Q&A: How Judaism Became Idolatry
How Judaism Became Idolatry
Question
How did Judaism become idolatry?
The preoccupation with marginal details (the thickness of stockings and the height of the shtreimel) and turning them into foundations of faith; the great neglect suffered by Judaism’s real values (kindness, charity, and justice).
The blind and extreme fundamentalism, the huge lack of taking personal responsibility due to an exaggeration of the concept of Da’at Torah,
and worst of all, the absolute control (in the Rabbi’s words: “the coerced of reason”)—there is really no possibility of thinking and asking questions.
In order to preserve blind faith, anything different is set aside as repulsive and rejected (“heresy”).
On the other hand, there is the rise in status of various lecturers (stand-up comedians) who call themselves rabbis, when the content is shallow and lowly—is this what is called faith and thought? (Most of the public has no idea who Rabbi Michael Abraham, Rabbi Feivelson, or Prof. David Hartman are; they prefer to be drawn to shallow sources of knowledge.)
In general, everything is granted a sacred and exalted status, from the leftovers of the rebbe, (his opinion, of course—that is “Da’as Toirah”), to various conceptions according to which it is impossible to adapt Jewish law to our times—“anything new is forbidden by the Torah” (and as in the Rabbi’s example, they go on wearing swimsuits even in a cold country).
Presumably the despair is already evident from my words, and there is no need to add more.
I have just one question:
Is the goal to “fix” Haredi Judaism from within—that is, to work there for change—or simply to leave, to establish a new stream / a new community? (What is preferable?)
Signed, in pain,
S.
Answer
There are a lot of slogans here that have no connection to one another. First of all, what does all this have to do with idolatry? You can argue that these are unimportant details, but why is that connected to idolatry? Beyond that, you assume that the important things are kindness, charity, and justice. I disagree. Kindness, charity, and justice are the basic moral foundation. On top of that one must build the religious level. Moreover, kindness, charity, and justice obligate all human beings. That is not Judaism but humanity. Judaism is דווקא the parts you disparaged (not necessarily the thickness of stockings, but the details of Jewish law).
Even if there are correct and good claims here, there is no need to get carried away and lump them all together in one bundle, and certainly not in the wrong bundle.
What bothered me most about this question too was the term idolatry. In general, people use it far too much today as a term when they want to attack very harshly any opinion that seems to them very foolish and stupid (and even if it really is—there usually isn’t much connection between that and idolatry). It reminds me of an article on some neo-kabbalistic site that I once read, where it said that the moment you get upset when you’re stuck in traffic, you are considered an idol worshiper. In many cases it really has become a slogan.
Another thing that bothered me was this business of “no one has heard of.” Who is no one? David Hartman is indeed generally not known in Haredi circles, naturally, and also not among more halakhically conservative circles in Religious Zionism, and generally not by the average layman, since his thought belongs to a more liberal stream, to a different model of “liberal Orthodoxy.” Why would they hear about him and study him in a conservative yeshiva, Haredi or religious? And in general, in any yeshiva where they want to convey a message in which Jewish law is central (and of course, to make a vast distinction, would you expect them to study Abraham Geiger or Samuel Holdheim in a yeshiva?), or Martin Luther in a seminary for training Catholic priests?
Figures who shaped modern thought and an openness to general education within Judaism, such as Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, and even Mendelssohn—are indeed well-known figures among the public
(in the Religious Zionist public; I’m not familiar with the Haredi sector).