Pelta 1 Baruch Pelta 6/2/09 Touro Abramson Adv.

Topics in Jewish Civilization On Literature Regarding American Jewish Orthodoxy After World War II Any discussion regarding historiography of Orthodox Judaism by necessity must contain a discussion of the views of the late distinguished Hebrew University professor, Jacob Katz. Katz maintained that in what he defined as a traditional society, Jews had been forced by circumstances to remain in their respective religious communities. Leaving and converting to Christianity or Islam was possible, but these were deviant paths that required one to leave his community. The de facto option for Jews was to at least in public adhere to religious standards so as to be considered part of the community. However, in modern society, there are a number of religious or secular options for a Jew to choose from and being religious is simply one of said options. The religious community responded to this modern condition with various means in hoping to draw Jews back to tradition. In Katz's view, these responses have fundamentally shifted the character of the religious Jewish community. These new religious communities are referred to as Orthodox and are fundamentally different than traditional communities in various aspects (Blau 2, Orthodoxy). One may speak of a largely dominant Katzian school which has dominated historiographical analysis of the history of the Orthodox, where scholars point out not only how Orthodoxy was a shift from traditionalism, but how Orthodoxy itself would continue to make major ideological or pragmatic shifts itself in order to adapt to modern conditions. The two most important Katzian essays that directly relate to American post-World War II Orthodoxy are probably Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy and Daas Torah: A Modern Conception of Rabbinic

Pelta 2 Authority by Haym Soloveitchik and Lawrence Kaplan, respectively. Soloveitchik explores the transformation from a mimetic Judaism to a more stringent and text-based Judaism in the late 1960's and early 1970's while Lawrence Kaplan examines the evolution of the phenomenon of Daas Torah, the notion that rabbinic sages decide which communal policies and worldviews the Orthodox community must adopt, thus placing all others outside the theological pale. *** Oddly, scholars have not paid that much attention to the first time in American Jewish history when Daas Torah was mobilized in order to set one, monolithic communal policy and delegitimize those authorities who refused to adopt it. In 1956, eleven roshei yeshiva [yeshiva deans] signed a document banning membership in organizations which consist of rabbis or others who represent those denominations, specifically pointing out the New York Board of Rabbis and the Synagogue Council of America as key examples of organizations which those who affiliate with Orthodoxy must withdraw from. The ban was directed at the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (more popularly known as simply the Orthodox Union, or the OU) and its rabbinic arm, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) whose members were participating in the New York Board of Rabbis and the Synagogue Council. The RCA had never pretended to take marching orders from any of the above mentioned figure; rather, they deferred to the Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of America's Halakha Commission, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who disagreed with the isolationist worldview the ban engendered and therefore the ban itself (Holzer 137, Wurzburger). This was despite the arguments of Rabbi David Hollander, then president of the RCA, that the organization had to defer to the judgments of the other rabbinic sages in order to abide by higher Torah law (Gurock 224). Rabbi Soloveitchik also worked with others behind the scenes to successfully ensure that the OU stayed in the Synagogue Council and undermine men in leadership positions at the OU (Wurzburger) such as Michael Kaufman who felt that the organization had to submit to the ruling of the other rabbinic sages

Pelta 3 (Observer). The Haredi Agudath Israel with which most of those sages were affiliated, reacted by verbally attacking the RCA and the OU for refusing to abide by their decisions; these attacks continued well into the 1960's. The Synagogue Council of America controversy represents a watershed event in American Jewish history where Daas Torah was utilized by Haredi sages in order to assert...ideological hegemony (Gurock 223) and, I believe, successfully began to set the tone for Orthodoxy's shift towards greater ritualistic stringency. The willingness of leaders such as Rabbi Hollander, a former student at Yeshiva University (Gurock 224), to defer to the roshei yeshiva and ignore Rabbi Soloveitchik represents the beginning of a new era of rabbinic stringency. Haym Soloveitchik's finding that the process of this stringency taking hold began roughly in the mid-nineteen-fifties is vindicated here. *** Both Kaplan and Soloveitchik, who live their own lives as Modern Orthodox Jews, in their somewhat polemical works bemoan the above mentioned differences as major ways in which Orthodoxy has strayed from its roots. Others see the differences to have less import, and in fact see the differences as positive evolutionary steps for Orthodoxy. In Soloveitchik's vision, the religious dimension of Orthodox Judaism has suffered greatly due to increased stringency. Soloveitchik concludes his famous essay: ...while there are always those whose spirituality is one apart from that of their time, nevertheless I think it safe to say that the perception of God as a daily, natural force is no longer present to a significant degree in any sector of modern Jewry, even the most religious...Zealous to continue traditional Judaism unimpaired, religious Jews seek to ground their new emerging spirituality less on a now unattainable intimacy with Him, than on an intimacy with His Will, avidly eliciting Its intricate demands and saturating

Pelta 4 their daily lives with Its exactions. Having lost the touch of His presence, they seek now solace in the pressure of His yoke. While Soloveitchik could not be clearer about what he sees as the negative effects of increased stringency, Touro College's Judith Bleich sees the increased stringency as a sign of increasing care to observe God's commandments and sees this as indeed motivated by fear of Heaven and the awareness of the reality of the divine presence that hovers over their lives (402-405). Bleich thus sees it as a positive phenomenon that has led more Jews to increased religiosity. As for Kaplan, he emphasizes Daas Torah's modern origins and how it serve[s] as an important weapon in the hands of the antimodern rejectionist Orthodox camp in their ongoing struggle with the more modern affirmative camp (22). Benjamin Brown, while agreeing that Daas Torah is a modern concept, thinks Kaplan overplays its modern origins and sees its basis in classical rabbinic concepts (Rose 33-34).1 Brown's student Aharon Rose, in an award-winning essay, takes his teacher's thesis a step further, arguing that the important developments in contemporary Haredi Orthodoxy, including Daas Torah, are not signs of a fundamentally different society, but only of tactics utilized to deal with modernity; Rose is thus able to claim that Haredi Orthodoxy is the natural successor to the traditional Judaism of old. *** The sociologist who has published the most works exploring the nuances of various Orthodox groups is undoubtedly Samuel Heilman. Because Heilman is exploring a heterogeneous faith community, he is forced to draw boundaries to distinguish between them. Heilman emphasizes the importance of secular studies as a major boundary between the Modern Orthodox and the Haredim. Heilman realizes, of course, that Haredim do sometimes give their youth a secular education, and thus dedicates an entire chapter to Machon L'Parnasa, a branch of Touro College that was set up so Haredim
1 In a forthcoming transcript of an interview I had with Kaplan, the latter gives his response to Brown's criticisms.

Pelta 5 could get a minimal secular education and make enough money to support themselves. But Heilman sees the influx of Haredim to this school and similar institutions as perhaps in the future resulting in consequential reevaluations and attitudes toward some of the central tenets and norms of Haredi Orthodoxy, making it and its adherents far more like their contrapuntalist modern counterparts(178). Heilman sees such a future as boding well for Modern Orthodoxy since, after all, when Haredim begin to act like the modern Orthodox, how likely are they to remain truly Haredi (179)? Adam Ferziger, in an often overlooked but very important essay, shows an important related dynamic: the Modern Orthodox are continuously becoming more insular and focused on improving the level of Jewish literacy in their own community while the Haredim, having already strengthened their communities and enclaves, do significant outreach. *** The above mentioned works all address the developments of American Orthodoxy in general. But the Orthodox world is a heterogeneous one and some works, recognizing this, see the need to deal with its different communities, sub-communities, and leadership figures. The defining sociological work on the world of Haredi Lithuanian-style yeshivas and their students is William Helmreich's aptly named The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of Orthodox Jewry. As for the Hasidic world, the late Jerome Mintz's contribution Hasidic People: A Place in the New World cannot be gainsaid. Mintz not only explored the history of Hasidic life in America, but aptly explored the differences and tensions between various groups. Yoel Finkelman, for example, in true Katzian style has authored several pieces explaining how Rabbi Aaron Kotler, an influential Haredi leader and former chairman of the Agudah's Council of Torah Sages, pushed for all men to stop working and simply learn Jewish sources, thus influencing the rise of the kollel movement and fundamentally changing how Orthodoxy developed in America (Ideology, Isolation, Limits).

Pelta 6 On the other end of the the theological spectrum from Rabbi Kotler have been some less successful theologians who pushed for a more liberal and flexible Orthodoxy such as, in the past, Rabbi Emanuel Rackman and, in the present, Rabbi Avi Weiss. A short essay by David Singer discussed some of Rabbi Rackman's views (see also One Man's and A Modern Orthodox Life); as for Rabbi Weiss, Jeffrey Gurock's new history of Orthodoxy devotes significant attention to this rabbi and his movement, which he refers to as Open Orthodoxy (see also Weiss). Of the subgroups of Orthodoxy, Habad-Lubavitch is one that many take an interest in. Habad is an old Hasidic dynasty that under the leadership of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn became very focused on proselytizing Jews to become Orthodox. The most definitive treatment of Habad was not authored by an academic, but by journalist Sue Fishkoff. The major work on Habad which was authored by an academic was written by David Berger, an important scholar of medieval Jewish and Christian religious polemics. But outside of his academic life, Berger is a Modern Orthodox Jew who feels that the messianic stream of Habad a part of Habad which feels that Rabbi Schneersohn will come back to life and redeem the world as the messiah has carried Habad outside the pale of Orthodox Judaism. Berger's work, although published by an academic press, is a polemic aimed at convincing his Orthodox brethren of this point. Asides from Fishkoff and Berger, the major scholar whose work surrounds Habad is Henry Goldschmidt; Goldschmidt's interest has largely been in how Habad Hasidim and African-Americans interact in Crown Heights, the New York neighborhood where Habad's headquarters and largest enclave are located. There is also a phenomenon of people raised in non-Orthodox homes coming to Orthodoxy as well as a phenomenon of Orthodox Jews leaving their communities. The former group was studied in an important book by M. Herbert Danziger, but his study is outdated and more information is needed on them (cf. Caplan); a small group of the latter and particularly those who had chosen to leave their Hasidic community was studied in a more recent volume by then-graduate student Hella Winston.

Pelta 7 *** In order to properly understand Orthodoxy, it is not only important to understand the actual history and sociology, but also how the Orthodox themselves view their past and current communities. Much of these views can be gleaned from their literature and media. As the major presses, magazines, and newspapers are mostly Haredi, it is difficult to comprehend the Modern Orthodox views of these issues; the following analysis will therefore focus on the Haredi world's views. There is a major concern amongst Haredi culture-brokers that opinions which they believe are dangerous may become considered acceptable because they were maintained by prestigious rabbinic figures in the past. Through a variety of strategies, they manage to create an imaginary history where either the rabbinic figures or their opinions do not exist. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch is a key example of this phenomenon. Rabbi Hirsch was famous for his affirmation of utilizing the inherent value of secular culture and its relevance to the modern Orthodox Jew. He was also a forward-thinking person; while in his time he felt there had not been many proofs adduced for evolution, he felt that should evolution ever be proven, Judaism would be able to incorporate it into its teachings. Culture-brokers at the Agudah therefore rightly view Rabbi Hirsch's teachings as a threat and feel forced to pretend they do not exist. Thus, when attacking the Rabbinical Council of America's statement on evolution, Rabbi Chaim Dov Keller feels the need to omit the part of said statement which refers to Rabbi Hirsch. Agudah higher-up Rabbi Joseph Elias, in his commentary on The Nineteen Letters, gives a revisionist account of both Rabbi Hirsch's view on evolution as well as his view of secular studies, reading his own Haredi views into Rabbi Hirsch's writings (Pelta). While there needs to be more delving into Orthodox books and journals to understand how they understand themselves, it is clear that revisionism is a major factor (see also in this regard, Schacter and Nostalgia).

Pelta 8 Works Cited Berger, David. The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference. London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001. Blau, Yitzchak. Rev. of Ortodoqsiyah Yehudit: Hebeitim Hadashim, ed. Adam S. Ferziger, Aviezer Ravitzky, and Yosef Salmon. Meorot 7.1 (2008): 2-10. YCT Rabbinical School. 7 July 2009 <http://www.yctorah.org/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_view/gid,706/>. Bleich, Judith. Liturgical Innovation and Spirituality: Trends and Trendiness. Jewish Spirituality and Divine Law. Ed. Adam Mintz and Lawrence Schiffman. Vol. 12. The Orthodox Forum. New York: Yeshiva University Press, 2000. 315-405. Caplan, Kimmy. Israeli Haredi Society and the Repentance (Hazarah Biteshuvah) Phenomenon. Jewish Studies Quarterly 8.4 (2001): 369-399. Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design. Rabbinical Council of America. 7 July 2009 <http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100635>. Danziger, M. Herbert. Returning to Tradition: Contemporary Revival of Orthodox Judaism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989. Ferziger, Adam S. Between Outreach and Inreach: Redrawing the Lines of the American Orthodox Rabbinate. Modern Judaism 25.3 (2005): 237-263. EBSCOHost. 7 July 2009 <http://web.ebscohost.com.lb-proxy8.touro.edu/ehost/detail?vid=2&hid=102&sid=c2a4229eed2d-4d8e-919a-bbaf10f0caee%40sessionmgr108>. Finkelman, Yoel. Haredi Isolation in Changing Environments: A Case Study in Yeshiva Immigration. Modern Judaism 22.1 (2002): 61-82. - - -. An Ideology for American Yeshiva Students: The Sermons of R. Aharon Kotler, 1941-1962. Journal of Jewish Studies 58.2 (2007): 314-332.

Pelta 9 - - -. Nostalgia, inspiration, ambivalence: Eastern Europe, immigration, and the construction of collective memory in contemporary American Haredi historiography. Jewish History 23.1 (2009): 57-82. - - -. On the Limits of American Jewish Social Engineering: Ironic Reflections on Prof. Mordechai M. Kaplan and R. Aharon Kotler. Contemporary Jewry 28.1 (2008): 58-83. Fishkoff, Sue. The Rebbes Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch. Schocken Books: New York, 2003. Goldschmidt, Henry. Crown Heights is the Center of the World: Reterritorializing a Jewish Diaspora. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies 9.1 (2002): 83-106. Henry Goldschmidt. Wesleyan University. 7 July 2009 <http://hgoldschmidt.faculty.wesleyan.edu/welcome/ch-is-the-center-of-the-world/>. - - -. Food Fights: Contesting Cultural Diversity in Crown Heights. Local Actions: Cultural Activism, Power, and Public Life in America. Ed. Melissa Checker and Maggie Fishman. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004. 159-183. Henry Goldschmidt. Wesleyan University. 7 July 2009 <http://hgoldschmidt.faculty.wesleyan.edu/welcome/food-fights1/>. - - -. Jews and Others in Brooklyn and its Diaspora: Constructing an Unlikely Homeland in a Diasporic World. Diaspora: Movement, Memory, Politics and Identity: Proceedings From a Two-day Symposium Held November 2002 At Dickinson College. Dickinson: Clarke Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Contemporary Issues, 2003. 43-52. Henry Goldschmidt. Wesleyan University. 7 July 2009 <http://hgoldschmidt.faculty.wesleyan.edu/welcome/brooklyn-diaspora/>.

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Rackman, Emanuel. A Modern Orthodox Life: Sermons and Columns of Rabbi Emanuel Rackman. New York: Ktav, 2008. - - -. One Mans Judaism: Renewing the Old and Sanctifying the New. 1970. Rev. ed. Jerusalem: Gefen, 2000. Rose, Aharon. The Haredim: A Defense. Azure 25 (Summer 2006): 29-60. AzureOnline. Shalem Center. 7 July 2009 <http://www.azure.org.il/download/magazine/1725az25_Rose.pdf>. Schacter, Jacob J. Facing the Truths of History. The Torah U-Madda Journal 8 (1999): 200-276. The Marcos and Adina Katz YU Torah Online. Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future. 7 July 2009 <http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/704426/Rabbi_Dr._Jacob_J_Schacter/Facing_the _Truths_of_History>. Singer, David. Emanuel Rackman: Gadfly of Modern Orthodoxy. Modern Judaism 28.2 (2008): 134148. Soloveitchik, Haym. Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy. Tradition 28.4 (1994): 64-130. Lookstein.org. The Lookstein Center for Jewish Education. 7 July 2009 <http://www.lookstein.org/links/orthodoxy.htm#_edn16>. Soloveitchik, Joseph B. The Rav Thinking Aloud: Transcripts of Personal Conversations with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Comp. David Holzer. Ed. Aryeh Holzer. N.p.: n.p., 2009. Weiss, Avraham. Open Orthodoxy! A Modern Orthodox Rabbis Creed. Judaism 46.4 (1997): 409421. Find Articles at Bnet. Bnet. 7 July 2009 <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0411/is_n4_v46/ai_20583577/>. Winston, Hella. Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels. Boston: Beacon Press, 2005. Wurzburger, Walter S. Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik as Posek of Post-Modern Orthodoxy. Tradition 29.1 (1994): 5-20. Lookstein.org. The Lookstein Center for Jewish Education. 7 July 2009 <http://www.lookstein.org/articles/soloveitchik_posek.htm>.