Kudos To The New UK Chief Rabbi For Standing Up To Haredim, Rabbi Says

For many years, the (haredi) London Beth Din and its head Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu was of the opinion that Orthodox rabbis were forbidden to attend the Limmud conference because it gave equal prominence to non-Orthodox rabbis. Not wanting to antagonize the London Beth Din or Ehrentreu, (Modern Orthodox) Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks complied with that ruling and did not attend. But the new chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, attended Limmud only weeks after becoming chief rabbi. Ehrentreu and his haredi colleagues responded angrily, writing a public letter attacking Mirvis.

Kudos to UK Chief Rabbi Mirvis
Rabbi Levi Brackman

Britain has a new Chief Rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, and as any one who knows Anglo Jewry could have predicted, in less than six weeks of his installation, he is embroiled in controversy. For the uninitiated some background might be necessary. In Britain there is an annual conference where laypeople can go and study Torah known as Limmud. This conference is multi-denominational and teachers from all movements within Judaism from Reform to Orthodox attend.

For many years, London Beth Din and its then former head Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu was of the opinion that Orthodox rabbis were forbidden to attend that conference because it gave equal legitimacy to non-Orthodox clergy. Not wanting to antagonize the London Beth Din, the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks complied with that ruling and did not attend Limmud. To his credit, the new Chief Rabbi Mirvis has broken from that precedence and has just recently attended the Limmud conference. The response was shock by Ehrentreu and his orthodox colleagues, who wrote a letter accusing Mirvis of action that will “bring about tragic consequences for Anglo Jewry.”

What surprises me here is not the response by Ehrentreu but rather that anyone would take what he says seriously. Ehrentreu is still fighting a battle that we lost fifty years ago. According to the recent Pew Research study of American Jews, identity with Judaism as a religion is declining in America. Having lived and served as a Jewish leader in the UK, its clear to me that this trend is mirrored in that country as well.

Having the Orthodox rabbi attend together with Reform and Conservative clergy members at a Limmud-type conference is no longer a threat to Judaism. Judaism as a whole, including Reform and Conservative movements, is threatened by something completely different and much more challenging--its inability to make itself seem relevant to a younger generation.The average young Jew is just as un-attracted to Reform Judaism as to Orthodox Judaism.

Our aim must be to get Jews to associate to any form of Judaism. Until we can get Jews to want to identify as Jews, battles such as the one Dayan Ehrentreu and his misguided colleagues are fighting only serve to further alienate young people who already view Judaism, Jewish identity, and organized religion as a whole as unimportant to their lives.

There is no doubt that Judaism in the West together with all forms of organized religion, is facing a huge crisis. Old structures which kept people affiliated have broken down. Outside of a number of Jewish enclaves we no longer really have Shtetl. And even in those enclaves, more and more people are being exposed to powerful outside elements and are finding a sense of community in other venues such as in online forums, facebook groups, and the like.

Today affiliations are fluid. People no longer need to affiliate based on demographics. They no longer affiliate based on familial ties, or even their upbringing. Time and place are no longer vital to a sense of identity. Young people decide where to affiliate based on their own needs and desires. Having Orthodox rabbis and non-Orthodox rabbis at the same venue doesn’t take away the legitimacy of the Orthodox rabbi in the eyes of young people today. All it does is allow those who attend a conference such as Limmud the ability to be exposed to the multiplicity that is modern day Judaism. If they then decide to affiliate to any particular denomination then we will all be collectively better off.

Our challenge as Jews today is to be able to transition from the outdated, caged-in mindset represented by Ehrentreu, to one which recognizes that our biggest challenge is not other elements of Judaism but rather our own representation of it. In fact, ironically, in today's age it is exactly the type of behaviour Dayan Ehrentreu and his colleagues are displaying that alienates young Jews from Judaism a religion and therefore brings “tragic consequences.”

Our real challenge is how to show young people that Judaism is not just an organization constantly seeking their money and financial contributions. We need to showcase that Judaism is not only relevant, but can add huge value to their lives. We then need to offer young Jews multiple ways in which they can affiliate on their terms and build a sense of Jewish identity. Rabbi Mirvis made a first step in this direction by agreeing to go to Limmud. Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend.

Rabbi Levi Brackman is co-founder and executive director of Youth Directions , a non-profit organization that helps youth find and succeed at their unique positive purpose in life

Comments

[Barry]

Dayan Ehrentreu gave the world an opportunity to ridicule orthodox Judaism last April when a airline passenger acting on his advice, was photographed sitting inside a plastic laundry bag

[Jeff]

"Dayan Ehrentreu gave the world an opportunity to ridicule orthodox Judaism last April when a airline passenger acting on his advice, was photographed sitting inside a plastic laundry bag"

Was he the guy who authorized that? And people take him seriously, then can't understand why Judaism has become irrelevant to so many - and the frum just keep touting their irresponsible birthrate as though it were the solution to all problems.

"Not wanting to antagonize the London Beth Din, the former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks complied with that ruling and did not attend Limmud."

The former Chief Rabbi spent his career pandering shamelessly to the Haredim while making the most abysmally ignorant remarks about atheism and secular humanism, then took a mild swipe at the Haredim on his way out the door. I had very little use for that man.

Doesn't Levi Brackman have a background in or ties to Chabad? I don't know what the Rebbe's official "vort" was, but I don't know of any Chabad rabbis who would sanction working with frei rabbis - so, kudos, I guess, although when he makes a remark like this:

"Having the Orthodox rabbi attend together with Reform and Conservative clergy members at a Limmud-type conference is no longer a threat to Judaism."

he displays ignorance of a time before the black hats gained ascendancy, when Modern Orthodox rabbis and frei rabbis sat on committees together and taught in one another's institutions.

As I keep saying, the schism has occurred, and it's too late to mend it (nor do I want to, particularly). Let's just go our separate ways and be done with it.

[Yochanan Lavie]

He's Mirvilous.

[Lo K'darkah]

It seems they are OK with the Chief Rabbi having ecumenical high tea with the Pope, the Dalai Lama, and an assortment of religious gentilia, but not to teach Torah with Reform or Conservative Rabbis. Why is this? Do they have a different Torah? No. It is because they fear that a person will look at a progressive Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi behaving civilly and will say to themselves: "If an Orthodox Rabbi is civil and polite to a Reform Rabbi, it means that he respects the latter's right to teach - and by extension, he respects his teaching, to the point where he accords it the status of an 'alternative.' Once the status of both philosophies are accorded equal validity, then, what's the point in being frum?"
But the truth is: at the top of the charedi food chain, they couldn't really care less about all that. Let the so-called Modern Orthodox (who are basically frei anyway) intermingle and assimilate and become araiingeshtupt in Reform. Then the true yidden will be evident.
So why the shrei? This is about power and fear, as always.

[Steven Wolf]

The whole idea that a Rabbi with the title "Chief" could be absent at an event where two thousand Jews, (mostly young) attend a week of Jewish learning, over the December public holiday period, (when they other wise could be watching television and eating mince pies,) degrades the person him self, and the office he holds.

[Bas Melech]

I applaud the Chief Rabbi. His position means that he represents ALL Jews in Great Britain, not just a segment.

[Sj660]

I know a lot of you probably aren't fans of Moses Mendelssohn, but he did subtly and correctly point out the problem of giving religious leaders the power to excommunicate in a way that would be recognized by the state—and I'm not referring to the Chief Rabbi here.

Folks like Ehrentreu are entitled to their small constituencies, but when they are given authority over so many people, they naturally seek to hold on to and wield that authority. Enough.

[shmuel]

I can't begin to understand why CR Jonathan Sacks pandered to the chareidim. They don't recognise him as a "godol" or even someone to worry about and see him as the representative of political judaism to the goyim.

His English was impeachable so they couldn't even understand what he was saying, and I don't think JS knew much Yiddish.

I doubt any non-chareidi refrained ever from attending Limmud because of JS or any other orthodox rabbi, adraba, it probably increased attendance accordingly.

[Yochanan Lavie]

Apologies to the Commodores: (Nightshift):

Mirvis, he was a friend of mine
And he could learn a blatt
His heart in every jot
Mirvis, ate gefilte fish and chrayn
He opened up our minds
And I still can hear him say

Oy, talk to me
So you can see what's going on
Say you will attned the throng [Limmud]
Forevermore, evermore

Chorus:
Gonna be some frum frowns coming down on the frum rift
I bet they're schreing loud, dressed up like Polish clowns
Gonna be a long fight, it's gonna be all "right" on the frum rift
You found the Limmud home, and now you're all alone on the frum rift
You found the Limmud home,and now you're all alone alone on the frum rift

Sackie, oy what you doing now
It seems like yesterday
You had Chief Rabbi's crown
Sackie, you kissed the Rebbe's mitre
You came and wrote some books
Your your sales on Amazon, went higher and higher

Kissing up
To those on your right side
Say you will sing their praise
Forevermore, evermore

Chorus repeatedly to fade

[JekylJ]

Me thinks that according to the all-denominations argument we should include Jews for Jesus. Yeah, let the youg generation 'identify' with religion. Heck, Christ was probably such a nice fellow... Why are we distancing ourselves from his (all lower case) version of religion? He WAS Jewish...
I see no difference between UK's clown rabbi's argument and mine.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Actually, a better argument would be that all Orthodox groups should be excluded because the majority of Jews worldwide are not Orthodox and have not been Orthodox for well over a century, and because any opinion poll taken of Jews 150 or 200 years ago would have shown that the majority wanted nothing more to do with haredi rabbis.

As for your point, you could make the same point about INCLUDING the Karaites. Why should we exclude them? After all, they are Jewish.

Of course, we exclude them because there was a split between Rabbinic Judaism and Karaite Judaism more than 1000 years ago centered in part around the acceptance or rejection of the Talmud.

In the same way, there was a split between Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity almost 2,000 years ago.

That you aren't particularly smart or educated is very clear.

[Account Deleted]

Let's make a split between Judaism and Chabad once and for all!I cannot stand those idol-worshipping.christian-like,pagan,racist sorcerers with their voodoo rites!

[Moe]

Brackman is a no-name nobody.

[JekylJ]

I won't respond to your insult. However, all I am saying is that a split is good for everyone's sake.
The Karaites, Sadducees (may have had an influence on the Karaites) Samarians, Christians and other offshoots did better for themsrlves and for 'Rabbinic' Judaism by means of segregation.
Reform, Conservative and other 'moderate' groups should practice thrir version of Judaism freely. Agreed. Don't however persuade us to fine tune Haredism to fit YOUR needs etc.
THAT is the message a bright person like you should have gotten from my comment had you made an effort to read between the lines.

[Shmarya Rosenberg]

Following the little logic your comments have, it is Ehrentrau who should be quiet and leave non-haredim alone.

[Wirbelwind]

I suspect that unlike Sacks, Mirvis will not be up to the strain and that his wife Valerie, who is a very powerful character, will make him resign to save his health

http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Valerie+Mirvis+Rabbi+Ephraim+Mirvis+Announced+6SzVCXcxPXUl.jpg