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November 7, 2005

Addition to Egalitarianism Lecture (2005)

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Egalitarianism in the Torah? - First Talk (2005)

2 Buzz Words of contemp’y non-O-Jsm: Plural’m; Egalitarn’m (=Eg’m). Is there such a concept in Tor? My thesis: Yes, but not dominate all else. Nuanced. Will give several cases which clearly pro-eg’m; and several which clearly hierarchical – and the reasons why so. No simple answers.Ex #1—pro- eg'm: Source=טור ת1״מ סימן צו ; so for all civil lawאשה שוה לאיש לכל עונשין שבתורה - ואיש צריר לנדותו עד רציית דינא וכן הוא דין האשהמעיד אני עלי את השמי□ ואת הארץ בין גוי בין ישראל בין איש ביןJ אשה בין עבד בין שפחה הכל לפי מעשיו של אד□ רוח הקדש שורה עליוr Genrl princpl hierarchy: "bottom" nvr totally derogdtd...Hierarchical #1: Distinctions betw G-d/man, and man/animal...Mn/Gd: imtate/impersonate; thus: .תהילים קמד-מה אד□ ותדעהו בן אנוש ותחשבהותהילים ח -ותחסרהו מעט מאלהים וכבוד והדר תעטרהו: :YetMn/Anml: כשרות, צער בעלי חיים.Hierarchical #2: בין ישראל לעמים - ST - Cone camp, J last request: 2 minute prayer: שלא עשני גויHierarchical #3: כהן לוי ישראל - true, but trade-off: gets תרומה, מקדים but also subject to burdensome restrictions—marriage, cemetery, etcמיתת נדב ואביהו שהם בגדר ״בקרובי אקדש״ :SOHierarchical #4: ת״ח והמון העם—read from רמבי׳ם הלי דעות פ״ה . True— but noblesse oblige Imbues public w כבוד התורהHierarchical #5: מצוות עשה שהזמן גרמא - Abudrahm... & Hedge of R explanation (הלכות נדה endows woman w awareness קדושת הזמן)Hierarchical #6: ולד זכר או נקבה...-אשה כי תזריע child-brth=paragon of creativity ; *Perplxg: at birth no joy bt טומאה; bee creatvty disturbs innr eqlbrium,/ requires reorienttn of כחות הנפש. Always טומאה <-'צירה:*Kab: בריאה ע״י שבירת הכלים; also: ע״ס דקדושה עם ע״ס דמסאבותאו ס\ *seed - has to rot; sculpture=getting rid of all that’s not in artist’s headj *Artists, writers; so: רבנו יעקב בעל הטורים and (להבדיל) Wagner*History: ערב רב^יצ׳ימ; French Rev־>Jacobins;( above exp/anatn=result of indvd! /diverse opinions קylק/nמהרשא/א1ה״ Freud/myself\THUS: period of טומאה אחרי לידה. Bt why 2 X for girl? bee created creator!The difference: The first t…
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Egalitarianism: Halacha and Tradition (2007)

Intro: Ari Berman/Green/Jack Rudin... Lecture – controversial – no one will be happy. Bullet-proof vest – stones/tomatoes. I ask you to hold your prejudices in check, & understand this = complicated subject, no simple answer. Definition: EGM from French: égalité; is belief all equal, no hierarchy. EGM begins w Emancipation even < Fr Rev (1789) to Congress of Berlin (1878) & then to 1933 (Rise Nazism); EGM originates Europe; rejected by Catholic, some Protestant & most of Islam. In USA, EGM – Civil Rights Revol & also → moral relativism; personal autonomy (both unacceptable to Hal). Alexis de Tocqueville (1857) attributed idea of Equality to Jsm (monotheism). BUT W. Europe: Elitists – Democracy (via EGM) = enemy excellence; reject idea equality as work of Js, so: hateful. Islam too rejects democracy/EGM universality, foreign to Isl trad. (Explains today’s militant Islamic assault vs America, Isr). “The Great Satan.” So (2003) Pres Malaysia to 57 Islamic leaders: “We = against a ppl who think; survived 2000 yrs pogroms by not hitting back but by thinking; invented Communism/Socialism/human rights/Democracy” – basically repeating Hitler’s views. AMER EGM – opportunities Js rel Js to participate in Am society; Ideal צלם אלקים – EGM has been good for Js – not only Orth, but all who identify as Js; even Chinese impressed. Dan Elazar: EGM in synagogue – little interest to Israelis. Need for individual choice = incomprehensible. EGM Roots in Tor? Yes, but not dominant all else. Will explain. Arguments For EGM in Jsm: אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני ה׳ אלקיכם ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם ושטריכם כל איש ישראל – טפכם נשיכם וגרך אשר בקרב מחניך מחטב עציך עד שואב מימיך. ברכות דף יז/א מרגלא בפומייהו דרבנן דיבנה: אני בריה וחברי בריה; אני מלאכתי בעיר והוא מלאכתו בשדה; אני משכים למלאכתי והוא משכים למלאכתו; כשם שהוא אינו מתגדר במלאכתי כך אני איני מתגדר במלאכתו; ושמא תאמר אני מרבה והוא ממעיט – שנינו אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט ובלבד שיכוין לבו לשמים. משנה סנהדרין פרק ד: לפיכך נברא אדם …
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Quotes for Egalitarianism Talk (2005)

Quotes for egalitarianism talk: 1) Egalitarianism has proven to be a challenge to Orthodox Jews, but also for non-Orthodox Jews who identify themselves as Jews and are therefore must grapple with their role as Jews in Western society. Perhaps one can say that for non-Orthodox Jews, “navigating the boundaries between one’s religious/communal/ethnic identity, and one’s participation in society, is even more vexing and complex. 2) Jewish particularism is in conflict with the pressures of emancipation, a was so for most of the past two-hundred years. 3) Moses Mendelssohn was probably the most important and earliest person to articulate the problem of the conflict between Judaism and modernity. He himself realized that contemporary notions of egalitariasnim and non-judgementalism had to be rejected if traditional Judaism was to survive intact. Thus Mendelssohn reinforced the immutable authority of Halakhah. 4) Great Gedolim of the 19th Century maintained that the danger to Jewish survival from hostile anti-Semitism, is accompanied by fear that too much acceptance and too much love will be accompanied by a demand that we abandon our exclusivity and simply assimilate. Thus, Rabbi Yosef Baer Soloveitchik (1820-1892) and the Netziv. These Gedolim were not opposed to the spirit of emancipation and tolerance brought about in the enlightenment, but they were concerned mostly not with the Gentiles but with the Jews who would try to reciprocate the kindness of the Gentile world by dropping out from Judaism. (The above two items come from the article by Edward Breuer, “Jews and Judaism in an Egalitarian Society," in the Orthodox Forum volume entitled “Formulating Responses in an Egalitarian Age.") Note: The Netziv lived from 1817 to 1893.
Women & Judaism