The Kaddish debate continues
Another top leader of Conservative Judaism is taking issue with Rabbi Norman Lamm, the chancellor of Yeshiva University, for his recent assertion that "with a heavy heart we will soon say kaddish on the Reform and Conservative Movements."
Here's the statement put out by Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, the incoming executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly, the Conservative movement's rabbinical union.
New York, NY (May 13, 2009) – One week ago today, I returned from the AIPAC conference in Washington, DC energized not only by the thrilling program but by the realization that out of the 200-plus rabbis in attendance, more than half were my colleagues, ordained by the Conservative movement and now standing at the helms of the leading Jewish communal organizations of the day. They came with delegations of committed Conservative Jews from their congregations and institutions.
During my time in our nation’s capital I also met with the Conservative rabbis who were heading up our new Office of Public Policy and Office of Israel Advocacy, respectively. These initiatives are part of a five-platform agenda of the Rabbinical Assembly which includes Social Justice Partnerships, Interfaith Work and Hekhsher Tzedek -- a star project of the Conservative movement which is focused on creating an ethical certification process for kosher foods.
The enormous popularity and success of Hekhsher Tzedek, which has captured the interest of the Jewish community at large, including many of Rabbi Lamm’s Orthodox constituents who are in agreement with my colleague, Rabbi Morris Allen’s call that we take ethical mitzvot as seriously as ritual ones in the preparation of kosher food. The message we are hearing loud and clear is that the American Jewish community is quite literally hungry to lead lives where the ritual is bound up in the ethical underpinning.
This contribution and others, however, have sadly eluded the notice of Rabbi Norman Lamm, chancellor of Yeshiva University, who felt moved to publicly declare the need to recite Kaddish for our allegedly-dying movement in a recent Jerusalem Post interview.
It seems that Rabbi Lamm has been so busy making funeral arrangements that he has missed the news of our movement’s great and global vitality. Our seminaries are respected houses of religious learning and pastoral training, drawing new and committed students to the rabbinate. There are exciting congregational developments around the world, especially in Israel and Europe. Our presence in Latin America is critical. Our warm and welcoming synagogues throughout the United States and Canada offer proof that our movement occupies the very heart of Jewish life in North America.
And our camping and school system could not be stronger and more in demand. If any of our schools are feeling the pinch, it is an indication of the nation’s economic crisis as a whole… not our movement’s failure.
As I prepare to assume my post as executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly this summer, I am excited and optimistic at this very moment of transition into new leadership. With Chancellor Arnold Eisen directing the Jewish Theological Seminary and Rabbi Steven Wernick heading The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, we are prepared to energetically bring the Conservative Movement forward into the new century.
My advice to Rabbi Lamm is -- save your Kaddish. The imminent demise of Conservative Judaism is a tired and false mantra. Instead, I would suggest that you direct your attention to working cooperatively within the Orthodox community to build for the Jewish future. This, and not eulogizing the institutions where Jews live their lives, ought to be the work in which we jointly and cooperatively engage.
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The long life of the Jewish People is not in Orthodoxy being the only venue, but the acceptance of all segments of the different Jewish movements, by all, is going to be our survival.
Rabbi Lamm’s error is so egregious as to make me doubt his sobriety. Even in Israel, the Orthodox are a shrinking minority.
While I am not an Orthodox Jew, I have always considered Rabbi Norman Lamm one of the most cogent, honest and enlightened voices in the Orthodox rabbinate. I had the joy and privilege of studying with him at Brooklyn College long before he moved into the President/Chancellors office at YU.
His now suggesting that Conservative and Reform Judaism are dying is a clear indication that he is either very, very out of touch with non-Orthodox world, or he has chosen to surrender his respect and humanity for non-Orthodox Jews to political expediency. I’ve never quite understood the depth of the hostility too many in the Orthodox world have for the two liberal movements of Judaism. Could it be based on the fear of the historical accuracy and intellectual honesty Conservative and Reform scholars demand in the study of Judaism?
Sinat hinam has never been good for the Jewish people. Indeed, throughout history, it has always brought about our downfall. So why do we keep falling into its trap?
Diversity breeds strength, resilience, and adaptability. Why is that so difficult for some people to accept? Diversity should be celebrated and cherished.
I hope all the movements of Judaism grow and prosper in the years to come. I cannot understand why some Jews would feel so insecure in their identity that they would feel the compulsion to set themselves up against other Jews.
Well, Yaakov certainly typifies the sinat hinam I’ve been talking about.
Nice of him to put Rabbi Julie Schonfeld’s title, Rabbi, in quotation marks, wasn’t it? How respectful to someone who knows vastly more about Judaism than he does. What love he demonstrates. And telling her to work on the street, rather than as a rabbi? Yaakov is really showing that warm sense of equality, isn’t he? He sure makes Orthodoxy look attractive to other Jews, doesn’t he?
You all know why people like Yaakov behave this way, don’t you? It’s because they’re taught to have nothing but contempt for the non-Orthodox, their fellow Jews. That’s what they learn in school, from their teachers, from their parents. They hear it again and again. They never question any of it. Eventually it becomes just “obvious” that they should speak to the non-Orthodox with arrogant and immodest condescension, with that familiar patronizing and superior-sounding tone. Some of them are even taught that those horrid “reformim” brought about the Holocaust. And these impressionable youngsters just swallow it all up, this contempt for other Jews.
Why do they teach their children this tripe? Are they so insecure that they feel the need to attack other Jews in order to feel stronger, to feel better, and to help resist temptation? Say what you will about the Chabadniks, but they are eminently secure in their faith, and they never feel this overwhelming desire to put those “other” Jews in their place.
What a direct violation of the law to love their fellow Jews Yaakov demonstrates. I’m sure Yaakov follows all the small laws to the letter. Why he and those like him ignore the bigger laws of Judaism, like the repeated commandment to love their fellow Jews, indicates either ignorance or hypocrisy. I’m sure, like the rest, he has twisted the law to love Jews to mean that only “his” kind of Jews deserve to be loved. That may be fine for him, but not for G-d.
And it’s not good for the Jews.
Please read my detailed response at: http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/conservative/entry/saying_kaddish_for_conservative_judaism
Saying Kaddish for Conservative Judaism?
n his recent remarks to The Jerusalem Post, Rabbi Norman Lamm, the esteemed chancellor of Yeshiva University, pronounced the time near to say Kaddish [the prayer for the dead] for the Conservative and the Reform Movements.
I shall leave it to the leaders of the Reform Movement to react to his criticism of their stream - I shall react to his criticism of Conservative/Masorti Judaism.
Rabbi Lamm states, “The Conservatives are in a mood of despondency and pessimism.”
Related
* Non-Orthodox Judaism disappearing
* Orthodox Opinions: Rabbi Lamm’s fight for tolerance must be recognized
I am not certain upon what he bases this assertion. I, for one, am optimistic and foresee a firm future for Judaism and for the Masorti Movement.
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.
Rabbi Lamm suggest that in time we may be ready for women to serve as rabbis. Why wait? It is the very openness of the non-Orthodox Movements to greater inclusion that will force the Orthodox to move in such a direction.
Regarding women rabbis he states, “Women have just come into their own from an educational perspective. I would prefer not to have this innovation right now.”
I am not sure in which reality Rabbi Lamm lives. Women have had equal access to Jewish learning in the non-Orthodox world for decades. Even in the Modern Orthodox world women have been studying at the highest level for quite a while. So I would ask Rabbi Lamm, “If not now-when?”
The Jerusalem Post reported: “Regarding homosexuality among Orthodox Jewish men, Lamm said he drew a distinction between those who ‘kept it to themselves’ and those who ‘proselytized’.”
Again I ask about Rabbi Lamm’s reality. Exactly where are these proselytizing Orthodox homosexuals about whom he speaks? I appreciate his effort to be respectful. I say that in full sincerity. But it is difficult to read an enlightened Rav speak in such archaic language.
The Orthodox religious establishment is making itself increasingly irrelevant. Please take note that I am not suggesting that Orthodox Judaism is becoming irrelevant. But many of its institutions are.
The brouhaha over the sale of lands during the Shmita year, the refusal of the Israeli Rabbinate to accept converts form most mainstream American Orthodox rabbis, the ugly reception given to the Pope during his visit to Israel by some leading rabbinic figures, the corruption in the area of Kashrut, the discrimination against Sephardi children in Haredi schools in Israel, the continuing plight of Agunot [refers to a woman whose husband disappeared while travelling or at war, or is physically unable to write her a binding get (i.e. he is in a coma or has a mental illness), but cannot be proven deceased”, Mavoi Satum definition; literally ‘chained’ or ‘anchored’], the refusal of the Orthodox establishment to accept rabbis who study at more progressive Yeshivot all bode poorly for drawing unaffiliated Jews close to the Orthodox world.
I take no pleasure in the failings mentioned above. Rabbi Lamm, and others of his stature, have the power to ameliorate much of this, if only they could act boldly. But the much of the Orthodox world seems to defy the laws of physics. The harder they are pushed from the right - the more they move to the right.
Of course there are shining exceptions. Here in Israel we have the rabbis of Tzohar who have riled the official Orthodox rabbinic establishment. So too Neemanei Torah V’Avoda. In North America the work of Rabbis Avi Weiss and Marc Angel provide a breath of fresh air.
Rabbi Lamm says, “Change has to come to religion when feasible, but it should not be rushed.” On this we agree. But I see progress today as something quite feasible and even necessary.
It was Mark Twain that said, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” This is why I do not see Masorti Judaism as even vaguely close to the time when Kaddish will be recited. Instead, I believe it shall continue “from strength to strength.”
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Jennifer P.
05/13/09 04:53 PM
Rabbi Lamm might as well plan Kaddish for Coke and Pepsi while he’s at it, because those are about as likely to die as Conservative and Reform Judaism.
And if they were to “die”, where does he think those Jews would go? Certainly not to Orthodoxy. So he would rather have those Jews out there with no movement and no community? Lovely!