Wednesday, October 2, 2013

The Open Orthodox Race to the Edge and Beyond: When Will It Stop?

Cross-Currents    The Open Orthodox rush to reshape traditional Judaism has become incrementally manifest in terms of both The Open Orthodox rush to reshape traditional Judaism has become incrementally manifest in terms of both practice and belief, with Open Orthodox leadership actively promoting substantial modification of Torah observance and the creation of rituals that are foreign to normative Orthodoxy, while concomitantly asserting that one no longer needs to believe in the faith tenets of Orthodoxy in order for his or her Judaism to be Orthodox. While previous Cross-Currents articles and addressed many of these concerns, Open Orthodoxy has pushed full steam ahead with a new progression of breaches over the past few months, widening the base of those involved and deepening the degree of the changes being made to Orthodoxy. It is critical for the Orthodox public to be aware of this and to understand the underpinnings of these new seismic and startling Open Orthodox efforts to reshape and Reform.practice and belief, with Open Orthodox leadership actively promoting substantial modification of Torah observance and the creation of rituals that are foreign to normative Orthodoxy, while concomitantly asserting that one no longer needs to believe in the faith tenets of Orthodoxy in order for his or her Judaism to be Orthodox. While previous Cross-Currents articles and addressed many of these concerns, Open Orthodoxy has pushed full steam ahead with a new progression of breaches over the past few months, widening the base of those involved and deepening the degree of the changes being made to Orthodoxy. It is critical for the Orthodox public to be aware of this and to understand the underpinnings of these new seismic and startling Open Orthodox efforts to reshape and Reform.

I. Open Orthodox Changes to Practice

“Making it up as you go along” is usually not a recommended approach when doing anything serious. When it comes to Torah, such an approach is fatal.

This is exactly what came to mind when viewing the new Ohev Sholom/The National Synagogue 2013 Gala Celebration video regaling the feminizing of services in that congregation, including women reading the Torah and the Megillah, women serving as chazzan and reciting the “Mi She-Beirach” prayer (a feminized nusach thereof) at the bimah, and a woman serving as the Makri for Teki’as Shofar – all for general male/female services in the main sanctuary.

The congregation’s rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, who is an Honorary Alumnus of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) and a protégé of Rabbi Avi Weiss (Rabbi Herzfeld served under Rabbi Weiss for five years as assistant rabbi at Hebrew Institute of Riverdale and considers Rabbi Weiss his mentor), gives his blessings to the innovations, as elated, near teary-eyed congregants express their feelings of arrival in the Promised Land of Orthodox feminism. Rabbi Herzfeld, toward the end of this revealing video, declares his quest to continue to make further progressive modifications to his shul’s ritual practices. The most recent such action taken by Rabbi Herzfeld to make Ohev Sholom more progressive was the hiring of a female “Maharat” to fulfill some rabbinic duties at the synagogue. [...]

15 comments :

  1. The Chareidi rush to reshape traditional Judaism has become incrementally manifest in terms of both the Chareidi rush to reshape traditional Judaism has become incrementally manifest in terms of both practice and belief, with the Chareidi leadership actively promoting substantial narrow views of Torah observance and the creation of chumors that are stringent innovations to normative Orthodoxy, while concomitantly asserting that one must subscribe to an increasing number of tenets of faith in order for his or her Judaism to be Orthodox. While previous articles and addressed many of these concerns, Chareidism has pushed full steam ahead with a new progression of strictures over the past few months, narrowing the base of those involved and deepening the degree of the changes being made to Orthodoxy. It is critical for the Orthodox public to be aware of this and to understand the underpinnings of these new seismic and startling Chareidi efforts to reshape and reform.practice and belief, with the Chareidi leadership actively promoting substantial modification of Torah observance and the creation of chumros that are foreign to normative Orthodoxy,
    I. Chareidi Changes to Practice

    “Selecting only the strictest approach and presenting it as the only one historically used" is usually not a recommended approach when doing anything serious. When it comes to Torah, such an approach is fatal.

    This is exactly what came to mind when viewing mehadrin buses, burka babes and the ongoing insistence that "learn, don't earn" is the only valid Torah lifestyle. Statements by various Chareidi leaders supporting these positions along with derogatory, insulting and inflammatory language not fitting for talmidei chachamim only add to the frustration non-Chareidi Orthodox feel when confronted with these attitudes.

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  2. @Mighty (Feminist) Garnel - Its fascinating how you're attempting, with your anti-Chareidi rant, to divert attention away from the insanely and irrationally feminist, anti-Torah obsessions and practices of Open Reform-adoxy.

    What we need here is some real "Open Orthodoxy". Why don't you and your intellectually dishonest MO pals just state openly whether or not you accept:
    - female chazans
    - females reading the Torah
    - female rabbis
    - persecution of decent Jewish men in divorce disputes
    - forced Gittin on claims of MOUS ALI
    - women mosering their husbands in non-Jewish courts

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    1. Reb Emes, I do not support Open Orthodoxy, its flawed method of psak and its insane obsession with making Orthodoxy indistinguishable from secular liberalism with humantaschen on the side. All those things in your list I oppose.
      My point, which you missed, was sarcastic. It goes back to that old saying about people who live in glass houses and their encounters with rock throwers. Of course, in this case, many of the people in the glass houses also like to throw rocks...

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  3. These YCT/IRF/HIR Avie Weiss and gang fellows are not Orthodox and shouldn't be treated or discussed as such.

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  4. Was Devorah the Judge/prophetess orthodox?
    If she wasn't, then orthodoxy is apikorsus.
    If she was, then you have no claim against women becoming rabbis.

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  5. what i wrote (but wasn't published on the cross currents site):

    is there a right hand side to this edge or is falling over the edge something only left wing orthodox does?

    and to tie this thread to another one:

    it doesn't take that much imagination to conjecture that rav gordimer would/could daven in the shul of that chabad rabbi in australia (or the one in israel) who protected the child abuser. i also have little doubt that rav gordimer would walk out of a shul if a woman gave a drasha on friday night (or wouldn't go in at all).

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    1. Be, that's the essential problem with Orthodox - there is no right hand side. Unless you go and kiss the president of Iran at a Holocaust deniers conference you cannot go too far right for Orthodox. Even then you're still "one of us", just a nut that we don't want around.
      Ultimately here's the question you have to ask:
      Left wing Orthodoxy is working hard to empower women and turn them into participating members of the service. Right wing Orthodoxy is working hard to turn women into formless objects at the back of the bus and to protect pedophiles so they can assault boys with impunity. Exactly who is more off the derech here?

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    2. Ironheart do you really belief this nonsense? "turn women into formless objects at the back of the bus?!" have you have met any chareidi women?

      They are not "working hard to protect pedophiles so they can assault boys with impunity" - that is not what is happening.Even the most insensitive rav is not trying to do that.

      It is like saying Modern Orthodox are trying to destroy men and the stable family unit in order to give women the chance of living selfish self cerntered lives and they are trying to destroy gender distinctions and heterosexual relations. In addition they are so focused on the importance of the individual - especially victims - that they are destroying the fabic of society to

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    3. Rav Eidensohn, what would you call the Burka Babes of Beit Shemesh if not formless objects at the back of the bus? What would you call rabbonim who pull out all stops to besmirch victims of abuse in order to protect their friends?
      Just like Modern Orthodoxy these menuvalim are not the mainstream of the movement but at its edge. My point is that if Chareidism wants to criticize Modern orthodoxy for its left wing lunatic fringe it should first clean up its own right wing lunatic fringe which is doing far more chilul HaShem

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    4. DT: Why do you even bother responding to anti-semites like Ironheart? Just because he may be Jewish or even possibly wear a kipa makes it okay for his anti-semitism? Even though he only purports to hate "some Jews", not all, doesn't absolve him.

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    5. Ironheart the rabbis are opposed to the Burka ladies. The rabbis think they are preserving order and that they are the only ones competenet to deal with abuse. The problem is we are not dealing with the fringe - but the mainstream.

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    6. The burka ladies cult was started by... a woman. (I wonder what their husbands think about this whole business.) The secretary of the Eidah haChareidis... can't get more right-wing than that... told a news reporter that they were nuts.

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    7. Rav Eidensohn,
      First, I'm not even going to respond to Ben. One does not try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes one's time and annoys the pig.
      Now, I think my main point has been and continues to be missed so I'll say it again. When MO goes wrong we wind up with women chazzans. When Chareidism goes wrong we wind up with sexually abused boys. It's nice for Cross Currents to huff indignantly about YCT but the bottom line is that they have a mess in their own backyard to clean up before looking over at the neighbour's lawn.

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    8. my point still stands: what would it take for a mainstream rav like rav gordimer to say about a right wing chareidi group "עד כאן"? what would it take for him to write an article in cross currents denouncing the practices of some group?

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    9. Ironheart,

      Your point is well taken: too far to the right, your a nut -but still frum and trustworthy; too far to the left, your not religious and can't be trusted.

      While I agree with you it's flawed logic, I believe this the attitude in all societies Jew and gentle alike.

      However, the molestation example is a terrible one!!! Here are some acronyms you might recognize: YU, OU, MTA.......

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