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April 25, 1988

Segregationism vs. Inclusivism (1988)

Jewish Unity Combating Assimilation
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Introd: If I asked one symbol cond'n A-J tody: And greatst challeng: converg ? → that Yes, we hv a future! 1. Survival A-Jy imperiled 2 factors: Numbers: Intrmrrg – 52%... Current 13M → 5-6M in one gen'n... Also: demographics: Since '60, world Jy=ZPG; A-J=NPG. Don't be consoled by bromide "outreach" = mantra (ST: Chelm... build clinic at foot mt.) Only bright spot: Orthx/ultra-Orthx growth But what of maj'y Js?... Tragedy!!! 2. 2nd: Disunity: UNITY Jewish people – urgent, yet undustrial size yawn... will not preach... But clear: עם אחד = critical Q: Jewish survival/continuity. Most disturb'gt memory my youth: beg WWII
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No to Pluralism (1987)

The Aug. 21 editorial urging that Jewish educators “promote such communal concerns as pluralism” may not be well founded and, indeed, may be counterproductive if pursued. The word “pluralism” no longer refers – as it once did – to respecting another’s right to worship as he or she sees fit and to treating that person’s beliefs and religious leaders with dignity and respect. If that were the meaning of the word today, I would heartily agree with the advice. Unfortunately, pluralism has developed into a code word that means acceptance of all the principal Jewish religious movements as expressive of “legitimate” Judaism. When used in this manner, it is simply not possible for an Orthodox Jew to teach or accept pluralism. When one holds fast to the divine origin and binding nature of the written and oral law – as do all Orthodox Jews – one cannot ascribe Judaic “legitimacy” to any religious movement which rejects or deviates from the law. For example, in the context of a contemporary problem, since Orthodox Jews believe that divinely ordained law requires that the identity of a child as a born Jew be derived from the mother, they may not treat as Judaically “legitimate” a view which holds that identity may derive from the father. According to Rabbi Norman Lamm, president of Yeshiva University, the “criterion [for legitimacy] is the Jewish lex – the halacha.” In his words, which would be repeated with conviction by every Orthodox Jew, “I cannot, in the name of unity, assent to a legitimation of what every fiber in my being tells me is in violation of the most sacred precepts of the Torah.” Pluralism in the contemporary sense is simply out of bounds in the yeshiva and Orthodox day school world and in Orthodox adult education programs as well. Matters of legitimacy and pluralism need not deflect us from pursuing the goal of Jewish unity, however. Lamm has written and spoken about the clear and unequivocal “functional validity” and “spiritual dignity” of the non-Orthodox …
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Pluralism and Unity in the Orthodox Jewish Community (1979)

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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