One of the clearest thinkers whose words I have ever had the pleasure of reading is former Tradition Magazine editor, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, brother of Ner Israel Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav Aharon Feldman.
A Jerusalem Post article in which he lays out an argument for living in a religiously heterogeneous neighborhood rather than a religiously homogeneous one - got me to thinking about the underlying issue of Achdus… or rather the lack of it in the Torah world.
We are a world divided. There are so many segments of Torah Jewry now that one can get confused about what the essence of Judaism really is. The fact that there is so much choice means that ultimately one can find their niche. Is that a good thing? Well...yes and no. Choices are good but that has led to fragmentation.
How did we become so fragmented? I think it is a result of our own successes. Torah Jewry – loosely defined as all Jews who believe in the Torah and observe the Mitzvos - has had unprecedented growth over the last 50 years or so.
Our successful growth has enabled a sort of specialization. We can now find a closer version of our own slice of Yiddishkeit in separate communities and in schools for our children. We can now live in neighborhoods with like minded people and we can find schools to educate our children that promote our own ideals. The benefits are obvious as Rabbi Feldman points out. But as he also points out there is something lost in doing so.
It is nice to feel secure in the knowledge that your children will be indoctrinated to your own views and secure in the knowledge that your Hashkafos will not be contradicted by the behavior of others. But the accompanying rejection of those 'others' is almost inevitable. Points of view that were once upon a time tolerated and accepted are now looked at pejoratively. And that drives a wedge between us that did not exist back when the Torah world was more integrated. There was an innocence then that has been lost. And Achdus is the victim.
Lubavitch is a good example of what I am talking about. They were an integral part of the greater Torah world back in the late fifties and early sixties when I was in elementary school. Their Rebbeim had positions in mainstream day schools. Many Lubavitcher Rebbeim were even clean shaven then. One could not tell them apart from other Rebbeim. Lubavitcher children attended the same day schools as everyone else. We were all together …same teachers …same friends. The only differences seemed to be in a few Minhagim and in who we looked to as our Gadol.
The elementary school I attended in Detroit was an exemplar of that kind of heterogeneity. There was a mix of right and left, Chasidim, Misnagdim, Lubavitch… and a great number of my friends came from irreligious backgrounds. They had become Baalei Teshuva through the pioneering efforts of the teachers mentioned in my bio (above)... Talmidei Muvhak (devoted students) of Reb Shraga Feivel Mendelowitz.
This was also the case in Chicago when I moved here back in 1962. There was one day school here: Arie Crown. Virtually every religious Jewish child went there. And they were all friends.
But at about the same time I moved here - as the community grew - there was pressure from the right to open up their own school. And pressure from the left to open theirs. And the diversification began - as did the intolerance.
Now we have so many different segments that there are huge numbers of people that have nothing to do with each other. And they also have animosity towards one another that often goes with that.
The mainstream Bais Yaakov is right across the street from the maistream Lubavitch girls high school. two groups of girls who look and dress exactly alike living in the same city going to school on the same street and who would normally have quite a bit in common. They don't have anything to do with each other. They don't even know each other! Two different worlds.
There are exceptions. There is some cross fertilization here between all the diverse communities. Chicago is known for that. But as Chicago's Frum community continues to grow the trend is in the other direction.
Innocence lost. Achdus lost. The question is whether what has been gained was really worth what has been lost. Is it more important to be indoctrinated to a specific Hashkafa than it is to have Achdus? Has the prejudice we’ve attained against each other worth what we’ve gained through our insularity?
I think not. The right hates the left and the left hates the right. Chasidim? - They live on Mars? Baalei Teshuva are just not normal and God forbid we let one of our children marry one! Secular Jews? Well… they’re the enemy aren’t they?!
That’s not how it used to be. But that’s how it is now. Indoctrinating our children to our own way of thinking and the attendant insularity lest they get ‘contaminated’ with a ‘foreign’ Hashakafa has led to the opposite of Achdus… in some cases even baseless hatred of fellow Jews!
I long for the days when there was no right or left school… No Lubavitch schools. No Charedi schools or Modern Orthodox schools. Where Baalei Teshuva were looked at with equality, admiration, and respect.
If I could I would merge all the students and teachers of every school in the city, and then re-divide them randomly so that we could return to the Achdus we once had. How sweet that would be.
