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May 1, 1999

The Jews and Society: A Religio-Cardiological View (1999)

Orthodoxy & Other Denominations
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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

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Familiar Strangers: Orthodox Jews Encountering Non-Orthodox Jews and Non-Jews (1996)

[Circa 1930. A European Jew who has come to America:] "A goy is a goy, my father used to say in the old country; meaning, we don't trust them and the less we have to do with them the better. And who could blame him for saying so, after all that has happened in Europe? Even for a long time after I came to this land of golden opportunity, I stayed with the rest of the landsmen on the Lower East Side of Manhattan – not that I had a choice in the matter, I was so poor. But recently, after I landed this new job and moved uptown, I've come into contact with a lot of goyim and I have to tell you – they're not all such bad people after all. Just yesterday one of them invited me to a party he is making. Sure, they have their crooks and bigots, and there is an occasional sonei Yisrael mixed in. But mostly they are schlepping through this world the same way we are. Some of them would make very good Jews! Now, if I could only get into their country club..."What should we, today, view as our role in the non-Jewish world? What are our responsibilities to the general society? How can we reconcile relationships with non-Jews based on the principles of eivah and darchei shalom with the transcendent perspective that all people are created bitzelem elokim? How should we interact with them socially? Should we establish meaningful personal relationships with non-Jews? Does it matter whether we live in an anti-Semitic society or not? Should we teach the sheva mitzvos to non-Jews?[1996. The European Jew's grandson:]"My grandfather never did get into the goyish country club, but my uncle did. Though he had a talmud torah education, he didn't think it was worth verv much in this country, and he sent his children, my cousins, to public school. Much of our extended family is not frum. Some go to a temple, others don't bother even with that. Soon we are going to have our first real intermarriage, between my cousin and a girl he met in college. We received an invitation but of course we are n…
Orthodoxy & Other Denominations

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