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I Guessed Wrong – Corrections by the Author

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Guest Post by Shmuel Winiarz

Sometimes my assumptions are just plain wrong. As are my misspelling of names. This is one of those times. I received the following comment from Shmuel Winiarz, (…not Winearz as I misspelled it yesterday). He was the author of the Torah Thoughts article upon which I commented yesterday. Although I stand by my analysis of the value of such programs, I accept all of Mr. Winiarz corrections and ask that he grant me Mechila on this day before Rosh Hashana. His words follow. 

Thank you Mr. Maryles for your take on my article. Several points if i may. Your wrote that "My guess is that most (if not all) of the the 17 participants in this symposium never heard of R'David Zvi Hoffman". That is an wildly inaccurate guess b/c I am pretty sure that at least 14-15 of the participants (if not more) knew who he was prior to the event (he wasnt actually brought up in the discussion by the presenters but rather I and several others brought him up in conversations precisely about his differences with R" Hirsch and certain interesting teshuvos in Melamed Lehoil.

You do a disservice by saying "if any goes into a right wing yeshiva .... one would be hard pressed to find anyone there who would be interested in pursuing this kind of thought". Although Ner Yisroel and Shaar Hatorah (center-right) yeshivos were best represented (and Ner Yisroel is my own almamater) from my own experience many yeshiva products (though not enough) are interested in these sorts of discussions people and ideas. 

The "yeshiva world" is not monolithic and painting it with a more nuanced brush would strengthen your arguments. I am pretty sure R' Sholom Kamenetsky of Philly Yeshiva and Ahron Kotler CEO of Lakewood knew of and were supportive of the program btw.

I should note that someone you are familiar with R' Avraham Kivelevitz was one of the presenters (on R'Kook) and although I am nowhere near as intelligent or learned like R' Kivelevitz the group was many people with a similar center-right background and interest and some level of knowledge in the world of ideas both Jewish and general.

I am enclosing a link to an article R'Adlerstein wrote, reviewing the program http://www.cross-currents.com/...

Finally the biggest correction of all. I do not possess Semicha but rather a J.D. and my last name is Winiarz not Winearz :)

Warmly,
Shmuel Winiarz

Addendum

I just received the following note from Mr. Winiarz and thought it should be included in the post. I would just add that his asking for Mechila was not necessary as I was not offended. But in any case I grant it if Mr. Winiarz feels he needs it. As per his request, my e-mail address is: 
hmaryles@yahoo.com

Dear Mr. Maryles,

First allow me to apologize. Now re-reading what I wrote to you (in the middle of the night) I realize that my tone was far too harsh and accusatory. I am sorry and request your mechilah for that. Your original post need ot even ask mechilah but if of course if you feel its necessary I am mochel. 

What happened was the students in that group participated and now have a list serve and someone sent your posting to the group (which I overall liked) laughing at the R'Dovid Zvi Hoffman comment. Though we may not have the exact same hashkafos I think we are kindred spirits b/c we are both passionate about Toras Hashem and believe (perhaps to different degrees) that we must and should embrace the world of ideas both in Jewish Studies and in General Studies. 

You mentioned Dr. Revel and the school named after him is one I will hopefully soon begin attending at night to pursue a M.A. in Jewish History (and not take the Revel classes discouraged by R'Schechter and R'Willig) something I think you would approve. 

Hopefully this Tikvah will have a positive influence on Klal Yisroel as does your blog (though no need to turn this into a criticism of Lakewood or the Mir) L'shem u'lisiferes. Kesivah V'chasimah Tovah and a gut gebentched yor.

P.S. We can definitely communicate more about what happened as it was a truly enjoyable and stimulating week. Is there a way I could privately send you my email address?
Warmly,

Shmuel

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