Rabbi Mattisyahu Solomon, a lead speaker at last night's Agudath Israel of America-sponsored Siyum HaShas attended by tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews in New York's Madison Square Garden and at satellite locations in New Jersey and across North America, set out the new haredi agenda for dealing with difficult questions – especially questions related to the interaction of science and Torah.
Couched in terms of questioning the Talmud, Rabbi Solomon labeled those who seek to reconcile science and Torah are "arrogant" and stressed that we all must believe with "simple faith" in what amounts to the lowest common denominator of Torah understanding.
According to Rabbi Solomon, in the End of Days, Elijah the Prophet will come and clarify these issues. Until then, "simple faith" – not reason, not the work of Rabbis Slifkin, Carmel, Kaplan, Schwab, Lipschultz, Yitzhak of Acco, Nehunia be HaKaneh or the Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists – is the mandated approach.
Not one of the hundreds of rabbis present objected to Rabbi Solomon's speech.
Belief in 'Creation Science,' Creationism and a fundamentalist approach to Judaism unknown until recent years has now become the obligatory norm.
Interesting, is it not, that the primary spokesperson for the Chofetz Chayim Heritage Foundation would label his ideological opponents "arrogant" in a public address reaching nearly 100,000 people.
Gore the weak, trample the small – apparently the laws of Lashon Hara were only meant to apply to people Rabbi Solomon agrees with.
Another take on this can be read here.