Jewish Tradition and the Non-Traditional Jew

by Jacob J. Schacter (Editor)

Another addition to the "Orthodox Forum Series", this book is a collection of papers from the Second Orthodox Forum in New York and provides compelling insight into the minds of highly respected scholars in the Orthodox Rabbinate. Two of the papers include a brief account of non-observance and the Rabbinic view throughout Jewish history.

The Orthodox Forum, convened by Dr. Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and secular fields, rabbis, rashei yeshivah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to discuss and critique each other's original papers, examining different aspects of a central theme. The purpose of the Forum is to create and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today.

252 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 1977

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

PART OF A SERIES, "THE ORTHODOX FORUM"

The Orthodox Forum... meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world ... gather in conference ... to discuss and critique each other's original papers... The purpose of the Forum is to create and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today. Other volumes in the series include: ‘Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy,’ ‘Israel as a Religious Reality,’ etc.

The editor wrote in the Preface to this 1992 book, "And if they cannot accept any other interpretation of Judaism as valid, then clearly Orthodox Jews will have serious problems with those Jews who do not accept those interpretations as legitimate expressions of Judaism and certainly with those who propagate them as a matter of religious principle and personal prerogative. Yet, many contemporary Orthodox Jews find it very difficult to accept the practical implications of this position... While some continue to argue that Halakhah today indeed mandates hating other Jews, others find such a conclusion to be indefensible and untenable."

Ephraim Kanarfogel notes, "Spanish Jewry society as a whole appeared to have a much more permissive attitude toward certain types of sexual behavior. These behaviors often threatened to become widespread. As a result, Spanish rabbis had to view sexual transgressions not merely with regard to the individuals involved but to their larger implications as well." (Pg. 23-24)

Judith Bleich states, "In bemoaning the motives of the Reform leaders, many of the respondents underscored the desire of the innovators to ingratiate themselves with non-Jews and to assimilate." (Pg. 48)

Yehuda Amital suggests, "One of the more common problems that arises today is whether or not one is permitted to invite an unobservant Jew to a Sabbath meal when it is clear that he will be returning to his home by car and will thus violate the Shabbat. With regard to the Friday night meal, most rely on the famous ruling that if we offer such a Jew a place to sleep, thereby affording him the opportunity not to desecrate the Sabbath, then we need no longer concern ourselves about his violation. There are situations, however, where such a reasoning cannot be employed..." (Pg. 131-132)

Norman Lamm observes, "Our original question, then, remains: How can Maimonides conceive of a simultaneous mitzvah of love and hatred, both on the emotional level? Maimonides believes, in my view, that it is psychologically and therefore legally possible to maintain a position of ambivalence." (Pg. 148)

Later, he adds, "Since Maimonides is the supreme rationalist, who holds that metaphysics is beyond Halakhah, and that the loftiest goal is the forming of correct concepts about the Deity, it is in the area of ideas and theory that the test of faith takes place. It is in that realm, rather than in behavior, that one stands or falls as a Jew." (Pg. 157)

He summarizes, "Most people especially in our days but in days of yore as well, abandon religion not because they are sure it is false. They leave it because they are unconvinced, in doubt, and perhaps uncertain whether any kind of certainty can ever be attained... In other words, they are not 'deniers' but 'nonbelievers.' On the basis of this distinction, we maintain that the great majority of nonbelievers of today are not equivalent to the 'apikores' ('heretics') of Talmudic times." (Pg. 166-167)

Nachum L. Rabinovitch asserts, the concept of 'arevut' [responsibility] of one Jew for another can be understood in two ways. One may view this as a responsibility incurred essentially for the benefit of the other Jews... According to this understanding, the commandment to reprove one's neighbor is an expression of one's arevut, which is, by definition, done only for the other's benefit. It is therefore obvious that, in a specific situation the rebuke will be counterproductive, then it is better that the other Jew be left in ignorance and not be turned into a deliberate sinner. After all, it is forbidden to create any obstacle even for a non-Jew for whom there is no notion of arevut, all the more so in the case of a Jew where that concept is very much relevant. But there is another possible approach. One may view the arevut relationship as one in effect between man and God, as it were. In other words, all Jews are responsible for one another in order to ensure the complete observance of the Torah and its commandments, thereby sanctifying God's name in the world." (Pg. 181-182)

This series will be of keen interest to those concerned with contemporary Orthodox interpretions.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This little book is really two very different books. The first two chapters discuss the history of relationships between rabbis and their less observant congregants. The first chapter focuses on the Middle Ages, drawing a distinction between Ashkenazic and Sephardic communities. Sephardic communities, like today's rabbis, tended to rely on persuasion rather than coercion, and included less observant Jews. By contrast, some Ashkenazic communities were more state-like; in some communities, freedom of religion was not an option, as congregants were flogged for ritual violations. The second chapter similarly addresses how Ashkenazic rabbis reacted to the birth of Reform Judaism in the 19th century; many rabbis chose to be more stringent than before, out of a fear that any change would lead to a "slippery slope" of liberalization.

The second half of the book is more noble but less interesting, basically saying that frum (ritually observant) Jews should be nice to non-frum Jews so the latter will become more frum.