Q&A: Fundamentalism That Created Openness?
Fundamentalism That Created Openness?
Question
Hello, our master, may he live long.
I don't know whether the Rabbi has heard about what has been happening in recent years in the unofficial baalei teshuva community, so I'll explain: in these years most baalei teshuva are in a kind of abandonment of the Haredi way of life, and the new returnees to religion mostly do not even enter it. It seems that the baalei teshuva community is religious-modern, flexible, and open (I myself am the son of baalei teshuva who left Haredi society), very much so nowadays—seemingly modern Orthodoxy with all its characteristics. However, when you look at their line of thought, you can see clear fundamentalism: simple popular faith, adherence to a simplistic line in Jewish law, and so on. And I am puzzled by such a contradictory phenomenon: דווקא the ultra-fundamentalists created such a diverse and open community. I would say this is because of the genderless character of baalei teshuva, and also because of the traumas they went through in the Haredi world. By the way, many children of baalei teshuva whom I met are religious-modern in every respect.
Can the Rabbi explain the phenomenon?
Answer
Your description is interesting, although I do not know how representative it is (is it really "most baalei teshuva"?).
There are two facts here that require explanation: 1. They become modern. 2. They retain a fundamentalist interpretation of Jewish law and faith.
I am not sure about your definitions. Modern Orthodoxy is usually also connected to a more flexible halakhic interpretation. In your definition, it seems to mean working at something for a living, or reading poetry and literature, or engaging in art. It is not clear to me.
There could be many reasons for this: familiarity with another world (they have an alternative before them). Disgust with excessive fundamentalism (a reaction to the parents' step on the one hand, and an imitation of rebellion on the other). There are of course psychological reasons (the traumas. They did not grow up in a deeply rooted Haredi tradition. Their parents are also of the searching type).
At the same time, they have no other religious model, because they know either secularity or Haredi society. Perhaps that is why their conception of Jewish law is Haredi.
All these are possible explanations, but the phenomenon is worth a more systematic examination.
Discussion on Answer
That is a crude generalization. Almost every step a person takes is made up of several planes, psychological and philosophical. But both exist both in becoming religious and in leaving religion.
Usually becoming religious again does not happen for intellectual reasons (yes, I heard about the "professors" who were convinced by Arachim and Hidabroot), so using their intellect will cause them to become nonreligious again.