Robert J. Avrech writes:
The New York Times ramps up its war against the Jews.
This time they use the most time honored of methods: a formerly religious Jew, now an arch liberal, writes a seemingly scholarly, and dispassionate criticism of Judaism. The only problem: the article by the embittered and massively narcissistic former yeshiva student Noah Feldman, is filled with half-truths and cherry-picked Torah scholarship designed to mislead and cast Torah and halacha, Jewish law, in the worst light possible.
It’s a blood libel — Ivy League style. You can read it here.
Seraphic Friend Havolim does a fine job of analyzing Feldman’s cognitive dissonance.
Hirhurim Musings also covers the Feldman controversy. Go to the comments section which are extensive and cover a wide diversity of opinion. Some quite scholarly and brilliant, others are just stupid. You need to seriously filter.
To me, it is no accident that Feldman’s article has been published just before T’sha B’av.
Rabbi Gil Student writes to Noah Feldman:
Look, you’re not stupid. After thirteen years in yeshiva, you knew very well that by marrying outside of the Jewish faith that you were committing the ultimate slap-in-the-faith to the community in which you were raised. It was and remains your choice. This is a free country and it’s your life to live. But be a man and take responsibility for your choices. Don’t for a minute act surprised and pretend that you don’t understand the profound insult that your decision represents to the community that raised you and on which you turned your back.
The community in general does not want to completely cut off ties with you. But certainly a smart man like you knows that it can no longer hold you high as an example of one of theirs who succeeded. You didn’t. Sadly, to everyone’s great dismay, like many others before you, you failed.
Modern Orthodoxy is all about nuance; it’s about combining Orthodoxy with modernity. But the key is that God always comes first. You don’t go to school on Yom Kippur, even if it means failing a final exam. You don’t eat non-kosher, even if it means that your department head gets offended and thinks that you are not qualified for a tenured position.
Moshe posts to Gil: "I read the same article you did and I think you exaggerate the author’s expectations. All he seemed to expect is acknowledgement as a human being and something else that one never learns in a yeshiva–graciousness and common decency. Maybe the curriculum needs less midrash and more mentschlichkeit."
Anon posts: "…MO does encourage Secular and Kodesh combined, the MO community is still pretty open, and if NF had been a secular superstar, while still remaining nominally OJ and marrying in, then MO would have been proud of him, even if he had never learnt another Jewish word his whole life."
Anti-Alles posts: "What if Feldman’s old school buddy had married a white supremacist, and was proud of that fact? I’ll bet Feldman would "shun" that felllow too. In other words, Feldman, like everyone else, agrees there’s a time for tough love, he just disagrees with the standard of when to apply it. Nu Nu, let him argue. Who cares?"
JewishAtheist posts: "Literally erasing photographic evidence of someone who doesn’t fit the mold is emblematic of the larger theme of denial that the MO community lives in. Kids who turn out gay no longer exist. Those of us who leave Orthodoxy no longer exist, and the reason we left is because we are sinners and wanted to have sex."
Hesh posts: "While I agree that Feldman was being disingenuous, his article does show a possible pitfall of the MO curriculum — that if French literature is taught in a parallel manner to Talmud (and the parents/administration emphasize both classes equally), a student will naturally treat both subjects with equal moral weight and make his own decisions about which is more important."
Anon posts: "Much of the left-wing MO educational establishment ought to do some introspection. With the exception of YU’s high schools, most MO HSs encourage kids NOT to attend YU or the like, and these kids are shipped off to environs devoid of learning, rebbeim-ben/bas Torah role models, etc. JA [Jewish Action] had a piece on it last year – very scary. When secular success trumps a Torah life, something is very wrong, and this is an outgrowth of this scenario."
Lawrence Kaplan posts: "Did Prof. Feldman really expect the Maimonides Bulletin to print the notices about his non-Jewish children born as a result of an inter-marraige? Did he ever send in a notice about an article or book he published or an academic appointyment or honor he received? No, he DAVKA wanted them to acknowledge and congratulate him about his family. Noah, we all know you’re brilliant. You even know medieval Hebrew poetry, as I learned when I participated in a seminar at BU with you."
Arnie Lustiger posts: "Noah Feldman laments how he and his fiancee were removed from the picture of his Modern Orthodox Day school class reunion. In fact, by marrying outside his faith, he removed himself from the picture. He cannot identify with his alma mater and at the same time reject the very principle upon which the school is based."
Eskimo posts: "…The Talmud teacher who sensed early on that he was ready to jump into bed with a goya was correct. And Noah Feldman doesn’t even realize it."
Sumdumju posts: "I don’t think Prof. Feldman fancies himself Spinoza; I think he sees himself as Bar-Kamtza; a man kicked out of the party and publicly humiliated. This article is his way of cutting the calf’s lip; showing Orthodox Jews to be offensive and small-minded and not in touch with the values of American society."
