Time to say Kaddish for the non-Orthodox?
In its current issue, New York magazine reports that Phd. applications to the Jewish Theological Seminary have doubled this year. That statistic, presented in the context of a story about the recession's effect on the city, probably says more about the dire straits of the job market and the search for meaning in rough economic times than it does about the state of Conservative Judaism.
The movement, we well know, is suffering from -- pick your poison -- malaise, failure of nerve, lack of transparency and inclusivity, hemorrhaging of members. The situation is said to be so bad that Rabbi Norman Lamm, the chancellor of Yeshiva University, told the Jerusalem Post this week that we should say Kaddish for both the Conservative and Reform movements.
"The Conservatives are in a mood of despondency and pessimism. They are closing schools and in general shrinking," he said.
"The Reform Movement may show a rise, because if you add goyim to Jews then you will do OK," added Lamm, referring to the Reform Movement's policy, starting in 1983, of recognizing patrilineal descent.
The National Jewish Population Survey of 2001 found that of the 46 percent of US Jewish households belonging to a synagogue, 33% were affiliated with a Conservative synagogue, a 10% fall from the 1990 survey. In contrast, the Reform Movement was up from 35% to 38% and Orthodox Jews rose from 16% to 22%. Two percent were affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement and 5% with "other types" of synagogues.
Sociologists familiar with US Jewry believe that similar trends continue.
"Reform is out of the picture, because they never got into the picture, and the Conservatives are getting out of the picture," Lamm said.
"The future of American Jewry is in the hands of haredim and the modern Orthodox. We have to find ways of working together."
Rabbi Andrew Sacks, director of the Conservative Movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Israel, responded on his blog.
I would take no solace in knowing that the numbers of any Movement were in decline, for each Movement has a valuable contribution to make to our people. But the Conservative Movement is well served by new dynamic leadership in almost all of its branches.
Its Day Schools, summer camps, and Rabbinical Schools are at full capacity. The number of teens who visit and study in Israel is a source of pride.
I am not comparing numbers with the Orthodox Movement or with the Reform Movement. Sociological circumstances impact on these statistics. Numbers can be misleading and Rabbi Lamm has fallen into the numbers trap.It is the dynamic nature of Masorti/Conservative Judaism that will ensure a bright tomorrow not only for its affiliated members, but for all Jews.
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I was sorry to see the tone of Rabbi Lamm’s quotes-Here is a piece I recently posted on my blog in response to a question as to how I could be a Jew if I did not believe the Torah was the word of God.
Can you be a Jew if you don’t believe in Myth?
We have a common heritage which probably can be traced to the 8th or 9th century BC (or maybe earlier if you believe that Kings David and Solomon were real as opposed to mythical.) After the Diaspora our ancestors kept certain customs and invented others such as mitizah b’peh and all of the Hasidic customs.
Over time, our ancestors,especially those in France and Germany, as opposed to Lithuania and eastern Europe .started to realize the Torah was a set of myths as opposed to the word of a non-existent deity who watches over humanity. The key is this set of myths bound our more recent enlightened ancestors together even though most of them realized they were myths. Even you (the orthodox) don’t believe in the complete truth of the Torah and don’t completely obey its rules .
I enjoy reading parts of the Torah. “The Rape of Dinah” for instance is an excellent allegory of how our people evened the odds and beat a superior foe. The story of Ruth is an example of how we are open to accept converts. The book of Esther is a primary on intermarriage.
When the first scribe reduced Genesis to writing, do you think he had the benefit of the Hubble telescope-did he know the special and general theories of relativity let alone Newtonian mechanics? Did he understand Darwin?.
And while I am open to the possibility that somewhere in he universe something happen which somehow created the first DNA strand and it was brought to earth or that there is some unknowable pre-big bang force which created the big bang-I see no evidence that there is a God like force in the form of a big man in the sky who wrote the Torah and watches over us. Further, I don’t think you really do either and I’ll deal with that question later today or tomorrow.
I’ll re-state your question as follows: “Can the only people of antiquity to have survived antiquity continue to survive as a group once the myth that previously bound it together is exposed as a myth?” and “Is it necessary to pretend that we believe that the myth is real for us to survive?”
You and your orthodox friends either believe in the myths, or in the case of modern orthodox, don’t necessarily believe in them but think the rules of the Torah must be obeyed to preserve our tribe. I and most of my mainstream Jewish friends don’t believe in the myths.
If you were correct that it was necessary to perpetuate the Torah’s myths to preserve us as a group I don’t think I could, for example, pretend that it was necessary to stone a woman who had tricked her husband into believing she was a virgin on the wedding date.
The whole idea of the reform, and possibly the conservative movement, is to try and keep us together in a world which has seen the Torah’s myths unraveled If these movements fail, our tribe may well go out of existence-that’s why (Rabbi Lamm) should praise the reform and conservative movements instead of trying to subvert them.
If R’ Lamm seems to be gloating (and I don’t see that, actually) at the shrinkage of C and R, it’s only a case of “turnabout is fair play”. 50-60 years ago, the heterodox leadership was gloating in the impending demise of Orthodoxy.
“The whole idea of Reform, and possibly Conservative” [N. Pressman] “is to try and keep us together.” True. Conservative started out as a traditionalist movement, but since the 1950s, has liberalized itself into a somewhat more Hebrew-using version of Reform, guided by the zeitgeist rather than by tradition and halacha.
Mr. Pressman goes on to talk about requirements to believe in myths. Ironically, it is Mr. Pressman who is the fundamentalist here, inasmuch as Christian Fundamentalists are characterized by literal readings of the Bible. Only by reading the passage about the girl who lied about her past to her husband outside of the context of the rest of Torah law, can we find such horror at the awfulness of the Old Testament Religion. A glance at Rashi reveals that such a stoning requires the testimony of two witnesses, who warned her using specific language, who witnessed the actual intercourse with other men, and that the stoning is at the hand of the witnesses, with the other people simply observing. In other words, the “law” here is practically a dead letter. But the heterodox do not, in general, study Torah, they apparently read the Bible, so they do not know their rich heritage, and only reject a strawman.
These heterodox biblical literalists make me despair for the future of American Jewry having anything to do with Torah and Mitzvot. They don’t learn Torah, so they reject what they imagine to be the Mitzvot, and give their children little true cultural background to substitute for the all-pervasive Christian culture (Sundays in church, Christmas Christmas Christmas from October to January, etc.) Chanukah alone is no substitute for Christmas. Chanukah in the context of the HIgh Holidays, the agricultural festivals, and the grand sweep of Jewish history, can symbolize our cultural conservatism, our rebellion against those who would subordinate Judaism to the zeitgeist and destroy the Jewish future.
True, the presence of Conservative and Reform gives disillusioned Jews a stopping point before they leave Jewish culture and tribal membership entirely, and as such they have value. But as an environment for the long-term future of American Judaism? I doubt it.
Yes, R Lamm is gloating. He’s also 82, so let him gloat. Will it kill you?
I live in Canada, where I am a Chasidic rabbi and maintain a clinical practice in spiritual direction. Orthodoxy is mainstream here and runs perhaps slightly ahead of Conservative Judaism. There are 5 Orthodox synagogues in Ottawa, where I live, compared to three Conservative. Reform and Recon are present in Canada but hardly normative—Reform has 26 synagogues and Recon has four.
Maimonides has already answered your question, Mr Pressman. Rambam maintains that one’s Judaism is premised on mitzva, not myth. He’s quite clear on that, and holds utterly rational perspectives on, for example, the waters of the Red Sea parting. It’s a common Chabad ploy to use Maimonides and completely misrepresent his scientific outlook as faith-based. Poppycock.
As to your premise about what the Orthodox do or do not believe, I would urge you to actually participate in Orthodox communities and learn something of these perspective. You can then criticise them to your heart’s delight. I’ve been doing it myself for years.
No **decent** Jewish human beings, Orthodox or not, obey ever last one of the mitzvot, whatever their claims to the contrary. It’s all a big charade, and we all know it. Enough terrorizing non-Orthodox by holding the mitzvot over their heads, when even the Orthodox don’t obey them literally.
Indeed, all you super-Jews out there who bad-mouth the non-Orthodox, do tell me if you rigorously obey **all** of the following mitzvot, unless of course you want to be open to charges of hypocrisy. And don’t tell me that these mitzvot must be interpreted figuratively, because that’s precisely what the non-Orthodox have been trying to say for all these years.
31. Not to make human forms even for decorative purposes Ex. 20:20
33. To burn a city that has turned to idol worship Deut. 13:17
37. Not to love the idolater Deut. 13:9
38. Not to cease hating the idolater Deut. 13:9
39. Not to save the idolater Deut. 13:9
40. Not to say anything in the idolater’s defense Deut. 13:9
41. Not to refrain from incriminating the idolater Deut. 13:9
45. Not to be afraid of killing the false prophet Deut. 18:22
56. Not to make a covenant with idolaters Deut. 7:2
68. Men must not shave the hair off the sides of their head Lev. 19:27
69. Men must not shave their beards with a razor Lev. 19:27
82. Each male must write a Torah scroll Deut. 31:19
128. To perform yibbum (marry the widow of one’s childless brother) Deut. 25:5
129. To perform halizah (free the widow of one’s childless brother from yibbum) Deut. 25:9
130. The widow must not remarry until the ties with her brother-in-law are removed (by halizah) Deut. 25:5
166. Not to let a mamzer (a child born due to an illegal relationship) marry into the Jewish people Deut. 23:3
234. Not to plant diverse seeds together Lev. 19:19
238. Not to wear shaatnez, a cloth woven of wool and linen Deut. 22:11
491. Break the neck of a calf by the river valley following an unsolved murder Deut. 21:4
504. Purchase a Hebrew slave in accordance with the prescribed laws Ex. 21:2
514. Canaanite slaves must work forever unless injured in one of their limbs Lev. 25:46
528. Press the idolater for payment Deut. 15:3
545. The courts must carry out the death penalty of stoning Deut. 22:24
546. The courts must carry out the death penalty of burning Lev. 20:14
547. The courts must carry out the death penalty of the sword Ex. 21:20
548. The courts must carry out the death penalty of strangulation Lev. 20:10
549. The courts must hang those stoned for blasphemy or idolatry Deut. 21:22
552. The court must not let the sorcerer live Ex. 22:17
553. The court must give lashes to the wrongdoer Ex. 25:2
581. Not to diminish from the Torah any commandments, in whole or in part Deut. 13:1
596. Destroy the seven Canaanite nations Deut. 20:17
597. Not to let any of them remain alive Deut. 20:16
598. Wipe out the descendants of Amalek Deut. 25:19
611. Keep the laws of the captive woman Deut. 21:11
613. Not to retain her for servitude after having sexual relations with her Deut. 21:14
Judaism has always embraced the notion of ‘Deed over creed’.
The notion that somehow one’s creed supersedes ones deed is a decidedly non Jewish idea. That fact that the conservative and reform movements have made creed the center of their respective universes speaks volumes about how they interpret (or fail to interpret) their faith.
Judaism has always had non observant practitioners- this is not a new phenomena. Even in the time of the Temple, there were Jews who openly worshiped Baal, other forms of idolatry and those who just didn’t want to be observant for any number of reasons.
The difference between those Jews and the non observant Jews of today is straightforward. Our non observant antecedents did not delude themselves into believing that their non observance gave them the right to redefine the religion for themselves or others. They readily admitted their own religious shortcomings. They had no need to redefine their religion so that they might feel justified in their beliefs or actions, nor did they step all over their more religious brethren.
As a matter of disclosure, I am not an orthodox Jew.
That said, I have no desire to pray from a siddur that differs from the one my grandfather and great grandfather used. I have no desire to be preached to by a rabbi whose denomination supports the idea that belief in God is optional. I have no desire to have the Torah redefined and reinterpreted.
My grandparents and their parents were not foolish or misinformed. It is they and countless others like them, before them and since them, who keep Judaism relevant today.
If I fail to live up to the highest standard of my faith, then the failing is my own. I will not ask my faith to accommodate my personal ideologies.
I believe that God alone knows what is in my heart and He alone will judge me, not by my creed but rather, by my deeds.
Mr. Baker:
Thanks for your comment. I. I concede you are correct to a great extent on the question of fundamentalism versus the commentaries. But then why all of resistance to, for instance eliminating the problem of the Agunah, through similar legal fictions as you describe for the defective virgin problem? Why not similar resolutions to allow women to have equal roles in 20th century Judaism if the Rabbinical interpretaitons of the Torah can change the law??
And I don’t celebrate Hannukah--its current form in the US is obviously retaliaition by gentile merchants for the commercialization of Christmas and elsewhere is the celebration of actions the of 2nd century BCE “haredim” who were cleansing the Temple of “reform,” helenized Jews.
Matt: As R’ Chark said to Mr. Pressman, you have to engage with Orthodoxy before you can be taken seriously in rejecting it. Nobody Orthodox takes the mitzvot you cite “figuratively,” but they must be understood in the context of the whole legal system. In fact, many of the mitzvot you list are applicable and are followed today, some are not applicable in the absence of a full Sanhedrin sitting in the Chamber of Hewn Stone in the Holy Temple, some are limited by time and geography, and some are limited in application by our living among non-Jewish societies under their legal systems.
However, the heterodox choose to, as you say, read them figuratively, thus claiming that God’s will is immaterial, only Man’s will matters. So no, the Orthodox and heterodox approaches to “difficult” mitzvot are *not* the same.
For instance: the rules about idolatry stand, but as most of us live among monotheists, rather than worshipers of pantheons which inhabit idols, they aren’t of much practical nature. The prohibition of benefitting from idol-worship was relevant a few years ago, during the Indian-hair wig controversy.
The rules about capital crimes don’t apply without a full Sanhedrin present, thus have not been operative since about 40 CE.
The personal-status and agricultural mitzvot are in full force, and are observed by the Orthodox. We don’t wear linsey-woolsey, we don’t sow diverse kinds in Israel, we don’t allow a [known] mamzer to marry a non-mamzer, etc. Men do not shave with [straight] razors, only with electrics or possibly safety razors.
None of your list of mitzvot are taken “figuratively” by the Orthodox. But they are followed in the context of the Torah’s full legal system.
Rabbi Lam’s pronouncements and sadly, th intechange in these postings, can only have reuslted in God “crying” in the heavens. A bit of theological modesty is called for in all camps as we might consider that talking about who we are, who the OTHER is or isn’t or should or shouldn’t be ,is far less important that each of our individual attempts to lead holy lives of righteousness and justice in “imitatio dei.”. The Talmud teaches us that we can acquire our share in the world to come in a fleeting moment. Who achieves this status,and/or when and how they achieve it is up to God and all this is God’s domain, irrespective of what I may think I know as true and/or what i think i know about another human being.
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Matt
05/12/09 02:57 PM
If you want to understand why so many American Jews, young and old, are turned off by Orthodox Judaism, you need only look to models of the Orthodox like Norman Lamm, chancellor of their flagship university. The arrogance and insensitivity and chauvanism he proudly flaunts is deeply unatttactive, as would be obvious to almost anyone living outside the Orthodox cocoon. It’s not just the frequent hypocrisy of the fervently religious (I have a list of mitzvot right here that I know nobody obeys). It’s also this condescending, petty attitude toward others that turns off millions of Jews.
Lamm isn’t saying a “kaddish” for the other movements, for that would imply empathy and grieving. The man is clearly gloating, and he can barely repress his glee at their troubles. Deeply unattractive. He’s clearly looking forward with great anticipation for the day when the other branches and perspectives of Judaism go extinct; if he could pull a lever to destroy them utterly, ending the diversity that has made Jews in America the staggeringly important force that they have become today.
Is it not enough for the Orthodox to be strong, or must the other movements be weak in order to satisfy the desires of people like Lamm? He is saying to the millions of young Jews born and raised into a Jewish identity from one of the other movements that this big man in the Orthodox movement is rooting for your extinction, for the annihilation of your very identity. Hillel would be rolling in his grave.
It’s time for this chauvanism between Jews to end. We must root for the growth and well-being of all, and celebrate the rich, yes, heterodox, diversity of American Jewry.
Diversity breeds strength and resilience. It was the Conservative movement that was the first to take the bold stand for Zionism back when it counted, back when even the Orthodox were naysayers. (Or has Lamm forgotten?) American Jews have contributed to America far out of proportion to their numbers, shaping the very history of this country for centuries, and the vast majority of these contributions have come from the non-Orthodox. Chew on that nugget when you read that Lamm is praying for the day when only the Orthodox and haredim remain.
Jewish diversity is good for America, good for our image, and, most of all, good for us, so that we never settle into the kind of cloistered, homogeneous groupthink that dooms us in the end.
The image of idealized homogeneity and theological purity espoused by Lamm is deeply ahistorical, and the historical diversity of Jewish philosophy--yes, tempered by tradition-- is part of the reason we have survived the millenia. The fact that so many Jews today are white-skinned and not olive-skinned like our ancestors in the Levant is a dramatic testament to a history of intermarriage and, gasp, patrilineal descent.
What Lamm should be praying for is the blossoming of all of Judaism, from the Orthodox to the rest. That would make Hillel proud. it would demonstrate that Lamm feels secure enough in his Judaism that he isn’t compelled to belittle other Jews (a violation of the mitzvot, by the way).
And it might even have the benefit of making his own movement more attractive to those Jews who might be receptive to a change. Fancy that!