ed elementary and Yeshiva high school in Boston founded by the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
He begins by telling us that he has been given the equivalent of a modern day Cherem. That is he has been figuratively excommunicated by his alma mater because of his engagement to a Korean-American woman. He goes on to tell us that he was somewhat suprised at the way he was treated by high school who basically erased him from their memory. He and his fiancé were removed from a 10 year class reunion photo. Future mailings to the school such as birth of a child normally announced in news letters about alumni were ignored. I kept hoping to read that this had been a case of his Yeshiva making a mistake. That their assumptions about this woman were incorrect and that she had actually been a Giyores, a legitimate convert. But no such luck. She was a non Jew.
That saddened me. Another Jew lost to Judaism.
Here is a fellow who genuinely tries to explain what it’s like for a modern Orthodox Jew to reconcile faith and modernity when there are obvious contradictions and yet mentions his pending intermarriage as only an introduction to the larger issue he wants to address. That he seems to care about the Torah he learned for 12 years and tells us that it ‘informs every part of (his) inner life’ makes one wonder how he could intermarry. Doesn’t he understand the implications of this very basic Issur? For a man the consequences of violating it insure that his children will not even Jewish. Unless they convert.
That said, many of the issues he mentions that give rise to the paradox that is Modern Orthodoxy are legitimate. But I question whether those issues are exclusive to modern orthodoxy itself. I don’t think so. The issue he raises are problematic to any Jew whether modern or right wing… if they live in a society that is mostly non Jewish which has its own set of values.
Some of his issues do not really hold water. He seems to say that his alma mater’s refusal to accept his intermarriage is evidence that the ability to live in both worlds ultimately fails. Society’s acceptance of intermarriage and the Torah’s rejection of it are at irreconcilable odds. At odds, yes, but irreconcilable, no.
Engaging with modernity does not mean that one must worship at the alter modernity. What it means is that we can participate as equals with our non-Jewish counterparts in all the bounty and goodness that modernity provides, and maintain good citizenship by participating in its obligations as well. That our religion does not accept inter-marriage while modern society does, does not detract one iota from our engagement with it. All it does is preserve our roots and heritage, something modern society applauds.
Is there a contradiction in values? Not in this instance. Modernity is not defined by a dominant societal view. It is decided by how divergent views are treated by it. Divergent views are most definitely tolerated in the modern world. Let us not forget that other value systems exist in pluralistic modern societies that do not accept a universal set of modern values. If an individual or group of people believe that homosexual practices are sinful does that mean that they cannot fully participate in modernity? What makes something modern anyway? Is it the majority opinion? If a once cultural taboo is now an accepted modern lifestyle, does that mean that someone who still holds of that taboo is in conflict with modernity?
We are entitled to our religious views and modernity’s differences with us has virtually no impact on our participation in it.
Some of the things he points to are a bit more significant, however. Kosher laws have the effect of keeping us apart from our non Jewish neighbors. Our sages legislated laws specifically for that purpose. For example, one cannot eat food cooked by a non Jew even when we know it is Kosher. There are two reasons. One is so we shouldn’t become accustomed to eating their cooking because that may lead to situations where the non Jew will inadvertently serve non Kosher items. But more importantly the reason for that law is to prevent intermarriage.
This is counter to the near universal modern notion of socializing with ones fellow man... his compatriot, his neighbor... treating him as friend and equal. That is indeed a problem. And for a modern Orthodox Jew it is often a bigger problem than it is for the insular right wing Orthodox Jew. But it is not an insurmountable one. One can have very close relationships with non Jews. Here, modernity must give way to religion. But as in anything else of value worth pursuing in life, sometimes there are conflicts. That doesn’t mean we can't or shouldn’t participate. It just means we have to know where to draw lines.
Among other conflicting values he mentions is violating Shabbos to save the life of a non Jew. He cites the Gemarah which ultimately legislates that it does not make any difference between Jew and non Jew on this issue. One must violate Shabbos to save any human life. But then he gets into the reasons and differences between saving the life of a Jew versus a non Jew.
The biblical origins of violating Shabbos to save a life was intended for Jews only. But our sages extended it to non Jews as well ‘out of concern for maintaining peaceful relations between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.’ Are there competing moral value systems at work here? It would seem that in this instance the non-Jewish value system is greater than the Jewish one in that it puts all of human life at equal value. Judaism seems to place Jewish life at a higher value.
One cannot know the mind of God. As such we do not know what his intent is with respect to the value of one life over another. But what we do know is that our sages legislated a violation of one of the most important laws in the Torah, Shabbos, and thereby equalized all human life in practice. And their mandate to do so is supported by the Torah itself as are all rabbinic enactments. One should also remember that the biblical laws pertaining to non Jews at the time the Torah was during an era where non Jews were idolaters and human sacrifice was common.
Bottom line is that yes there is a dynamic tension between the two value systems of modernity and Torah. But that doesn’t lessen our ability to live in and benefit from the modern world in any meaningful way. What Orthodoxy tells us is how to do it properly.
Noah Feldman writes in the New York Times of the conflcting tensions between the religious world and the secular. His perspective stems from his current status in the modern world combined with the 12 formative years he spent in Maimonides, the co-ed elementary and Yeshiva high school in Boston founded by the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
He begins by telling us that he has been given the equivalent of a modern day Cherem. That is he has been figuratively excommunicated by his alma mater because of his engagement to a Korean-American woman. He goes on to tell us that he was somewhat suprised at the way he was treated by high school who basically erased him from their memory. He and his fiancé were removed from a 10 year class reunion photo. Future mailings to the school such as birth of a child normally announced in news letters about alumni were ignored. I kept hoping to read that this had been a case of his Yeshiva making a mistake. That their assumptions about this woman were incorrect and that she had actually been a Giyores, a legitimate convert. But no such luck. She was a non Jew.
That saddened me. Another Jew lost to Judaism.
Here is a fellow who genuinely tries to explain what it’s like for a modern Orthodox Jew to reconcile faith and modernity when there are obvious contradictions and yet mentions his pending intermarriage as only an introduction to the larger issue he wants to address. That he seems to care about the Torah he learned for 12 years and tells us that it ‘informs every part of (his) inner life’ makes one wonder how he could intermarry. Doesn’t he understand the implications of this very basic Issur? For a man the consequences of violating it insure that his children will not even Jewish. Unless they convert.
That said, many of the issues he mentions that give rise to the paradox that is Modern Orthodoxy are legitimate. But I question whether those issues are exclusive to modern orthodoxy itself. I don’t think so. The issue he raises are problematic to any Jew whether modern or right wing… if they live in a society that is mostly non Jewish which has its own set of values.
Some of his issues do not really hold water. He seems to say that his alma mater’s refusal to accept his intermarriage is evidence that the ability to live in both worlds ultimately fails. Society’s acceptance of intermarriage and the Torah’s rejection of it are at irreconcilable odds. At odds, yes, but irreconcilable, no.
Engaging with modernity does not mean that one must worship at the alter modernity. What it means is that we can participate as equals with our non-Jewish counterparts in all the bounty and goodness that modernity provides, and maintain good citizenship by participating in its obligations as well. That our religion does not accept inter-marriage while modern society does, does not detract one iota from our engagement with it. All it does is preserve our roots and heritage, something modern society applauds.
Is there a contradiction in values? Not in this instance. Modernity is not defined by a dominant societal view. It is decided by how divergent views are treated by it. Divergent views are most definitely tolerated in the modern world. Let us not forget that other value systems exist in pluralistic modern societies that do not accept a universal set of modern values. If an individual or group of people believe that homosexual practices are sinful does that mean that they cannot fully participate in modernity? What makes something modern anyway? Is it the majority opinion? If a once cultural taboo is now an accepted modern lifestyle, does that mean that someone who still holds of that taboo is in conflict with modernity?
We are entitled to our religious views and modernity’s differences with us has virtually no impact on our participation in it.
Some of the things he points to are a bit more significant, however. Kosher laws have the effect of keeping us apart from our non Jewish neighbors. Our sages legislated laws specifically for that purpose. For example, one cannot eat food cooked by a non Jew even when we know it is Kosher. There are two reasons. One is so we shouldn’t become accustomed to eating their cooking because that may lead to situations where the non Jew will inadvertently serve non Kosher items. But more importantly the reason for that law is to prevent intermarriage.
This is counter to the near universal modern notion of socializing with ones fellow man... his compatriot, his neighbor... treating him as friend and equal. That is indeed a problem. And for a modern Orthodox Jew it is often a bigger problem than it is for the insular right wing Orthodox Jew. But it is not an insurmountable one. One can have very close relationships with non Jews. Here, modernity must give way to religion. But as in anything else of value worth pursuing in life, sometimes there are conflicts. That doesn’t mean we can't or shouldn’t participate. It just means we have to know where to draw lines.
Among other conflicting values he mentions is violating Shabbos to save the life of a non Jew. He cites the Gemarah which ultimately legislates that it does not make any difference between Jew and non Jew on this issue. One must violate Shabbos to save any human life. But then he gets into the reasons and differences between saving the life of a Jew versus a non Jew.
The biblical origins of violating Shabbos to save a life was intended for Jews only. But our sages extended it to non Jews as well ‘out of concern for maintaining peaceful relations between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities.’ Are there competing moral value systems at work here? It would seem that in this instance the non-Jewish value system is greater than the Jewish one in that it puts all of human life at equal value. Judaism seems to place Jewish life at a higher value.
One cannot know the mind of God. As such we do not know what his intent is with respect to the value of one life over another. But what we do know is that our sages legislated a violation of one of the most important laws in the Torah, Shabbos, and thereby equalized all human life in practice. And their mandate to do so is supported by the Torah itself as are all rabbinic enactments. One should also remember that the biblical laws pertaining to non Jews at the time the Torah was during an era where non Jews were idolaters and human sacrifice was common.
Bottom line is that yes there is a dynamic tension between the two value systems of modernity and Torah. But that doesn’t lessen our ability to live in and benefit from the modern world in any meaningful way. What Orthodoxy tells us is how to do it properly.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Seize the Day
The issue of Achdus which is sorely lacking within Orthodox Jewish community is lacking in the larger Jewish community as well. All Jews are responsible for one another. Kol Yisroel Areivim Zeh Lazeh does not aply only to religious Jews. It applies to all Jews, wherever they are, religious or not.
This leaves a vast number of Jews in our day that we are responsible to. They are in a Halachic category of Tinok Shenishba, an infant who is captured. They have no clue what Judaism really means. They have not learned how to be Jews. In America this means that they were raised in a state of ‘captivity’ …captives of ignorance because of a culture that seduced their parents or grandparents to assimilate and reject observance. Most Jews today were raised in complete ignorance of the Torah. Or they were taught distorted versions of it.
Part of the problem is a function of historical pragmatism. There were no educational facilities available to the early American Jewish immigrants. That left them very vulnerable to the very attractive and culturally compatible vagaries of Reform Judaism. This movement totally abandoned Halachic observance as unnecessary. It was viewed as an impediment to the melting pot ideal of E Pluribus Unum. The Reform Movement led by Rabbi Isaac Meyer Weiss was so opposed to ritual that they practically forbade it. They saw it as archaic, primitive, and anathematic to the enlightened spirit of the times.
There was little if any resistence to this kind of thinking. Reform was the dominant Judaism of the day in America. Mass immigrations brought Jews who were more committed to observance and that led to the establishment of the Conservative Movement, which was at first Orhtodox but then quickly turned away from it. They too attracted the new immigrants who were not observant but wanted to be. They felt the need to work on Shabbos which was almost required in those days to retain one’s job.
This was the backdrop of Judaism in this country for generations of Jews who immigrated to these shores. It was extremely difficult to be Shomer Shabbos. It took quite a bit of courage and determination for an Amrecian Jew of the late 19th and early 20th century to be observant in those days. Very few did. There were enough to eventually found a few Yeshivos, like Yeshivas Eitz Chaim the precursor to Yeshiva University and a bit later Torah VoDaath. But the vast majority of Jews lived a qausi observant lifestyle… trying to be religious to the extent they could while feeling the need to work on Shabbos.
Their children ran away from the Judasim and chased the America dream. Reform and Conservative Judasim gave them the imprimatur to do it. Those were the parents and grandparents of American Jews today who are either totally secular or belong to Reform and Conservative Shuls. And their children are almost devoid of any Judaism. They are so totally ignorant if their Jewsih heritage and have been so totally assimilated into the culture that their very identity as Jews is being questioned by some. What is the point, they ask. Just be a good person. Who cares about religion?
Intermarriage is at an all time high. And I believe that Conservative and Reform memberships are at an all time low. Both movements are trying to figure out ways to reinvigorate themselves and draw Jews back into their dwindling populations.
In the last couple of decades there has been an interesting development in this regard. The Reform Movement has done a 180. They have gone from being defiantly opposed to any Mitzvah observance to actually promoting it. To be sure there is still a very strong faction that opposes Mitzvah observance considering it archaic. But the leadership today is not going that way. Reform rabbis used to make you take off your Yamulkees if you walked into their congregations. Now you will see Reform rabbis themselves wearing them. They now encourage their members to observe as many Mitzvos as they can. True they still do not consider Halacha binding. But they now see the folly of their pioneers removal of ritual observance. It ended up removing Jewish identity. One cannot just be a Jew in the heart. One needs to act in Jewish ways. The way to do that they now understand is by doing Mitzvos.
Changes are occurring now in the Conservative movement too. Though they have been debating moving away from calling themselves Halachic, there is a simultaneous unprecedented move to set up religious elementary and high schools that will almost certainly lead to a more observant Conservative populace.
The question now becomes what should Orthodoxy’s response be? Do we sit idly by and continue to refuse to engage with them? Or do we find ways to engage with them and help them along their quest to be more observant?
There are many successful Orthodox organizations dedicated to educating Jews who are ignorant of their Torah heritage. But it is a drop in the bucket compared to the potential. With intermarriage at an all time high, the Torah world needs to re-think its approach to Reform and Conservative Jews.
The twentieth century produced some very strict guidelines for our interaction with what non Torah movements. Poskim from across the Orthodox Jewish spectrum strongly opposed any official interaction. Some Poskim allowed some leeway in matters dealing with non religious communal matters. But all seem to be united in forbidding any kind of association that would even indirectly imply recognition.
That is understandable. We cannot recognize heresy, which is what we would tacitly be doing by joining with them in any public way. That is as true today as it was then. But Reform and in significant ways Conservatives have turned in the direction of observance. I think now would be a good time to re-evaluate our approach and develop a new one based on new realities and new opportunities.
Of course we still need to respect the intent of the original Psak not to in any way do anything that would even imply recognition. But ways need to be explored to engage with them so that we can reach more people.
As a Reform Rabbi once put it: The enemy is not Reform. It is apathy and ignorance. Reform, once the most rejecting of religious ritual is now encouraging it. We can work in harmony toward that goal.
There is a hunger by uneducated Jews for Torah knowledge. People in Kiruv tell us this all the time. All that needs to be done in many cases is to be able to reach them. Not that all Jews will suddenly become observant. But significantly large numbers of them will, given the chance.
How to implement the delicate balance between not recognizing them while at the same time engaging with them is beyond my pay scale. But one thing is clear to me. This is an Eis Laasos. The Tinok Shenishba is ready. The Jewish people are hemorrhaging and we can stop it. We have the wisdom among our rabbinc leaders. All we need is the courage to do it. Carpe diem. If we do not seize this moment we will lose.
This leaves a vast number of Jews in our day that we are responsible to. They are in a Halachic category of Tinok Shenishba, an infant who is captured. They have no clue what Judaism really means. They have not learned how to be Jews. In America this means that they were raised in a state of ‘captivity’ …captives of ignorance because of a culture that seduced their parents or grandparents to assimilate and reject observance. Most Jews today were raised in complete ignorance of the Torah. Or they were taught distorted versions of it.
Part of the problem is a function of historical pragmatism. There were no educational facilities available to the early American Jewish immigrants. That left them very vulnerable to the very attractive and culturally compatible vagaries of Reform Judaism. This movement totally abandoned Halachic observance as unnecessary. It was viewed as an impediment to the melting pot ideal of E Pluribus Unum. The Reform Movement led by Rabbi Isaac Meyer Weiss was so opposed to ritual that they practically forbade it. They saw it as archaic, primitive, and anathematic to the enlightened spirit of the times.
There was little if any resistence to this kind of thinking. Reform was the dominant Judaism of the day in America. Mass immigrations brought Jews who were more committed to observance and that led to the establishment of the Conservative Movement, which was at first Orhtodox but then quickly turned away from it. They too attracted the new immigrants who were not observant but wanted to be. They felt the need to work on Shabbos which was almost required in those days to retain one’s job.
This was the backdrop of Judaism in this country for generations of Jews who immigrated to these shores. It was extremely difficult to be Shomer Shabbos. It took quite a bit of courage and determination for an Amrecian Jew of the late 19th and early 20th century to be observant in those days. Very few did. There were enough to eventually found a few Yeshivos, like Yeshivas Eitz Chaim the precursor to Yeshiva University and a bit later Torah VoDaath. But the vast majority of Jews lived a qausi observant lifestyle… trying to be religious to the extent they could while feeling the need to work on Shabbos.
Their children ran away from the Judasim and chased the America dream. Reform and Conservative Judasim gave them the imprimatur to do it. Those were the parents and grandparents of American Jews today who are either totally secular or belong to Reform and Conservative Shuls. And their children are almost devoid of any Judaism. They are so totally ignorant if their Jewsih heritage and have been so totally assimilated into the culture that their very identity as Jews is being questioned by some. What is the point, they ask. Just be a good person. Who cares about religion?
Intermarriage is at an all time high. And I believe that Conservative and Reform memberships are at an all time low. Both movements are trying to figure out ways to reinvigorate themselves and draw Jews back into their dwindling populations.
In the last couple of decades there has been an interesting development in this regard. The Reform Movement has done a 180. They have gone from being defiantly opposed to any Mitzvah observance to actually promoting it. To be sure there is still a very strong faction that opposes Mitzvah observance considering it archaic. But the leadership today is not going that way. Reform rabbis used to make you take off your Yamulkees if you walked into their congregations. Now you will see Reform rabbis themselves wearing them. They now encourage their members to observe as many Mitzvos as they can. True they still do not consider Halacha binding. But they now see the folly of their pioneers removal of ritual observance. It ended up removing Jewish identity. One cannot just be a Jew in the heart. One needs to act in Jewish ways. The way to do that they now understand is by doing Mitzvos.
Changes are occurring now in the Conservative movement too. Though they have been debating moving away from calling themselves Halachic, there is a simultaneous unprecedented move to set up religious elementary and high schools that will almost certainly lead to a more observant Conservative populace.
The question now becomes what should Orthodoxy’s response be? Do we sit idly by and continue to refuse to engage with them? Or do we find ways to engage with them and help them along their quest to be more observant?
There are many successful Orthodox organizations dedicated to educating Jews who are ignorant of their Torah heritage. But it is a drop in the bucket compared to the potential. With intermarriage at an all time high, the Torah world needs to re-think its approach to Reform and Conservative Jews.
The twentieth century produced some very strict guidelines for our interaction with what non Torah movements. Poskim from across the Orthodox Jewish spectrum strongly opposed any official interaction. Some Poskim allowed some leeway in matters dealing with non religious communal matters. But all seem to be united in forbidding any kind of association that would even indirectly imply recognition.
That is understandable. We cannot recognize heresy, which is what we would tacitly be doing by joining with them in any public way. That is as true today as it was then. But Reform and in significant ways Conservatives have turned in the direction of observance. I think now would be a good time to re-evaluate our approach and develop a new one based on new realities and new opportunities.
Of course we still need to respect the intent of the original Psak not to in any way do anything that would even imply recognition. But ways need to be explored to engage with them so that we can reach more people.
As a Reform Rabbi once put it: The enemy is not Reform. It is apathy and ignorance. Reform, once the most rejecting of religious ritual is now encouraging it. We can work in harmony toward that goal.
There is a hunger by uneducated Jews for Torah knowledge. People in Kiruv tell us this all the time. All that needs to be done in many cases is to be able to reach them. Not that all Jews will suddenly become observant. But significantly large numbers of them will, given the chance.
How to implement the delicate balance between not recognizing them while at the same time engaging with them is beyond my pay scale. But one thing is clear to me. This is an Eis Laasos. The Tinok Shenishba is ready. The Jewish people are hemorrhaging and we can stop it. We have the wisdom among our rabbinc leaders. All we need is the courage to do it. Carpe diem. If we do not seize this moment we will lose.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Anti-Torah Bias in the Media
The following quote is from an editorial in a popular newspaper that I often use as a source for many of my writings.
‘If Jewish community leaders in the United States are genuine in their desire to slow the processes weakening their community, they would do well to reexamine their entrenched opposition to state or federal support for religious education, including Jewish education. They fear that such support, even in the form of tax rebates, would violate the absolute separation of church and state, which could in the long term harm the Jews above all. But it would appear that the proven danger of assimilation must take precedence over fears of potential dangers, particularly after the experience of other Jewish communities that receive funding from the countries they live in without being hurt as a result.’
This sounds very much like something Agudah spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran would write. It is aimed at a secular Jewish establishment that has been subverting any and all attempts to relieve the religious community of the oppressive tuition burden. But it wasn’t Rabbi Shafran. It was Ha’aretz. That’s right. It was the ‘anti religious’ Ha’aretz arguing that assimilation is a far greater danger than the violating the principle of absolute separation of church and state.
I have never thought that Ha’aretz was anti- religious. At least not the English language version. And this editorial proves it. Why would they care about Diaspora Jews assimilating if they are anti religious? This does not mean to say that they are pro Torah. I don’t think they are. But they are not anti-Torah.
Yet whenever I use them as a source, I will always get at least one comment asking how I can rely on such a proven Torah hating newspaper. And telling me not to believe anything I read in it. Of course what they are really saying is that I shouldn’t believe anything in there that disagrees with their worldview. According to them, that is always a lie.
The fact is that newspapers like this are reliable to the extent that any journalistic enterprise is that adheres to journalistic standards. To the extent that they occasionally err is to the extent that human beings are involved. Mistakes in perceptions, failing to double check sources, and personal biases of the reporters, no matter how objective, play a role. But there is no deliberate intent to mislead.
So why is there all this rejection by many religious Jews? Well, it isn’t only religious Jews who complain when they get an unflattering story about themselves. It’s all about whose ox is being gored. And for religious Jews newspapers like Ha'artez are an easy target because the editors are not observant. And the pre-supposition by many in the Orthodox world is that as secular Jews they are anti-Frum.
Another editorial in Ha’aretz is an example where they would accuse it of anti religious bias. And the tone of that piece does make it seem that way. Here is an exerpt:
‘Against this background, it is shocking to learn that yesterday the Knesset decided to extend the so-called Tal Law for another five years due to the government's need to keep Shas in the coalition. This is a cynical, immoral law that absolves a significant portion of Jewish Israelis from the need to either do army service or work for a living. The fact is that 80 percent of ultra-Orthodox men do not work; instead, they live on government grants and stipends and the earnings of their wives. After all, why should they risk their lives? Why should they leave their comfortable incubators as long as the secular donkey is there to bear the burden for them?’
Very crude! It even rubbed me the wrong way. But the fact is I have made pretty much the same arguments this editorial has. And even though I wouldn’t quite put it the way Ha’aretz did (to say the least) that is how many secular Jews look at it. Of course I realize that for the truly dedicated Ben Torah, it isn’t about dodging the draft or risking their lives. It is about devoting full time to learning L’Shma. But the facts remain the same. They are not risking their lives. As for dodging the draft, I saw a statistic recently that one in four eligible Israelis (meaning those not already exempted by Yeshiva exemptions) managed to dodge the draft themselves. This should certainly give pause to those who accuse only the Bnei Torah of draft dodging.
One might still say that tone of the editorial is anti-religious. Perhaps. But I would take that tone with a huge grain of salt. Firstly because that editorial has some underlying valid points. Secondly because that perspective about the Bnei Troah is held by a great number of people whose sons and daughters do serve. Thirdly, the personal bias of any given editorial writer is going to be expressed somehow in what he or she writes. And finally, angry rhetoric makes for more exiting reading which is always a goal because that sells more newspapers.
Whenever one sees an article like this, one should consider these facts and read between the lines. And remember that not everything is black and white. One should not judge a newspaper's over all attitudes based on one unfavorable editorial and realize that journalistic integrity must in the long run be the driving force in any newspaper if it is to maintain any long term credibility among its readers.
‘If Jewish community leaders in the United States are genuine in their desire to slow the processes weakening their community, they would do well to reexamine their entrenched opposition to state or federal support for religious education, including Jewish education. They fear that such support, even in the form of tax rebates, would violate the absolute separation of church and state, which could in the long term harm the Jews above all. But it would appear that the proven danger of assimilation must take precedence over fears of potential dangers, particularly after the experience of other Jewish communities that receive funding from the countries they live in without being hurt as a result.’
This sounds very much like something Agudah spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran would write. It is aimed at a secular Jewish establishment that has been subverting any and all attempts to relieve the religious community of the oppressive tuition burden. But it wasn’t Rabbi Shafran. It was Ha’aretz. That’s right. It was the ‘anti religious’ Ha’aretz arguing that assimilation is a far greater danger than the violating the principle of absolute separation of church and state.
I have never thought that Ha’aretz was anti- religious. At least not the English language version. And this editorial proves it. Why would they care about Diaspora Jews assimilating if they are anti religious? This does not mean to say that they are pro Torah. I don’t think they are. But they are not anti-Torah.
Yet whenever I use them as a source, I will always get at least one comment asking how I can rely on such a proven Torah hating newspaper. And telling me not to believe anything I read in it. Of course what they are really saying is that I shouldn’t believe anything in there that disagrees with their worldview. According to them, that is always a lie.
The fact is that newspapers like this are reliable to the extent that any journalistic enterprise is that adheres to journalistic standards. To the extent that they occasionally err is to the extent that human beings are involved. Mistakes in perceptions, failing to double check sources, and personal biases of the reporters, no matter how objective, play a role. But there is no deliberate intent to mislead.
So why is there all this rejection by many religious Jews? Well, it isn’t only religious Jews who complain when they get an unflattering story about themselves. It’s all about whose ox is being gored. And for religious Jews newspapers like Ha'artez are an easy target because the editors are not observant. And the pre-supposition by many in the Orthodox world is that as secular Jews they are anti-Frum.
Another editorial in Ha’aretz is an example where they would accuse it of anti religious bias. And the tone of that piece does make it seem that way. Here is an exerpt:
‘Against this background, it is shocking to learn that yesterday the Knesset decided to extend the so-called Tal Law for another five years due to the government's need to keep Shas in the coalition. This is a cynical, immoral law that absolves a significant portion of Jewish Israelis from the need to either do army service or work for a living. The fact is that 80 percent of ultra-Orthodox men do not work; instead, they live on government grants and stipends and the earnings of their wives. After all, why should they risk their lives? Why should they leave their comfortable incubators as long as the secular donkey is there to bear the burden for them?’
Very crude! It even rubbed me the wrong way. But the fact is I have made pretty much the same arguments this editorial has. And even though I wouldn’t quite put it the way Ha’aretz did (to say the least) that is how many secular Jews look at it. Of course I realize that for the truly dedicated Ben Torah, it isn’t about dodging the draft or risking their lives. It is about devoting full time to learning L’Shma. But the facts remain the same. They are not risking their lives. As for dodging the draft, I saw a statistic recently that one in four eligible Israelis (meaning those not already exempted by Yeshiva exemptions) managed to dodge the draft themselves. This should certainly give pause to those who accuse only the Bnei Torah of draft dodging.
One might still say that tone of the editorial is anti-religious. Perhaps. But I would take that tone with a huge grain of salt. Firstly because that editorial has some underlying valid points. Secondly because that perspective about the Bnei Troah is held by a great number of people whose sons and daughters do serve. Thirdly, the personal bias of any given editorial writer is going to be expressed somehow in what he or she writes. And finally, angry rhetoric makes for more exiting reading which is always a goal because that sells more newspapers.
Whenever one sees an article like this, one should consider these facts and read between the lines. And remember that not everything is black and white. One should not judge a newspaper's over all attitudes based on one unfavorable editorial and realize that journalistic integrity must in the long run be the driving force in any newspaper if it is to maintain any long term credibility among its readers.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Exclusivity? …or Achdus
In this time of mourning for the destruction of our Holy Temple, Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb reminds us of the cause of the destruction of the second temple. The sages explain that Jews had become exclusionist. They were guilty of baseless hatred.
“There was a man – never identified in the story – who threw a party and intended to invite his good friend Kamtza. His servant, however, erred and mistakenly invited his enemy, Bar Kamtza. When the host realized the mistake he immediately and very publicly demanded that Bar Kamtza leave the party. Obviously embarrassed, Bar Kamtza made a series of offers – even, ultimately, offering to pay for the entire party – hoping to persuade the host to allow him to remain. Unmoved, the host callously throws him out of the party. The Gemara recounts that Bar Kamtza was so offended, not only by the host, but also by the silence of the guests – some of whom were great rabbis – that he slandered the Jewish people to the Caesar. One thing leads to another and the result of this sad story is, ultimately, the destruction of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Gittin 55b-56a).”
One of the biggest laments of my life is the lack of Achdus among Jewry. This malaise is such a strong reality in Klal Yisroel that it makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to acheive Achdus again. How does one define the Hebrew word Achdus? The common definition is unity. A united people. I suppose that’s true but I think it is more than that. I see it as brotherhood.
I think Achdus requires practicing the religious precept of Arvus… responsibility of one Jew for another, no matter what his Hashkafos or level of observance is… either to the right or the left. It also requires respect… a sense of tolerance… of Elu V’Elu about one another’s religious views. My dream and my goal is to one day see a people who truly respects one another without reservation. A people where one Jew... any Jew ...can say to another ‘You are my brother’.
If one is one is Orthodox and looks only to other observant Jews as brothers, that would be a huge step toward the direction I want to see our people go. Of course true Achdus would mean encompassing all Jews whether Orthodox or Reform, believing or non-believing. But that is a subject of another discussion. In this discussion I look inward. I look at Orthodoxy
The fact is that we Orthodox Jews tend to be extremely limiting as to who we really consider our brothers ... aside form, paying lip service to it, that is. And I’m sorry to say, the more right wing one is, the less likely one is to consider another Orthodox Jew truly a brother in the sense of tolerance; in the sense of Elu V’Elu. That does not mean to say that left wing Jews are much better. There is plenty of enmity to go around on both ends of the religious spectrum. But in my experience, the more right wing an Orthodox Jew is the more likely he or she is to be insulated from …not only society but from other Orthodox Jews.
There is unfortunately ample evidence if that. The Agudah is a prime example. They have literally gone out of their way to reject Modern Orthodxy completely from their ranks. Though it may not be the official policy, it is certainly the unofficial one. They have yet to invite any Modern Orthodox Rav, no matter how learned… no matter how Ehrlich… no matter how Frum… to be a part of their organization. They will not allow any modern Orhtodox Rav address their conventions. Even if he is a brillian and Ehrliche Talmid Chacham like and Yiras Shamyim like Like Rav Herschel Schachter, let alone someone more Centrist like Dr. Norman Lamm, who the one time head of their Moetzes called a Sonei HaShem an enemy or hater of God!
They proclaim Achdus all the time., But they have yet to fully practice it. And it isn’t just Agudah but all whose Hashkafos are assocuiated with it.
It may seem to some that right wing rabbinic figures have made attempts in the past to engage with Modern Orthodox Jews. In a rather famous event last year that included Rav Aaron Schechter, Rav Aharon Feldman, and Rav Matisyahu Salomon, a Modern Orthodox Rav invited these Rabbis to address his congregation. They accepted and were given a warm and gracious reception by the many who attended. But that event belies the fact that it was almost a totally scripted affair. If I recall correctly questions had to be submitted in advance. It was not an attempt at respecting the views of others. It was instead a Kiruv event… a call by them to ‘come on over to our side’.
There has been no follow up to that event. And even worse is that there was never any reciprocity. No Modern Orthodox Rav of even Rav Herschel Schachter’s stature was ever invited to address a right wing crowd. That event was never a call for Achdus in any real sense. It was the opposite of it.
There is an article in Jewish Action by Rabbi Berel Wein in which he expresses the same feeling. He points out that this has not always been the case. There was a time where different Hashkafos were perfectly acceptable and respected, even if they were not agreed upon. He illustrates this by way of a book he received as a gift. It contains essays by the most disparate of authors whose Hashkafic views polar opposites. It was co-edited by Rabbi Menachem M. Kasher, of author of theTorah Sheleimah . Such a book would never be published today. Rabbi Wein further points out the entire enterprise of Torah education has changed from what was once the most inclusive of institutions to what is now one of the most exclusive… in the most negative sense of the word:
‘At the time, the day school classroom included children of Chassidic rebbes, of modern professionals and of those who came from non-Sabbath observant homes. There are many heads of yeshivot and Jewish schools today who would be unable to obtain admittance to their own schools if today’s exclusivity standards would have been enforced when they were students. And the tragedy is that the irony of this situation is lost upon most of them. In the 1950s the relatively small number of Sabbath-observant families were united in attempting to protect and promulgate their tradition. Divisions existed within the group but there was no demonization, exclusivity or separation from the others in the group.’
How unbearably true!
To further illustrate how truly different thing are today from what they once were, I am reminded of a story I heard about Rav Isser Zalmen Meltzer who was considered the Gadol HaDor of the the Yeshiva world in his day. I believe I have already told this story but it is worth repeating.
Rav Meltzer had heard that Rav Kook was seriously ill and had persuaded another Gadol to go with him to be Mevaker Choleh (...the term for the Mitzvah of visiting the sick). When he approached the door of Rav Kook, he turned to the other Gadol and said, "Until we cross the threshold of Rav Kook’s door we are Gedolim, once we enter Rav Kook’s presence, we are not Gedolim." That is how a Gadol should act. But that is not what we see today as evidenced by how Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's death was treated.
We are today dividers, not uniters! Rabbinic leaders of today especially on the right seek to divide the Jewish people through their exclusionary practices. The call for unity comes only under their own very limited banner. There is no more ‘one Torah’. There are now many!
“There was a man – never identified in the story – who threw a party and intended to invite his good friend Kamtza. His servant, however, erred and mistakenly invited his enemy, Bar Kamtza. When the host realized the mistake he immediately and very publicly demanded that Bar Kamtza leave the party. Obviously embarrassed, Bar Kamtza made a series of offers – even, ultimately, offering to pay for the entire party – hoping to persuade the host to allow him to remain. Unmoved, the host callously throws him out of the party. The Gemara recounts that Bar Kamtza was so offended, not only by the host, but also by the silence of the guests – some of whom were great rabbis – that he slandered the Jewish people to the Caesar. One thing leads to another and the result of this sad story is, ultimately, the destruction of the Beit Ha-Mikdash (Gittin 55b-56a).”
One of the biggest laments of my life is the lack of Achdus among Jewry. This malaise is such a strong reality in Klal Yisroel that it makes me wonder if it will ever be possible to acheive Achdus again. How does one define the Hebrew word Achdus? The common definition is unity. A united people. I suppose that’s true but I think it is more than that. I see it as brotherhood.
I think Achdus requires practicing the religious precept of Arvus… responsibility of one Jew for another, no matter what his Hashkafos or level of observance is… either to the right or the left. It also requires respect… a sense of tolerance… of Elu V’Elu about one another’s religious views. My dream and my goal is to one day see a people who truly respects one another without reservation. A people where one Jew... any Jew ...can say to another ‘You are my brother’.
If one is one is Orthodox and looks only to other observant Jews as brothers, that would be a huge step toward the direction I want to see our people go. Of course true Achdus would mean encompassing all Jews whether Orthodox or Reform, believing or non-believing. But that is a subject of another discussion. In this discussion I look inward. I look at Orthodoxy
The fact is that we Orthodox Jews tend to be extremely limiting as to who we really consider our brothers ... aside form, paying lip service to it, that is. And I’m sorry to say, the more right wing one is, the less likely one is to consider another Orthodox Jew truly a brother in the sense of tolerance; in the sense of Elu V’Elu. That does not mean to say that left wing Jews are much better. There is plenty of enmity to go around on both ends of the religious spectrum. But in my experience, the more right wing an Orthodox Jew is the more likely he or she is to be insulated from …not only society but from other Orthodox Jews.
There is unfortunately ample evidence if that. The Agudah is a prime example. They have literally gone out of their way to reject Modern Orthodxy completely from their ranks. Though it may not be the official policy, it is certainly the unofficial one. They have yet to invite any Modern Orthodox Rav, no matter how learned… no matter how Ehrlich… no matter how Frum… to be a part of their organization. They will not allow any modern Orhtodox Rav address their conventions. Even if he is a brillian and Ehrliche Talmid Chacham like and Yiras Shamyim like Like Rav Herschel Schachter, let alone someone more Centrist like Dr. Norman Lamm, who the one time head of their Moetzes called a Sonei HaShem an enemy or hater of God!
They proclaim Achdus all the time., But they have yet to fully practice it. And it isn’t just Agudah but all whose Hashkafos are assocuiated with it.
It may seem to some that right wing rabbinic figures have made attempts in the past to engage with Modern Orthodox Jews. In a rather famous event last year that included Rav Aaron Schechter, Rav Aharon Feldman, and Rav Matisyahu Salomon, a Modern Orthodox Rav invited these Rabbis to address his congregation. They accepted and were given a warm and gracious reception by the many who attended. But that event belies the fact that it was almost a totally scripted affair. If I recall correctly questions had to be submitted in advance. It was not an attempt at respecting the views of others. It was instead a Kiruv event… a call by them to ‘come on over to our side’.
There has been no follow up to that event. And even worse is that there was never any reciprocity. No Modern Orthodox Rav of even Rav Herschel Schachter’s stature was ever invited to address a right wing crowd. That event was never a call for Achdus in any real sense. It was the opposite of it.
There is an article in Jewish Action by Rabbi Berel Wein in which he expresses the same feeling. He points out that this has not always been the case. There was a time where different Hashkafos were perfectly acceptable and respected, even if they were not agreed upon. He illustrates this by way of a book he received as a gift. It contains essays by the most disparate of authors whose Hashkafic views polar opposites. It was co-edited by Rabbi Menachem M. Kasher, of author of theTorah Sheleimah . Such a book would never be published today. Rabbi Wein further points out the entire enterprise of Torah education has changed from what was once the most inclusive of institutions to what is now one of the most exclusive… in the most negative sense of the word:
‘At the time, the day school classroom included children of Chassidic rebbes, of modern professionals and of those who came from non-Sabbath observant homes. There are many heads of yeshivot and Jewish schools today who would be unable to obtain admittance to their own schools if today’s exclusivity standards would have been enforced when they were students. And the tragedy is that the irony of this situation is lost upon most of them. In the 1950s the relatively small number of Sabbath-observant families were united in attempting to protect and promulgate their tradition. Divisions existed within the group but there was no demonization, exclusivity or separation from the others in the group.’
How unbearably true!
To further illustrate how truly different thing are today from what they once were, I am reminded of a story I heard about Rav Isser Zalmen Meltzer who was considered the Gadol HaDor of the the Yeshiva world in his day. I believe I have already told this story but it is worth repeating.
Rav Meltzer had heard that Rav Kook was seriously ill and had persuaded another Gadol to go with him to be Mevaker Choleh (...the term for the Mitzvah of visiting the sick). When he approached the door of Rav Kook, he turned to the other Gadol and said, "Until we cross the threshold of Rav Kook’s door we are Gedolim, once we enter Rav Kook’s presence, we are not Gedolim." That is how a Gadol should act. But that is not what we see today as evidenced by how Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's death was treated.
We are today dividers, not uniters! Rabbinic leaders of today especially on the right seek to divide the Jewish people through their exclusionary practices. The call for unity comes only under their own very limited banner. There is no more ‘one Torah’. There are now many!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A Ticking Time Bomb
This is a description of a city in Israel by a barber shop patron: "This place is a ticking bomb," …it's going to blow up soon."
And this is some of the graffiti s painted by locals: “(Police chief Cmdr. Oz Elyasi) is a bully” …"Oz is a Nazi," … "Oz is a killer"
And as an article in the Jerusalem Post states: “Callers have issued death threats and Elyasi's nine-year-old daughter suffered from shock as a result of demonstrations outside the Elyasi home…”
This is the way things are in Ramat Bet Shemesh B. This is a city that has been populated almost entirely by either Chasidim from Meah Shearim or Sephardim.
I have no quarrel with residents of Meah Shearim. They have lived there a long time, pre-state I believe. It is their neighborhood and they have a right to their own standards of conduct as long as they do not impinge on the rights of others.
But when a large group of them move en masse into a new town that right ceases to exist. That they have taken over the town does not permit them to abrogate the pre-existing rules. But they don’t see it that way. They have instituted their own religious standards. The same ones they had in Meah Shearim.
Now one might say that since they are the majority of the town, then they should be able to live any way they want. But that isn’t so because the shops that are in their district are utilized by neighbors from the surrounding communities. And their rights are being impinged when they choose to shop there by being forced to dress in a manner consistent with Meah Shearim Tznius standards.
Determined to maintain their extreme standards, they hung out signs insisting upon religious modesty in dress from any patron. Secular passers-by who wanted to shop at any of these stores but were not dressed in accordance with Meah Shearim standards were denied entry. This has been going on for two years. Recently the municipality decided to remove that sign which violated the law aginst hanging unauthorized signs. What is the response? Violence!
This is so typical of this type of religious Jew. This behavior extends to all situations they encounter. It is all about their rights. What they demand is all important! And getting it by any means necessary is what they do. Whether it is in Ramat Bet Shemesh B or A, the streets of Jerusalem, or on a transatlantic flight.
It always bothers me when any Jew does something wrong especially in public. But when Jews who tell us their lifestyles are the epitome of the Torah way of life do things like this it really sickens me.
To be fair the police response in Ramat Bet Shemesh B has been brutal according to reports from people who witnessed it, although the police deny it. But as bad as they might be, they make no claim to be the epitome of Torah Judaism. If they are evil, then it is not a reflection on the Torah. It is a reflection on the lack of it. But when a Torah oriented Jew acts like a gang member, that is a Chilul Hashem.
I used to think that these were just a bunch of hooligans… exceptions from their respective communities. But because behavior like this has become so prevalent, I now believe it is part of a Hashkafa. The Hashkafa of religious extremism.
Extremists do not care a wit about what the rest of the world thinks. They want to make sure their goals are reached... their way of life is going to be preserved. For the residents of Ramat Bet Shemsh B, living the ‘Meah Shearim’ lifestyle trumps any other consideration. And it isn’t only Meah Shearim transplantees that act this way. It include anyone who acts violently in the name of God. Examples abound:
*A little over a year ago a Lag Bomer concert in a Ramat Bet Shemesh park was disrupted by the Rav and his group of thugs because their own standards of Tznius weren’t observed.
*‘Frum’ Jews beat up a middle aged woman for daring to sit in the ‘men’s section’ of an unofficially gender separated bus.
*Anti Gay Pride protesters ransacked the streets of Jerusalem for their cause.
*A group of right wing religious Zionists take over a hill in the West Bank, put up a trailer and call it a settlement. When the government orders it to be dismantled by the police, a riot breaks out. Blood is shed, people get hurt. And cries of ‘Nazis’ and ‘murderers’ are hurled at the police.
These aren’t just hooligans. These are religious Jews. They have a Hashakfa. Their Hashkafa is extremism. They live by the principle of ‘by any means necessary’. They are the ‘Macolm 'X's’ of the Torah world. It was Malcom X, a leader of the Black Muslims who co-opted the phrase ‘by any means neccesary’ for his movement.
These Jews and Macolm X are birds of a feather, they are of the same Hashkafa. ‘No one is going to give them anything.’ ‘They have to take it!’ And violence is legitimate in the pursuit of their goals. All in the name of God!
This Hashkafa of violence is not the way of Chasidus or the way of religious Zionism. Again, I do not absolve the police of any brutality on their part. But the extremists are the cause of their own misfortune. People get hurt on both sides. But it is ‘religious’ Jews who are creating the Chilul HaShem. Not the secular police.
I don’t know why there isn’t a bigger outcry by Rabbinic leaders, not just of their own community but by leaders outside their community. Silence or tepid responses will encourage even more extreme actions. It doesn’t stop them.
Maybe the rabbinic leadership doesn’t speak out more forcefully because they think there is some valildity to the violence. After all, what they are asking for is Torah based. So they ‘pull their punches’. Perhaps they feel that coming out too strongly might seem like they oppose their goals too, which they certainly don’t. So they hold back. Besides these are all these are Frum Jews! And they have their own leaders. They should be the ones to handle it. And the police are the real Reshaim anyway!
The feelings expressed by a shop owner in Ramat Bet Shemesh B should illustrate just how terrible this situation is:
((He) the haredim throw rocks and they spill oil in the road to cause cars to slide out of control. I saw them throw tomatoes at a female soldier who walked through the neighborhood in slacks. On another occasion, an Egged bus driver who [had been] stoned got out of his bus, pulled out a pistol and fired warning shots into the air. "To tell you the truth," he confided, "if I were that bus driver, I wouldn't shoot in the air. I would shoot one of them."
Is this what our rabbinic leadership is waiting for?
And this is some of the graffiti s painted by locals: “(Police chief Cmdr. Oz Elyasi) is a bully” …"Oz is a Nazi," … "Oz is a killer"
And as an article in the Jerusalem Post states: “Callers have issued death threats and Elyasi's nine-year-old daughter suffered from shock as a result of demonstrations outside the Elyasi home…”
This is the way things are in Ramat Bet Shemesh B. This is a city that has been populated almost entirely by either Chasidim from Meah Shearim or Sephardim.
I have no quarrel with residents of Meah Shearim. They have lived there a long time, pre-state I believe. It is their neighborhood and they have a right to their own standards of conduct as long as they do not impinge on the rights of others.
But when a large group of them move en masse into a new town that right ceases to exist. That they have taken over the town does not permit them to abrogate the pre-existing rules. But they don’t see it that way. They have instituted their own religious standards. The same ones they had in Meah Shearim.
Now one might say that since they are the majority of the town, then they should be able to live any way they want. But that isn’t so because the shops that are in their district are utilized by neighbors from the surrounding communities. And their rights are being impinged when they choose to shop there by being forced to dress in a manner consistent with Meah Shearim Tznius standards.
Determined to maintain their extreme standards, they hung out signs insisting upon religious modesty in dress from any patron. Secular passers-by who wanted to shop at any of these stores but were not dressed in accordance with Meah Shearim standards were denied entry. This has been going on for two years. Recently the municipality decided to remove that sign which violated the law aginst hanging unauthorized signs. What is the response? Violence!
This is so typical of this type of religious Jew. This behavior extends to all situations they encounter. It is all about their rights. What they demand is all important! And getting it by any means necessary is what they do. Whether it is in Ramat Bet Shemesh B or A, the streets of Jerusalem, or on a transatlantic flight.
It always bothers me when any Jew does something wrong especially in public. But when Jews who tell us their lifestyles are the epitome of the Torah way of life do things like this it really sickens me.
To be fair the police response in Ramat Bet Shemesh B has been brutal according to reports from people who witnessed it, although the police deny it. But as bad as they might be, they make no claim to be the epitome of Torah Judaism. If they are evil, then it is not a reflection on the Torah. It is a reflection on the lack of it. But when a Torah oriented Jew acts like a gang member, that is a Chilul Hashem.
I used to think that these were just a bunch of hooligans… exceptions from their respective communities. But because behavior like this has become so prevalent, I now believe it is part of a Hashkafa. The Hashkafa of religious extremism.
Extremists do not care a wit about what the rest of the world thinks. They want to make sure their goals are reached... their way of life is going to be preserved. For the residents of Ramat Bet Shemsh B, living the ‘Meah Shearim’ lifestyle trumps any other consideration. And it isn’t only Meah Shearim transplantees that act this way. It include anyone who acts violently in the name of God. Examples abound:
*A little over a year ago a Lag Bomer concert in a Ramat Bet Shemesh park was disrupted by the Rav and his group of thugs because their own standards of Tznius weren’t observed.
*‘Frum’ Jews beat up a middle aged woman for daring to sit in the ‘men’s section’ of an unofficially gender separated bus.
*Anti Gay Pride protesters ransacked the streets of Jerusalem for their cause.
*A group of right wing religious Zionists take over a hill in the West Bank, put up a trailer and call it a settlement. When the government orders it to be dismantled by the police, a riot breaks out. Blood is shed, people get hurt. And cries of ‘Nazis’ and ‘murderers’ are hurled at the police.
These aren’t just hooligans. These are religious Jews. They have a Hashakfa. Their Hashkafa is extremism. They live by the principle of ‘by any means necessary’. They are the ‘Macolm 'X's’ of the Torah world. It was Malcom X, a leader of the Black Muslims who co-opted the phrase ‘by any means neccesary’ for his movement.
These Jews and Macolm X are birds of a feather, they are of the same Hashkafa. ‘No one is going to give them anything.’ ‘They have to take it!’ And violence is legitimate in the pursuit of their goals. All in the name of God!
This Hashkafa of violence is not the way of Chasidus or the way of religious Zionism. Again, I do not absolve the police of any brutality on their part. But the extremists are the cause of their own misfortune. People get hurt on both sides. But it is ‘religious’ Jews who are creating the Chilul HaShem. Not the secular police.
I don’t know why there isn’t a bigger outcry by Rabbinic leaders, not just of their own community but by leaders outside their community. Silence or tepid responses will encourage even more extreme actions. It doesn’t stop them.
Maybe the rabbinic leadership doesn’t speak out more forcefully because they think there is some valildity to the violence. After all, what they are asking for is Torah based. So they ‘pull their punches’. Perhaps they feel that coming out too strongly might seem like they oppose their goals too, which they certainly don’t. So they hold back. Besides these are all these are Frum Jews! And they have their own leaders. They should be the ones to handle it. And the police are the real Reshaim anyway!
The feelings expressed by a shop owner in Ramat Bet Shemesh B should illustrate just how terrible this situation is:
((He) the haredim throw rocks and they spill oil in the road to cause cars to slide out of control. I saw them throw tomatoes at a female soldier who walked through the neighborhood in slacks. On another occasion, an Egged bus driver who [had been] stoned got out of his bus, pulled out a pistol and fired warning shots into the air. "To tell you the truth," he confided, "if I were that bus driver, I wouldn't shoot in the air. I would shoot one of them."
Is this what our rabbinic leadership is waiting for?
Monday, July 16, 2007
Truth and Faith
In the constant search for truth in the brutal and intellectually honest fashion that is his style, the artist formally known as ‘Not the Godol Hador’ seeks to construct a theology for Orthodoxy that will make science and Torah totally compatible. To put it the way he does:
“(W)hat’s the best rational ideology/theology we can come up with in this space, given … contradictory goals? And once we have come up with it, will it be any good?”
“Is it inevitably going to be Reform Theology + Utilitarian Orthopraxy? Or is there something a little better we can come up with?”
“Some may ask, why do we want to come up with something compatible with (Orthodox Judaism)? Why not just become Conservative or Secular? Sure, we could just become Conservative, but that's not very original. Also this blog would get boring. Also (and more seriously), OF COURSE most people here are invested in (Orthodox Judaism) in one sense or another, AND they are also invested in believing things which are true, and would like these two aspects of their life to co-exist in some sensible way.”
The truth is that one cannot get away from it. What XGH is in essence espousing is a version of Conservative theology. Emet Ve-Emunah is the name of the Conservative Movement’s defining document.
When he retired as chancellor of the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary, Dr. Ismar Schorsch’s urged the new leadership to keep the movement loyal to Halacha. He characterized Orthodoxy, Reform, and Conservative in terms of Emet (Truth) and Emunah (Faith). He said something to the effect that, “Orthodoxy has Emunah but no Emet and Reform has Emet but no Emunah. It is only the Conservative movement that has both and that without Halacha which is the offshoot of faith, the Consevative Movement would in essence bvecome just another version of Reform. The Emet he spoke of is that of taking into account the very ame issues that XGH does.
XGH looks at scientific facts that seem incompatible with the more traditional literalist interpretations of the bible, and says that Metzius, nature as 'proven' through scientific evidence, trumps the Mesorah, the traditional understanding of the Torah. We must, therefore re-interpret the Torah so that it doesn't contradict the Metzius. That is precisely what the Conservative movement does.
They look at biblical criticism, scientific evidence, and archaeology, and conclude that all those criticisms are valid and thus make and the traditional interpretations problematic. Traditional understandings must therefore be wrong and they re-interpret. Their re-interpretations have made just about the entire Torah narrative an allegory with no basis in fact. No Exodus. No Sinai. No mass revelation. Is that really Judaism? Not to me.
As rational and appealing as this approach is, there is problem with it. Automatically rejecting traditional interpretations of the Torah when confronted with scientific evidence to the contrary is no guarantee that one has found a clearer vision of truth. There are always going to be new discoveries that will which change our understanding of the Metzius as previously perceived. Who is to say that at some point science won't take a turn towards a more traditional and literal understandings of the Torah? It could happen. And it has happened.
Recently DovBear, featured an article describing an archeological find that corroborated the existence of a minor biblical figure. Of course that could be explained away by the skeptics. But doesn't that at least show that scientific discovery can just as easily prove as disprove?
Science if nothing else is about the truth of nature. Dogma has no place in it. That includes any science that is today treated as dogma. This fact, at least for me, prevents me from automatically rejecting Masoretic interpretations of portions of the Torah that are disputed by the current science.
Changes in scientific knowledge in the future may alter our understanding of natural evidence in ways that make it compatible with a more traditional understanding of Torah. A good example of this is the relatively recent acknowledgement by science that the ‘Big Bang’ that began the universe was ‘Yesh MeAyin’, something from nothing. Matter and energy had not pre-existed in any form. Yesh MeAyin is a core belief in Judaism. The universe was created from nothing. If I understand correctly, until recently Yesh MeAyin was incompatible with the known science of our time. Now it IS the science of our time. Who is to say that something else like this won’t happen again in other areas?
In short we can't really know the truth of the Torah through the study of science since science by definition is subject to change. Torah on the other hand does not change. What may change is our understanding of it. Does mankind now understand the entirety of Torah? No. Only Moshe Rabbenu had that merit. Almost.
We do the best we can when seeking truth with the intelligence God gave us. I believe that a complete understanding of both the Torah and nature (which is what science studies) would without a doubt show one hundred percent compatibility.
“(W)hat’s the best rational ideology/theology we can come up with in this space, given … contradictory goals? And once we have come up with it, will it be any good?”
“Is it inevitably going to be Reform Theology + Utilitarian Orthopraxy? Or is there something a little better we can come up with?”
“Some may ask, why do we want to come up with something compatible with (Orthodox Judaism)? Why not just become Conservative or Secular? Sure, we could just become Conservative, but that's not very original. Also this blog would get boring. Also (and more seriously), OF COURSE most people here are invested in (Orthodox Judaism) in one sense or another, AND they are also invested in believing things which are true, and would like these two aspects of their life to co-exist in some sensible way.”
The truth is that one cannot get away from it. What XGH is in essence espousing is a version of Conservative theology. Emet Ve-Emunah is the name of the Conservative Movement’s defining document.
When he retired as chancellor of the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary, Dr. Ismar Schorsch’s urged the new leadership to keep the movement loyal to Halacha. He characterized Orthodoxy, Reform, and Conservative in terms of Emet (Truth) and Emunah (Faith). He said something to the effect that, “Orthodoxy has Emunah but no Emet and Reform has Emet but no Emunah. It is only the Conservative movement that has both and that without Halacha which is the offshoot of faith, the Consevative Movement would in essence bvecome just another version of Reform. The Emet he spoke of is that of taking into account the very ame issues that XGH does.
XGH looks at scientific facts that seem incompatible with the more traditional literalist interpretations of the bible, and says that Metzius, nature as 'proven' through scientific evidence, trumps the Mesorah, the traditional understanding of the Torah. We must, therefore re-interpret the Torah so that it doesn't contradict the Metzius. That is precisely what the Conservative movement does.
They look at biblical criticism, scientific evidence, and archaeology, and conclude that all those criticisms are valid and thus make and the traditional interpretations problematic. Traditional understandings must therefore be wrong and they re-interpret. Their re-interpretations have made just about the entire Torah narrative an allegory with no basis in fact. No Exodus. No Sinai. No mass revelation. Is that really Judaism? Not to me.
As rational and appealing as this approach is, there is problem with it. Automatically rejecting traditional interpretations of the Torah when confronted with scientific evidence to the contrary is no guarantee that one has found a clearer vision of truth. There are always going to be new discoveries that will which change our understanding of the Metzius as previously perceived. Who is to say that at some point science won't take a turn towards a more traditional and literal understandings of the Torah? It could happen. And it has happened.
Recently DovBear, featured an article describing an archeological find that corroborated the existence of a minor biblical figure. Of course that could be explained away by the skeptics. But doesn't that at least show that scientific discovery can just as easily prove as disprove?
Science if nothing else is about the truth of nature. Dogma has no place in it. That includes any science that is today treated as dogma. This fact, at least for me, prevents me from automatically rejecting Masoretic interpretations of portions of the Torah that are disputed by the current science.
Changes in scientific knowledge in the future may alter our understanding of natural evidence in ways that make it compatible with a more traditional understanding of Torah. A good example of this is the relatively recent acknowledgement by science that the ‘Big Bang’ that began the universe was ‘Yesh MeAyin’, something from nothing. Matter and energy had not pre-existed in any form. Yesh MeAyin is a core belief in Judaism. The universe was created from nothing. If I understand correctly, until recently Yesh MeAyin was incompatible with the known science of our time. Now it IS the science of our time. Who is to say that something else like this won’t happen again in other areas?
In short we can't really know the truth of the Torah through the study of science since science by definition is subject to change. Torah on the other hand does not change. What may change is our understanding of it. Does mankind now understand the entirety of Torah? No. Only Moshe Rabbenu had that merit. Almost.
We do the best we can when seeking truth with the intelligence God gave us. I believe that a complete understanding of both the Torah and nature (which is what science studies) would without a doubt show one hundred percent compatibility.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Is Bashing Modern Orthodoxy a Solution?
Rebbetzin Toby Katz is a friend of mine. We are in fact distantly related through marriage. Her sister is married to my daughter in law’s uncle.
My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Rebbetzin Katz upon an invitation issued to me when she had learned that I was going to be in her ‘neighborhood’ of Miami Beach. My initial contact with her was on the Avodah/Areivim e-mail list in which we both participate. There I learned of her views on just about everything.
In most cases our views are not that far apart. She is an adherent of the Torah Im Derech Eretz philosophy which she tells us was that of her father’s. Her father was Rabbi Nachman Bulman, one of the most beloved rabbinic leaders of the twentieth century. Rebbetzin Katz once told the Avodah list what her father said about Baltimore Yeshiva Ner Israel which I think best describes how he thought Judaism should be practiced: They specialize in ‘normal’.
I often say that the philosophies of Torah Im Derech Eretz (TIDE) and Torah u’Mada are not that far apart. The differences are somewhat academic but in the main, both philosophies value the study of secular subjects. Both philosophies believe in participation in permissible aspects of secular culture. Rabbi Bulman had a television in his home as his children were growing up. He obviously believed, as do I, that television has value if properly used.
Rebbitzin Katz is an articulate spokesman for her views which are usually quite thoughtful and balanced. But as I have come to learn over time her statements sometimes seem like they are at odds with her own views. After first expressing her own exasperation at how Chasidim in her in her North Miami Beach neighborhood seemed to avoid all social contact with their Orthodox neighbors , she went the other way. Instead of the balance I usually hear from her she issued a challenge. In last Friday’s essay on Cross-Currents after reading some very strong comments against the members of the community she had herself criticized she said the following::
“I’d like to see a Modern Orthodox blog on which some MO writer would admit there are problems in the MO community(or a Reform site on which a writer admitted there are some things wrong with the Reform movement), and dozens of people would pile on to criticize him for not condemning his own community even more strongly, and to point out that his community is much worse than he admits, and in fact, has hardly any redeeming features”
Quid pro quo? Is that the balance she seeks? Must we bash one community so that we can better accept the behavior of another? Would it not be more productive to address the issues and challenges of those who were criticizing the very same people she had just criticized? True, there was a sort of ‘piling on’ by commenters who viewed actions by this group negatively. That is sometimes the case when being critical of other groups, it give rise to people pointing out other problems they have experienced or seen in that group. But that should not generate a challenge to be critical of others. Pointing out the problems of others is not going solve these problems. All it does is inflame the argument.
That said, I would agree that there are some very serious problems in the Modern Orthodox community. This community is the home of the Torah U’Mada philosophy and those of us that adhere to it… which I define as Centrist. But the sad fact is that the vast majority of Modern Orthodoxy can be defined as a social grouping and not as a philosophy. As Rabbi Yosef Bechhofer recently put it:
MO is not really a philosophy, but a lifestyle... The average Ba'al HaBayis in an MO community (or any community, for that matter) is not given to philosophical rumination"
I believe that is an accurate statement. Modern Orthodoxy is full of problems. Here is just a partial list that comes to mind.
Because Modern Orthodxy is looked at as a lifestyle choice many of its members are not concerned with optimal Mitzvah observance. It is therefore not uncommon for a family to have only the most basic level of observance while making sure that their lifestyles are as assimilated into the general culture as possible. In other words the lifestyle has a high level of importance to them. For many in the Modern Orthodox world, observance does not go beyond two very important issues: Shabbos and Kashrus. Ignorance of Halacha in both areas, however, causes many inadvertent violations.
For example some Modern Orthodox people mistakenly will eat fish prepared in a non kosher restaurant without making certain that it was prepared in accordance with the rather complex set of Kashrus laws. Shabbos is observered in ways that subtly violate Halacha. In most cases this is due to ignorance, at least in part. But I believe that in many cases it is due to an almost deliberate avoidance of knowledge on the subject.
I have heard many Modern Orthodox Jews... in response to why they are not observant of a particular Halacha say the following statement: ‘Everybody picks and chooses what they observe anway, don’t they?” “We choose to be lenient on this or that issue.” And because of ignorance on various Halachic issues the leniency is an actual violation of Halacha. Most modern Orthodox Jews will choose behavior which fits in best with their lifestyles. If a relatively minor Halacha doesn’t fit in… well they just ignore it. Given the choice they will usually pick lifestyles over Halacha.
Their lifestyles include as much assimilation with the general culture as possible to the point where some of their activities border on Issurei Arayos, those laws guiding sexual behavior. Here are a couple of observations I have made over the years.
*Far too many Modern Orthodox Jews can be seen dancing with the spouses of other people at weddings and Bar Mitzvos that have social dancing.
*Mixed swimming is the norm in the MO communities. Women will wear the most fashionable two piece bathing suits they can afford. Yes I’ve seen it. I admit that I used to go mixed swimming in the Glatt Kosher Hotels in Miami Beach back in the eighties. I no longer do.
The truth is there were plenty of Charedi Jews by the pool too. The men wore black hats to Shul and in the streets. The women wore expensive wigs and were normally very modest in their dress,well within Halacha. But they also went to the pool every day. They covered their hair at the pool… but not much else! Their kids? Well, many had Peyos and in most cases went to right wing Yeshivos in New York. But I digress.
The point I am trying to make is that many if not most Modern Orthodox Jews place far too much value on assimilation and not nearly enough value on Halacha.
Another problem is the values that are prioritized in the Modern Orthodox community. Instead of putting Torah first they put Mada first. But it isn’t really Mada. It is the ‘right schools’. To many modern Orthodox parents, the entire goal for their children is to get into an Ivy League school. Yeshiva post high school is limited to at best a year in Israel which is some cases is treated by modern Orthodox students as a year long vacation.
After they come back, they are all set to go to Harvard or Columbia. Yeshiva University is a poor second choice. Torah study? Yeah yeah… when they have time! Right.
Now there are some good people who attended University and are as sincere about Mitzva observance and Torah learning as the most devoted Lakewood student. But I think that is the exception rather than the ruele. The vast majority of them tend to be very limited in their Torah knowledge and their observance level mimics what they saw in the home.
So yes, Modern Orthodoxy has problems. And I haven’t even touched upon the very left wing segments of it where the Hashkafos themselves might be borderline.
Acknowledging that Modern Orthodoxy has serious problems like these does not make the problems of the Charedi community go away. We are one people. And we ought to note the problems as a whole and address them together. That’s what Achdus is all about.
My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting Rebbetzin Katz upon an invitation issued to me when she had learned that I was going to be in her ‘neighborhood’ of Miami Beach. My initial contact with her was on the Avodah/Areivim e-mail list in which we both participate. There I learned of her views on just about everything.
In most cases our views are not that far apart. She is an adherent of the Torah Im Derech Eretz philosophy which she tells us was that of her father’s. Her father was Rabbi Nachman Bulman, one of the most beloved rabbinic leaders of the twentieth century. Rebbetzin Katz once told the Avodah list what her father said about Baltimore Yeshiva Ner Israel which I think best describes how he thought Judaism should be practiced: They specialize in ‘normal’.
I often say that the philosophies of Torah Im Derech Eretz (TIDE) and Torah u’Mada are not that far apart. The differences are somewhat academic but in the main, both philosophies value the study of secular subjects. Both philosophies believe in participation in permissible aspects of secular culture. Rabbi Bulman had a television in his home as his children were growing up. He obviously believed, as do I, that television has value if properly used.
Rebbitzin Katz is an articulate spokesman for her views which are usually quite thoughtful and balanced. But as I have come to learn over time her statements sometimes seem like they are at odds with her own views. After first expressing her own exasperation at how Chasidim in her in her North Miami Beach neighborhood seemed to avoid all social contact with their Orthodox neighbors , she went the other way. Instead of the balance I usually hear from her she issued a challenge. In last Friday’s essay on Cross-Currents after reading some very strong comments against the members of the community she had herself criticized she said the following::
“I’d like to see a Modern Orthodox blog on which some MO writer would admit there are problems in the MO community(or a Reform site on which a writer admitted there are some things wrong with the Reform movement), and dozens of people would pile on to criticize him for not condemning his own community even more strongly, and to point out that his community is much worse than he admits, and in fact, has hardly any redeeming features”
Quid pro quo? Is that the balance she seeks? Must we bash one community so that we can better accept the behavior of another? Would it not be more productive to address the issues and challenges of those who were criticizing the very same people she had just criticized? True, there was a sort of ‘piling on’ by commenters who viewed actions by this group negatively. That is sometimes the case when being critical of other groups, it give rise to people pointing out other problems they have experienced or seen in that group. But that should not generate a challenge to be critical of others. Pointing out the problems of others is not going solve these problems. All it does is inflame the argument.
That said, I would agree that there are some very serious problems in the Modern Orthodox community. This community is the home of the Torah U’Mada philosophy and those of us that adhere to it… which I define as Centrist. But the sad fact is that the vast majority of Modern Orthodoxy can be defined as a social grouping and not as a philosophy. As Rabbi Yosef Bechhofer recently put it:
MO is not really a philosophy, but a lifestyle... The average Ba'al HaBayis in an MO community (or any community, for that matter) is not given to philosophical rumination"
I believe that is an accurate statement. Modern Orthodoxy is full of problems. Here is just a partial list that comes to mind.
Because Modern Orthodxy is looked at as a lifestyle choice many of its members are not concerned with optimal Mitzvah observance. It is therefore not uncommon for a family to have only the most basic level of observance while making sure that their lifestyles are as assimilated into the general culture as possible. In other words the lifestyle has a high level of importance to them. For many in the Modern Orthodox world, observance does not go beyond two very important issues: Shabbos and Kashrus. Ignorance of Halacha in both areas, however, causes many inadvertent violations.
For example some Modern Orthodox people mistakenly will eat fish prepared in a non kosher restaurant without making certain that it was prepared in accordance with the rather complex set of Kashrus laws. Shabbos is observered in ways that subtly violate Halacha. In most cases this is due to ignorance, at least in part. But I believe that in many cases it is due to an almost deliberate avoidance of knowledge on the subject.
I have heard many Modern Orthodox Jews... in response to why they are not observant of a particular Halacha say the following statement: ‘Everybody picks and chooses what they observe anway, don’t they?” “We choose to be lenient on this or that issue.” And because of ignorance on various Halachic issues the leniency is an actual violation of Halacha. Most modern Orthodox Jews will choose behavior which fits in best with their lifestyles. If a relatively minor Halacha doesn’t fit in… well they just ignore it. Given the choice they will usually pick lifestyles over Halacha.
Their lifestyles include as much assimilation with the general culture as possible to the point where some of their activities border on Issurei Arayos, those laws guiding sexual behavior. Here are a couple of observations I have made over the years.
*Far too many Modern Orthodox Jews can be seen dancing with the spouses of other people at weddings and Bar Mitzvos that have social dancing.
*Mixed swimming is the norm in the MO communities. Women will wear the most fashionable two piece bathing suits they can afford. Yes I’ve seen it. I admit that I used to go mixed swimming in the Glatt Kosher Hotels in Miami Beach back in the eighties. I no longer do.
The truth is there were plenty of Charedi Jews by the pool too. The men wore black hats to Shul and in the streets. The women wore expensive wigs and were normally very modest in their dress,well within Halacha. But they also went to the pool every day. They covered their hair at the pool… but not much else! Their kids? Well, many had Peyos and in most cases went to right wing Yeshivos in New York. But I digress.
The point I am trying to make is that many if not most Modern Orthodox Jews place far too much value on assimilation and not nearly enough value on Halacha.
Another problem is the values that are prioritized in the Modern Orthodox community. Instead of putting Torah first they put Mada first. But it isn’t really Mada. It is the ‘right schools’. To many modern Orthodox parents, the entire goal for their children is to get into an Ivy League school. Yeshiva post high school is limited to at best a year in Israel which is some cases is treated by modern Orthodox students as a year long vacation.
After they come back, they are all set to go to Harvard or Columbia. Yeshiva University is a poor second choice. Torah study? Yeah yeah… when they have time! Right.
Now there are some good people who attended University and are as sincere about Mitzva observance and Torah learning as the most devoted Lakewood student. But I think that is the exception rather than the ruele. The vast majority of them tend to be very limited in their Torah knowledge and their observance level mimics what they saw in the home.
So yes, Modern Orthodoxy has problems. And I haven’t even touched upon the very left wing segments of it where the Hashkafos themselves might be borderline.
Acknowledging that Modern Orthodoxy has serious problems like these does not make the problems of the Charedi community go away. We are one people. And we ought to note the problems as a whole and address them together. That’s what Achdus is all about.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Internet: A New Approach
Well it looks like the Gedolim are finally paying attention. Perhaps they read my blog on this issue… or the many other responsible bloggers who were saying the same thing. (For those who humor impaired, I’m kidding)
Bottom line is that the reality of life in the Torah world is counter to their wishes. The Internet is here to stay and they know it. No amount of Takanos are going to change that reality except in the most isolated of environments, like Lakewood or Bnei Brak. And even those places have many violators, as can be seen by the numbers from those communities who have blogs of their own and comment on other ones.
Here is a very partial list of the internet's responses to the admonitions against it:
*There are a multitude of Torah sites including those which feature Shiurim like Daf Yomi.
*Rabbi Avi Shafran, the official spokesman of Agudah which is the home of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is a featured writer on a very prominent blog.
*The Jewish Observer in its entirety is featured on a website.
*The Yated has many of its articles featured on a website called Dei’ah VeDibur.
While it is true that the latter two are not official websites, both have permission from their sources to post their articles. These websites are designed mostly for the very public that has been admonitioned against using it.
If I understand correctly the Agudah Moetzes has not come out with an official Takana, forbidding the Internet. I’m sure they would if they thought it would work. But they realize that their own public will not abide by it. So they are finally changing their tactic.
Last Sunday there was a community wide meeting in the largest Orthodox Shul in Chicago. K.I.N.S. They had an overflow crowd, probably well over 1000 people. The subject was Internet safety. According to Chana’s notes (hat tip: Neil Harris) the driving force of this meeting was Agudah Moetzes member, HaRav Avraham Chaim Levin, Rosh HaYeshiva of Telshe here in Chicago.
The fact that not a single speaker said you can’t have the internet in you home makes a very clear statement to me. To be clear, I do not want to put words into Rabbi Levin’s mouth. He may very well be strongly opposed to having the internet in the home. But not a word was spoken against it.
There were many people from every segment in Chicago, all there for the same reason. This is a wonderful testament to the degree of Achdus we still have in Chicago despite the growing community. It would be no exaggeration to say that fully 75% of the crowd in attendance have the internet in their homes.
If I recall correctly Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon has actually said that the internet is forbidden, but I am told he has also admitted that if not for the inherent dangers, that it would be one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century.
It seems that all the sentimets I have expressed in the past are now finally being acknowledged in one form or another. The fact is that Rabbi Salomon’s statement about the internet is true. It is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and it also poses one of the most serious mass spiritual threats the Torah world has ever faced.
The problem I always had with the approach of those who forbid it is the fact that they ignored the benefits of the internet which are thrown out with it. If you combine Rabbi Salomon’s admission of the benefits with the meeting that took place here in Chicago last Sunday, we finally have sensibility on this issue from important rabbinic leaders. They are finally dealing with the issue in ways that I have suggested they should.
That evening there was much talk about the dangers with many examples given and suggestions made about how one should handle the medium in their own homes. It was also noted by speakers that just because one does not have the interent in their homes that does not mean their children will never come into contact with it. Computers are so pervasive now, almost anything with a screen can provide access.
Speakers that evening included an expert in the field of sexual abuse, Rabbi Dr. David Pelcovitz. He spoke of an e-mail he received from a young man from a good Charedi type home with good parents and a nurturing environment who had become addicted to porn. And nobody knows it. The young man was still a member in good standing in his Yeshiva among peers and Rebbeim alike. He was learning well, got good grades and was well adjusted in his environment. No one, he said, would ever suspect that he was addicted. And he got started quite by chance.
As I said the dangers are real and forbidding it in the home is at best a delaying tactic. Once a child is old enough and he wants to find out what all the fuss is about, he will find a way when no one is looking.
Many suggestions were given and you can read about them on Chana’s blog. But as I said at least now we have some sanity on the issue. Blanket Takanos never really work and as we have seen admonitions against the internet have been virtually ignored by the vast majority of Orthodox homes.
Bottom line is that the reality of life in the Torah world is counter to their wishes. The Internet is here to stay and they know it. No amount of Takanos are going to change that reality except in the most isolated of environments, like Lakewood or Bnei Brak. And even those places have many violators, as can be seen by the numbers from those communities who have blogs of their own and comment on other ones.
Here is a very partial list of the internet's responses to the admonitions against it:
*There are a multitude of Torah sites including those which feature Shiurim like Daf Yomi.
*Rabbi Avi Shafran, the official spokesman of Agudah which is the home of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah is a featured writer on a very prominent blog.
*The Jewish Observer in its entirety is featured on a website.
*The Yated has many of its articles featured on a website called Dei’ah VeDibur.
While it is true that the latter two are not official websites, both have permission from their sources to post their articles. These websites are designed mostly for the very public that has been admonitioned against using it.
If I understand correctly the Agudah Moetzes has not come out with an official Takana, forbidding the Internet. I’m sure they would if they thought it would work. But they realize that their own public will not abide by it. So they are finally changing their tactic.
Last Sunday there was a community wide meeting in the largest Orthodox Shul in Chicago. K.I.N.S. They had an overflow crowd, probably well over 1000 people. The subject was Internet safety. According to Chana’s notes (hat tip: Neil Harris) the driving force of this meeting was Agudah Moetzes member, HaRav Avraham Chaim Levin, Rosh HaYeshiva of Telshe here in Chicago.
The fact that not a single speaker said you can’t have the internet in you home makes a very clear statement to me. To be clear, I do not want to put words into Rabbi Levin’s mouth. He may very well be strongly opposed to having the internet in the home. But not a word was spoken against it.
There were many people from every segment in Chicago, all there for the same reason. This is a wonderful testament to the degree of Achdus we still have in Chicago despite the growing community. It would be no exaggeration to say that fully 75% of the crowd in attendance have the internet in their homes.
If I recall correctly Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon has actually said that the internet is forbidden, but I am told he has also admitted that if not for the inherent dangers, that it would be one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century.
It seems that all the sentimets I have expressed in the past are now finally being acknowledged in one form or another. The fact is that Rabbi Salomon’s statement about the internet is true. It is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and it also poses one of the most serious mass spiritual threats the Torah world has ever faced.
The problem I always had with the approach of those who forbid it is the fact that they ignored the benefits of the internet which are thrown out with it. If you combine Rabbi Salomon’s admission of the benefits with the meeting that took place here in Chicago last Sunday, we finally have sensibility on this issue from important rabbinic leaders. They are finally dealing with the issue in ways that I have suggested they should.
That evening there was much talk about the dangers with many examples given and suggestions made about how one should handle the medium in their own homes. It was also noted by speakers that just because one does not have the interent in their homes that does not mean their children will never come into contact with it. Computers are so pervasive now, almost anything with a screen can provide access.
Speakers that evening included an expert in the field of sexual abuse, Rabbi Dr. David Pelcovitz. He spoke of an e-mail he received from a young man from a good Charedi type home with good parents and a nurturing environment who had become addicted to porn. And nobody knows it. The young man was still a member in good standing in his Yeshiva among peers and Rebbeim alike. He was learning well, got good grades and was well adjusted in his environment. No one, he said, would ever suspect that he was addicted. And he got started quite by chance.
As I said the dangers are real and forbidding it in the home is at best a delaying tactic. Once a child is old enough and he wants to find out what all the fuss is about, he will find a way when no one is looking.
Many suggestions were given and you can read about them on Chana’s blog. But as I said at least now we have some sanity on the issue. Blanket Takanos never really work and as we have seen admonitions against the internet have been virtually ignored by the vast majority of Orthodox homes.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Love, Not War
There is a wonderful and thought provoking essay written by Miriam from Jerusalem. Her sentiments are certainly appropriate for the 3 weeks. I couldn’t agree more about many of the Midos she feels are lacking amongst many of us. As she so astutely points out, there should be a lot more emphasis on who ‘we are’ and not ‘who they aren’t’. Inward focus is always good during a period of mourning for the Beis HaMikdash that we are now in. As she says, “Remember ahavat Hashem, yirat shamayim, Torah, prayer, middot, derekh eretz...” and now indeed is the time where we should be, “Refocusing the attention towards yirat shamayim...”
The title of her essay is, “The Battle Ground”. Events taking place in the Torah world are then charcaterized as two sides at war. That is not my perspective at all. It is not a war between ‘us’ and ‘them’. I do not see my Charedi, Chasidic, Modern Orthodox-Lite or Religious Zionist brethren as enemies of Centrists, God forbid. The Jewish people are beloved to me. All of them. I do not go to war with the people I love.
There is perhaps an ideological battle for the hearts and minds of Klal Yisroel in how to do our Avodas HaShem. And that war is well and proper in the sense of Hillel and Shamai, Rava and Abaye, the Rambam and the Raavid and in the modern era... the Satmar Rebbe and Rav Kook. Such wars are legitimate. They are all a search for truth. It is a Milchemta D’shmaya. And both sides are ‘right’ in the sense of Elu V’Elu, Divrei Elokim Chaim.
We can and should argue our Hashkafic positions using sources that support our views. And we can look to various rabbinic leaders who express our sentiments to back us up. But each side should not be out to conquer. Only to convince.
I will agree, however, that are many people who do look at others as the ‘enemy’ and say they are at war with them. That is truly sad. But that is not me. I am not at war with anyone or any group.
I am at war with ignorance and intolerance. I am at war with decisions by rabbinic leaders which I believe are harmful to Klal Yisroel. I am at war with any individual or group that causes a Chilul HaShem. And I will continue speaking out on those issues. NOT because I am at war with people, but because I am at war with what they do. Even if they do so in the name of God! Those who act in ways which create a Chilul HaShem while claiming to be doing a Kiddush HaShem will succeed only in the former and fail in the latter.
Am I always right on every issue? That is my hope, but I freely admit that I may be wrong on some issues. Since I am only a human being with only finite wisdom, all I can do is follow my conscience. A conscience that was formed by my upbringing, my education, and my experience. I see an injustice and I use my own God given intelligence to analyze and comment on it. That is the least anyone can ask of a human being.
But to sit silently by while our world, the Torah world, goes to hell in a hand-basket, even though the road to it is paved with the best of intentions... is to violate at least the spirit if not the letter of the Torah’s admonition Lo Samod Al Dam Reiacha. Do not stand idly by, while your friend’s blood is being spilled. And my friend is Klal Yisroel, all of it... or an individual part of it.
To look the other way when an individual or a group of people who identify... and are identified by others... as religious Jews, while they commit grievous Chilulei HaShem...to ignore decisions that affect the well being of tens of thousands of religious Jews by rabbinic leaders who refuse to make necessary changes in their communities... to sweep under the rug violations of a sexual nature by others because it reflects badly on 'us' at the expense of the victims... well, I’m not going to do that.
Just to be clear. I do not say that I have an exclusive monopoly on the truth in those instances in which I speak out. And I am not in any way accusing any of the rabbinic leadership of our people of nefarious motives or evil, God forbid. They are all certainly great people who are far more knowledgeable than I am in Torah. People with great wisdom indeed. And I am absolutely convinced that their decisions are based on their best interpretation of justice and right as seen through the eyes of the Torah as they understand it. But even though I am not as great as these people, I will still speak out if I feel their decisions are wrong in spite of their great wisdom. People can disagree with me and that is their right. But I am not going to stop.
And anyone else who sees injustice should speak out as well. Often! Until they are heard. When there is injustice in the world, especially in our world, the Torah world, we must do everything in our power to try and stop it, without creating other injustices in the process. That is why I speak out. That is why we all should.
The title of her essay is, “The Battle Ground”. Events taking place in the Torah world are then charcaterized as two sides at war. That is not my perspective at all. It is not a war between ‘us’ and ‘them’. I do not see my Charedi, Chasidic, Modern Orthodox-Lite or Religious Zionist brethren as enemies of Centrists, God forbid. The Jewish people are beloved to me. All of them. I do not go to war with the people I love.
There is perhaps an ideological battle for the hearts and minds of Klal Yisroel in how to do our Avodas HaShem. And that war is well and proper in the sense of Hillel and Shamai, Rava and Abaye, the Rambam and the Raavid and in the modern era... the Satmar Rebbe and Rav Kook. Such wars are legitimate. They are all a search for truth. It is a Milchemta D’shmaya. And both sides are ‘right’ in the sense of Elu V’Elu, Divrei Elokim Chaim.
We can and should argue our Hashkafic positions using sources that support our views. And we can look to various rabbinic leaders who express our sentiments to back us up. But each side should not be out to conquer. Only to convince.
I will agree, however, that are many people who do look at others as the ‘enemy’ and say they are at war with them. That is truly sad. But that is not me. I am not at war with anyone or any group.
I am at war with ignorance and intolerance. I am at war with decisions by rabbinic leaders which I believe are harmful to Klal Yisroel. I am at war with any individual or group that causes a Chilul HaShem. And I will continue speaking out on those issues. NOT because I am at war with people, but because I am at war with what they do. Even if they do so in the name of God! Those who act in ways which create a Chilul HaShem while claiming to be doing a Kiddush HaShem will succeed only in the former and fail in the latter.
Am I always right on every issue? That is my hope, but I freely admit that I may be wrong on some issues. Since I am only a human being with only finite wisdom, all I can do is follow my conscience. A conscience that was formed by my upbringing, my education, and my experience. I see an injustice and I use my own God given intelligence to analyze and comment on it. That is the least anyone can ask of a human being.
But to sit silently by while our world, the Torah world, goes to hell in a hand-basket, even though the road to it is paved with the best of intentions... is to violate at least the spirit if not the letter of the Torah’s admonition Lo Samod Al Dam Reiacha. Do not stand idly by, while your friend’s blood is being spilled. And my friend is Klal Yisroel, all of it... or an individual part of it.
To look the other way when an individual or a group of people who identify... and are identified by others... as religious Jews, while they commit grievous Chilulei HaShem...to ignore decisions that affect the well being of tens of thousands of religious Jews by rabbinic leaders who refuse to make necessary changes in their communities... to sweep under the rug violations of a sexual nature by others because it reflects badly on 'us' at the expense of the victims... well, I’m not going to do that.
Just to be clear. I do not say that I have an exclusive monopoly on the truth in those instances in which I speak out. And I am not in any way accusing any of the rabbinic leadership of our people of nefarious motives or evil, God forbid. They are all certainly great people who are far more knowledgeable than I am in Torah. People with great wisdom indeed. And I am absolutely convinced that their decisions are based on their best interpretation of justice and right as seen through the eyes of the Torah as they understand it. But even though I am not as great as these people, I will still speak out if I feel their decisions are wrong in spite of their great wisdom. People can disagree with me and that is their right. But I am not going to stop.
And anyone else who sees injustice should speak out as well. Often! Until they are heard. When there is injustice in the world, especially in our world, the Torah world, we must do everything in our power to try and stop it, without creating other injustices in the process. That is why I speak out. That is why we all should.
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