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April 30, 1985

Past, Present, and Future - A Jubilee Perspective (1985)

Orthodoxy & Other Denominations Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim Who Is a Jew?
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Outline

Centrist Orthodoxy and the Rest of the Jews (1997)

I. A friend has recently spent a Shabbos in a Chassidic community, and now he is bugging you to come with him. “It’s the greatest!” he says. “Those Chassidim really know how to do Shabbos!” You hesitated at first, but his persistent prodding finally coaxed you to come. Now it’s Thursday and you’ve called your Chassidic hosts for directions. It starts as a routine call, but after giving directions, your Yiddish-accented host continues: “Now, you must understand that on Shabb – I mean, on the Sabbath, we Jews don’t do any work, just like the Bible says, and this includes driving a car.” He then tells you by what time you have to arrive on Friday afternoon so you won’t “be mechal – I mean desecrate, the holiness of the Sabbath.” How should we view those (chareidi) denominations of Judaism which either don’t understand or simply refuse to accept the legitimacy of centrist Orthodoxy? Do they know something about Judaism that we don’t? Why do some of us seem to assume that we have to go to the chareidim to experience Shabbos? Is it worth it to expend our collective energies trying to educate and/or reach out to them? What about the fact that current demographic studies indicate that the chareidim will continue to grow even as Reform and Conservative Judaism will dwindle?II. “Minchah! Minchah!” You are visiting the campus of a different college when this familiar cry assails your ears. You turn to investigate, and sure enough, leaning out the window of a nearby building is a guy wearing a yarmulke and waving at you. “You’re number ten,” he yells. When you enter the room in which the minyan is being held, you stop short. Yeah, there are now ten people in the room, but only four of them are men. A smiling young woman walks over to you and extends her hand. “Welcome to our local egalitarian minyan,” she says. “Thanks for coming; it’s a really big mitzvah.” Should we support the religious practices of non-frum Jews? Granted, what they are doing is not halachically correct, bu…
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim

Article

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jews in the United States (1955)

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jews in the United States – Second article of a series on Responsa of Orthodox Judaism by Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Question: American Jewish organizations tend to become more and more centralized, and in some instances, even integrated. What is the position of Orthodox Judaism toward this tendency? Is cooperation between Orthodox and non-Orthodox congregations, and between musmachim of yeshivot and other spiritual leaders, possible or not? Especially, we should like to know why Orthodoxy fights the Conservative movement, notwithstanding that the spokesmen of Conservative Judaism claim to recognize the authority of the halakhah. Responsum: The question of cooperation between the various groups is a very complex one. It is currently one of the most burning issues on the agenda of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). I should like to review briefly here the proposal which I presented at the last conference of the RCA this past summer in Detroit. The proposal is based upon a halakhic–aggadic concept. First, unity in Israel is a basic principle in Judaism. We have formulated this principle in one sentence: “You are One, Your name is One, and who is like Your people Israel, a unique nation on the earth?” The principle of unity expresses itself in two ways. First, the unity of Jews as members of a spiritual community, as a congregation which was established through the conclusion of a covenant at Mt. Sinai: “And you shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” The unity of Knesset Yisrael as a community is based upon the uniqueness of the Torah way of life, as practiced by us through Torah existence. What ties the Yemenite water carrier in Tel Aviv to the Jews of Boston? A uniform Orach Chayim, the Shema Yisrael, Shabbat, the Kol Nidrei night, the Seder night, kashrut, tefillin, the trait of kindness, the hope and waiting for redemption. The Hebrew word edah (congregation) is the same as ed (witness), edut (tes…
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

Assorted

Teshuva: Examining our Relationship with Others (1997)

Vignettes for Panel Discussion. Case 1: The Federation has invited the local rabbis from all religious streams to plan and participate in a program entitled “A Day of Jewish Learning.” The idea of the program is to have each of the rabbis teach three classes on topics of their choice and invite the community to sit in on whichever classes they desire to attend. You have been asked to participate, will you? What are the factors which enter into your analysis of this situation? Does it matter who sponsors the event? Does it matter where the event is held? What if the Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbis will be teaching the same subject and the audience will rotate so that different views on a single topic are presented?CASE 2: As an avid reader of the Israeli press, you have noted that there have been several articles of late about non-Orthodox rabbinical students’ desire to pray at the Kotel in the way in which they are accustomed, but which is not within halakhic parameters. They argue that the Kotel belongs to the entire Jewish People, so why shouldn’t they be allowed access to pray at this holy site? On a visit to Israel you are at the Kotel and these very students are beginning to get together to pray. How do you analyze their behavior? What is your reaction? Several yeshiva boys begin to yell at the students, cursing them, throwing things at them, and chasing them away. What do you do? When you return to America you see that much of the American Jewish community is talking about the “disgraceful” behavior of the yeshiva boys. Do you respond? How? In reaction to what they perceive as an attack on Orthodoxy, a rabbi publishes a statement that anything outside the pale of halakhic Judaism is not Judaism at all. How do you react to this public statement? How do you react to the reaction of the many non-Orthodox American Jews who feel they’ve just been told they are not practicing Judaism when they go to pray at their synagogues?CASE 3: You are the principal of an Orth…
Jewish Education Orthodoxy & Other Denominations Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim