Pipes goes off his beaten path

In the NY Sun and in the JPost

Orthodoxy - Judaism's future?
Daniel Pipes, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 26, 2005

Until the 18th century there was basically only one kind of Judaism, that which is now called Orthodox. It meant living by the religion's 613 laws, and doing so suffused Jews' lives with their faith.

Then, starting with the thinker Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) and moving briskly during the Haskala ("enlightenment") from the late 18th century on, Jews developed a wide variety of alternate interpretations of their religion, most of which diminished the role of faith in their lives and led to a concomitant reduction in Jewish affiliation.

These alternatives and other developments, in particular the Holocaust, caused the ranks of the Orthodox to be reduced to a small minority. Their percentage of the world Jewish population reached a nadir in the post-World War II era, when it declined to about 5%.

The subsequent 60 years, however, witnessed a resurgence of the Orthodox element. This was, again, due to many factors, especially a tendency among the non-Orthodox to marry non-Jews and then to have fewer children.

Recent figures for the United States published by the National Jewish Population Survey point in this direction. The Orthodox proportion of American synagogue members, for example, went from 11 percent in 1971 to 16 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2000-01. (In absolute numbers, it bears noting, the American Jewish population went steadily down during these decades.)

Should this trend continue, it is conceivable that the ratio will return to somewhat where it was two centuries ago, with the Orthodox again constituting the great majority of Jews. Were that to happen, the non-Orthodox phenomenon could seem in retrospect but an episode, an interesting, eventful, consequential - and yet doomed - search for alternatives, suggesting that living by the law may be essential for maintaining a Jewish identity over the long term.

These demographic thoughts came to mind on reading a recent article in The Jerusalem Post, "US haredi leader urges activism," by Uriel Heilman, in which he reported on a "landmark address" in late November 2004 by Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, executive vice president of Agudath Israel of America.

This Orthodox organization, with a stated mission to "mobilize Torah-loyal Jews for the perpetuation of authentic Judaism," has a membership ranging from clean-shaven men to black-hatted ones (the haredim), from Jews educated in secular universities to full-time, Yiddish-speaking students of the Talmud.

Rabbi Bloom told an Agudath Israel audience that Jewish demographic trends imply that American Orthodox can no longer, as in the past, bury themselves in their parochial interests and expect non-Orthodox Jewish institutions to shoulder the major burden of communal responsibilities. Rather, the Orthodox must now join in - or even take over from their non-Orthodox co-religionists - such tasks as fighting anti-Semitism, sending funds to Israel, and lobbying the US government.

"The things we rely on secular Jews for," he asked, "who's going to do that if the secular community whittles down? We have to broaden our agenda to include things that up until now we've relied upon secular Jews to do."

He exaggerates, in that some Orthodox Jews in the US have been prominently involved in both national (think of Sen. Joseph Lieberman) and communal affairs (Morton Klein of the Zionist Organization of America comes to mind). But he is accurate in so far as Orthodox institutions have generally stayed out of the American fray except to pursue their narrow agenda.

Others in Agudath agree with the need for the Orthodox to broaden their ambitions. David Zwiebel, the organization's executive vice president for government and public affairs, notes: "With our growing numbers and the maturing of the community and the greater self-confidence that comes with that maturity and those numbers, there's no question that we need to at least recognize that there may be certain responsibilities that now have to shift to our shoulders."

Heilman understands this intent to assume a greater role in national and Jewish life as "a sign both of the success of the American haredi community in sustaining its numbers and its failure to translate that success into greater influence in the community at large." It also could portend a much deeper shift in Jewish life in the US and beyond, being a leading indicator of Orthodoxy's political coming of age and perhaps even its eventual replacement of non-Orthodox Judaism.

Reform DC chief says Orthodox/ GOP affinity will be short lived

David Saperstein, one of the capitol's most respected liberal voices, makes the case that the frum communty will not stay with Bush. He concludes that Israel will come between the new friendship.

What's in a name?

Uri Heilman scoops some discussions at the American Jewish Committee on their search for a new identity.

I am not sure that the issue is an identity crisis as much as it is a mission crisis. AJC was founded as the outlet for the German Jewish elite. They were so elitist that they forced other Jews to start competing organizations. Now, no one can tell the difference between the alphabetic mishmash that they spawned.

AJC could have sat tight and watched the whole Alon Pinkas fiasco blow up at the AJCongress. Now everyone will question what it is that they do as well.

The Jewish left awakens!

Does it strike anyone as a conflict that the head of the JCPA, Hannah Rosenthal, is a former Clinton staffer and Democratic party Activist? Is the Jewish establishment ready to become an arm of the Dems in Washington? Are they leading us off the cliff?

Ori Nir chronicles in the Forward.

The secularists seem angry yet again...

...About religion in public square. Can you imagine that O'Reilly had the chutzpah to tell someone if he did not want to hear about Christmas then he should "go to Israel." He could also have said go to Saudi Arabia. But wait! They don't allow Jews there.

Good thing that they do here and the Jews, like Krauthammer says in WaPo, should learn to appreciate all that America has to offer.

Was Savitsky Right?

Egads!!! Haaretz reports that Nefesh b'Nefesh found that North American immigrants to Israel in recent years are better educated, wealthier and more successful than those of past generations.

Is everyone still offended?

Why do the Jews keep calling the President polarizing because of religion?

Nathan Diamant asks in Haaretz

Foxman strikes at Scalia

Abe Foxman writes a piece in the New York Sun taking issue with Justice Scalia's eloquent address back in November at New York's Shearith Israel

Orthodox Grassroots Grow Strong at the Agudah Convention

Orthodox Grassroots Grow Strong
BINYAMIN JOLKOVSKY


STAMFORD, Conn. — Standing below a banner proclaiming “Keepers of a sacred trust” Rabbi Shmuel Bloom, executive vice president of the Orthodox grassroots umbrella group Agudath Israel of America, faced a crowd of nearly 2,000 men, women, and children of varying ages gathered here for the group’s annual convention. He declared, “We have an unprecedented opportunity today to have a true impact on the American political scene. Almost 70% of Orthodox Jews, compared to 23% Conservative and 15% Reform Jews, cast their votes for President Bush.” His organization, he added, has done a “wonderful job establishing and promoting a special relationship with the administration.”
It was more than an applause line or mere triumphalism. To those in the audience — and others in 15 cities across North America connected via a Webcast — it was a call to continuing arms.
If they missed the rabbi’s first reference, there was another: “The time has come for Agudath Israel to stand up and take its rightful place at the helm of the Jewish community. And to stand there proudly and without compromise as the bearer of the Torah’s message, as the movement whose members care about all Jews throughout the world.”
The fervently Orthodox and chasidic communities are often portrayed as insular. But they are realizing they’ve become a power to be reckoned with, and they are beginning lay the groundwork to make sure their newly found status becomes permanent.
Walking the halls of the Westin hotel here, one passed the usual luminaries — long-bearded rabbis and their stylish but modestly dressed wives, noted authors, educators, and lecturers. But this year, there were other “stars”: Grassroots activists, previously unknown, appeared to be everywhere. There were yeshiva educators who organized the Jewish get-out-the-vote drive in the battleground states of Florida and Ohio, the small-business entrepreneur who spearheaded voter registration in Israel. The convention was for many of them the place to meet for a toast after an against-the-odds success.
But there’s a long way from ambition to actuality, as became evident from one roundtable forum, “Culture Climate Control: Can We Affect the Moral Tenor of the World Around Us?”There, activists debated a strategy of seeing their goal realized.
The first step, proposed Michael Landau, the chairman of the Council of Orthodox Jewish Organizations on Manhattan’s West Side,is to draw attention to the distinction between observant Jews and their more secular co-religionists.
“It is important to make sure the American majority knows we are part of that majority. That Orthodox Jews are not like the rest of the Jews, and we are very much in line with the moral majority of America,” he said. “We must begin to redefine ourselves internally within the Jewish community and make sure our voice is better heard.”
One model proposed was to emulate evangelicals. “We can be perceived, if we really make clear the things we profess to believe, as a faith community, not unlike that of the Christian faith community,”argued Michael Fragin,an executive assistant to Governor Pataki. “We are here as the oldest faith community in the entire world, the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. We are the religion that gave birth to all others and gave birth to society. And somehow we are outside that debate.” By “we” he meant Orthodox Jews.
On a personal level, Mr. Fragin said he feels “ashamed” when confronted by Christian co-workers wondering why the Jews are “always on the other side.”
Secular Jews, he said, “time and time again have shown that they are interested in removing any vestiges of God and faith in many cases from the public debate and society.”
Religious Jews, he asserted, must step forward and change that.
Agudath Israel has, of course, long made coalitions with other religions over secular and sociological issues. And it has always remained nonpartisan.The reason, Rabbi Avi Shafran, one of the group’s officials, observed, was because it is not prudent for Orthodox Jews to be “constrained by consistency.”There are times, he said, “when we should and must argue there should be a separation of church and state and there are times when we shouldn’t. That may not always be a pretty thing to hear and say, but it’s a reality. In the end, what must concern us is the welfare of our children and what the Torah demands of us. It’s as simple as that, though it’s not a simple equation.”

Will Jewish politics ever be the same?

Eve Kessler of the Forward looks at some changes within the Jewish political firmament. We are a little bit surprised at her dig at Tevi Troy. Tevi was pretty accessible to most groups.

US Jewish leaders welcome haredi participation

hmmm. Are the haredim ready for organized Jewish life? Are they willing to have their views confrom to the consensus of a community that they are largely at odds with? Rabbi Bloom's idea that the frum will soon be the majority is long off.

Heilman brings some interesting quotes but does not really get inot the heart of the issue here. The Jewish community, unfortunately, has become for now bifurcated into two groups. Those that are hopelessly captive of the Democratic Party and those that are less petrified of the "insidious and evil religious right".