Cross Currents by Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer
Cross-Currents readership is all too familiar with discussion about Open
Orthodoxy; every nook and cranny of Open Orthodoxy could be explored
with a critical eye through Cross-Currents’ numerous articles on the
subject, spanning a lengthy period of time.
Once the major issues of Open Orthodoxy had been fully brought to the
table, it was decided that our focus and energy should be directed
elsewhere, as the Orthodox public assumedly had been presented with
enough information about Open Orthodoxy to be well-informed, if not
saturated. More discussion about Open Orthodoxy seemed moot, and it was
hoped and supposed that Open Orthodox leadership would constructively
utilize the criticisms to recalibrate the movement’s trajectory onto a
more normative path.
However, we were dead wrong, for as we turned our attention away, the
nature and magnitude of the challenges presented by Open Orthodoxy
increased beyond imagination. Over the past several months, the
intellectual leadership of Open Orthodoxy openly embraced highly
problematic positions regarding the origins of Torah She-b’al Peh; Open
Orthodox rabbis around the United States engaged in new, more radical
types of interfaith and interdenominational endeavors that could make
one’s hair stand on end; and much more.
It was decided, as per the advice of senior rabbinic authorities, to
issue a comprehensive article on the above recent and current issues,
feeling that the larger Orthodox public must be aware of these startling
developments, as Orthodoxy is now truly at a crossroads. This article
would be intended for hard-copy journal publication, and would include a
composite of all of the issues to consider, new and old. In light of
the fact that Open Orthodoxy is successfully and rapidly placing its
graduating rabbis in Orthodox shuls and schools across the country,
bringing a different type of Orthodoxy to communities heretofore
unfamiliar with it, and in light of the currently unfolding nature of
several of the critical issues at hand, it was decided to release the
article early as an online publication. [...]
Please read this article and consider the very potential far-reaching ramifications of the recent actions and current path of Open Orthodoxy