wkp@lanl.ARPA (07/12/85)
For those gratified at the recent "liberal" halachic pronouncements by the Chief Rabbis in Israel, it may come as a pleasant surprise to read the latest book by Rabbi Eliezer Berkowitz, "Lo Bashamayim hee." Rav Berkowitz is a noted orthodox rabbi in Israel and is the author of the books "Koha v'tafkida" and "T'nai bi'n'suin u'v'get" (published by Mosad Harav Kook in Jerusalem.) In the book, Rav Berkowitz calls for an end to legalistic "Shtetl" mentality, and for a concerted effort by all orthodox Jews to face the real problems of Jewish unity and tradition in the modern day world. I have taken the liberty of exerpting some of his comments (deleting most of the scholarly references to rabbinical literature which are unimportant to most lay readers). ******************************************************************** [Rav Berkowitz:] The Galut-conditioned form in which the oral law has reached us may indicate the seriousness of the problem which must be contended with ...For the time being, Halacha is in exile in the land of Israel as it was before in the lands of Jewish dispersion. It is still the Halacha of the Shtetl, not that of the State. As yet we have not become worthy of Torat Eretz Yisrael. The reasons are to be found in what happened to Halacha during the exile. Because of the lack of opportunity for halachic aplication to REAL-LIFE SITUATIONS OF NATIONAL EXISTENCE, THE ART AND WISDOM OF SUCH APPLICATION DRIED UP. BECAUSE OF HALACHA'S EXILE INTO LITERATURE AND CODIFICATION, NEW AUTHORITATIVE BARRIERS WERE ERECTED.... The new reality of the state of Israel demands an understanding of what halacha is about...THE ORAL LAW HAS TO BE FREED FROM ITS GALUT-IMPOSED SHACKLES. What was done to it happened, as we have seen, AGAINST THE DIRECTIVES OF THE TORAH ITSELF. It was done as an act of "disregarding the Torah in order to act for G-d" [from the Midrash]...Surely this is a time to act to restore...the original character of the oral law. Halacha...ought to resume now its classical function and originate new forms of relevant Torah realization in Israel. IT SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF WITH SOCIAL JUSTICE, OF ECONOMIC HONESTY AND FAIRNESS, WITH PROBLEMS OF LABOR RELATIONS AND OF THE WORK ETHOS, WITH THE SOCIAL GAP, WITH ETHICS AND MORALITY IN PUBLIC LIFE....How is the Sabbath to be observed in a highly industrialized society that depends on continuous-process industries that cannot be turned off every Friday at sunset? Are they to be serviced only be non-religious Jews, just as the police force, for instance, is to be recruited only from among non-Sabbath-observant citizens? Is this what the Torah intended by a Jewish people living in its own land, a land dependent on the Jewish "shabbes-goy"? The Torah is eternal because it has a word for each generation. Every day the Torah should seem as new to you as if it had been given on that day, says the Midrash. One can find the word that has been waiting for this hour to be revealed only if one faces the challenge of each new situation in the history of Israel and attempts to deal with it in intellectual and ethical honesty. ALAS, THOSE WHO HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE LAWS OF THE TORAH DO NOT CARE TO UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE...ZEITGEIST. THEY TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT. THEY DO NOT SEARCH FOR THE WORD THAT WAS INTENDED FOR THIS HOUR...THEY IMPOSE THE WORD MEANT FOR YESTERDAY AND THUS MISS HEARING THE WORD...FOR THIS NEW HOUR IN THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. *********************************************************************** -- bill peter ihnp4!lanl!wkp