The Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva and the History and Future of Orthodox Judaism

I ran across this short Hanukka Davar HaTorah from Mir's rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, on YouTube. It's not easy to understand because Rabbi Finkel has Parkinson's Disease, and his speech is effected. He speaks faintly and haltingly as a result.

Rabbi Finkel also speaks with a Chicago accent. He was born there, I believe, but his mother Sarah is from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She grew up on 13th Street. My father, o.h., grew up on 14th Street. My father's older sisters were contemporaries and friends of Sarah in their preteen years.

Sarah Rosenblum was one of the few of her generation to remain Orthodox. I can count the others on the fingers of one hand, with fingers left over. No one in my father's family remained Orthodox, although his oldest sister kept a kosher home.

Sarah's father was a shochet and the family davened at the Russian, or Red, shul on 13th Street. My father's family davened at the Litvish, or White, shul on 14th.  Solly and Maxie Weisberg lived down the block from Sarah's family. (More about both, who I knew well, later.) So did my friend Marv Edelstein, who told me Friday he ran a kosher chicken business from the time he was seven years old. The family had barns behind the house where Marv raised chickens. He hired a shochet – Meltzer, not Nosson Tzvi's grandfather – to shecht the chickens and Marv delivered them to homes in the neighborhood.

I grew up with Sarah's nephews. Their father, Sarah's youngest brother, was a contemporary of my father. Years ago, Victor was sitting next to me a shul meeting, a meeting where the rabbi was campaigning for a huge expansion of the shul's building. Victor, stunned at the scope and cost of the expansion, whispered to me, "Scotty, who does he think is going to pay for this?" Without pausing I replied, "You, Victor." Victor's hands clasped his chest and he let out a loud startled gasp. Heads turned. "You shouldn't joke like that," Victor hissed. "I'm not joking," was my reply. I left for Israel and a year of yeshiva shortly after that meeting. After first trying Kfar Chabad (for less than 24 hours – another story for another time), I settled in at Aish HaTorah. Eventually, Nosson Tzvi's brother Gedaliah was a teacher of mine there, but it would only be later, after I returned to Minnesota and Gedaliah came to visit his Uncle Victor and his cousins, that we both realized the connection. And, yes, Nosson Tzvi's Uncle Victor did pay for a large chunk of the shul's expansion.

My father's grandfather had his own shteibel for a few years on the far edge of that area of Saint Paul. But the Jewish community developed closer to downtown and eventually the little shtiebel closed. My great-grandfather became the shammash of both the 13th and 14th Street shuls but still lived almost a mile away. On rainy Shabbat evenings a priest from the Catholic church, impressed with my great-grandfather's religious dedication, used to walk him home under an open umbrella, afraid he would otherwise become ill from the rain and cold. My great-great grandfather also had, for a time, an informal after public school heder of sorts where he taught a few students the rudiments of Biblical Hebrew and basic davening, halakha and leining.This ended when Saint Paul's rabbis opened a formal Talumud Torah in about 1913.

So who else remained strictly Orthodox? Sarah Rosenblum Finkel did it by moving to Chicago, as did one of Marv Edelstein's relatives. The founder and gabbi of the only Orthodox shul in Saint Paul, Isaac Symes, was another. Then there was David Katz, a Navy boxing champion in WW2, shell-shocked and seriously damaged by the War. Dave worked as a milkman and then as a shipping clerk. When Sons of Jacob, the big Orthodox synagogue in Saint Paul, voted to join the Conservative Movement in the late 1970s, Dave was one of the few members to leave – perhaps the only member to leave, if the stories I heard in shul are true. He served as the shul's livery service, picking up several older members and, sometimes, a car-less college student for the minyan every morning and most evenings.

The last Orthodox rabbi of Sons of Jacob was Moishe Lichtman. Moishe, I later learned, grew up in Brooklyn. His grandfather was very close to the Satmar Rebbe, Yoel Teitlebaum. Moishe, who was an illui of sorts, used to sit on Reb Yoilish's lap during the Third Sabbath meal. Manis Friedman, a man without smicha, once dismissed Moishe Lichtman as a "BT" and "not a real rabbi." Moishe at 13 could have easily out-learned Manis at any age. Sons of Jacob became Beth Jacob. Its first and so far only Rabbi is Morris Allen of Hechsher Tzedek fame.

The other person to remain Orthodox was Nachman Liefschultz, a rag picker. His father had been a hasid of the Orsha Rebbe, a grandson of the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Lubavitcher Rebbe. Rabbi Feller, the head Chabad shaliach here, took Russian "chief rabbi" Berel Lazar's father to Nachman's nursing home so Rabbi Lazar could see a "chossid from the Rebbe Rashab," not realizing Nachman's family were Orsha hasidim.

Nachman was mentally slow. It took him ten minutes or longer to write a check at the grocery store. Yet he still functioned as a hazzan and knew a lot of Torah, mostly agadata, by heart. His siblings all belonged to Conservative synagogues. In his 90s, blind and cancer-ridden, Nachman used to daven by heart in his nursing home bed. I was privileged to raise money and buy Nachman his last pair of tefillin, arba kanfot, and the mezzuzah for his nursing home door.

So why so few Orthodox Jews from those generations?

I don't know for sure. What I do know is the following:

1. There were several significant scholars and dozens of haredi rabbis in Saint Paul from the early 1900s until just after WW2.
2. I have never heard anything nice said about any of them, even the hasidishe rabbis of Saint Paul's West Side river flats..
3. The town's chief rabbi, a Litvak, Rabbi Hurwitz, was known as the Roite Rav, not because he had red hair or a red shul but because he was so often red with anger. I have asked dozens of people about him over the years and never heard anything even remotely redeeming about his personality or behavior except from Marv Edelstein's brother-in-law, who was a MO rabbi for a time in Chicago. He spoke about Rabbi Hurwitz's "gadlus" in learning. None of Rabbi Hurwitz's children remained Orthodox. Rabbi Hurwitz was the rabbi of the 14th Street shul and the 13th Street shul, as well. As such, he had ample opportunity to abuse and persecute my great-grandfather. True to his nature, Rabbi Hurwitz passed on few of these opportunities. A few months before my great-grandfather died, after a particularly disgusting example of Rabbi Hurwitz's abuse, Hurwitz had a change of heart – spurred, in part, by the reaction of others who were disgusted with the chief rabbi's behavior. He apologized to my great-grandfather for the years of abuse and the mistreatment of his children and grandchildren. (Yes, the chief rabbi was petty enough to take out his anger on the children and grandchildren of his employees.)
4. The rabbis fought among themselves, were seen as petty, and were little involved in the real lives of their congregations.
5. The rabbis were Eastern European shtetlach rebbes trying to lead congregations in a western enlightened democracy. They had neither the language skills or the temper to minister to Americans, and they had disdain for those who could.

Orthodoxy lost the war with modernity because it behaved like Saint Paul's early rabbis. Rather than learning its lesson, much of Orthodoxy has instead repeated those errors, banning books and banning rabbis, finding heretics under every tallis and shtender, bickering and fighting, regressing, rather than progressing.

Demographic trends indicate Orthodoxy should become the dominant American Judaism by mid-century, but it won't be because it has attracted so many ba'alei teshuva or retained so many of its born members – the data says Orthodoxy has done none of this. Orthodoxy will dominate only because few others want to participate in a Judaism so fouled by petty-minded rivalries and short-sighted antics, or in what they perceive to be the irrelevancy of all Jewish streams and organizations. Jews are leaving the virtual shtetl in droves and newcomers – BTs and converts – do not come close to making up the loss. Orthodoxy may end up the last man standing but it won't be because it knocked anyone out of the ring – it will be because most people, even many Orthodox Jews, do not care enough to compete.

The farther away from Orthodoxy one goes, the farther away from the shtetlkeit and taboos one is is. This means it is far easier for a non-Orthodox Jew to leave Judaism. Often they do this without even noticing and without their friends and family noticing, as well.

This does not mean Orthodoxy is full of happy, contented members – far from it. It means it is full of members who are unhappy, who are trapped within Orthodoxy by taboo and draconian barriers. (What do I mean by draconian barriers? Just ask a Footsteps kid what it's like to lose your entire family, all your friends, your job, your home and all your social support in one day, and have that happen when you cannot read or write coherently in the English language and do not have a high school degree.)

In pre-Destruction Palestine, there was a fight between the school of Hillel the Elder and the school of Shammai. While we say today that we follow Hillel, what we really follow is Hillel's school after it had already lost many important battles to Shammai. As the Jerusalem Talmud (Shabbat 1:4) makes clear, Shammai was dirty fighter who broke rules and used violence to get his way. Much of our anti-gentile legislation comes from him and was 'adopted' only because Shammai resorted to violence against the school of Hillel to get his way.

But the real divide in those days was between Jews like Philo – who commanded a far lager following than did the rabbis – and assimilationist elements in the Jewish elite. Which side retained more Jews? Philo, by far.

We would all probably be followers of Philo if not for two quirks of history. The first was the Destruction, which wiped out the sacrificial cult and at the same time forced several generations of rabbis to get along and play fair. This created a synthesis of the Shammai and Hillel schools. (And this may have happened because many more Shammai followers died in the revolt against Rome. Why? Because Shammai's virulent hatred of all things gentile led them to believe the revolt was a good thing.) So the cultic opposition to rabbinic Judaism was destroyed at the same time rabbinic Judaism was forced to unify.

The second quirk of history was the Diaspora revolt in 117 CE against Rome, fueled by increasing Roman persecution. The revolt failed and dozens of Jewish communities across the Mediterranean disappeared as a result. Lacking both the Jerusalem Temple as a focal point and a developed unified system to unite them, the communities that survived the revolt were weak and broken. Most faded away. Some remained, eventually adopting rabbinic Judaism during the standardization campaign waged by Babylonian rabbis after the completion of the Babylonian Talmud 400 or more years later.

Babylonian Jews did not participate in either revolt or in the revolt led by Bar Kohba in the 130s CE. They also lived under non-Roman and non-Greek rule, and did not face the challenges of science and philosophy faced by the Jews of Palestine and the Hellenist diaspora. Instead, Babylonian Judaism thrived on the folk superstitions and primitive theologies of the region. While the Greeks had deduced the existence of molecules and atoms, Babylonians 'divined' the future by casting and 'reading' chicken bones. Our Judaism is primarily a derivative of Babylonian Judaism.

Perhaps that is why Judaism as we know it thrives in closed societies but flounders in open ones, and why the most blatant pagan superstitions find a welcoming home in Jewish mysticism, hasidism and kabbala.

Where are Babylonian Jews today? Many became Muslim, often converting by choice, not by the sword, before the year 1100. Babylonian Judaism could not handle the intellectual and scientific challenges brought by Islam, just as it later would fail to handle the challenges of modernity, enlightenment and science in the west.

Given the chance, Jews opt for openness, knowledge and progress. The challenge for Jewish leaders is to constantly reinvent Judaism so that it can meet the challenges posed.

The ghetto never wins. It may temporarily keep Jews trapped inside Judaism, but eventually ghetto walls fall and Jews leave in droves, just like they left before, just like they are leaving today.

Comments

[Yochanan Lavie]

Instead of bemoaning the past (and the present), why not build a new Philonic Judaism that is tradtional but open? Conservative Judaism had a chance, but it became too PC and relativist, in my opinion. Modern Orthodoxy had a chance, but it kept looking over its right shoulder. We can take what is best from rabbinic and Karaite traditions, and start a new Rational Traditional Judaism. (Hat tip: Dave).

[lakewoodshmuck]

nu,
so go.

[Yos]

Great piece of writing. I wish someone would start a denomination called 'Observant'. Or better yet, a willingness among MO to learn how to make tefillin, etc.

[Dr Fred]

Lavie:We're not really talking about the classic Ghetto; this problem was self-imposed by those who thought Judaism was at its best during the latter part of 19th C. in Eastern Europe. A big mistake to re-create a past that never existed, but one that was attempted by every immigrant group, the attempt to impose, by coercion, the only rules it knew in the face of "unlimited" freedom.What makes the establishment of the "Yeshiva World" a really tragic mistake is that those who started it in the US should have known better but were (yes) just too small-minded and unlettered to understand the reality of the past, present and future.BTW, have you visited R' Marc Angel's site yet?
http://www.jewishideas.org/

[Yochanan Lavie]

Not yet, Dr. Fred, but I will. (I think western Sephardim were more open minded than Ashkenazi or Mizrachi Judaism).

[Garnel Ironheart]

I think this interpretation of history is far too simplistic. There's a long distance, temporaly and physically between Eastern European Jewry and Babylonian Jewry and to say that all the meshugas the chasidim invented came from there is a bit far-fetched. Even a cursory examination of the Talmud shows frequent mentions of Roman-based interactions and influence. How much Latin and Greek show up in the Gemara compared to genuine Babylonian (not Aramaic) words?
Yes, there's a lot amongst some ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups that is objectionable but has become accepted by virtue of intellectual intertia but the underlying system is still quite good and durable. Don't shoot the message because the messengers are getting it wrong.

[Dave]

Yochanan, thanks very much for your kudos.
I am working on a website for Rational Traditional Judaism. I have a bit of time now with the holidays coming up. I will let you all know once I have it up and running.
I am a descendant of the Babylonian Jews- all of my 4 grandparents. I would say that the problem we've had as Jews over time is we seem to be able to motivate people out of guilt or fear. I love the philosophy and the religious poetry of Judaism, but I have Jewish friends who are only culturally Jewish, and it's not going to last. I also had Ashkenazi acquaintances in university who were right-wing Orthodox and one of them behaved as if under coercion, as if he were living in a Communist state ie. he could not admit openly to misgivings about Orthodoxy at a time when an Iraqi Jewish friend of mine was going through a Baal Teshuvah stage (after having been a thorough womanizer).
Some years ago a Japanese guy wrote a book called "The Japan that can say no".
We have to be the new generation of Unapologetic Jews.
Another mini-trend that is happening is that there are some Protestant Christians who are becoming interested and converting to either "mainstream" Judaism or Karaite Judaism. There is a guy on Youtube called Uziyahu, who is one of these people. We really should encourage them.

[Ichabod Chrain]

Dave, you are the first person I've ever heard (other than ravs who have to toe the party line)say that he loves religious Hebrew poetry. Personally I can do without it.
As for the philosophy, I'm curious as to what you think there's in it that's so worthwhile. Personally, I've found too much of it simplistic, or just not right. Not everything of course, but enough.

I also wonder why you think that we should encourage those who want to convert to Judaism. They're going to be facing the consequences, not us. We need to make sure they understand what they're getting into.

[Ichabod Chrain]

Dave, you are the first person I've ever heard (other than ravs who have to toe the party line)say that he loves religious Hebrew poetry. Personally I can do without it.
As for the philosophy, I'm curious as to what you think there's in it that's so worthwhile. Personally, I've found too much of it simplistic, or just not right. Not everything of course, but enough.

I also wonder why you think that we should encourage those who want to convert to Judaism. They're going to be facing the consequences, not us. We need to make sure they understand what they're getting into.

[Ichabod Chrain]

Dave, you are the first person I've ever heard (other than ravs who have to toe the party line)say that he loves religious Hebrew poetry. Personally I can do without it.
As for the philosophy, I'm curious as to what you think there's in it that's so worthwhile. Personally, I've found too much of it simplistic, or just not right. Not everything of course, but enough.

I also wonder why you think that we should encourage those who want to convert to Judaism. They're going to be facing the consequences, not us. We need to make sure they understand what they're getting into.

[Hillel]

Rabbi Bernard Levinthal doomed orthodoxy in Philadelphia when he ordered all rabbis there under his control to deliver their Drashot only in Yiddish. The rabbis in America many years ago had their faults, to be sure (chief among which was lack of foresight). But I don't believe they were as steeped in sin and scandal as are today's bearded, Carlebach-quoting posseurs.

[Michael]

Dave, have you ever considered checking out UTJ? You might like it. They too only use the word 'Observant.'

[pure sphardic]

well said. The biggest proof I think is if you look at the difference between non religious sepharadim and ashkenazim. It's very hard to find anti-religious Sepharadim, especially from western countries. This is a result of the different approaches to fight problems like reforms etc. The Ashlenazim decided it's better to kill a whole city, except the 2 rabbis and proclaim look what a holy city! In other terms this is called survival of the fittest, or nazism.
This same approach is what is killing the future of orthodox youth. I grew up in a very orthodox school, and had 60% of my class kicked out for crimes like, not standing up for a teacher, talking in class, smoking or heaven forbid saw a illustrated video. They were transfered to more "appropiate schools", none stayed frum.
Just give them some time, they'll kill themselves, then we'll start everything from scratch.

[Isa]

In Minneapolis, After 1965, there were two Orthodox shuls in S Louis Park, On one Shabbat I decided to walk to the R. Levin shul (forgot its name)and see what that was all about, I was shocked, it was a sea of white hair with one or two young people there (I was in my late 20s then)Much later this became traditional Conservative that couldn't attract members and the building I believe was sold to a church.The other, K.I. Cong was a vibrant community. Yes that broke apart in the 1990's so now there are three groups.

[SJ]

The orthodox jews are their own worst enemies.

They are their own "hitlers" for themselves. The more they keep saying stupid shit like "oooh you aren't allowed to talk to girls" and "ooooh you can't watch television" ... the more people who become disinterested in what they have to say. God willing, the mass loss of interest will come sooner instead of later.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Ichabod writes:

Dave, you are the first person I've ever heard (other than ravs who have to toe the party line)say that he loves religious Hebrew poetry. Personally I can do without it. As for the philosophy, I'm curious as to what you think there's in it that's so worthwhile. Personally, I've found too much of it simplistic, or just not right. Not everything of course, but enough.

I can't speak for Dave, but here is my answer. I don't care much for the long and esoteric piyutim, but the poetry of Yehuda HaLevi and his colleagues in Spain is sublime, as are tehillim. I say this as someone who studies "secular" literature (which is often Christian literature).

As for the philosophy, I like Maimonides, Saadia, Philo, Y. Soloveitchik, Franz Rosenzweig, etc.- the more rational thinkers. But I don't hero-worship and I read them critically.

I also like the idea of ethical monotheism- that there is one God who is incorporeal and demands an ethical standard (which we can demand of Him in return- like Avraham & Moshe did). The two other alternatives don't appeal to me: polytheism- where the gods are arbitrary and act like modern-day celebrities. Or atheism, where we inhabit a meaningless, cold empty universe.

Christianity and Islam incorporate some of our monotheism, but they distort it. Jesus is a Hellenistic deified demigod, like Herakles. Islam's view of Allah is that he is a whimisical tyrant (at least in the dominant schools of thought) whom we must appease.

If this doesn't float your boat, that's fine. I respect your opinion.

[Archie Bunker]

This may be Shmarya's most dishonest & pathetic post yet, the way he weaves thread from selected facts together with his fantasy to destroy orthodox Judaism.

There are small communities across the United States that were not blessed with high caliber rabbis. There is one in particular that wound up with a bunch of rejects even worse than how he describes his home town. There were simply not enough quality rabbis to go around and some out of the way locales got stuck with the riff raff.

There are other reasons why Orthodoxy did not blossom in the early American frontier which Shmarya will try his hardest to mock since he doesn't like anyone to be confused with the truth.

1. Many of those who came from Europe in the early days had a lack of faith before they got on the boat. They looked forward to coming to America where there was less peer pressure.

2. Most communities focused on building grand synagogues instead of yeshivas.

3. It was impossible for most Sabbath observers to hold down a job after skipping Saturday. They displayed a sense of pain and burden to their children who became disillusioned.

Shmarya should rename his blog the Failed Revisionist History blog. It's remarkable how he casts the House of Shammai as the bad guys versus the Romans, completely ignoring the wholesale evil practiced by the Romans of mass murder and trying to suppress Jewish religion.

It's completely absurd how Shmarya dreams that Philo's cult would still be around if not for some unexpected event. No other group in history that has watered down the religion has withstood assimilation. Soon the Reform & Conservative will meet this end and be forever lost. And if Shmarya continues wallowing in his own misery instead of trying to get married he will disappear even quicker and there will be no one left to grumble about the alleged mistreatment of his ancestors.

No matter how hard Shmarya tries to skew the figures, the Orthodox will remain.

[Archie Bunker]

After all the horns that Shmarya toots for his family tree, I wonder what the other old time Minnesota Jews have to say about the Rosenberg clan.

Is there something symptomatic here? His forebears are supposedly mistreated by all kinds of early American rabbis and then the man himself suffers at the hands of not only Lubavitch, but also Aish Hatorah & what he describes as mainstream rabbis who are guilty of a host of grevious sins.

I could only laugh when he brings up Rabbi Feller in this post, who as the only Chabad rabbi Shamrya remembers shedding a tear for Falashas, should be beyond criticism.

[Shmarya]

So ignorant, AB!

There were many learned rabbis in Saint Paul and many frum people. Many.

There a sefarim written by these men with haskamot from Rabbi Sonnenfeld of Yerushalyim, Chaim Ozer, and others.

Outside of four or five of their children, No one stayed Orthodox. No one. Not rich, not poor.

All AB is doing is paraphrasing a teshuva of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, which itself was trying to spin why so many frum people had non-Orthodox children.

The reason for that we know, despite Rav Moshe's spin The Judaism as represented by haredism failed to retain members because it could not meet the challenges posed by modernity, science and openness.

That is why even in areas with many rabbis AB knows of and considers "worthy," the results were the same. Few remained Orthodox.

And AB is too dishonest to tell you that most of WARSAW's Jews were non-Orthodox by 1930, as were the Jews of Lita, as were the Jews of Minsk and Pinsk and Liviv, and Munkatch and on an on.

Even surrounded by "great" rabbis, they opted for a secular life.

Haredi Judaism failed. Period. End of story.

[Archie Bunker]

"Where are Babylonian Jews today?"

SHmarya pulls his usual convenient stunt of leaving most of the relevant facts out of his misinformation.

Many of the today's Ashkenazim (yes, that would include the Haredim he so despises) came to France & Germany directly from Babylonia. A very small number even went straight to what is now Lithuania about 1100 years ago.

The only pagan rites among Jews are those recent introductions practiced by many getting Shmarya's seal of approval. They would include accupuncture, Feng Shui and other Far Eastern imports.

"The ghetto never wins."

Namely the lonely bachelorhood that Shmarya imposes on himself by never ceasing to growl at the successes of orthodox Judaism.

UOJ wants to fix the recent corruption but Shmarya wants to throw the entire glorious history into the bonfire.

[Archie Bunker]

Shmarya may not even realize that by belittling Rabbi Moshe Feinstein he cannot claim to be connected whatsoever to Orthodox Judaism. It's about time he gave up his facade.

Rabbi Feinstein was the decisor for all shades of orthodox Jews.

The arrogance of the blog author is also astounding how he deems himself smarter than any Sage in history.

[Shmarya]

Many of the today's Ashkenazim (yes, that would include the Haredim he so despises) came to France & Germany directly from Babylonia.

That is false.

The only pagan rites among Jews are those recent introductions practiced by many getting Shmarya's seal of approval. They would include accupuncture, Feng Shui and other Far Eastern imports.

Also false. Kapparot? Praying to angels? Mazelot?

I'd also note that AB goes right to the gutter. Why? Because what I write is true and it can only be "answered" by playing dirty, by lying and by personal attacks.

[Shmarya]

I'm not "belittling" Rav Moshe. I disagree with his contention that parents' whining was responsible for children leaving Orthodoxy. The evidence on this is very clear, and it does not support Rav Moshe.

So why didn't Rav Moshe write the truth?

Because the truth is an INDICTMENT of haredi Judaism.

[SJ]

Archie Bunkhead- How many mesechtoat do you know smart ass?

The real reason why orthodoxy fucked up as I see it:

1) overly strict lifestyle

2) all or nothing approach with that overly strict lifestyle.

[Archie Bunker]

SHmarya is trying to defeat my argument by highlighting only part of it.

Any great rabbi in Minnesota had very poor options to locally educate his children. There are plenty of remnants from the day who stayed frum. They traveled far to attend the few yeshivos in existence at the time.

True there was a turning point in Europe that really started gathering steam with WWI. Many of them yearned to get to America. They were entranced by the various "Isms" like Communism, etc, the neo idoltaries.

More recently there has been a huge movement of teshuva or return. This all plays into the prophesy in the Talmud that before the coming of the Messiah whoever is destined to be redeemed will be religious even if he has to be rescued from the throes of secularism and whoever is not destined to be redeemed will cease to be a religious Jew if necessary.

[Shmarya]

Again, AB is disingenuous.

The Jews who STAYED BEHIND in Munkatch and Warsaw were overwhelmingly NOT Orthodox by 1930. This is before these areas were under Soviet Rule.

Rabbis in Minnesota had options to educate their children. Those children REJECTED that education.

And there is no "huge movement of teshuva." The numbers are quite small. See here:

http://www.beyondbt.com/?p=872

This was clearly linked in my post. Too bad AB didn't bother to read the data before he commented.

[Archie Bunker]

There Shmarya goes again with his pre-emptive strikes that his critics are liars. With all the stuff he puts up that readers have to take his word on, the guy is running on EMPTY.

"Haredi Judaism failed. Period. End of story."

Just count the years as the obituary that Shmarya wrote for himself.

Many of the today's Ashkenazim (yes, that would include the Haredim he so despises) came to France & Germany directly from Babylonia.

What proof does he have that it's "false"?

And what proof do we have that Shmarya wrote the truth about his grandfather? It's true because he said it? Hogwash!

Kapparot? There is no imperative to do it with a chicken. Next Shmarya will attack Azazel that is written in the Torah.

Praying to angels? No one is allowed to pray to an angel. Maimonides writes that was the mistake that the early idolators made before worshipping graven images themselves.

Does Shmarya make this stuff up as he goes along?

Mazelot? What about them? That's too vague an outburst to respond to.

[Shmarya]

My, my. Let's try this again, shall we?

1. Most Ashkenazim are not from Babylonia. How do we know? DNA. History.

2. Note that AB has not answered a very key point – most Jews in Eastern European cities were NOT Orthodox by 1930. This includes cities like Munkatch and Warsaw, cities NOT under Soviet rule.

3. Kapparot is called a pagan custom by some early Achronim. Somehow AB, in his rush to defend haredism, forgets this.

4. Praying to angels? Yes, AB. from lecha dodi to various other prayers inserted in the liturgy by Kabbalists.

5. Mazelot? Too vague for you? Please. Mazelot is astrology and the Talmud Bavli (unlike the Yerushalmi and other non-Babylonian sources) is full of it, and you very well know it.

You go dirty and personal every time you are challenged. Like the haredism you shill for, you have no answers. All you have left is thuggery and lies.

[Archie Bunker]

"This is before these areas were under Soviet Rule."

Nice try at playing dumb. Communism and other isms spread far beyond their home base. Any idiot who saw the Orwell cartoon knows about the snowball effect that was preceeded by grassroots support.

"Those children REJECTED that education."

A ha! So some 12 or 13 year old kid who didn't want to travel by train 100 years ago from Minnesota to stay at a Manhattan or Rhode Island yeshiva for a year or two straight "proves" that Orthodoxy will disappear going forward from 2007? The Torah itself mandates insulating ourselves from the outside world so that those young kids wouldn't feel that way. Unfortunately, some are swayed after being exposed to the outside world in a spiritual desert such as 1900 Minnesota. The rabbis don't make this up. The patriarch Jacob had a yeshiva set up in Egypt before his 70 offspring went down.

I saw Shmarya's like-minded contrarian friend posting on Beyond BT. It is Shmarya who ignores the reader comments there on how the "reasoning" is not at all accurate.

[Shmarya]

1. Poland and Hungary were anti-communist, and most Jews who were not Orthodox were not communists, either. They weren't socialists, either. They were just glad to be able to get a real education and get out from the ghetto walls and from under rabbis thumbs.

2. Kids who lived in Warsaw and Munkatch and who went to those "great" yeshivot left Orthodoxy in huge numbers.

3. Kids in Minnesota, even kids with good Orthodox educations, left Orthodoxy almost 100%. The same was true everywhere, including NYC.

4. I never claimed Orthodoxy would "disappear." In fact, I quite clearly wrote the opposite:Demographic trends indicate Orthodoxy should become the dominant American Judaism by mid-century, but it won't be because it has attracted so many ba'alei teshuva or retained so many of its born members – the data says Orthodoxy has done none of this. Orthodoxy will dominate only because few others want to participate in a Judaism so fouled by petty-minded rivalries and short-sighted antics, or in what they perceive to be the irrelevancy of all Jewish streams and organizations. Jews are leaving the virtual shtetl in droves and newcomers – BTs and converts – do not come close to making up the loss. Orthodoxy may end up the last man standing but it won't be because it knocked anyone out of the ring – it will be because most people, even many Orthodox Jews, do not care enough to compete.So much for AB's reading comprehension.

[Archie Bunker]

Can Shmarya point to any data on Ashkenazi DNA testing that proves they came from elsewhere?

Can Shmarya point to historical data that disproves what I say? I had always heard Ashkenazim come from Bavel & had no reason to doubt it. A few years ago I saw sources quoted by the academic historian Yaffa Eliach in her book on the origins of Litvaks.

There are many contemporary poskim who don't believe in kapparot with birds. I follow those opinions.

Lecha dodi? Are you mad? There is nothing wrong with greeting the Sabbath.

Yes, Mr. self-styled know-it-all, there is such a thing as astrology yet the Talmud clearly says the Jews are not governed by it. Ain mazal leYisrael.

Look in the mirror. Whenever challenged you call us liars.

[Shmarya]

Yes, there is DNA testing. There is also history. I should actually have an interesting post on this topic later this week.

Kapparot ORIGINATED with use of sheep and birds. Money is a later addition. Arguing that you use money doesn't change that fact.

The gemara often cites astrology as an explanation for events. It does NOT dismiss it, as you imply. It only asserts that God is Jews ultimate mazel, so to speak.

Try reading lecha dodi again and perhaps look up some of the original arguments AGAINST saying it.

[Shmarya]

Read the summary on page 249 here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=csuJxWW4b3YC&pg=PA249&lpg=PA249&dq=praying+to+angels+in+judaism&source=web&ots=iieg_QtF6w&sig=Q21XjwhQ6jj38CNx5OAz9uk_o30#PPA249,M1

[Archie Bunker]

Say all you want about Poland & Hungary.

Communist thought infiltrated the student body of the Polish yeshivos to the point where a bochur in Slabodka forced everyone in the study hall to listen to a lecture on Leninist-Marxist "utopia".

There was a romance with Fascism in many countries until Hitler started consolidating power.

Hungary was the cradle of the Neologue.

I could go on. The Jewish soul is always thirsting for knowledge and can be led astray. Look at the disproportionate numbers of Jews in cults and Eastern religions.

If there is DNA testing then point to the study.

Azazel also originated with animals. Why not just admit it that you are against what G-d mandated in the Torah?

Yes, thanks for admitting that G-d is the ultimate mazal. You sound like you get so wound up against orthodoxy that you don't even know know what you are arguing about. G-d created astrological forces that govern the rest of the world. Even many scientists believe in meta=physical concepts.

His WIFE!!! (not mother)

[Shmarya]

Let's see. We have early Achronim arguing against kapparot, calling them a "pagan custom." AB is not honest enough to admit this.

Your getting a whole post on the origin of Ashkenazi Jewry later in the week. In the meantime, try using Google.

Again, Jews left Orthodoxy in droves, no matter how many "good" yeshivot or "great" rabbis they had. Jews left because Judaism did not have answers to modernity, just as Judaism today has no answers.

[Archie Bunker]

There are indeed no answers for who have no belief.

Now take a number and get in line behind Shmarya.

P.S. I'm not holding my breath for Shmarya's upcoming post because he also never provides footnotes and even when he does he ignores data to the contrary.

[Shmarya]

I'm not holding my breath for Shmarya's upcoming post because he also never provides footnotes and even when he does he ignores data to the contrary.

Gotta love the self-contradictory post, AB.

For the record, what I most often do is LINK TO and QUOTE DIRECTLY FROM source material.

In other words, fewer footnotes because the link and the quote appears DIRECTLY IN THE BODY OF THE POST.

[Archie Bunker]

That was one of two typos in that comment. I meant to say almost never provides footnotes - not also.

[Archie Bunker]

Shmarya doesn't believe in the future of Orthodoxy (or the past for that matter).

Here's a report on the "enlightened" Conservative:

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071215/NRSTAFF/71214028

Rabbi is indicted on sex charges By Jennifer Fernandez
Staff Writer
Saturday, Dec. 15, 2007 3:00 am

GREENSBORO — A rabbi accused of having sex with a student at American Hebrew Academy was indicted this week.

David Alan Stein, 35, faces eight counts of having sex with a student, records show. He was the school's director of campus life.
Police have said the incidents, which involved a 16-year-old male student, took place on campus sometime during the 2006-07 school year.

The co-ed boarding school serves 135 high school students and employs 80 people, school officials have said. Students come from all over the world to attend the academy, which combines college preparatory and Jewish studies.

The school is on a 100-acre campus off Hobbs Road in northwest Guilford County.

[Isa]

Lets see... bits of wisdom(?) that I have heard in the past.

A community without a day school is doomed.

In the old days the rabbis wanted to keep the people dumb so the people had to keep asking the rabbi the answer to their questions.MY QUESTION: Did this affect the establishment of day schools?

What was the quality of education in the shetl?

Today the student at a day school is better educated and can figure things out for themselves.

Comments please....

[Isa]

Lets see... bits of wisdom(?) that I have heard in the past.

A community without a day school is doomed.

In the old days the rabbis wanted to keep the people dumb so the people had to keep asking the rabbi the answer to their questions.MY QUESTION: Did this affect the establishment of day schools?

What was the quality of education in the shetl?

Today the student at a day school is better educated and can figure things out for themselves.

Comments please....

[David Bar-Magen]

OK, Shmarya, I see you have taken issue with AB's personal attacks. I might add that I find such sensitivity rather strange coming from a fellow who regularly refers to his readers as "fools," "idiots," "trolls," or--when all else fails--"haredi apologists." (All, of course, merely synonyms for "anyone who disagrees with Shmarya.") Still, in the interest of your newfound niceties, I will steer clear of personal attacks. In fact, I'll completely dismiss three quarters of your post due to its personal and anecdotal nature and focus on some of your assertions near the end.

Assertion 1. WW2-era rabbis didn't go over well with the American crowd in St. Paul.

Um, yeah, so? Find me an era when Jews all got along with one another and I'll find proof you're overindulging in illicit substances. I'm really not quite sure how that plays into contemporary US Orthodoxy and the future thereof.

Assertion 2: Orthodoxy regresses rather than progresses and thus Orthodoxy will lose more members than it gains.

Well, yes and no. If you mean to say that closed, shtetl-like neighborhoods will by necessity have to become more open, I definitely think that's a possibility.

If you mean to suggest that Orthodoxy will collapse due to its inability to face modernity, well, I challenge you to find me an Orthodox enclave in Williamsburg that does not use electrical appliances because they don't believe in them or do not use computers (often with restricted internet access) for their businesses. Ultra-orthodoxy rejects mainstream entertainment media, but they have i-pods, cell phones, and scores of religious-themed radio stations and websites.

If it's mostly SCIENCE you point at, must I really tell you that even ostensibly absurd or outright false scientific beliefs have never stopped anybody from "making it?" One of the top-grossing actors of our time currently believes in a religion written and directed by L. Ron Hubbard, and yet he's gone on to earn millions anyway. People will continue to believe what they please, with little or no effect upon their societal contributions. I really shouldn't have to tell you this.

Assertion 3: Most anti-gentile legislation is a result of Shammai's hatred of all things gentile.

First and foremost, your gratuitous use of presentism in essentially accusing Shammai of not being "open" enough is pathetic, to say the least. One of the most overriding no-no's in Jewish history has been nullifying our beliefs and identities to those of the surrounding cultures; the Jews' ability to retain an identity as such is the hallmark of our history. That Shammai was more virulent about it than Hillel is an approach-based differentiation which you attempt to portray under the contemporary nomenclature of intolerance.

Secondly, you very neatly pass over the groundbreaking work of the Meiri in essentially reconstituting the Jewish approach to non-Jewish culture; you're too busy trying to attribute all anti-gentile thought directly to Shammai. Most progressive thought since the Meiri has been built on his bedrock, and it is largely due to him that there can even BE such a notion of working side-by-side with and respecting the beliefs of non-Jews and still being considered religious. Other pervasive mentalities to the contrary are due to years of Eastern-European persecution, not Shammai, and are conceptually headed for slow change. If you're hoping for a complete voiding of the Jewish identity, though, you'll be waiting a very long time.

Assertion 4: "Our Judaism is primarily a derivative of Babylonian Judaism."

Yes, but remember what I said about the lack of anti-electricity crusaders?

Orthodox Judaism will meet modernity on its own terms; we are not beholden to every new "ism" and discovery proposed by man by virtue of its man-made nature.

Your mistake is in assuming that contemporary intellectualism is God and Shmarya is His prophet, and then proceeding to judge all of Jewish history in that light.

If you think Orthodoxy will ever throw down its guard and become Failed Messiah readers en masse, you really have to reconsider some basic assumptions about your importance.

If you think Orthodoxy will have to slowly adapt to changing times, you're probably right on the money, though of course we've been doing that since before you ever put fingers to keyboard and really don't need to be told as much.

All in all, a very loosely strung-together and entirely unconvincing post.

[Shmarya]

1. The issue is not use of computers or iPods and you should know this. The issue is the rejection of physics, astronomy, paleontology, archeology, biology and other science.

2. Similarly, it is not the beliefs of individual haredim that pose the problem. Any haredi willing and able can act in movies or lead a punk band. The point, which most readers clearly grasp, is that haredi theology pushes Jews into ghettos and stops them from participating in larger society, whether as artists or as scientists.

3. Try learning Talmud Yershalmi Shabbat 1:4. You'll note it describes Shammai's followers murdering Hillel's followers and then forcing the passage of anti-gentile laws.

You'll also note the Meiri is a minority opinion.

[yidandahalf]

" trying to get married... lonely bachelorhood"
Archie Bunker, why is this a consistent theme in your posts? I don't understand what this has to do with the matters Shmarya brings to FM. Please explain yourself if you will.

[Whole Lotta Kugel]

archie, what law practice are you with so i can steer clear if i ever need a lawyer - you lose every fucking arguement. anybody that spends his time as you do in convoluted reasoning, well, how do you have so much time for the waves of clients that you claim call you? yentas on the phone taking up so much time? i don't think so dude. only desperate jackals allow that. come out of the closet so we can see what a loser lawyer you really are.

[SJ]

Archie Bunkhead is probably a lawyer for traffic tickets.

[Paul Freedman]

Shmarya: the Greeks really didn't deduce "molecules" or "atoms" in an empirical sense until Democritus, and even his theory of "atomos" indivisible matter, was, although a proto-materialist theory of matter based on empirical observation, a logical conclusion that if you kept cutting matter (like a stone) into smaller and smaller bits you would eventually reach an indivisible unit--however, modern science while retaining the notion of a "point particle" has added other fundamental concepts of fields, energy, probabilistic measurement, etc.

[Shmarya]

Historians of science are a bit more generous to the Greeks than you are. And, at any rate, what the Greeks did is a whole lot better than "divining" using chicken bones.

[R]

I don't think it's mostly science within orthodoxy that is the problem as alot of orthodox do learn sciences and don't disbelieve science in favour of what it says in Talmud. Yes you will get the eccentric ones who find it blasphemy to believe that dinosaurs existed, but it isn't most orthodox.
I think the main problem with the Rabbis of today is that they are out of touch with the youth and it is the youth that will keep the religion going. For instance all their banning of everything possible including anything technological and even Jewish concerts. They also don't allow ice skating (because there might be people of the opposite sex in the same rink) and they ban any public park (due to boys and girls being on the same stretch of land). It gets a bit ridiculous when all they can think of next is what to ban.
They ought to embrace change and instead of being scared of modernisation fit it into their little narrow minded lives.
Maybe when they start to sound rational, the people might be willing to listen.

[Paul Freedman]

Shmarya: I don't think many secular Jews would say that the rabbinic "prescientific" codifiers were free of superstitious creduity--but the fundamentalist choice to embrace anti-science as a dogma can't be laid at their feet, can it?

[avi]

"And, at any rate, what the Greeks did is a whole lot better than "divining" using chicken bones."

Yeah, putting an idol of Jupiter in the Bais HaMikdash is real enlightened!

Not to mention their crazy mythology, religious intolerance, murder, rape, immorality etc.

Didn't you learn anything about Chanukah?

Regards,

Avi

[Lev]

Archie Bunker, most of what has been known as Eastern Europe was independent, Jews, though 2nd class citizens, were free to practice their religion, and many, well, were not frum.
Soviet Communism came there after the War and Holocaust.

[Paul Freedman]

Avi-the Greek "philosophical" tradition was a process of separation from the gods as a competing way to understand man and the world--Socrates was condemned to death as being subversive to the established theocratic order etc. This would be the Greek tradition Shmarya is referring to, not the ritual world of pagan beliefs, mystery cults, etc.

[Archie Bunker]

Very lockstep of Shmarya's likeminded, dishonest cronies to attempt to paint me as losing every argument.

I am not an attorney by the way. My critics would envy my work and turn green from jealousy at my compensation.

The references to bachlorhood serve as constructive criticism. If Shmarya would not wallow in his self-imposed misery of trying to sway the masses against the Mesorah of Judaism he would probably have more luck finding a partner. This in turn could transform him from a bitter, ogrish individual into a happy camper.

[avi]

Paul,

Thankfully, I can't read Shmarya's mind to discern to what he referring.

However, AB is defending Torah Judaism, Shamrya is bashing it.

BTW, The "Greek "philosophical" tradition" of Socrates, Plato etc. was 200 years BEFORE Chanukah.

Regards,

Avi

[Archie Bunker]

Excellent point by Avi.

The Greeks were also known for hedonism, free sex in gay baths and naked wrestling.

Are we getting full disclosure here? Has Shmarya a membership in a Greek societal organization or is he simply fascinated in ancient Macedonian linguistics?

[Archie Bunker]

Lev,

There was a huge interest in Communist philosophy before WWII. Even far beyond the old continent, the original American labor unions were also Communist.

[shmorgel de borgel]

"My father's grandfather had his own shteibel for a few years on the far edge of that area of Saint Paul. "

Don't you mean "S. Paul"? Like "S. Francisco", "S. Diego", "S. Louis", etc...

[Whole Lotta Kugel]

been called alot of things in my life but 'dishonest crony' is a new one. gotta love you archie, you are a real card. keep it up. i also like the 'swaying the masses' bit. well, you may not be a lawyer but you sure ain't no paid writer either. but you're pretty funny in a naive way. so again, keep it up!

[A reader]

Shmarya either doesn't know enough Roman history or chooses to ignore the aspect known as the Wars against the Jews. Search deeper into the Roman historians and even they can't hide it entirely.

Interesting to me that Shmarya invokes the mighty "DNA" as a high-tech scientific calling card to back up his statements on Ashkenzic Jewry's origins, without showing any evidence or suggesting any, but simply reciting the word DNA as a maxim that must convince everyone he has scientific knowledge. In the same post, Shmarya claims that most Babylonian Jews became Muslim. So the sephardic Jews who didn't become Muslim remained in the Islamic lands practicing Judaism, but the Ashkenazic Jews (remember, also Bablyonian Jews according to Shmarya) mostly became Muslim or left town remaining Jews in other lands. And all non-babylonian Jews died out presumably without converting to Islam of course (and keep in mind, this is supposed to somehow represent the "strength" of "non-babylonian judaism")? What a theory. Let's go observe crop circles together.

And according to Shmarya, "Babylon Judaism" was too weak to withstand Islam, too weak to withstand science and reason, assimilation in America, etc, yet this Babylon Judaism (more accurately termed "Torah observant Judaism") is still prominent as Torah observant Judaism and hasn't been replaced by Karaitism or the likes. Does that make any logical sense?

[Shmarya]

Avi –

The edicts of Hanukka were aberrations. This is not even in question. And, of course, they were Syrians.

As for A Reader's remarks, let me help you – it's called history. Ashkenazim went from a small number of Jews to over 12 million in less than one thousand years.

Jews of Babylonia (modern day Iraq and, to be charitable, Syria and Iran, as well) went from a very large number, several hundred thousand, to a smaller number in those same 1000 years.

Europe had pogroms, the Black Death, and virulent antisemitism. Babylonia did not.

You can also look at the population of Jewish Babylonia in 100 CE and see that the Jewish population was smaller 1000 years later.

Even with migration the only explanation is a large outflow of Jews to other religions.

As for the DNA evidence, more on that later this week in a separate post.

[Neo-Conservaguy]

AB wrote:

"Lecha dodi? Are you mad? There is nothing wrong with greeting the Sabbath."

Of course not, but the imagery promoted by the boys in Tsfath was so against normative understanding that it caused a significant power struggle among the Yemenite Jewish communities. Those that wanted to incorporate the new ideas of the mystics won the struggle, and it's hard to find a Yemenite siddur that remained unaffected, which seems like a shame.

[Dave]

Neo, you're right on. The problem is that there is mysticism (which I call idolatry) even in Nevi'im. That doesn't make it o.k.
What we need is to develop what I call Rational Traditional Judaism- the good parts of Orthodox Judaism combined with the good parts of Karaite Judaism. I believe one can be moderate yet uncompromising on some basic Jewish values.

[R]

Shmarya, do you know why the Jews in the babylonian area went off? They say it's because they had it good and the locals were nice.
So they married out. They didn't see the difference between themselves and the non Jews and it might have something to do with being ingrained that Jews are better/nicer/more intelligent etc
Maybe one should just be happy to be Jewish as it is and not because you are nicer/more intelligent/more modest etc
The Jewish schools should stop teaching the kids a load of rubbish as to why being Jewish is so special as it only backfires.

[Arthur Golden]

With grandparents who came from Czarist Russia nearly 100 years ago, where my grandfathers apparently worked on Shabbos as tailors in the Russian army and continued to do so in New York City and Baltimore, I had very little contact with Orthodox Judaism until age 21, nearly forty years ago. I lived in Boston from 1968 to 1996 and in Israel since then.

Orthodox Judaism and especially ultraorthodox Judaism seem to me to be growing greatly during the past forthy years. Overall, such Jews seem to me to be very friendly and look forward to all Jews becoming religious. I look forward, as we say when we bless the New Moon "may He redeem us soon and gather in our dispersed from the four corners of the earth, all Israel becoming comrades."

Arthur Golden of Jerusalem Israel

[yidandahalf]

Dave: " the problem is that there is mysticism "
Dave, can you tell me why you regard mysticism as idolatry? I think I know why but would like your answer. It's an interesting point of view and I'd like to hear more.

[Charlie Hall]

Archie,

Neither of the two oldest major American labor union movements, the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, was socialist by any reasonable definition. The AF of L was downright conservative. The socialist/communist influence came much later.

[Lev]

Archie, you ARE right.
I think that David Levinsky(not LeWinsky--LOL!) was some sort of a commie.
CP USA was started by Jews("Brooklynites").
Trotsky and his parents WERE NEVER FRUM(legend of him and Chofetz Chaim is invented by the likes of "Yeshiva" Chofetz Chaim)but he was very popular, great speaker in several languages, and even people who remained frum remember that.

[Yochanan Lavie]

"Mirrer, Mirrer, on the wall..."

In my opinion, cultures don't thrive when they look inward and isolate themselves.

China was the leading civilization until they dismantled their ships to preserve their Chinese-ness. (Ditto Japan and Korea).

Islam was poised to be the sucessor to both Byzantine Greco-Roman and Persian civilizations. Then it adopted a fanatical theology that denegrated reason and secular learning (which was not the case beforehand). The Islamic world has been a wreck ever since.

I know what some are thinking- we are the God-given exception. So did the others think that. But we stagnated in the ghettoes, in my opinion.

Judaism may have adopted a less anthropomorphic and more incorporeal view of God thanks to contact with Greek philosophy. Socrates (who was convicted of blasphemy), Plato, and Aristotle often refer to God in the singular, and speak of a Creator, or Prime Mover, or Uncaused cause. Socrates and Aristotle were similar to the later Deists, I think, but Plato saw God as the ultimate source of reality (the "forms," or ideas, are what is truly true and exist in heaven- on earth we have but shadows of the true reality). Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologans studied Plato and Aristotle closely for this reason- in the enlightened Late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Then, the fundies kicked in and religion began to slide into irrelevence.

I know the above is an over simplification, & it is controversial as to whether or not anthropomorphism in Tanach was taken literally or metaphorically before contact with the Greeks. But maybe, just maybe, the Greek philosophers enlightened us. (BTW, the philosophers knew the gods were amoral and an embarassment, which is why they used reason rather than myth to explain ethics and morality, and why, at least according to some interpretation, they were closet monotheists).

[Dave]

Yidandhalf,
Any prayers/ passages that talk about "the heavenly chariot", or angels, or anything which is quasi-divine or semi-divine or "emanations of" G-d are what I consider mystical, which I consider to be a euphimism for idolatry.
If that makes me a minority of one, fine, I still think that all that is idolatry.

[Dave]

Yochanan,
Excellent post. I quite agree with you.
We have hidden the best of Jewish religious thought under a barrel, and only portrayed ourselves as "those quaint Hassidim" or "those quaint Middle Eastern people with funny hats". This has been to our loss.
We have become irrelevant. We could potentially become a world religion, but we are a tribalistic group that wallows in self-absorption.