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Intellectual Honesty About Halachah Nosson Scherman a Journal Of Moreover, just what do these Liberals mean by what is good and right for Judaism and the "ethics"? If they mean the egalitarian, Jewish people. And let us not be afraid to part autonomous ethics espoused by liberals in our company, intellectually (but certainly not per- general society today, then a very good case could sonally), with the inconsistencies and mistakes of be made for judging Judaism as "unethical" by both those to the right and those to the left of these non-Jewish standards. For Judaism requires, us. • for example, that men and women are to be treated more differently than the same, and Judaism teaches that our moral obligations are Intellectual honesty about halachah imposed upon us by God not by our own autonomous wills. In the 19th century this same Nosson Scherman type of "ethical" reasoning was used to justify the Poor J. David Bleich— has David Singer done a elimination of everything particularistic from number on him! In this corner, Singer places Judaism, such as the use of the Hebrew language, Bleich, the computer model gadol, seconded by the hope for the return to Zion, etc. If, converse- Orthodox apparatchiks (partisans), apprehensive ly, they mean Jewish ethics, then they must surely of Orthodox vigilantes, oblivious to the march of realize that the "aggadic" materials which they history, unsympathetic to the needs of the pre- use were all composed by people who accepted sent, opposed to the modern intellectual environ- the normative primacy of the halachah. Finally, ment of the university, who refuses to the invocation of ethics requires that these Liberals present an ethical system sufficiently ra- tionally convincing to ground those aspects of the NOSSON SCHERMAN is the founder of Mesorah halachah they wish to retain. With the exception Publications which issues the Artscroll Series of of Hermann Cohen I know of no modern Jewish Judaica. thinker philosophically gifted enough to ac- complish such a feat, and even Cohen's ethical system can be rejected on both philosophical as Sh'ma well as theological grounds. a journal of Jewish responsibility Labels Are No Longer Meaningful Editor Eugene B. Borowitz Asst. to the Editor Yoel H. Kahn What David Singer is describing, in a sociological Administrator Alicia Seeger sense, is the cultural lag between theory and prac- Production CIM Graphics tice. Theoretically the denominational boundaries in American Judaism have already been Contributing Editors J. David Bleich, Balfour Brickner, transcended. Practically, however, the institutions Mitchell Cohen, Daniel ]. Bazar, Blu Greenberg, Paula of American Judaism still adhere to outmoded, in- Hyman, Nora Levin, David Novak, Harold Schulweis, Steven Schwarzschild, Seymour Siegel, Sharon Strassfeld, tellectually bankrupt distinctions. To term the Elie Wiesel, Arnold Jacob Wolf, Michael Wyschogrod. thought of J. David Bleich and Blu Greenberg Sh'ma welcomes articles from diverse points of view. "Orthodox", or to term the thought of Seymour Hence, the opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those Siegel and myself "Conservative", or the thought of the editors. Donations to Sh'ma Inc. are tax-deductible. of Jakob Petuchowski and Alvin Reines "Reform", Sh'ma is available in microform from University Microfilms is to stretch these respective terms beyond the Internatl., Ann Arbor, Mi. point of coherence. In Israel today it would be Address all correspondence, subscriptions and change of just as meaningless to refer to Ephraim Urbach address notices to Box 567, Port Washington, N.Y., 11050. and the head of the Neturei Karta as both being Sh'ma (ISSN 0049-0385) is published bi-weekly except June, "dati" (religious). July and August, by Sh'ma Inc., 735 Port Washington Blvd., Port Washington, N.Y. 11050. Subscriptions $22 for two years For this reason the most exciting and fruitful in- in U.S. and Canada; $12 a year overseas. 10 or more to one tellectual developments in American Judaism are address, $6 each per year. Retired or handicapped persons of now taking place in trans-denominational set- restricted means may subscribe at half-price. tings. Let Blu Greenberg, David Singer et al stop Copyright 1983 by Sh'ma Inc. worrying whether or not they are really "Or- POSTMASTER: Please forward Form 3579 to Box 567, Port thodox" anymore, just as some of us have stopped Washington, N.Y. 11050. worrying whether or not we are really "Conser- Second class postage paid at Port Washington, N.Y. and at vative" anymore. Let us get on with the more im- additional entry Bethpage, N.Y. portant task of discovering what is true and doing 13/258, September 30, 1983 121 acknowledge the obvious fact that— yes, honest, as she well knows, to say, "When there is ' Virginia, there is change in the halachah. a divine Will there is a halachic way," but such an admission of rabbinic limitation would not In the other corner, Singer places poor Blu have been a suitable battering ram with which to Greenberg, comely and courageous modern Or- demolish the edifice of halachah, or better said, thodox philosopher of halachah, who propounds to custom tailor it to current likes and dislikes. the shocking innovation that halachah has not on- ly a history, but a heart. And she is a woman! Origin of Halachah Singer raises important issues, however. Despite In his Introduction to the Mishnah, Maimonides my sympathy for the exaggerated burden he discusses the facets of the Oral Law. The inter- places upon the ample shoulders of David Bleich, pretation of the Written Torah was com- Singer has done all shades of the Jewish com- municated to Moses at Sinai as part of the Divine dby [' munity a service in raising troubling questions Revelation and was passed down intact, genera- tion after generation. Maimonides lists five !nsive <i regarding the definition of halachah and the rch of I nature of the changes it allegedly has undergone, categories within the Oral Law: the alleged power of the rabbis to change it vir- (1) Interpretations handed down to Moses which tually at will, and, perhaps most important, in are alluded to in Scripture and which can be the context of the debate engendered by derived by means of the traditional hermeneutical Greenberg's tract, the integrity of the halachic principles. Laws in this category were never in process as it has come down to us in the thirty- dispute. Among them are such laws as the identi- three centuries since Sinai. These questions are so ty of the Four Species of Succot and the rule that coated with dense layers of misunderstanding, "an eye for an eye" refers to monetary compensa- emotionalism, and catch phrases that an article tion rather than corporal punishment. Although this size is barely able to reveal a bit of the true the Talmud frequently indulges in lengthy picture as it has consistently been perceived by disputation regarding the derivation of such laws, Orthodoxy since the Torah was given. it is never their Sinaitic origin that is in question; Before beginning, I feel compelled to state that rather the discussion concerns only the exegetical Orthodoxy has a scholarly tradition of its own means through which they can be derived from and a centuries old process of halachic interpreta- Scripture. tion and adjudication. The fact that university (2) Sinaitic laws which are described as "the law scholars and computer studies have uncovered of Moses from Sinai" (a term Greenberg uses consistent divergencies between various leading broadly and inaccurately). These too are laws decisors and schools of halachic discipline is that were never in dispute, but they are not allud- nothing new to traditional halachic scholars. In- ed to in Scripture. Prominent examples of this deed, it would be astounding if such were not the category are regulations regarding the boxes, case. Any intensely intellectual enterprise breeds shape, and straps of tejillin, and the halachic traditions of thought; halachah is not different. "measurements" such as the age of Bar/Bat Mitz- What is generally ignored— through intent or ig- vah, and the amounts of food and drink required norance— is that all the players operate within or forbidden by specific positive and negative the same ground rules, and the differences are commandments. tangential rather than essential. Whatever the halachic tradition— the school of the Vilna Gaon, (3) Laws derived through logical application of the Chatam Sofer, the Ben Ish Chai, and so on— existing principles or decisions on whether prac- there has never been a dispute over the definition tices should be required or forbidden to of halachah or the powers of its decisors. All have strengthen compliance with Torah law. Since accepted the proposition that they are interpreters human logic is involved in these matters, it was of God's two-fold revelation, the Written Torah inevitable that such determinations could be the and the Oral Torah. subject of dispute. When disagreements arose, they were decided according to such accepted Blu Greenberg does a pernicious disservice to the principles as majority rule, proof from accepted cause of intellectual inquiry when she repeats fre- authorities, and so on. quently in her book and consistently on the lec- ture circuit: "Where there is a rabbinic will there (4) Rabbinic decrees to prevent violation of Scrip- is a halachic way." It's a great slogan. Purveyors tural law. Scripture itself enjoins the Rabbis to of soda, hair tonic, and cigarettes must be envious impose such decrees when necessary. Such decrees of such hot copy. It would have been more were often the subject of discussion and dispute, but when a consensus formed they became bind- therefore, the results of revisionist inquiries fail fcjt'l! ing. carry weight among qualified halachists. Moder- tj (5) Matters pertaining to civil law, human rela- nist pleadings are elegant, eloquent and tionships, and desirable religious observances.
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