"Open" Orthodoxy?

[Tarheeler]

I heard about "open" modern orthodox Judaism recently, and was wondering if anyone could share any information or opinions on it, Rabbi Weiss, or his school for Maharat.

 

[Levite]

I heard about "open" modern orthodox Judaism recently, and was wondering if anyone could share any information or opinions on it, Rabbi Weiss, or his school for Maharat.

"Open" Modern Orthodox is just the latest nickname for the progressive left wing of Modern Orthodoxy, or what used to just be called "Modern Orthodoxy," before all of Orthodoxy started veering to the right.

My best friend is in his last year at Chovevei Torah. He's a big fan of Avi Weiss', and has been very complimentary of their programs at YCT and Yeshivat haMaharat. I myself am friendly with a number of Chovevei rabbis, and with Asher Lopatin, who will be taking over for Avi Weiss at the beginning of next year, and I've been generally impressed with the effort that YCT is making.

They are the last great bastion of progressive modern Orthodoxy. I still think they have a lot of issues they're not adequately addressing, but I think that's just because I'm not Orthodox, and I will never really be satisfied with the parameters of Orthodoxy. But within the Orthodox paradigm, YCT is pushing the forward edge of halachic and theological thought. Because of the way that the entirety of Orthodoxy has radically shifted rightward over the last 50-75 years, basically, YCT is picking up where modern Orthodoxy was in the early '60s and early '70s, when guys like Berkovits were at their theological/halachic prime. They have yet to produce/find someone with the gigantic halachic/theological stature of someone like Berkovits or Chaim Dovid Regensburg were in their day, or even someone like Daniel Sperber or Menachem Kellner today. But they're doing good work: they'll get there. They have Steve Greenberg in there, either as an adjunct or as a regular speaker, and that signals good open-mindedness and willingness to wrestle with the problems faced by GLBT Jews. Giving women the title of maharat or rabbah is the next major step on getting women to really be recognized as Orthodox rabbis. And they do good work with intermovement dialogue and interfaith dialogue: their rabbis are considered, accepting, tolerant, and interested in cooperation and social justice.

They're about as good as Orthodoxy gets, IMO, though of course, I freely confess that as a formerly Orthodox non-Orthodox rabbi, I am biased.

 

[Tarheeler]

Given that we have a revived membership in the DIR, I wanted to bump this and see what others think.

 

[Levite]

FWIW, in the intervening time since last this thread was bumped, I have become friendly with more and more Chovevei rabbis, and more participants in the Open Orthodox community, and I have liked what I've seen more and more, pretty constantly and consistently. There are Open Orthodox rabbis out there not only making good halachah, but pursuing social justice in a way I haven't seen from the Orthodox world in decades.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Open Orthodox movement, save only for some of the general critiques I have for all Orthodoxy.

 

[rosends]

It is a tough title. But so is "Modern Orthodox" and even "Orthodox." I am never sure what they mean even while I say I "am one." Better minds than mine have come up empty trying to draw lines so I will refrain from judging that which I don't understand. Also, I find that some of the issues which divide the various branches are so mired in the political baggage that they cease to be about the application of religious thinking.

 

[metis]

"Open" Modern Orthodox is just the latest nickname for the progressive left wing of Modern Orthodoxy, or what used to just be called "Modern Orthodoxy," before all of Orthodoxy started veering to the right.

My best friend is in his last year at Chovevei Torah. He's a big fan of Avi Weiss', and has been very complimentary of their programs at YCT and Yeshivat haMaharat. I myself am friendly with a number of Chovevei rabbis, and with Asher Lopatin, who will be taking over for Avi Weiss at the beginning of next year, and I've been generally impressed with the effort that YCT is making.

They are the last great bastion of progressive modern Orthodoxy. I still think they have a lot of issues they're not adequately addressing, but I think that's just because I'm not Orthodox, and I will never really be satisfied with the parameters of Orthodoxy. But within the Orthodox paradigm, YCT is pushing the forward edge of halachic and theological thought. Because of the way that the entirety of Orthodoxy has radically shifted rightward over the last 50-75 years, basically, YCT is picking up where modern Orthodoxy was in the early '60s and early '70s, when guys like Berkovits were at their theological/halachic prime. They have yet to produce/find someone with the gigantic halachic/theological stature of someone like Berkovits or Chaim Dovid Regensburg were in their day, or even someone like Daniel Sperber or Menachem Kellner today. But they're doing good work: they'll get there. They have Steve Greenberg in there, either as an adjunct or as a regular speaker, and that signals good open-mindedness and willingness to wrestle with the problems faced by GLBT Jews. Giving women the title of maharat or rabbah is the next major step on getting women to really be recognized as Orthodox rabbis. And they do good work with intermovement dialogue and interfaith dialogue: their rabbis are considered, accepting, tolerant, and interested in cooperation and social justice.

They're about as good as Orthodoxy gets, IMO, though of course, I freely confess that as a formerly Orthodox non-Orthodox rabbi, I am biased.

By chance are any involved in the Renewal Movement, which my synagogue is involved in, btw?

 

[Levite]

By chance are any involved in the Renewal Movement, which my synagogue is involved in, btw?

None that I know of. It may be Open, but it is still Orthodox....

 

[metis]

None that I know of. It may be Open, but it is still Orthodox....

Some in Renewal are Orthodox, including some chasidim, and there's only one synagogue of Reform in Renewal.

By coincidence, I was talking about this with my rabbi yesterday, as he attends the annual Renewal conference.

 

[Tarheeler]

It is a tough title. But so is "Modern Orthodox" and even "Orthodox." I am never sure what they mean even while I say I "am one." Better minds than mine have come up empty trying to draw lines so I will refrain from judging that which I don't understand. Also, I find that some of the issues which divide the various branches are so mired in the political baggage that they cease to be about the application of religious thinking.

I'm not a big fan of the labels or the "branches" themselves.
I tend to say I'm "just" Jewish.

 

[Levite]

Some in Renewal are Orthodox, including some chasidim, and there's only one synagogue of Reform in Renewal.

I will take your word, of course.

I have not personally heard of any Orthodox institutions that are associated with Renewal. And the few Orthodox individuals that I know who are involved with Renewal are...few.

But of course that's just what I have encountered or been told. I am sure there is much I don't know.

 

[Rhiamom]

I will take your word, of course.

I have not personally heard of any Orthodox institutions that are associated with Renewal. And the few Orthodox individuals that I know who are involved with Renewal are...few.

But of course that's just what I have encountered or been told. I am sure there is much I don't know.

The problem I have seen with Renewal is that people are mistaking the acceptance of practices from other religions, like meditation, as acceptance of the beliefs of those other religions. I have a friend who is quite certain that her admittedly pagan goddesss worship is just fine in Renewal, if not Reform, Judaism. She insists that her exclusive worship of a goddess is acceptable in mainstream Judaism. No, not even calling it the Shechinah makes pagan goddess worship Jewish. Rabbi Shechter-Shalomi (forgive any misspelling) would be appalled.

 

[metis]

The problem I have seen with Renewal is that people are mistaking the acceptance of practices from other religions, like meditation, as acceptance of the beliefs of those other religions. I have a friend who is quite certain that her admittedly pagan goddesss worship is just fine in Renewal, if not Reform, Judaism. She insists that her exclusive worship of a goddess is acceptable in mainstream Judaism. No, not even calling it the Shechinah makes pagan goddess worship Jewish. Rabbi Shechter-Shalomi (forgive any misspelling) would be appalled.

Renewal is like having a car: there's a lot of things one can do with it. Just because one person you know may do the above, her approach is not integral with Renewal. It would be like blaming what she does on Judaism-- it just doesn't fit that well at all, especially since neither are polytheistic.

BTW, what's wrong with meditation? Whaddya think the prophets and many others did when they went into the wilderness for sometimes days on end, just play with their navel?

 

[Rhiamom]

Renewal is like having a car: there's a lot of things one can do with it. Just because one person you know may do the above, her approach is not integral with Renewal. It would be like blaming what she does on Judaism-- it just doesn't fit that well at all, especially since neither are polytheistic.

BTW, what's wrong with meditation? Whaddya think the prophets and many others did when they went into the wilderness for sometimes days on end, just play with their navel?

I am not saying anything is wrong with Renewal or meditation. I am just pointing out that there will always be those drawn to a group like Renewal because their heresy is less obvious there. Less cognitive dissonance between identifying as a Jew and practicing a non-Jewish religion.

Then outsiders see that fringe of heretics and decide on that basis that all of Renewal is heretical. I know that it is not. You know that it is not. But anybody who knows my friend, who identifies as a Renewal Reform Jew, would think so. Dogma police are not the answer. Better use of media, particularly online media, could help both Renewal and Open Modern Orthodox disseminate their ideas to a wide audience.

 

[metis]

I am not saying anything is wrong with Renewal or meditation. I am just pointing out that there will always be those drawn to a group like Renewal because their heresy is less obvious there. Less cognitive dissonance between identifying as a Jew and practicing a non-Jewish religion.

Then outsiders see that fringe of heretics and decide on that basis that all of Renewal is heretical. I know that it is not. You know that it is not. But anybody who knows my friend, who identifies as a Renewal Reform Jew, would think so. Dogma police are not the answer. Better use of media, particularly online media, could help both Renewal and Open Modern Orthodox disseminate their ideas to a wide audience.

One can access Renewal on-line and register, and I get e-mails regularly from them at aleph.org . At that official site, the word "God", not "gods", is used, so if that woman you know is worshiping "gods", she's certainly not following Renewal. Also, Wikipedia has a basic description that's at least half-way decent, imo.

 

[Levite]

I am not saying anything is wrong with Renewal or meditation. I am just pointing out that there will always be those drawn to a group like Renewal because their heresy is less obvious there. Less cognitive dissonance between identifying as a Jew and practicing a non-Jewish religion.

Then outsiders see that fringe of heretics and decide on that basis that all of Renewal is heretical. I know that it is not. You know that it is not. But anybody who knows my friend, who identifies as a Renewal Reform Jew, would think so. Dogma police are not the answer. Better use of media, particularly online media, could help both Renewal and Open Modern Orthodox disseminate their ideas to a wide audience.

I think part of the issue with Renewal is that, unlike Open Orthodoxy, it has no coherent agenda and no consistency in matters of practice that shape it. The best of Renewal is very good. The worst of Renewal is heresy. What lies in between spans the spectrum from innovation to syncretism.

Open Orthodoxy is guided by the rabbis and maharatot, teachers and yoatzot halachah who are at or who have come out of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, or who are members of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, and by the lay leaders who have trained or studied with them. There is a specific halachic ethos that lies at the center of the Open Orthodox agenda, and a set of concrete goals both within halachah and within general observance and practice that Open Orthodoxy wishes to pursue and encourage.

Whereas there is nothing concrete about Renewal: it is an incredibly loose association of Jews with only vaguely related agenda, and a plethora of methodologies (both halachically acceptable and otherwise) to pursue those agenda.

While Open Orthodoxy may or may not need better PR, Renewal is less in need of PR than it is of some semblance of structuring in order to shape it into something resembling coherence.

 

[Rhiamom]

I think part of the issue with Renewal is that, unlike Open Orthodoxy, it has no coherent agenda and no consistency in matters of practice that shape it. The best of Renewal is very good. The worst of Renewal is heresy. What lies in between spans the spectrum from innovation to syncretism.

Open Orthodoxy is guided by the rabbis and maharatot, teachers and yoatzot halachah who are at or who have come out of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, or who are members of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, and by the lay leaders who have trained or studied with them. There is a specific halachic ethos that lies at the center of the Open Orthodox agenda, and a set of concrete goals both within halachah and within general observance and practice that Open Orthodoxy wishes to pursue and encourage.

Whereas there is nothing concrete about Renewal: it is an incredibly loose association of Jews with only vaguely related agenda, and a plethora of methodologies (both halachically acceptable and otherwise) to pursue those agenda.

While Open Orthodoxy may or may not need better PR, Renewal is less in need of PR than it is of some semblance of structuring in order to shape it into something resembling coherence.

Of course you are right. It is the very lack of structure that attracts the fringes to Renewal. Renewal focuses on whatever it is that makes you, personally, feel connected to HaShem, hence the "anything goes" mentality.

And I would suggest that Open Orthodox does need PR, and badly. I have heard of Renewal, Reconstructionist, Universalist, Modern Orthodox, and a dozen Hasidic groups, but never Open Orthodox. The idea intrigues me. It sounds a lot like what Conservative Judaism professes, but fails, to be. And I say this as a contented Conservative Jew.

 

[metis]

I think part of the issue with Renewal is that, unlike Open Orthodoxy, it has no coherent agenda and no consistency in matters of practice that shape it. The best of Renewal is very good. The worst of Renewal is heresy. What lies in between spans the spectrum from innovation to syncretism.

Open Orthodoxy is guided by the rabbis and maharatot, teachers and yoatzot halachah who are at or who have come out of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, or who are members of the International Rabbinic Fellowship, and by the lay leaders who have trained or studied with them. There is a specific halachic ethos that lies at the center of the Open Orthodox agenda, and a set of concrete goals both within halachah and within general observance and practice that Open Orthodoxy wishes to pursue and encourage.

Whereas there is nothing concrete about Renewal: it is an incredibly loose association of Jews with only vaguely related agenda, and a plethora of methodologies (both halachically acceptable and otherwise) to pursue those agenda.

While Open Orthodoxy may or may not need better PR, Renewal is less in need of PR than it is of some semblance of structuring in order to shape it into something resembling coherence.

I think you'e confusing having no agenda with having an agenda you can't relate to and/or don't like. Yes, it is more loosey-goosey that at least conventional Orthodoxy, but it really was constructed to more be that way, and for good reason.

By and large, our divisions in Judaism mostly came about on differences in how we perceive both Torah and the oral law. If one felt that Torah was inerrant and completely divinely inspired, they would typically drift in the orthodox direction. If not, they would be looking more likely at the various reform branches. When there were no reform branches, our fellow Jews still had a wide diversity of opinions, many not too terribly popular with the majority.

Renewal tries to cut across these branch divisions, more concentrating on what Nachman of Braslav called "emotion" (immersion into God) than "intellect" (dogmatism). It also tries to weave in more emphasis on equality, interfaith sharing (a recognition that we Jews don't have all the answers), meditation (which is a type of prayer), accepting of science and history even if it does rub against a literalness approach to Torah, tikkun olam, etc.

OK, it's not for everybody, and I certainly can accept that.

Here's a link to its basic mission and goals: Mission & Vision | Aleph

 

[Rhiamom]

Renewal tries to cut across these branch divisions, more concentrating on what Nachman of Braslav called "emotion" (immersion into God) than "intellect" (dogmatism). It also tries to weave in more emphasis on equality, interfaith sharing (a recognition that we Jews don't have all the answers), meditation (which is a type of prayer), accepting of science and history even if it does rub against a literalness approach to Torah, tikkun olam, etc.

OK, it's not for everybody, and I certainly can accept that.

Here's a link to its basic mission and goals: Mission & Vision | Aleph

This is what I was trying to say about Renewal, and the focus on a personal connection with HaShem and not on dogma. Thank you, you expressed it so much better than I did!

 

[Rhiamom]

So I did a quick search on Open Orthodox and found a website with a very interesting article about Open Orthodox. It is, to put it crudely, Orthodox Judaism without all the stupid bits. Well, without most of the bits I dislike, anyway. It is a movement I can support, even though I am still rooted in the Conservative view of Torah.

It seems to me that it is an outward-looking, expanding Orthodox Judaism, rather than an inward-looking constricting Orthodox Judaism. The more I read about it the more I like it.

 

[Levite]

I think you'e confusing having no agenda with having an agenda you can't relate to and/or don't like. Yes, it is more loosey-goosey that at least conventional Orthodoxy, but it really was constructed to more be that way, and for good reason.

By and large, our divisions in Judaism mostly came about on differences in how we perceive both Torah and the oral law. If one felt that Torah was inerrant and completely divinely inspired, they would typically drift in the orthodox direction. If not, they would be looking more likely at the various reform branches. When there were no reform branches, our fellow Jews still had a wide diversity of opinions, many not too terribly popular with the majority.

Renewal tries to cut across these branch divisions, more concentrating on what Nachman of Braslav called "emotion" (immersion into God) than "intellect" (dogmatism). It also tries to weave in more emphasis on equality, interfaith sharing (a recognition that we Jews don't have all the answers), meditation (which is a type of prayer), accepting of science and history even if it does rub against a literalness approach to Torah, tikkun olam, etc.

OK, it's not for everybody, and I certainly can accept that.

Here's a link to its basic mission and goals: Mission & Vision | Aleph

First of all, not even all Orthodox theologies of Torah can be reduced simply to "inerrant and completely divinely inspired." It can be and often is more complex than that. And your divisions completely ignore Conservative Judaism and its wide spectrum of theologies and attitudes toward Torah and halachah-- to say nothing of its nuanced and flexible approaches to equality, and to science and history, and its open-minded approach to interfaith dialogue.

Rebbe Nachman, it's true, was visionary in understanding the emotional components of emunah and tefillah, especially in regard to teshuvah-- the lev in Breslev. And his emphasis on channelling hitbodedut into emunah and practice is rivalled only by Reb Levi Yitzchak's teaching on hitlahavut. But Rebbe Nachman would not have advocated anyone to transgress halachah, or to attempt to dispense with it altogether, or to try and move beyond it as a structural framework for keeping the people Israel together and giving them paths through which to focus the emunah and practice that their passion generated. Nor would he, who taught and wrote with exquisite thoughtfulness and wide-ranging brilliance, have consigned intellect to mere dogmatism.

It is a false dichotomy to present Jewish life and observance as either emotional or intellectual, just as it is a false dichotomy to present it as either joyful or halachically observant.

The set of goals laid down on the Aleph website are laudable, but wholly vague, both in general and in avoiding discussion of methodologies, formats and boundaries (save to note that it hopes to transcend them), and so forth. And the result is not only an effective chaos of what the vision of Renewal is (one acquaintance of mine is Orthodox, and claims the mantle of Renewal in essentially a neo-chassidic practice of prayer coupled with aggressive social justice work and thoughtful interfaith dialogue; another acquaintance of mine is nominally Reform, and claims the mantle of Renewal in her meditation practice, which includes mantras and chants that honor foreign gods, ownership and use of small idols she "venerates," and in her adoption of Native American dances and chants-- which also mention and call upon foreign gods-- into her prayer practice), but a de facto chaos of Judaism.

In practice, if not in ideal theory, Renewal sets no boundary to separate interfaith dialogue from careful syncretic borrowing from outright syncretism from simple avodah zarah. That is the chief error that my dear friend and teacher Reb Zalman (ztz"l) made, though I would be the first to acknowledge that he made it from all the best motivations. I think that he himself, having so utterly and completely internalized Jewish traditional practice and liturgy, and having such a sweeping mastery of Tanach, Talmud, Midrash, Halachah, and Kabbalah, forgot that most Jews did not have the background of traditional upbringing or the education and skills in traditional literature that he did, to keep them grounded in Jewish identity and tradition. And in his wholly laudable desire to seek the face of God in other people and in other traditions, he forgot that there is a difference between meeting companions upon one's journey and delighting to find that the stranger is not so strange after all, and stepping off of the path that is the dedicated way of one's own people and onto other paths that belong to people of other identities. Sharing wisdom and learning from others does not need to mean becoming other oneself. And the only way to prevent that is to guide and shape people's positive desires for renewal and reinvigoration of our own way with boundaries to preserve our identity while still valuing and appreciating the identities and ways of others.

Renewing Judaism is a good idea. So is recognizing the value and wisdom of other religions and cultures. And so is promoting equality, social justice, and the acceptance of science and history. But there are ways to do those things with thoughtfulness, carefulness, and an eye toward balance and the self-integrity of tradition and Jewish People. When those things are disregarded, or dismissed as dogmatism or intellectualism or stodginess or whatnot, or when they are offered as mere suggestions that anyone can take or leave in whatever degree pleases them, the coherence of Jewish identity, tradition-- of Judaism-- disintigrates. And what, in the end, is then being Renewed?