Disintegration of Modern Orthodoxy

There are so many ways to describe the death throes of Modern Orthodoxy. Lets see now: there’s the Yiddish adage of nisht aheen v’nisht aher, there is the Israeli version of lo dubim v’lo y’ar and then there is the American version which, although slightly vulgar hits the nail on the head: s__t or get off the pot. Any one of these three would describe to a “T” the status of Modern Orthodoxy. It’s another Jewish invention like Traditional Judaism was in the 1960’s. Traditional Judaism was a “movement” of orthodox rabbis, backed and sponsored by the Hebrew Theological College with the purpose of staunching the incursion of Conservative Judaism in the Midwest. The rabbis hired by these synagogues had good intentions: to create and foster orthodox Judaism in cities and towns in the Midwest; to educate the young people in a culture that promotes orthodox values by associating with youth movements such as NCSY rather than BBYO and other liberal youth movements. To encourage young people to attend orthodox camps such as Moshava rather than the liberal camps like Ramah. These rabbis were on a mission – a noble one at that. They were deeply committed to orthodoxy and probably, had they been asked, would have defined themselves as Modern Orthodox.

The problem with these modern orthodox rabbis then as now is that they are masters of the art of compromise leaving the product half-baked. However, when it comes to ideology there should be no room for compromise. In the 1960’s those modern traditional orthodox rabbis serving traditional pulpits were presiding over synagogues with mixed seating and microphones. It took Rabbi Aron Soloveitchik to put an end to their hypocricy.

By definition Modern Orthodoxy, not being comfortable in their authentic skin, have created for themselves a series of problems. In the last few years modern orthodox rabbis have demonstrated their discomfort with the idea of exclusiveness with a unique mission, struggling with reconciling choseness with contemporary trends. Modern Orthodoxy has been obsessed with the notion of being accepted by their enlightened and to be loved by the progressive movements. They weren’t comfortable with the idea that the gay community wasn’t accepted within Orthodox Judaism, so a symposium was held at Yeshiva University to “air” the issues. And now, an activist rabbi, seeking his place in the sun wishes to ordain women rabbis and bestow upon them the title of “rabbah”.

As much as I hate to admit it, Agudas Israel is right on the mark when denouncing Rabbi Avi Weiss for his latest foray into his latest venture of attempting to liberalize Orthodox Judaism. The strength of Agudas Israel and the other right wing (conservative) groups is that they have become the party of “no”: No to watering down Jewish values, and No to caving in to trendy Jewish living. Truth be told, Rabbi Weiss ought to do the honest thing: disconnect from the RCA and modern orthodoxy-whatever that means, and form a new denomination. Call it Progressive Judaism or some variation thereof. But for heaven sake, they should stop referring to themselves as orthodox. After all, many right wing Conservative rabbis are as halachichally observant as Modern Orthodox rabbis sharing the same “hashkafah”. There is nothing orthodox about them, and that should be understood as a derisive comment.

The Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah is correct when saying that placing women in traditional rabbinic roles departs from Jewish traditional value system and can’t be called orthodox. The problem with Modern Orthodoxy is they want their cake and they want to eat it too, while the Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah isn’t interested in eating the cake, but preserving it!! And that is why they are so convincing. They talk straight, they are intellectually honest and having no reason to compromise their values on the altar of American political / social correctness.

Having said that I would find it difficult to live in a world where there weren’t the rich options available to choose from. Having to live in a Jewish world ossified by the stodgy stalwarts of conservative values would make me old before my time; casting a sepia tint on a world with otherwise innumerable possibilities and opportunities. On the other hand living in a world always looking over my right shoulder, trying always to placate, fearing a misstep, would hinder my ability to reach my full stride – and that would be awfully disappointing and frustrating.

Corruption of Tikkun Olam and Other Things

Back in the day when I was a rabbinical student I had a very difficult and exacting teacher, Rabbi Zelig Starr (obm) who taught me a valuable lesson that has carried me through life: “know what you know and know what you don’t know”. For a student, that was a very difficult lesson to learn - after all students know it all. But ever since that time I had a diminished tolerance for anyone who spoke out without knowing what they were talking about. I noticed that in recent years whenever I heard the mantra of Tikkun Olam by my more liberal friends and rabbis, Rabbi Starr’s dictum began flashing in my frontal lobe. I understood their search for Jewish relevancy but I was conflicted: ought I let them dilute themselves into thinking and believing that they found the answer to their fading Judaism or should I call them out?

The ambivalence stems from the fact that they have good intentions. Their concern is to upgrade the practice of Judaism, to make it relevant to their lives and oddly enough to ensure that it is on par with their Christianity, which may be partially the source of the problem. I like the idea that our liberal community is fair minded and open to new ideas, contributing to the renewal of Jewish practice but I am nevertheless resentful of their ignorance resulting in the corruption of Jewish values.

Tikkun Olam, ironically, the new mitzvah of the decade has been propelled to center stage in the liberal Jewish community, overshadowing any and all Jewish practices. Everything seems to be measured by Tikkun Olam and where you stand on the fulfillment of this mitzvah. It’s ironic because reference to it is found in the Aleinu prayer, recited thrice daily and is far from being the enlightening liberating mitzvah that our liberal community believes it to be.

As we put our hopes in thee, o Lord our God, that we may soon see the glory of thy power, the earth rid of abominations and the idols cut down and the world repaired in the kingdom of God. (Letaken Olam Bemalchut Shadai)


Essentially, this rendering of Tikkun Olam discourages a pluralistic society where there are multiple approaches to spirituality and many formats of expressing belief in God. O you liberals, how do you feel about that?!!!!

The expression of Tikkun Olam is also found in the Mishnah where the phrase Mipne Tikkun Olam is used in a legal context. Here the understanding of the term is that although certain actions are not required by law, Mipne Tikkun Olam, one should behave in a certain manner in order to avoid potential promiscuity. For example, if a man sends a writ of divorce (Get) by messenger to his wife and changes his mind prior to her receiving it, technically he can cancel the Get without notifying her. The Rabbis, however, in their infinite wisdom, ruled Mipne Tikkun Olam, this isn’t advised. If she assumes that she is divorced she may have a relationship with another man. To avoid this, he must notify her of his change of mind.

It was only in the 16th century with the development of Lurianic Kabbalah did Tikkun Olam take on a more popular currency. Lurianic Kabbala gave absolutely no credence to “social” aspects of Tikkun Olam. The act of repairing to which they referred was cosmic in nature and implied no social action. Lurianic Kabbalist believed that the universe was in a shattered state and in need of repair and only by practicing mitzvot can the world be repaired. This act of aiding in the repair was intended to be accomplished by developing a deep personal and emotional relationship with God.

Michael Lerner, founder and editor of Tikkun Magazine, known for his Rainbow coalition politics and vicious attacks on Israel, exploited Lurianic Kabbala and gave new unlicensed expression to Tikkun Olam as a form of redemptive social action. Jewish Liberals hijacked Tikkun Olam; neither in its Mishnaic, nor Kabbalistic meaning was it ever intended as advocacy for social justice, environmentalism or redistribution of wealth.

This past month (March 2010) Commentary contributor Jack Wertheimer wrote an interesting piece on “The High Cost of Jewish Living”, commenting on the fact that we no longer contribute our money to Jewish interests but to global concerns based upon Tikkun Olam. The idea is that we will fulfill the mitzvah to a greater extent if we give our charity to non-Jewish causes. What a corruption of Tikkun Olam! And so there are now a plethora of so-called Jewish charities that focuses on the non-Jewish community. Forget the fact that so many Jewish families cannot afford day school tuition or membership to synagogues. Forget the high rate of intermarriage resulting from lack of Jewish education; it’s ok because we are on a mission of Tikkun Olam.

At the JTS convocation this past year the keynote speaker exhorted newly minted rabbis to nothing less than focus on eliminating world poverty even at the expense of the Jewish community. Ruth Messenger of the American Jewish World Services declared that “we embrace those with whom we do not share a faith or neighborhood, a country, a language…to help those most in need….” I’m trying to keep my cool as I review all of this in my head once again, and find it difficult to the extreme. Our liberal rabbis have become so corrupted that I wonder where it will all end. Rabbi Starr was so right when he said, “know what you know and know what you don’t know”. I miss him!