To what extent have modern rabbis rewritten the Jewish past eliminating what does not fit in with their contemporary religious self-interpretations and world view? This wide-ranging and original review of how this policy is applied in practice adds a new perspective to Jewish intellectual history and to the understanding of the contemporary Jewish world.
Friday May 2, 2014
Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage, State University of New York, University at Buffalo.
Luke: Marc’s new book is Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History (scheduled for publication in December 2014).
Marc says he sees nothing wrong with using data gained from Nazi experiments.
Marc: “Sins have a negative force in this world and it is the rabbi’s job to prevent sin.”
“In Orthodox communities, there’s often a problem with people playing basketball on the Sabbath. On the one hand, there’s nothing wrong with it from a technical halachic perspective. Rabbi Moses Isserles, Ashkenazi Jews are bound by him, says there is no problem playing ball on the Sabbath, but it is not in the Sabbath spirit.”
“The rabbis have adopted all sorts of methods for how to deal with this… Instead of having real games, just have shooting or a game of horse. One rabbi came up with the idea that he would tell the congregants that it is forbidden and a violation of the Sabbath. Another rabbi said that is not true and he would tell his congregants.”
“The most important authorities (Ovadiah Yosef, Chaim Kaniefsky) say you are permitted to alter the truth in the name of societal good.”
“The Modern Orthodox in the 1950s could never have imagined the rise of right-wing Orthodoxy. The whole idea was about fitting in. What did Modern Orthodoxy do? It focused on intellectuals writing articles and creating think tanks. What did the right-wing do? They created kollels, the kiruv movements. They have mass appeal. The Modern Orthodox should have been the ones to come out with the chumash. They had the academic background. They ceded all that ground. They invited in the right-wing to produce [the new chumash]. They produce quality products. This is a failure of the Modern Orthodoxy. This is part of the larger swing to the right. You have to put it in the context of the rise of multiculturalism, the rise of right-wing religion generally. It’s probably too late. Every Modern Orthodox synagogue in the country has Artscroll. Their Talmud is unbelievable. They’ll be using it in 500 years. The siddur (prayer book) can come and go.”
