A Burnt Ba’al Tshuva’s Rant: part 3
Since my initial guest postings on Un-Orthodox, I have been receiving a lot of crap in the mail and in my email box. Promises of exciting single sex trips, promises of philosphical and spiritual revelation, and even privileged encounters with important men with distinguished beards.
Let me be clear. I still have nightmares about the single sex singing and dancing.
But I’m glad your reading my posts.
Here’s another one. An exclusive on Un-Orthodox.
4 comments
Kelsey, more good points, as usual.
I have always been amazed at the idea that “Daas Torah” (the idea that a Rabbi or Talmid Chachom has a certain edge in understanding other areas) has become tantamount to Halacha. But then again, I shouldn’t be that surprised, I mean Chumras (and not even REAL chumras) are considered Halacha. Wait, even Minhagim (and not even REAL minhagim) are considered Halacha.
I guess what I am trying to say is that Orthodoxy today is trying to make life as thoughtless as possible. Don’t think about what Halacha is, don’t think about what to do with your life, don’t think about the world outside your 4 Amos - we have it all Codified for you, and any stray points can quickly be cleared up for you by asking your Local Orthodox Rabbi.
The irony is that Halacha (i.e. the path or way, however you want to translate it) IS NOT A CODE OF LAW - IT IS A WAY OF THINKING. That is why it is an Oral Law - because you need to learn the Discipline, the thought skills, and the analysis before you can make Halachik determinations. That is why Jews are known for being intellectuals, for being Free-thinkers and creative thinkers and trail blazers. Our religion pushes us like a nervous Jewish Mother to think and be creative (and maybe a little neurotic as well). The Orthodox in their FEAR have turned their back on Judaism and created something close to it (still closer to Judaism than Lubavitch, but still not quite the same).
This may also be the reasoning behind the idea of Daas Torah but it doesnt mean that someone who has the skills of analysis is going to make a better decision than someone trained in a particular area (i.e. a Doctor, or General, and so on). An insightful analysis is always welcome, but it doesnt overshadow an experts advice.
There is obviously a terrible cost to having the oral law codified. The fact that it wasn’t supposed to be suggests there is a terrible cost for doing so.
With that being the case, it would follow that the more is codified, the greater the cost.
I think you are alluding to that?
I agree. Judaism is not a Democratic religion it is a Theocratic meritocracy. The Yeshivas of Lithuania were filled with the best and brightest Europe had to offer. Now the Yeshiva world is filled with every Schlemiel who cant hold down a job.
But more to the point, the more Judaism becomes codified the more it loses its Jewishness. The creativity inherent in Jewish learning has become reviled because it might lead, Chas VShalom, to people thinking on their own. And the more it becomes Codified, the more Limud becomes mastering the codes, which leads to more codes written by those mastering the codes, which means more time spent mastering the codes, which means . . . This has already happened to a certain degree. The cost is the loss of Judaism and the learning, which is Keneged Kulam, equal to every other Mitzvah in the Torah. Jews become (have become!) robots programmed to perform whatever input they are given. Feed the tape of Codes in and the robot goes bouncing off walls as it walks down the street. There is no tortuous self-analysis, no soul searching, and no grappling with philosophy or ideas. There is no development of the individual. And this is a sad realization, especially with the Yomim Noraim so close.
Thankfully we have great Jewish music.
It’s amazing how much better secular Jewish music is compared to the “frum” music. It’s like the writing.
Joe! Where were you last night for the Jewish Music Awards? It was amazing!
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