At times it seems that the Orthodox rabbinate has little more to contribute to the world of Jewish ideas than proclamations declaring who is, or more precisely who is not, "Orthodox." Consider a few recent examples. This past summer Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky wrote a blog post (since removed) discussing his aversion to reciting the daily blessing shelo asani isha, thanking God for not having made him a woman. In response, Rabbi Dov Fischer castigated R. Kanefsky and the community he represents as, "propagating their views without being subjected to scrutiny and critique by those committed to a Mesorah-driven frumkeit" [emphasis added]. In other words, R. Kanefsky's halakhic opinion is not part of the genuine "mesorah/tradition," which R. Fischer apparently does possess. Another writer echoes R. Fischer sentiment more explicitly, "In my view this not only takes Rabbi Kanefsky out of the realm of Orthodoxy, it firmly puts him into the realm of Conservative Judaism."
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