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April 12, 1988

The Paradox of Tolerance (1988)

Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim Passionate Moderation
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Note

On Tolerance (1988)

Set this in a broader philosophical perspective: The conflict between the demand of free will on the one hand and the demands of socialization on the other. Insofar as the individual is concerned, without free will there is no Torah, and the halakha regards coercive behavior as a denial of freedom. On the other hand, there can be no community without accepted norms of conduct, and the community must socialize individuals into accepting its basic principles both of theory and practice.If we go too far in the direction of freedom, we have destroyed society. If we tip the balance to society and community, we have robbed the individual of his freedom.Hence, what is necessary is an ongoing dialectic between both extremes, such that the basic integrity of a human being is preserved, allowing him to express his freedom, and provision is made for the orderly continuity of the society.Refer to the Gemora (Shabbat 88) that the Torah was not normative as long as it was forced upon us, and did not become authoritative until it was reaccepted in the days of Mordechai and Esther.
Passionate Moderation

Outline

The Future of Modern Orthodoxy (2006)

ב"ב די"ב: מיום שחרב בהמ"ק, ניטלה נבואה מן הנביאים וניתנה לשוטים ולתינוקות. Introd: Bases of M-O: TuM; St-Isr; Role Womn; Inclusvnss; Modertn. Future: 1. TuM: depends on ~ cultural envirnmnt and mode relig reaction to trends contemp culture... Changes in TuM since I placed it on Top of Agenda: dumbed down by Touro to תורה ופרנסה; M = technical knowldg only; Progress So Far: Genrlly accepted, but RiIETS faclty some opposd; othrs ambvlnt; some w PhDs; will gradlly prevail in M-O
Torah Umadda Modern Orthodoxy Modern Orthodoxy & the Charedim Passionate Moderation

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