Monday, June 19, 2023

Sefaria and Koren – A concerned look

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/372928

If one does a more thorough search, it is clear that today Sefaria is packed with problematic material, from gay pride source sheets, to Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative movement) content, to Maharat (female Open Orthodox clergy) publications, and just about everything else from all “streams”, including the individual works of the founders of Conservative Judaism and contemporary Reform and Conservative clergy.

6 comments :

  1. So don't use it.
    Sefaria is a very useful website with lots of commentaries.
    Gordimer is not the appointed gatekeeper, and he cannot tell people to stop using websites.

    Perhaps he's working on a new start up with artscroll?

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  2. He didn't say to stop using it.

    "my goal here is simply to inform people of what Sefaria contains and represents."

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  3. I asked a Rav I trust and his answer was simple: Use the kosher parts, don't donate when they send you an e-mail.

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  4. From the start, Sefaria never claimed to be an Orthodox or "Torah-true" resource. They clearly wanted mass appeal to as much of the Jewish community as possible. Look, there are people who learn at JTS and HUC. We giggle when when they say that but for them, that's learning Torah and therefore they want resources to help them. Sefaria is catering to them as much as it is to us. Like the Judaica store in Toronto years ago that clearly had a majority Orthodox crowd but still sold Reformative books.

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  5. But his unspoken intention is to get an Angels style boycott on the website.

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  6. This is what Gordimer unashamedly writes :

    "It pains me to write anything that can hinder people’s Torah learning,"

    Of course, crocodile tears - from someone who loves to bash open and left wing orthodoxy, his latest atrocity is prevent people from learning even genuine commentaries which are hard to find online.

    ReplyDelete

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