Joey Kurtzman writes for Jewcy:
At the 1998 reunion of Noah Feldman’s Maimonides yeshiva class, no one could possibly have imagined that a few group photographs–all wide Jewy smiles and shapeless sorta-Orthodox outfits–would spark a seat-ripping public debate almost a decade later, and a messy media scandal a month after that. But here we are, with everyone all hot and bothered by the innocuous-looking pics that played so central a narrative role in Noah Feldman’s "Orthodox Paradox."
Orthodox Paradox was a journalistic Molotov Cocktail delivered to the Jewish community in the July 23rd issue of the New York Times Magazine. Was the article a poignant critique of Modern Orthodoxy, or an infantile rant against the obvious consequences of Feldman’s life choices? A sensitive exploration of the contradictions within Modern Orthodoxy, or vulgar mudslinging? For two weeks, the debate raged.
On August 3, the debate gave way to a scandal. "A class picture has touched off a storm in the American Jewish community," says Ha’aretz. At the center of the storm is one question: Did Noah Feldman and the New York Times intentionally mislead readers to believe that Maimonides published a photo from which Feldman and his non-Jewish wife, Jeannie Suk, had been removed? But other than one woefully inadequate thumbnail at Jewish Week, no one has bothered to publish the f’shtinking pictures. That’s just nuts. So yesterday, Noah Feldman did Jewcy a good turn and sent us the pics.
Feldman tells us: "6 out of 7 included our picture; one did not; that one was published. No one I know really thinks the selection was random, and of course neither does Maimo deny it if you read closely." Meanwhile, the Orthodox Union says Feldman should be fired as contributing editor to the Times for falsely asserting that he and his then-fiancee Jeannie Suk had been "deliberately cropped out" of the photo. The NY Times responds that both the Orthodox Union and Jewish Week have fudged the truth by denouncing Feldman for claims he never made. Who screwed up here?
