The other day I was reading a post by Rebecca Ross in her area of expertise – deceptive kiruv practices. Rebecca’s message is that some kiruv organizations are not up front with their mission to mekareve unaffiliated Jews into orthodoxy. When kiruv workers initially approach unaffiliated Jews (often young students in high school or on college campuses), they offer them everything from food, in some cases drink, holiday meals, shiurim, low cost trips to Israel, and socialization with other unaffiliated Jews. Upon this initial approach, there is no mention that their goal is to make them orthodox.
In the post mentioned above, Rebecca quotes a source from Rabbi Mattisyahu Salomon of Aish HaTorah’s Project Inspire, that says,
“…“there can be no compromise” in observance and in the Torah.
Salomon goes on to say that:
“At the same time, becoming observant requires drastic changes in a person’s life, and in many if not most cases, it must be accomplished gradually, step by step.”
That sounds reasonable. The fact that Salomon recognizes that becoming orthodox is a drastic change is good. However, he continues on to say the following:
“But you must make it clear to the people that halfway measures are not acceptable as a permanent state. They are no more than intermediate stages on the way to full observance. There is no rush, no pressure. They can take their time and progress at their own comfortable pace. But they must recognize that the goal is full and complete observance of the entire Torah.””
Basically, there comes a point in outreach, after a potential recruit is “hooked,” where the kiruv professional must make it clear that halfway measures are no longer enough.
This got me thinking about the recent spate of Haredi rabbis who have begun to make a name for themselves on the Modern Orthodox speaking circuit. Rebecca Ross often talks about how some kiruv workers will initially use popular music and slang to appeal to their subjects; music and language that wouldn’t be allowed in their own homes, nor will it be allowed in the homes of those they finally mekarev. However, the end justifies the means for the purpose of kiruv.
Similarly, some rabbis attempting to spread their right wing viewpoints to a more liberal crowd, speak and dress in a way that will be appealing to their audience. They might reference popular music, movies, commercials, or television programs. Instead of eschewing the internet, they might make sophisticated use of social media tools to spread their message and make connections with new followers. Instead of wearing chassidic or haredi levush, these rabbis might don an Italian double breasted suit and tie. Instead of an unkempt never-shaved beard and long payos, they might sport short payos, a trimmed beard, or a clean-shaven face.
While their pop culture references, online engagement, and more modern appearance might result in some push back from their own communities, the end justifies the means if they can spread their message to a larger audience.
Courting the Modern Orthodox communities can have a big payoff. Modern Orthodox communities tend to comprise more college educated professionals who are “earners not learners.” Speaking engagements at Shabbatons, Pesach resorts, and retreats can bring in a nice income. Aside from parnassah considerations, those rabbis who truly feel that they embody the correct hashkafah, are eager to spread their emes to those who live by the “halfway measures” mentioned earlier. Often these types of rabbis are loud, aggressive, and tend to use shock value to grab the audience’s attention. In some cases, their speaking methods may have alienated some folks from their own communities, and so they have another incentive to branch out elsewhere to places where they are relatively unknown.
It’s hard to say why some in the Modern Orthodox community are susceptible to these “Evangelical Haredim.” In some ways, it seems that we are almost apologetic for our interactions with larger society. While we go out of our way to do the hard work enabling us to blend both of our worlds, there still seems to be the underlying guilt or doubt that haredi society comprises true Torah Judaism. In my opinion, that’s one of the reasons behind the phenomenon of some Modern Orthodox machers giving the bulk of their tzedaka to Haredi institutions.
Rabbi Salomon’s quote regarding a limit to how long “step by step” observance will be tolerated is being played out on a larger scale in Israel. In my opinion, the recent brouhaha over the Chief Rabbinate rejecting the rabbinic credentials of Rabbi Avi Weiss, is a symptom of this attitude. In Israel, the rabbinate is controlled by Haredi rabbis, who for years, have accepted the testimonies (on the status of marriage, divorce, conversion, being a Jew from birth) of rabbis affiliated with the RCA (an organization that includes many Modern Orthodox rabbis). Now, we see that the tolerance level for those rabbis who are too “assimilated” into modern culture are being called into question. While the Chief Rabbinate in Israel will point to a lack of central authorization for American rabbis, you don’t see them rejecting the credibility of, for example, an Agudath Israel rabbi.
Rabbi Weiss drew the ire of both Haredi and Modern Orthodox rabbis alike for (what else?) his endorsement and ordainment of women as orthodox religious leaders. His initiative, Yeshivat Maharat called into question his adherence to both halacha and mesorah. However, the controversial Rabbi Weiss isn’t the only rabbi on the confidential Chief Rabbinate’s black list.
While it is unknown exactly who and how many American rabbis are on the “no fly zone” for the Chief Rabbinate in Israel, an additional Modern Orthodox rabbi has come forward announcing that his testimony has also been rejected.
Hebrew Theological College alumni, Rabbi Scot Berman has also been deemed unacceptable by the Chief Rabbinate. Gary Rosenblatt from The Jewish Week reports –
“Now another North American Orthodox rabbi with none of controversial baggage of Rabbi Weiss has come forward and expressed indignation that he, too, was found to be unacceptable to the Chief Rabbinate for the purpose of verifying that a young couple he knows well is indeed Jewish.
“I’m outraged that I would be disqualified,” Rabbi Scot Berman told me this week. He received his ordination from the Hebrew Theological College (known as “Skokie yeshiva”) in Chicago and has had a three-decade history as a Jewish educator in Orthodox schools.
Rabbi Berman has been a principal and administrator at several Orthodox day schools, including the Rabbi David Silver Academy in Harrisburg, PA, the Ida Crown Academy in Chicago, the Kushner Academy in Livingston, NJ, and the Yeshivat Ohr Chaim Bnei Akiva school in Toronto, where he now lives.
The Chief Rabbinate said he lacked the tools and skills of a congregational rabbi…………
…. Rabbi Berman, a member of the RCA, said he shared the news of the Chief Rabbinate’s decision about him with the group’s leaders and colleagues during a meeting in Toronto last month. “No one responded verbally,” he said.
He chose to step up now, in part, so that the community could understand that the issue is about far more than Rabbi Weiss, who is initiating a lawsuit against the Chief Rabbinate for questioning his credibility as an Orthodox rabbi. (Rabbi Berman does not plan to take such action at this time.)”
Apparently, now is the time for the Modern Orthodox to stop their “halfway measures” and begin the ultra orthodox version of “full and complete observance of the entire Torah.” If not, their fate is to be sidelined, at least in Israeli religious courts, along with Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist rabbis.
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If you want to voice your concerns over the growing disaccreditation of Modern Orthodox rabbis by the Chief Rabbinate, you can send a letter of protest to -
The Honorable Chief Rabbis of Israel
Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
Yahav House, 80 Yirmiyahu Street, Jerusalem, P.O. Box 36016, Postal Code 91360
Tel: 02-5313114, Fax: 02-5799361
or
The Chief Rabbinate:
Phone: +972-2-5313-114/3
Fax: +972-2-5377-874
Website/email: http://www.rabanut.gov.il/
I don’t have American contact information in English. If anyone does have such contact information, let me know and I will post it here.
