Q&A: Their Views and Actions Repel Me
Their Views and Actions Repel Me
Question
In my community, a few years ago, several rabbis initiated a weekly evening program: whoever can comes together at one of the synagogues, and there is a very active study hall for several hours. A social-community event and Jewish wisdom together, something that ostensibly sounds very nice.
Some study in pairs, some do some kind of group study, some pursue topics that interest them, some listen to a variety of classes taking place in parallel in different parts of the building, there are refreshments, and ostensibly a good atmosphere, and anyone who desires Jewish wisdom is invited.
In the past I participated in the learning there a few times, and I feel distressed.
I’ll try to explain myself.
I noticed that all the rabbis teaching there are extremists and don’t see complexity in a variety of issues, some of them core issues for our existence as a people.
They have no democratic values, no sense of comradeship among them (some of them did not do meaningful service in the IDF, or did not serve at all), they are full of hatred toward fellow Jews who don’t think like they do, their understanding of reality—and certainly their analysis of reality—is strange and full of bias and serious flaws, to the point that it is doubtful whether they are deceiving themselves or simply stupid, though they are not liars in the plain sense of the word. But they seem problematic and biased. They are dogmatic, with less logic and reason in what they say, more slogans that testify to problems in thinking and judgment, and it seems possible to define them as ‘people with goals (which one can debate), but really without morality’—both in the goals themselves and certainly in the way they pursue them.
They are extreme Bibi-ists.
Every time I enter that synagogue I feel a diminishment of personality, contempt for the values of truth and sound judgment, contempt for the values of comradeship, contempt for the values of baseless love, contempt for respect for other opinions. I feel a kind of lowliness that is hard for me to explain, even though I know how to take the inside and discard the shell; I feel that their personalities are embedded in their classes, and I do not receive the classes and the material being studied in a ‘clean’ way, but with the addition of their serious problems.
In the last few times I went in there I actually felt physical nausea, and it keeps happening again and again, for hours.
I feel I can’t anymore.
So now my question is:
Is this the Torah that made them this way?
Or is someone who is like this drawn to Torah?
What should I do? My soul desires Jewish wisdom, but on the other hand there are values (which in my opinion are our foundational values as a nation, certainly in light of our painful history) that one cannot give up?
Answer
Hello.
I know this feeling very well, and unfortunately it characterizes quite a few rabbis of various kinds. You asked two kinds of questions: practical ones (what you should do) and theoretical ones (what causes this).
As for the practical side, you should try to see whether there are things of value in the classes they give. Usually there aren’t. If those classes are being used to convey worldviews rather than to study Torah (what I call Torah as an object in itself), then don’t go there. If there are things of value in the classes, I believe you can adopt the policy of “eat the inside and discard the shell.” If you feel you can’t, then in my opinion that means the classes themselves probably are not really worth much either. Unfortunately, that too is very common.
As for the question of what caused them to be this way, I think it is not specifically the Torah, but rather a combination of fanatical belief and closed-mindedness, which characterizes religious faith, including Jewish faith. As a correlation it is almost unavoidable, and one has to work hard to avoid it and remain a believer in a serious way. From this you will also understand that if you do not find this problematic combination outside, that is not necessarily because the people there are better, but more because they do not have great beliefs in anything at all. Wherever there are beliefs, you can find the same shallowness and tendentiousness. Not always, but in high quantities. One must work hard not to throw out the baby with the bathwater—that is, to remain serious about your beliefs without paying the accompanying prices. I say this from my own personal experience and life experience. My feelings are very similar, and that is why I do not spare the honor of such rabbis, because in my opinion it is very important to say this honestly and out loud, and not leave in place the polite game of the values of peace and unity, which bring us to these difficult feelings, as a result of which many abandon the path—and not without justification.
As stated, if your soul desires Jewish wisdom, you are not obligated to look for it in your own neighborhood. The world today is open, and you do not even have to leave home. There is internet and Zoom and classes in abundance for anyone interested. Sometimes you can even hear good classes from rabbis like these, if the context is genuinely Torah study (stating Jewish law and Talmudic analysis) and not communal lecture evenings that are sometimes used for propaganda and a ‘educational’ agenda, on topics of ‘faith,’ ‘thought,’ and the like (like the format known as ‘women’s classes,’ which at least in normal communities, thank God, is slowly but surely passing from the world). Keep far away from those.
The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God and keep His commandments, for that is the whole of man.
And I would further say: the answer to the question of who represents the Torah is given by you, not by anyone else. Not even by a majority vote. Therefore these people do not represent anything connected to the Torah, other than themselves. At least in my eyes, and apparently in yours as well. I believe in the Torah and in the Holy One, blessed be He, who gave it, but not necessarily in all those who received it and presume to represent it. Do not be taken captive by titles like ‘rabbi’ and the like. Unfortunately, nowadays that doesn’t mean very much.