The Way We Were

Bnos Yisroel (Jewish Action)

One of the most troubling aspects of Orthodox Jewish leadership these days is the  ‘My way or the highway’ approach to Judaism. An attitude they transmit to their particular faction.  Sometimes it is overt. But more often than not it is covert - as a sort of by-product of the way they refer to those outside their particular faction. 

The more right wing, it seems, the more guilty they are of that. Intolerance has increasingly become  feature of their Hashkafa. In fact even among a singe faction - there are now factions. As is the case in two very large Chasidic sects of Satmar and Ger. That has led to physical violence in some cases (Very recently in Ger.)

The one thing all the most right wing action have in common, however, is their rejection of any form of Modern Orthodoxy (MO), including its more right wing Centrist elements.

None of this is new. One of the things I complain about most is the lack of Achdus among Orthodox Jews. 

I have said this many times but it bears repeating. If there is anything that should unite us it is observance of Halacha and tradition. It should not bother us if a member of one faction decides they are better served in another faction.  So that if - for example - one raises a child in a Modern Orthodox environment and that child decides they fit better into a Charedi environment, that should be supported. As should the opposite scenario where a child raised Charedi finds the MO environment a better fit. 

This was the theme expressed by OU president, Rabbi Moishe Bane in his latest Jewish Action article. Wherein he praise our differences rather than the ‘My way or the highway’ approach. 

I could not agree more with that point of view.

One might wonder how I can agree with that considering how critical I have been of the Charedi and Religious Zionist world. But that would be missing the point I was trying to make. Which was mostly about the bad behavior of the few and my theories about why - and how it could be prevented. But I have no particular animus to their lifestyle of their Hashkafos. 

Despite my sometimes strong disagreement with them, they are entitled to live the way they choose. We have more in common in our observance of Halacha than we have differences in Hashkafa. The same thing is true with respect to all other segments of observant Jewry. We should unite under that banner and agree to disagree amicably. To put it another way unity is not about uniformity.

(An important corollary to this is that we cannot have unity with non observant factions such as Conservative and Reform Jewry. Non Halachic movements are outside the parameters of Jewish unity where values often reflect non Jewish sources that are anathema to Halacha and tradition. That said we have an obligation to reach out to them with the love and respect. At the end of the day. Af Al Pi Shechatah, Yisroel Hu. We are all part of God’s chosen people. We can however work together in common cause - much the same way we can with different religions.)

If only unity among Orthodox Jews could be realized in our day. But it isn’t. Intolerance - I believe - is one of the reasons so many of us leave an observant lifestyle at both ends of the religious spectrum. Intolerance characterizes today’s Orthodox Zeitgeist. If there was a logo that would fit all factions it is ‘My way or the highway’. That is just the way it is - in plain sight for all of us to see.

It wasn’t always like that. In the very same issue of Jewish Action  in an article that deals with teacher shortages, there is a fascinating anecdote by Toby Klein Greenwald which expresses what Orthodox Judaism was like in the not too distant past.   

Based on some of the details in her story, I surmise her story happened around the same time I was a high school student in Telshe back in the early sixties. It involves how Toby was treated by Rebbitzin Chassia Sorotzkin, her Charedi teacher in Yavneh. 

R' Zalman Sorotzkin (Prabook)

Yavneh is the Telshe version of Beis Yaakov. Back in my day, it was the only religious school for girls in town (Cleveland). Rebbitzin Chassia was the wife of R’ Lazer Sorotzkin whose father, R’ Zalman (The Lutzker Rav) was the author of the exhaustive Peirush on Chumash - Oznayim L’Torah. Needless to say, Telshe is a pretty right wing institution. The Sorotzkin name is synonymous with Telshe. R’ Lazer taught the 11^th grade Shiur back then. And was one of Telshe’s more prodigious fundraisers.  His brother, R’ Baruch, was destined to become  Co-Rosh HaYeshiva along with Rav Mordechai  Gifter.

Since Yavneh was the only game in town, it attracted girls from both the Agudah camp and the Mizrachi (Religious Zionist) camp. But as one might imagine – all  the teachers were Charedi and aligned with Agudah.

Toby was so inspired by her teacher that she seriously considered switching from Bnei Akiva (Mizrachi’s youth group) to Agudah. But before she did that she consulted with her beloved teacher. 

Guess what happened?  Toby was advised to stay in Bnei Akiva for which her Agudah aligned teacher had much praise. Chassia Sorotzkin realized that what unites us was far more important than what divides us. And she had no issue at all with her student staying put where she was. 

Can anyone imagine a BeisYaakov teacher today telling a young student ready to leave Bnei Akiva for Agudah telling them not to do it?! They would be up in the air about how successful they were in getting their student to switch! 

Another indicator of tolerance was her association with Nechama Leibowitz. Rebbitzin Sorotzkin knew how great Nechama Leibowitz’s knowledge of Tanach was and wanted to learn from her during the time she and her husband spent in Israel. Her Hashkafos were not the same but that was  irrelevant. There was no gap between them. How many Charedi women today would hook up  with someone comparable to a ‘Nechama Leibowitz’ today? My guess is that it would be very close to zero.

In this sense we are failing. And it is the leadership that is at fault in my view. The way I see it, the level of intolerance is at an all time high. 

Sad.