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March 22, 1988

Centrist Orthodoxy: Agenda and Vision, Self-Definition and Self-Evaluation (1988)

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Dear Dr. Lamm, I am delighted that you have taken the time to respond to my open letter to you. It was written to elicit a response and a clarification of your views. However, your letter leaves me with gnawing and troubling concerns. I hope that you will not misinterpret the sharpness of my comments as a personal attack. Indeed, only by honestly confronting the issues can we come to grips with the rather serious repercussions that followed upon The New York Times article reporting your Fifth Avenue speech. By now it is clear that in my open letter to you I faithfully ascribed to you the views that you truly embrace. It is also clear that from beginning to end, The New York Times article was a misrepresentation of the truth. In fact, it would be accurate to describe it as a caricature of the views that you so dearly hold. You have made it clear that you are deeply offended by both the terminology and the false image that the Times created — yet you sat idly by and did nothing to set the record straight. You criticize me for not checking the news report with you, to determine what you really said. Chaval! Why did you not check the news report with yourself? You spoke to an audience of four hundred. But for the world and posterity, your words will be those that were reported by the Times. It is to those words that you and I had to respond. The Times attributed to you terms such as “ultra-Orthodox” and “fundamentalist” as references to the “Right.” It further intimated that the “Right” was not open to secular culture. This image of the Orthodox Right as fundamentalist Bible-belt know-nothings is one that the Times generally has portrayed. Your own view is diametrically opposed. You have made it clear that you are deeply offended by both the terminology and the false images that the Times created — yet you sat idly by and did nothing to set the record straight. You say the Times reported the “valid groupings and spiritual dignity” remarks out of context. In order to un…
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For many years we have been discussing the problem of unity in our ever more heterogenous Jewish community, beset by religious, political, and social tensions. For reasons that will become apparent, it is no simple matter to relate directly all that has been said about the larger Jewish community to the Orthodox community and its inner dynamics. The question of diversity within Orthodoxy theoretically admits of three different solutions. a) "Anything Goes." This is the position of maximum inclusiveness, one which makes up in liberalism what it forfeits in discipline. Essentially, it opts for the freedom for self-definition of what and who is a bona fide Orthodox Jew. As a voluntary community, anyone may enter as freely as anyone may leave it. There are no objective standards for "membership," nor should there be any. The claim to be an Orthodox Jew is self-validating.I do not advocate this position and I know very few who do, and shall therefore not refer to it any further.b) "Only One Way." Unity, a great desideratum, is defined as uniformity. It is asserted that Halacha, by definition, has one answer to every question — the halachic answer. Hence, diversity is essentially inimical to Orthodoxy. This view, which makes up in consistency for what it lacks in communal conscience, is the working assumption of a large part of the Orthodox community. Because of its espousal of homogeneity, it naturally leads to the estab-lishment of clear lines of authority, since there must be some arbiters to enforce uniformity and settle disputes, c) A dialectic of discipline and diversity, a finite pluralism.Because I accept the third approach, let me elaborate upon it by citing an interpretation by Rav Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of what was then Palestine, of the talmudic passage (Beraishis 64a) that "scholars of the Torah increase peace in the world."There are those who, in their quest for peace and harmony, are impatient with scholars. The latter, in exercising their autonomous …
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Some Comments on Centrist Orthodoxy (1986)

Carl Becker, the great American historian, once said: “It is important, every so often, to look at the things that go without saying to be sure that they are still going.” I would add the need for intellectual vigilance to this reminder for practical caution by paraphrasing his aphorism: “It is important, every so often, to look at what we are saying about the things that go without saying to make sure we know what we are talking about.” In reflecting on some of the foundations of our Weltanschaung, I do not presume to be imparting new information. The task I have set for myself is to summarize and clarify, rather than to innovate. Dr. Johnson once said that it is important not only to instruct people but also to remind them. I shall take his sage advice for this discourse. We seem to be suffering from a terminological identity crisis. We now call ourselves “Centrist Orthodoxy.” There was a time, not too long ago, when we referred to ourselves as “Modern Orthodox.” Others tell us that we should call ourselves simply “Orthodox,” without any qualifiers, and leave it to the other Orthodox groups to conjure up adjectives for themselves. I agree with the last view in principle, but shall defer to the advocates of “Centrist Orthodoxy” for two reasons: First, it is a waste of intellectual effort and precious time to argue about titles when there are so many truly significant issues that clamor for our attention. In no way should the choice of one adjective over the other be invested with any substantive significance or assumed to be a “signal” of ideological position. This article is based upon an address at the Conference of the Educators Council of America at the Homowack Lodge, Spring Glen, N.Y., October 26, 1985. TRADITION, 22(3), Fall 1986 © 1986 Rabbinical Council of America 1 TRADITION: A Journal of Orthodox Thought We are what we are, and we should neither brag nor be apologetic about it. These days, we do more of the latter than the former, and I find that repreh…
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