Rabbi Doron Beckerman is someone I respect. He is a very knowledgeable individual and an articulate spokesman for Charedi Hashkafos. He lives his life accordingly… defending and promoting his Hashkafos to one and all whenever the issue comes up.
In discussing the issue of Achdus in Klal Yisroel, he reveals a fact about his own Hashkafos that is central to my criticism of Charedim. Doron is of the view that there are some Orthodox Hashkafos that are sinful… and that this view is a basic tenet of Charedism.
His approach to Achdus, which is the Charedi approach, is that one should respect those who have these ‘other’ Hashkafos even if they are sinful. In other words to him - and to Charedim - it is all about civility. One should be civil and love his fellow Jew but it should be clear that they are sinning by holding those Hashkafos. It is kind of the way one might feel about a Tinok SheNishba. They are sinning. They just don’t realize it… and should be respected as human beings. And perhaps we can be Mekarev them.
I think the way one defines Achdus is one of the key differences between Charedim and Centrists. No one puts it more succinctly than does Rabbi Beckerman:
that has nothing AT ALL to do with holding that particular Hashkafos are WRONG!!! Educating one's kids to errant Hashkafos is sinning toward the truth.
According to Charedi Hashkafos I am sinning towards the truth.
That is exactly my complaint against Charedi Hashkafos. There is no such thing as Elu V'Elu. A Charedi will say, 'My way is right... Your way is wrong. No room for Chalukei Deios. No possibility that ‘we may be wrong and you may be right’. The attitude is 'We are right!!! Period. ‘You guys are sinning towards the truth!’
And people wonder why I get so upset. There you have it in clear black and white. The Charedi attitude about Achdus is: We will ‘respect you’ but your Hashkafos are sinful!
This is how Charedim are indoctrinated today. This is what is taught by their Rebbeim in their Yeshivos. It is a system that teaches intolerance and encourages divisiveness. To teach this type of intolerance against individuals and then claim that you respect their Hashkafos is contradictory and therefore a lie, whether they realize it or not!
That isn’t respect. It’s Kiruv! …and no different than saying one respects a secular Jew as a Tinok SheNishba. It is as if they are saying… we’ll humor you and perhaps someday you’ll see the light. In the meantime, God forbid that our children get exposed to your Hashkafos! Chazir Treif!
If one thinks about it - this attitude is the slippery slope that can and sometimes will end up with kind of violent extremism that is found in much of Meah Shearim or Ramat Bet Shemesh B. Once you consider the other guy to be sinning, you have the obligation to ‘remove that evil from your midst’. Of course Rabbi Beckerman is not that extreme. He is a gentleman and abhors the kind of violence that sometimes is found in his neighboring town of Ramat Bet Shemesh B. But it is not too difficult to see how his Hashkafos can lead to that type of intolerance.
Centrism does not think it such terms. We are of an Elu V’Elu mindset. We believe that no one Hashkafa has a monopoly on the truth. And that we are obligated to find it. And strive to do so. We arrive at our conclusions based on our education, our own intellect, and the Hashkafos of like minded Torah leaders, both past and present. But we fully admit that there are other legitimate Hashkafos. And people that have them have done the same kind of striving for truth and reached other conclusions. Torah Only is not a wrong Hashkafa. It is a right Hashkafa… as is Torah U’Mada, or Torah Im Derech Eretz. It’s just that adherents of the latter two think theirs is a better understanding of God wants of his people.
We admit we can be wrong and are open-minded about listening to the views of Charedi rabbinic leaders. But Charedim are closed minded about listening to Centrist leaders. That’s why a modern Orthodox community like Teaneck, New Jersey could invite three Charedi Rabbinic leaders to address them and Lakewood never has and never will invite three Centrist rabbinic leaders to address them.
This doesn’t mean that that intolerance doesn’t exist in the Centrist community…or other versions of Modern Orthodoxy. Of course it does. Some of it is pretty fierce. But it is not because we are taught or believe that Charedism is a wrong or sinful Hashkafa. It is more of a reflexive reaction. They see the venom and hatred that some Charedim and even some of their rabbinic leaders have against them and they react accordingly.
The argument has been made by some Charedim that the nature of Modern Orthodoxy is such that it would be impossible for them to accept it as a legitimate alternative. I don’t buy that. But I think I can explain why they think it. They will point to the lifestyle of a typical modern Orthodox Jew and see them doing things they consdier to be Assur. Things like going to movies and watching TV. Or going mixed swimming. Or that some Modern Orthodox women don’t cover their hair.
But that is not a Hashkafa. It is a lifestyle. No one is asking the Charedi world to accept that as a permissible lifestyle. They can say the lifestyle is sinful. The problem is when they say the Hashkafa is sinful. There are plenty of adherents of Torah U’Mada who are as meticulous in Halacha as the most meticulous of Charedim. They neither go to movies, nor watch TV. They do not go mixed swimming. And their wives cover their hair. They have chosen a lifestyle that is not at all sinful even by Charedi definition and yet are full fledged adherents of Torah U’Mada. Or Torah Im Derech Eretz.
But to the Charedi their Hashkafos are still looked at as sinful. And the respect that a Centrist Rav gets from Charedim, no matter how much Torah knowledge he has or how meticulous he is in Halachic observance is no better than the respect given to any other sinful Jew who is a Tinok Shenishba.
This is not how it used to be. I mentioned this story before, but it is worth repeating. It shows the difference between the Gedolim of Yesteryear and what we have today. It answers the question of whether one of the biggest Gedolim of that time thought that Rav Kook's Hashkafos were sinful. And it demonstrates what true Achdus is. When Rav Kook was ill and about to die, Rav Issur Zalman Meltzer - who was the Charedi Gadol HaDor of his time - asked another Gadol to accompany him to visit Rav Kook. When they got to Rav Kook’s residence, Rav Meltzer stopped, turned to his fellow Gadol and said, ‘Until we cross the threshold of Rav Kook’s residence, we are Gedolim. Once we enter and are in his presence, we are not.
That’s Gadlus. That’s Achdus. That’s Elu V’Elu. They did not say that Rav Kook’s Hashkafa was sinful. They disagreed with it strenuously, but they never said it was sinful. Instead they acknowledged that Rav Kook was a bigger Gadol than they were.
Perhaps Charedim should take a lesson from one of their own.
