YUTOPIA

It is never easy for someone to simply compose a document explaining one’s world view. For one, it is difficult to organize one’s thoughts and present them coherently when there are numerous interrelated concepts. On a micro-level each word and phrase must also be carefully analyzed for they too impact how one’s position will be received. Then, regardless of how well (or poorly) one succeeds in writing one’s thoughts, is of course the inevitable criticism which will follow.

Because it is a personal exercise, critiques are more likely to be taken personally. As such, whoever would accept such a challenge must be able to balance between ideological and personal rejection.

Simply put, people don’t like being told that they’re wrong, especially regarding their essential fundamental beliefs.
This is especially true when the topic at hand is religion for one’s opinions often result in serious repercussions.¹ In Judaism for example, arguments over kashrut affect who can eat someone’s house. If someone is thought to be a Shabbat violator, then his overall halakhic status is aversely affected.

Furthermore, disputes over the fundamental nature of halakha may lead to someone being branded a heretic and/or be socially excommunicated as being “beyond the pale” of Judaism. In such cases, a person might not be counted in minyan. If the person in question is a Rabbi, this could lead some to question or reject someone’s marriages, or worse, divorces.
Despite all these reservations and potential repercussions, I am finding it more and more necessary to explain my opinions on Judaism, especially regarding halakha. The main reason is simply for clarification. Many people have had isolated conversations with my father, and as such many people have incomplete or incorrect views of what his system is. I have also had similar results from similar limitations; a typical conversation does not allow for a full explication of one’s ideas. Given the potential consequences outlined above, this has led to much confusion as to what we actually believe.² Rather than rely on other’s labels and assessments, I can let my own words express my opinions.

Secondly, in the process of the next few essays, I hope to redefine and clarify many of the misconceptions people have about halakha. As most Orthodox Jews have found, halakhaic arguments are generally pointless or counter-productive, most likely because people have their own definitions and frequently talk past each other. What I will show is that in many cases people are not necessarily as far apart as their arguments may indicate.

Finally, the opinions set forth here while not necessarily innovative, will probably be unique to most readers. Few if any orthodox Jews have coherent or consistent perceptions of halakha or Judaism as a whole. Some prefer not to think about things, others are just comfortable with whatever inconsistencies they might have. In the forthcoming essays I hope to at least call attention to certain issues. You may agree with my perceptions and conclusions, or you may find them unconvincing. Minimally, I hope that the issues raised will be thought-provoking.

And perhaps realize that maybe I am not as crazy as you’d think.³

1. See Strauss, Leo.
2. Although, based on blog feedback and comments, I have found that putting things into print does not always help matters. Still, having something I wrote in print makes for easier referencing and correcting.
3. Or of course, perhaps more than you ever imagined.

Last night’s 60 Minutes covered the psychic talents of mentalist Marc Salem. Most people have heard of him by now as he’s been performing in several shows and appearing on TV for quite a while.
I’m not going to address the guy’s skills, but I do have a really funny story from way back when. About 15 years ago at the Jewish Renaissance Festival, I went to see him with my family. He wasn’t a big name then and the attendance was relatively sparse, but we thought it would be an interesting show. Anyway, over the course of his shtick he goes to my mother and borrows her watch. Immediately after picking it up, he asks “who’s Alan?” and then starts rattling off obscure details about my father. Even the cynical Yuter clan was impressed at this display of psychic prowess.
After the show we started shmoozing with him and he admitted that that particular trick was somewhat unplanned. It turns out he knew my father from way back,¹ recognized him in the audience and thought that even though it was a risky shtick to pull, the potential payoff was too great.

1. On the other end, my father isn’t always the best at recognizing or remembering people especially when they use a stage name.

Finally, Yeshiva University’s website is acknowledging the passing of R. Michael Katz and that they will be holding a memorial service for his sheloshim.

A shloshim memorial for Rabbi Michael Katz will take place on Thursday, March 10 at 11 am in the Harry Fischel Beit Midrash in Zysman Hall. Rabbi Katz served with rare distinction as a Rosh Yeshiva of Rabbi Issac Elchanan Theological Seminary for nearly six decades and was the beloved rebbe of thousands of talmidim.

Very true.
Unfortunately I won’t be able to attend, but those who could make it should put in the effort to do so. Even if you never met him, you’ll probably be inspired by YU’s longime hidden gem (if YU does it right).
Any first-hand accounts would be appreciated.

Rabbi Josh Joseph recently brought me on board the Orthodox Caucus’ new project called Torah Currents. Periodically I’ll be sending in anecdotes or short ideas mostly in the section called Thought of the Day and may or may not duplicate them on the blog. The first piece is up and titled Not Much to Ask.
Enjoy

To all guitarists out there, the chord archive has moved to a spiffy new PHP/SQL architecture. The new location is:

http://www.JewishGuitarChords.com

I got an e-mail today informing of the passing of Rabbi Michael Katz, a longtime and underappreciated Rebbe at Yeshiva University. Case in point – as of this writing there is no mention of his passing on YU’s website.
By his own account, R. Katz taught in the YU system for over 50 years, starting in the high school and eventually teaching Hullin in the Rabbinical school for over 30 years.

My experience with R. Katz came when I was in his Hullin shiur my second year of smikha. My uncle had taken him when he was a student, and my thinking was that before I would study Yoreh Deah it would make sense to learn the gemarot on which those halakhot were based.

The shiur was by no means large. As a Hullin shiur it primarilly attracted smikha students, and many smikha students chose other ways to fulfill their Hullin requirement.

Of those that did join, some dropped out after a few days due to the relatively different style of the shiur. As opposed to playing with various hakiras in Rishonim, R. Katz actually wanted people to know and understand what the gemara actually said. R. Katz didn’t “give shiur” by lecturing, but someone in the shiur would read, translate, and explain and R. Katz would clarify, correct, or raise relavent issues for discussion. This style worked wonderfuly with the small size of the class, which gradually became a havurah because of R. Katz’s pedagogy.

Although set in his teaching style, R. Katz was also open to some changes. One day I was tipped off that R. Ben-Haim, my Rebbe the previous year, was going to perform one of his random demonstrations in shehita. Since R. Katz was learning the first two chapters of Hullin which deal with the laws of shehita, I thought it might make sense to observe and I went to ask R. Katz for permission to miss shiur that day. Conviniently, R. Katz and R. Ben-Haim shared an office on the fifth floor of Furst Hall, so when I asked R. Katz, he simply asked R. Ben-Haim if we could bring the whole shiur down.

It’s hard for me to remember the details of shiur without my notes, but there were a few points which I remember he liked to mention. First was that he was annoyed that too many of the smikha students focus on Yoreh Deah but don’t take Hullin seriously. In his words, “you can’t study Yoreh Deah without knowing Hullin.”

Second, he would frequently quote Rashi on Shemot 31:18 “?? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????” – “a sage must become proficient in the 24 books i.e. the entire written Torah. The funny thing about this was when he would say “khof daled seforim” meaning 24, his accent made it sound like “khol daled seforim” meaning “all four books.” This of course made no sense, but it did provide some amusement for the shiur and even R. Katz himself.

Finally, R. Katz enjoyed talking about some aspects of his own life. He would wistfully recount stories of his father, a former Rabbi in Petach Tikvah, and he was extremely proud of his thesis – a critical edition of an obscure commentary on Sefer Vayikra. He would also talk about the old days of YU retelling arguments between Roshei Yeshiva who have long since passed away. R. Katz was also quite the chess player and every now and again issued challenges to the shiur. (Despite some close calls, R. Katz went undefeated).
With all of his extensive knowledge, R. Katz did not conduct himself as an inaccessible figurehead, but an approachable teacher and a real person.

With R. Katz’s passing YU has lost not only a precious link to its own history, but one of the last teachers who followed the “Eastern European” style of learning. Even more unfortunate is how few people will realize what’s missing.

Quick post to let y’all know I’m still alive, busy, and heading to NY soon. On a completely unrelated note, the winning number for Chicago’s Dec 25th evening pick-3 number was 666.
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