Jewish: July 2005 Archives

Way back in 1999 when I was a senior in YU I worked for both of the major undergradutate publications: as a co-techie/webmaster with Ben for The Commentator and a short-lived editor-in-chief for Hamevaser (alav hashalom). So when Edah organized their first conference, I scored a free press pass to cover the new Modern Orthodoxy for either paper.

I also scored an interview with Rabbi Saul J. Berman himself.

It wasn't a long interview; Rabbi Berman was extermely busy and preoccupied and the fact that he gave me any time at all was generous on his part. However, while Ben's analysis got printed in The Commentator, my interview got buried in Hamevaser's quagmire and was never published.

A recent cleaning of my YUCS account turned up this lost piece of history, still in its Word Perfect format. Since the interview was intented for publication, and it's not like Hamevaser will do anything about it, I don't see too much of a problem posting it up here.

And of course, many thanks to Fresh Samantha for the loan of her tape-recorder.¹

Now that the "personal hashkafa" series is completed, I'm listing the links in one convenient post.

1. Introduction - What Matters To Me and Why.
2. Fractured Frumkeit
3. Popular Practice and the Process of Pesak - The Role of Custom in Jewish Law
4. Understanding Orthodox Judaism
5. The Ideology of Shomer Torah

Enjoy!

Introduction

It should be obvious by now that my take on Judaism is a little bit different than most other people's. Sometimes I appear to be mahmir (strict), other times meikil (lenient), and other times completely ambivalent. I'm inconsistent to some, mechanical to others. I've had people try to throw every possible label at me trying to peg me down into an ideology with which they could identify. Even when I give my typical short answer of read Rambam's Introduction to Mishnah Torah, I typically get blank stares or people just don't understand the point.

In truth, I've never tried try to fit into most of the religious boxes that people set. I suppose I would be considered "Modern Orthodox," but there are so many opinions as to what that term means that I do not believe it is terribly useful. I would also avoid using the varying degrees of "frum," as well as the currently fashionable qualifications of "orthopraxis" or "heterodox." Rather than rely on the social categorizations of other people, I will try to explain as best as I can what I believe and why. You're free to call it whatever you'd like.

Personally, I prefer simply, "Shomer Torah."

Introduction

As mentioned previously (and obvious to many readers), Orthodox Judaism is considered to be religious, traditional, and/or authentic, but there are several gradations and sub-categories within Orthodoxy. There are countless customs, world views, and interpretations such that adequately defining what Orthodox Jews do or believe is nearly impossible.

Of course, this never stopped people from trying.

So in today's installment of the "Personal Hashkafa" series, I'd like to present my take on the worlds of Orthodox Judaism, with a theory I believe accounts for most if not all phenomenon found in Orthodoxy. Let me just restate that this is my thinking and how it plays into my overall hashkafa. This is not an academic paper - though it could be a fun one if/when I'd ever have the opportunity.