The Rabbinic Campaign to Eliminate Modern Orthodoxy (original) (raw)

Abstract

 An orthodox rabbi in the largest Jewish community in the Midwestern United States obsesses over his decision about whether or not to allow an openly gay congregant to pray in his synagogue.  A local colleague of his routinely reviews the email posted on a community bulletin board in order to censor or delay the publication of any messages that might promote speakers or community activities that are not in keeping with his religious ideology.  Fellow clergy at the local kollel and at the central metropolitan rabbinical organization are instructed to " freeze out " a more liberal orthodox congregation so as to throw its legitimacy into question. That congregation and its orthodox speakers are routinely targeted for ridicule in the social media.  One of the longest tenured congregational rabbis in the city holds a series of classes for the community on the evils of what he refers to as " Open Orthodoxy, " and later calls a lay leader demanding that the appearance of a female scholar-in-residence be cancelled.  A scion of the country's leading modern orthodox educational institution regrets the success of contemporary Torah education for women, and in particular the program initiated some years ago by his employer.  A rabbi and teacher at a local yeshiva asks the creator of a well-known Jewish band, one that uses its music to teach Torah values, to cancel its performance at a local orthodox synagogue (whose practices he disagrees with) so that fans will not " lose faith in you and your holy mission. " Watch the news, read the papers or go online for your daily dose of Jewish pain and torment. The demonization of young Jews and the state of Israel on college campuses promises to leave those campuses " Judenrein " within a generation. Living overtly as a Jew is uncomfortable in more places than not. According to a plurality of the citizens of the world, Jews do not merit the same human rights as do others. Yet, orthodox Jewish leadership considers inclusiveness and fraternity a far greater existential threat to the Jewish people. As what used to be known as " modern orthodoxy " moves inexorably to the right, its leaders feel " duty-bound " to defend the " eternal mesora community of authentic Orthodoxy, " 1 even at the expense of communal unity against its real enemies. They are convinced that this mesora supersedes both halacha (Torah law) and one's scriptural duty to fellow Jews. The idea of an " inclusive " congregation that encourages more participation from women, within the boundaries of halacha is anathema to those who follow the lead of Israel's chief rabbinate, the thought leaders of right wing yeshivas, and now the leadership of what has variously been known as Modern or Centrist orthodoxy. The idea that all Jews are brothers and responsible for one another takes a back seat to the sanctity of rabbinic hegemony. So is there a justification for this " hatred " propagated by the " mesora " community against the " normatively " religious? How do those who exclude serious, observant Jews whose " hashkafa " (philosophy) differs from their own, explain the urgency of their actions to demean, and ultimately alienate those Jews?

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References (5)

1. Nechemia, VIII-X
2. Josephus, Antiquities, xvi. 11, § 1
3. 9 Wanderings: Chaim Potok's History of the Jews, Chaim Potok, Knopf, New York, p. 191.
4. Tosefta, Ḥagiga ii. 9; Sanhedrin 88b
5. Jewish Enclyclopedia, 1906 Edition