Q&A: A Legitimate New Religion
A Legitimate New Religion
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In recent days, a storm has erupted over the event in honor of Rabbi Firer, from which women would be excluded and would not be able to sing on stage. In my opinion, the secular people who are protesting are right, since they too have sacred values just like religious people, etc. But without sarcasm, maybe we need to declare a new religion, including a Shulchan Arukh, memorizing laws, and so on, that would include, for example, the laws regarding compromises, Heaven forbid, with religious and Haredi people—what religious event that excludes women one may attend, and so on and so on. You can also see different streams within the new religion, like in other old religions: liberals—it's not so terrible, Rabbi Firer is giving his life for others, so it's permitted to go; conservatives—on the one hand he truly is a person who knows suffering firsthand, but on the other hand the laws of excluding women cannot be trampled; and fanatics—an event honoring a Haredi rabbi while excluding women is the equivalent of an event in Germany where they merely announce that Jews will absolutely not sing.
Another point: there is tyranny of the new religion in the media, and I think religious media is not good, not democratic, and ostensibly not consistent with the laws of the new religion itself, and I hope that the new religion really is against religious coercion.
Answer
What is the question? If someone wants to write a Shulchan Arukh, let him write one. In my view, all the belligerence and uproar are a collection of stupid nonsense. As usual.