mvm@whuxk.UUCP (MASON) (08/03/84)
What follows is a serious problem inviting, I hope, serious discussion. It is meant neither to antagonize nor to offend; and if it does either, I apologize in advance. I have noticed that net.religion.jewish attracts correspondents who identify themselves with what is normally called Orthodoxy, and that few--if any--individuals on the net identify themselves as having Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist affiliations, whether though congregational membership, interpretation of law, or any other criteria that might be imposed. Frankly, this troubles me. People who consider themselves aligned to the three non-Orthodox "branches" of Judaism spend immense amounts of time complaining that Orthodoxy "controls" Jewish education, the Jewish press (not the Boro Park newspaper), and the serious discussions that take place formally and informally over issues of religious law and observance. This complaint might extend to net.religion. jewish as well. However . . . As a self-identified Conservative (and I'll be happy to explain why--calmly and dispassionately, via my login--if anyone wishes to know) who started out in and has some familiarity with Reconstructionism, I have a considerable problem with the fact (not a word I use lightly) that non-Orthodoxy has virtually abrogated its responsibility to itself and to its own fears for the future by walking away from such items as Day Schools, the Jewish media, and the halakhic arena (though this is changing: witness the issue of ordaining women in Conservativism, and the rather brazen conversion/Jew-defining of Reform). I have known people who started their childrens' educations in "Day Schools" (i.e., yeshivot--why the reluctance to use that term?), but who pulled the kids out and put them in public school when the education began to become "too Orthodox" somewhere, I assume, around the second or third grade. I cannot question the right of Orthodoxy to teach according to its normative beliefs in Torah from Heaven, observance of the mitzvot, etc. What I find somewhat irritating is 1) the reluc- tance of Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist parents to even CONSIDER Day Schools for their kids; 2) their dependence on Orthodoxy if they opt for the Day School route; and 3) their toothless complaining about the yeshivot when they, in their turn, haven't attempted to broaden the base of Schechter schools and others of a more liberal bent. Now extend the problem to include the Jewish media, which I would interpret to include this net. Where is the Conservative equiva- lent of The Jewish Press? Where is the ability to fight back when attacked? Certainly The Jewish Press is not reticent about throw- ing punches--some of them well-aimed--at non-Orthodoxy. Is non-Orthodoxy willing to absorb these punches and not fight back through media which will represent its point of view? Or are Orthodox Jews the only ones who give enough of a damn to read Jewishly-oriented publications? The latter point is the one that scares the hell out of me. I would like people's opinions of the problem. I fear it goes beyond singular issues of yeshivot, newspapers, and the net. Indeed, it may extend into the very guts of practical non- Orthodoxy as it exists in the community, not in the halls of Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary, or the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Scholarship is terrific, but if it isn't applied and if no one bothers to read it, then are non-Orthodox Jews "handing it over" to Orthodoxy, and leaving ourselves nothing but the Complaint Department? Unless I'm in some form of cherem, please respond to: Kenneth Wolman Bell Communications Research MO 2D-209 (201) 898-1177 whuxe!ktw
yba@mit-athena.ARPA (Mark H Levine) (08/06/84)
The non-orthodox are right here. The orthodox maintain a body of culture and knowledge, not to mention law. Who knows what contains needed wisdom or the color of a Jew? It all stays alive as long as some keep it alive. As for taking issue, don't be silly. Those who believe they have the word of God directly from God, with His approved annotations by men, cannot argue meaningfully with those who think those same men have the word of mere men. Whether it is God or random chance that has endowed you, you are given a mind to think with and a heart to feel with. There is no way for you to find out from whence these came by using them. So practice as you feel you must, and don't do to anyone else what you would not suffer him to do you. I would send my kids to an orthodox Chedar (any transliteration you like) so they learn who they are descended from and what our people believe. I intend for them to choose their own way. I hold a lot of hope for Zen Judaisim. You should find hope in the fact that experts disagree.... -- yba%mit-heracles@mit-mc.ARPA UUCP: decvax!mit-athena!yba
harry@ucbvax.UUCP (Harry I. Rubin) (08/08/84)
I suspect that many of the individuals who affiliate with non-orthodox movements, or do not affiliate with any but consider themselves non-orthodox, do so because it is more convenient, it interferes less with leading an "American lifestyle" (whatever that is). It requires less time, energy, and commitment. There are real philosophies involved in the non-orthodox movements, many of them good, none of them trivial, and some people choose their movements according to philosophy and belief. Do not take this note as a denigration of the movements or the people in them in general. The point I am making is that some people, I believe many people, choose the movement to affiliate with according to convenience and not according to philosophy. I have a friend who frequently laments that the big problem with the Reform movement is that Reform parents will bring up their children with a Reform Jewish education. This includes relatively little Judaica, and so, as he puts it, "these kids won't know what they are reforming from." In only a few generations most of Judaica would be lost. Harry I. Rubin harry@berkeley ...!ucbvax!harry