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| Rabbi Shaya Karlinksy - one of my many critics that I respect |
I’ve had a rough week. A lot of people I respect (and some
that I don’t) have been bashing me all week – in private and in public. In
e-mails,on Facebook, and on other blogs. Some have bashed me for not checking my
facts well enough – relying too much on one source. Some have bashed me for always
bashing Charedim. Some bashed me for always criticizing Open Orthodoxy or YCT. Some
have bashed me for criticizing those both to my left and my right instead of
writing more positive stuff about my own ‘middle’. And some have accused me of being something I
am not: Charedi or left wing Modern Orthodox - depending on which side of that
aisle they are complaining from.
Among others, those who offered such criticism are: Rabbi
Micha Berger, head of the Aishdas Society (Arervim/Avodah), Rabbi Dr. Daniel Eidensohn,
editor of Yad Yisroel, Yad Moshe, and the blog Daas Torah, Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky, head of Yeshivat Darche
Noam/Shapell's, Rabbi Y’Soscher Katz, Talmud Chair of YCT, and Evanston Jew
(ej) one of the more erudite and knowledgeable people commenting on my blog. (Interestingly, ej is about the furthest thing from being Charedi as anyone can be. And yet he is their biggest defender.)
This was surely a blow to my ego. The only solace I can take
from this (if any) is the fact that they cannot all be right.
The irony of my critics is that even though they come from people
with a wide variety of Hashkafos, some of them seem to be saying the same
thing. That my entire purpose is to trash everyone to my right or to my left…
leaving my Hashkafa to stand alone in triumph… and that I do so being fast and
loose with the facts – since I don’t do any due diligence.
This has once again caused me to reflect on what I do here.
Are they right? Is my blog all about bashing? I suppose some do see it that
way. I do a lot of criticism here. But is criticizing the same as bashing them?
Do I have some kind of subconscious hatred of those unlike me that includes a desire to destroy them?
That seems to be what some are saying… that I am a ‘nice guy’
or that I might put it in gentle terms, but at the end of the day I am a basher or worse, a hater.
That is such a superficial way of looking at what I do here,
I am surprised that so many intelligent people feel that way.
Let me be clear (again - since I have said this many times).
I do not bash. Criticsim is not bashing. My criticsm of wrong doing is to make
a statement to the world that bad behavior on the part of any visibly religious
Jew is wrong and to be condemned. Or to better the lives of Orthodox Jews by making a few changes that would not affect their Hashkafos. Or to define what are and are not acceptable Hashkafos and considered within the bounds of Orthodoxy (based on my
understanding of what that is).
One may ask, who am I to determine what is good or bad;
right or wrong? The answer is that I am someone with an opinion. One that is
based on sincerely held beliefs. That
doesn’t mean - nor do I expect that everyone has to agree with me. But it
should mean that what I do is out of my sincere beliefs – and in no way meant
to destroy or hate.
It is meant to build up. One can dispute my right to
criticize those outside of my Hashkafic sphere. But I strongly disagree. My
Hashkafa is only one segment of the larger group to which I belong: Orthodox
Jewry. Any individual or group that claims to be Orthodox in an way - IS part of my group. Orthodox Jewry is judged
on the whole. Not on its individual segments. My attempts at betterment for one segment is an attempt at bettering part of the whole. It is not and never was an attempt to discredit the right or the left... unless they veer into extremism.
If a Jew sins in a public way, it is one of us that
has sinned. It doesn’t matter if he or she is Charedi or MO. It is his identity
as an observant Jew that matters.
Why are there more stories like that about Charedim than MO?
Because those are the stories most reported in the media. Is it possible that
there are an equal number of MO Jews sinning in public, but that the media focuses
on Charedim? It’s possible. But I can only talk about what I know. And what I
know is what I read in a variety of Jewish and secular media outlets – both print
and electronic.
Why don’t I do more positive pieces (which I have done but
admittedly are rare)? It’s because there aren’t too many of them reported
in the media. This blog is driven by what is reported in the media – both Jewish
and secular.
I do occasionally make mistakes and comment on reports later
shown to be untrue. I acknowledge that I don’t do the kind of research that
would reduce the number of posts I’ve written in error. I have said many times
before, that I simply do not have the time to do enough research to prevent
those errors. I write a new post every day. If I were to spend more time doing
that kind of research, I would be doing nothing else but spending time on this
blog. I do have a life beyond that.
I enjoy what I do here, but once it becomes a burden (one
for which I do not get paid) I will stop doing it. I should add that I do
research most of the stories I write about. I try to read more than one source
before I criticize anything. I will also admit that occasionally I will rely only on
only one source. Especially when it is something like a recorded interview. I
know that is not enough. But that is the best I can do in my situation as I
just described it.
Despite this ‘handicap’, I believe the vast majority of my
criticism is based on the truth of the underlying facts of the story as reported. In those
instances where I am shown to be in error, I always correct them and apologize.
If the majority – or even a significant minority of my critiques end up being
based on error, I would have to re-think this entire enterprise. As it stands now, however, that is far from the case.
Why don’t I dwell more on why I live my Hashkafa instead of complaining
how others live theirs? Well, I have done that. Once I have done it, I don’t
see the need to do it again. (Those that have not read those posts can glean from
those critical posts what I believe; and what I am complaining about; and why.)
And it’s not that I ‘complain’ how others live their lives. I complain about why
they don’t do the things that can better their lives WITHOUT giving up their
basic Hashakafos. Others can disagree and tell me to leave them alone. I can't do that. If I see a way out for them, I am going to suggest it.
As for my critiques of the left, there too it is not to bash
them but to keep them acceptable to the mainstream of Orthodoxy.
I don’t really think I will convince my critics. They will continue
to say that I am a basher. A lightweight with very little substance to my arguments.
And that the explanation of my motives doesn’t answer their accusations. But I
just felt the need to defend myself here… if not to their satisfaction, then to
my own.
