Agudah’s Incomplete Image of Orthodox Jewry

British Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis (JTA)

To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Unfortunately one that I am not too surprised about. I once had hope that Agudah would live up to its potential. I had hoped for the longest time that they would represent all of Orthodox Jewry regardless of what their worldview was. Instead Agudah has continued to identify Orthodoxy as exclusively right wing without caring much about what Orthodox  Jewry to their left thinks. No matter how observant those to their left might be.

That did not stop them from pretending to care at their recent DafYomi Siyum. Which is why they did not push their own Hashkafa. A Hashkafa that considers their rabbinic leaders to be the final word on ‘Daas Torah’. I watched the entire live feed online and do not believe any speaker used that term even once.

While they did make this purely about Torah study (or more specifically Talmud study) without reference to their own Hashkafa, the symbolism was more than obvious. Both the symbols that were there and the symbols that were not.  And by ‘there’ I do not mean those who attended. Among the nearly 100 thousand people that there - there were plenty of Modern Orthodox Jews that had completed Shas, too - eager to be part of the ‘Siyum’. 

Nor do I mean whether any Roshei Yeshiva from Yeshiva University (YU) were there. They were. What I mean by ‘there’ is the fact that every single speaker was either one of Agudah’s own or from their right. Including more than one Chasidic Rebbe (or lesser Chasidic personality). 

For the uninitiated those who happened to watch any segment of the live feed would think that Orthodox Jews are exclusively right wing Charedim or Chasidim - judging by their speakers

The only image of a YU Rosh Yeshiva was a about a 10  second appearance by Rav Hershel Shachter in a video presentation where various religious figures had something to say about the Siyum. Had anyone blinked they would have missed it.

The face of Judaism according to Agudah is the face of the right wing.

The question is why? Why do they not allow the face of Judaism to be the truer face that is much broader than the right wing face it featured?  

Sadly the answer is not an altruistic one. It is a political one. A few months before the Siyum, one of my sources at Agudah told me that they were actively considering inviting a YU Rosh Yeshiva to address the Siyum. He told me then that the only thing holding them back was their right flank who might boycott the Siyum if they did that. 

I held out hope that doing the right thing would transcend politics. But it didn't. Politics won the day. The fear of losing their much larger right flank was more important to them than doing the right thing and inviting someone from their left flank to address the crowd..

I understand their desire to have the most support they can get from the observant world. I will even grant that such a desire is it based on moral support and not necessarily financial support. (Although the much larger base of the right from which to appeal for funding is clearly a benefit.) 

But the price they paid in dishonoring (by omission) their left flank was too high in my view. Agudah has lessened their moral authority in my eyes.What they should have done is invite representatives from all of Orthodoxy to speak and hope that all would attend. Those that might have then boycotted the event would not be because they were not invited. That would have showed the world just how inclusive they are. In this, they failed.

Not to be outdone - the Agudah Siyum in the UK did something even worse. Even though they are not in any way affiliated with the American Agudah, they are kindred spirits ideologically. 

As JTA reported, after at first inviting the UK’s Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, to sit on the dais at their Siyum, they subsequently dis-invited him, telling him not to come. Why? Same reason the American Agudah didn’t invite a YU Rosh Yeshiva to  speak. The UK Agudah’s right flank threatened to boycott the Siyum if he showed up. Why? They did not like his sensible policy towards the LGBT community that was issued in compliance with the UK’s education requirements.

At this point, I hasten to add that I am absolutely convinced that the YU Roshei Yeshiva would themselves not in all likelihood approve of my public rebuke of Agudah. They are about as altruistic as anyone can get. They are not interested in Kavod. I'm sure that they saw this event entirely for the Kiddush HaShem it was and were happy to participate. It in fact WAS a Kiddush HaShem in many ways. Some of which I described in a previous post leading up to the Siyum.

  

And yet, even though I hate to pour cold water on a Kiddush HaShem of this magnitude, the truth has to be told – warts and all. Judaism cannot afford to be built on a foundation of lies. Even lies of omission. No matter how noble the goal might be. And in this case the goal was not all that noble.