Emanuel Feldman
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Emanuel Feldman The questions posed by Jewish Action do not lend themselves easily to sequential answers, but will be addressed within the comments below. The Story of the Robe helps guide us as to what is and what When I first arrived in Atlanta, Geor- is not appropriate behavior. We call gia, in the fifties, the president of the that framework “mesorah,” a tradition shul immediately suggested that I wear handed down through the ages that a black robe on the pulpit on Friday helps keep inviolate the sanctity of the nights and Shabbos. Why? He was Torah and mitzvot, protecting them open about it. Ours was a small Ortho- from the inroads of ho0stile surround- dox shul, we needed to grow; the local ings. (The fence analogy is not inapt: Conservative rabbi wore a black robe, he who breaks through certain reli- and he had a huge congregation; ergo, gious boundaries is known in halachah it followed that if I followed suit, we as a poretz geder, one who “breaches too would attract many members (we the fence.”) had only forty at the time). His logic To have worn the black robe would was hardly impeccable, but this was not have been a cardinal offense; no not the only reason I resisted. One did one would have revoked my semichah. Photo: Vosamo Photography not have to be a gadol/posek to realize But—particularly because of the ra- instinctively that this was the begin- “uvechukoteihem lo teilechu,” “thou tionale behind it—it represented ning of a slippery slope: whatever the shalt not walk in [non-Jewish] ways” something foreign and out of sync non-Orthodox were doing—beyond (Vayikra 18:3). But I tried to explain with classical Yiddishkeit. For me, it their vestments—would eventually be that not every jot and tittle of life is was a small breach in the fence of the expected of me. covered by the Shulchan Aruch, that mesorah that somehow made one sen- I never wore the robe, although my there are certain behaviors that are so sitive to actions that were in essence well-meaning president asked the in- obviously off track—what we call questionably Jewish. evitable question: Where is it written muvan me’eilav, and lawyers call “res that a rav may not wear a robe on ipsa loquitur,” something that speaks Defining Mesorah Shabbos? I was hard-pressed to give an for itself and is self-evident—that it We know what mesorah does. But what intelligent answer, though perhaps a need not be recorded in a code of law. it actually is defies definition, because case could have been made concerning The robe incident was my first en- it is multi-dimensional, much misun- counter with that amorphous and in- derstood and misused, and requires Rabbi Emanuel Feldman served as rabbi in definable framework (about which several thick volumes of analysis. Liter- Atlanta for forty years, is the former editor of Tradition magazine, and is an op-ed colum- more below) that focuses on the spirit ally, it stems from the root msr, to give nist for the Jerusalem Post. He has taught at and intent of the law. That framework over or to transmit. What does it trans- Emory University and at Bar-Ilan University, serves as an invisible security fence mit? A number of things, one of which and is the author of nine books, most recent that preserves the integrity of the is a way of looking at the Torah, a way of which is Tales Out of Jerusalem Torah, even in those areas not explic- of approaching halachah. For example, (Jerusalem, 2010). itly covered by the halachah itself, and when the great classic decisors dis- 42 I JEWISH ACTION Winter 5771/2010 agree about a certain issue, there is a hand the pressures to be accepted and lead to communal chaos. Who makes mesorah, a tradition that guides our de- au courant, to be “with it,” to be up to the determination? cision-making. But there is more to date, to show a passion for fashion, and mesorah than this: based in antiquity, it to reject ideas that could be seen as re- Gadol and Posek deals not only with the externals of the actionary, or hidebound, or obscuran- In the absence of a Sanhedrin, faithful Torah, but primarily with its “within.” tist. To float along with the stream is Jews have always consulted with the It helps determine the spirit and intent only natural. And so even halachically- “shofet asher yihyeh bayamim ha’hem,” of Torah and mitzvot. Mesorah—itself loyal Jews push against the mesorah “the judge who will exist in those fu- unwritten but transmitted from fence to see if perhaps there is some ture days” (Devarim 17:9). That is, by teacher to disciple—overlays the writ- elbow room to express our avant-garde consulting with universally acknowl- ten text, and helps apply it to ever- selves—occasionally forgetting that one edged senior rabbinic decisors— changing circumstances. Where way to determine if a fish is kosher is to gedolim/posekim—whose wisdom, certain behaviors are not covered by see if it has a backbone and is not fear- experience, knowledge, and profound explicit laws, mesorah offers a glimpse ful of strong currents (Sukkah 18a). Torah learning are indisputable, one of what lies between the lines of the can determine what is or is not within Torah, a kind of compass and road map Where Is It Forbidden? the spirit of Jewish law. that helps determine what is, or is not, The question of the fifties president is A gadol/posek is not simply one within the bounds of Torah. still being asked today, albeit in differ- who teaches Talmud, or writes well, or Mesorah is not to be found in a spe- ent articulations. Rabbi, what is wrong lectures in a university, or is a fine pul- cial “Book of Mesorah,” but it is never- with a woman wearing a tallit? Where pit rabbi. Rather, he is that rare individ- theless the handmaiden of Torah, is it forbidden? Why should not a ual who, through a lifelong, sacrificial mitzvot and halachah. It is not only a woman wear tefillin if she wants to dedication to Torah learning, has de- security fence, but also a great, overar- reach out to God? Why should not a veloped a profound, universally recog- ching tent that hovers over the ha- man immerse in a mikvah once a nized perception and vision about the lachah and sets the tone and month, in honor of his wife? Why present and the future of Klal Yisrael. framework for appropriate service should not a single woman immerse His is a life permeated by Torah; his of God. herself in a mikvah if she wants to? entire being is fine-tuned to what is Why should not a woman read a paral- and what is not within the spirit and The Passion for Fashion lel English reading to the sheva bera- parameters of Torah. In a word, he is at The mesorah’s guidelines are of special chot under the wedding canopy? importance in our time, which suffers Where is it forbidden? Why should the from a centuries-old Jewish malaise groom not encircle his bride, just as she that has become toxic in the twenty- encircles him? Why not a double-ring first century. This might be called “Imi- ceremony? Why should not the hus- tatio Goyi,” Imitation of the Gentiles, band light candles on Friday night to- and is a powerful force in much of con- gether with—or instead of—his wife? temporary Jewish religious behavior. And inevitably, why should there not In fact, the Vilna Gaon, in his Beurei be female rabbis and chazzanim (chaz- HaGra (Berachot IX, p. 27a), states that zanot)? Where is it forbidden for a this desire to be accepted and to be- woman to lead a synagogue chant? have like the surrounding culture– Such questions lose sight of the k’chol hagoyim—is the single most fact that even if something is not ex- overriding temptation besetting our pressly forbidden in the Torah or people. Specifically: in the robe inci- Codes; it can still be completely out of dent, why was the Conservative rabbi bounds—because it is not in the spirit wearing it? Because the Reform rabbi of the Torah and thus threatens to was doing so. Why was the Reform weaken the fabric of Jewish life. That rabbi doing so? Because the Episco- which is not specifically forbidden is palian minister down the street was not necessarily permitted. doing so. This was Exhibit A of the Having defined mesorah and its trickle-down theory of Jewish practice. function, and having seen how it can Why are so many people these days help determine the appropriateness of eagerly testing the outer edges of the certain behaviors, one question never- mesorah? Why, for example, the very theless rears its curious head: Be- need for this symposium? Is the zeit- cause of the very amorphous nature of geist seeping into our Orthodox Jewish mesorah, it is quite possible that one lives and affecting our religious behav- man’s mesorah might be another ior? Of course it is. We all know first- man’s breach in the wall. This could Winter 5771/2010 JEWISH ACTION I 43 once the recipient and the transmitter and posekim of the time. (Space does edicts, suffice it to say that such edicts of the mesorah of Israel. not permit the citation of Ramban’s had limited parameters and scope, and Despite the verbal hyper-inflation words on the issue of consultation, at were not instituted casually but with of our day, not everyone is a gaon or a Devarim 17: 11, but they are crucial and prayerful fear and trembling.