What are the ten stupidest things that Orthodox Jews, particularly rabbis, believe?

I want to make a list (while staying within the daled amot aka orthodox Judaism):
* That the Chofetz Chaim embodies Judaism’s teachings about proper speech (he used mussar, frequently extreme, and aggadata and turned it into halacha). If you know any Orthodox rabbis well, or read their correspondence, you’ll see that they speak ill of people just as often as regular people, only they call it a mitzva because they’re just talking shop or exposing hypocrites and the like.
* That halacha decides how a Jewish community should run (instead see the responsa literature, halacha is frequently an ideal state unreachable in reality, such as requiring two witnesses to warn someone before he murders to get a conviction)
* That the Rambam’s 13 principles have been universally accepted by the great rabbis throughout history (when every principle has been disputed by great rabbis)
* That the rabbis aka gadolim lead us (look at child abuse, it is the lay people who’ve led the fight, dragging the rabbis kicking and screaming into taking action)
* That conversion classes are necessary for a conversion (only a modern phenomenon of past 150 years)

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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