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November 24, 1994

Keynote Address: Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations (1994)

Jewish Unity Passionate Moderation
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Outline

Machloket - Controversy and Unity (1998)

1) Thank; here to do pennance f error in Rabbi's name last time: R. Zvi Hrsh Weinreb/berg; congrt GHs (בעלי קריאה) – רא"ש שהעולה קורא בקול נמוך עם בעל הקריאה, והזוהר ששותק. ונימוק הזוהר: שבסיני הי"ת קרא ועם ישראל (וכל הטבע) שתקו. הנה אני נוהג כהרא"ש ולפיכך אני מרשה לעצמי לנאום בנוכחותם של בעלי הקריאה. ואני מקוה שאחרי שאגמור לא תתחרטו שאני פוסק כהרא"ש ולא כהזוהר. 2) L.A./Jack Nagel quest'n if he should
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Article

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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Speech

The Theme of Moderation in Modern Orthodoxy (1989)

I begin on two contradictory notes, one apologetic, the other not only not apologetic but anti-apologetic. The apologetic note concerns my uneasiness in using the term Centrist Orthodoxy, but it is a term which I prefer principally for one reason, which I shall elaborate presently. Critics of the term assume that Centrist indicates that we locate ourselves at some midpoint between orthodoxy and assimilationism, and claim that territory as our religious home. But that is nonsense. Only slightly less absurd is the idea that centrist orthodoxy is the mid-point between Satmar and the few intellectuals who occupy the ground called the Orthodox Left. That is also inaccurate. It is no compliment to our intelligence to imagine that we who declare ourselves Centrist walk around the religious terrain with a yardstick, calipers and a calculator measuring the exact distance between Neturei Karta and Humanistic Judaism - so called - in order to locate the exact middle or centre. We are not, and do not aspire to be ideological geographers or spiritual statisticians who search out the exact centre between right and wrong, religious and non-religioua, mitzva and avera, and settle upon that as our religious goal. It may be wrong, but I submit that our centrism is not really that simple minded and religiously asinine.What of the title we have been called all along, Modern Orthodoxy? I am uncomfortable with that label because it is a combination of two highly infelicitous words. One is arrogant, modern: I'm modern, that makes me better than anyone else in the past. The other is inaccurate because orthodoxy implies ideological blindness and constricted thought, and that is not correct.Of course there are those who say that we should do away with all adjectives and simply identify ourselves as orthodox jews, period. It does away with the whole problem of labels, or it seems to. In fact if we did that that would leave 90 percent of this audience and all those who have come to the Sympos…
Passionate Moderation