A New Haggadah Rolls out a Program for Open Orthodoxy

The Lieberman Open Orthodox Haggadah, which contains essays and commentary by several figures in the eponymous liberal wing of Orthodox Judaism, attempts to do more than present a new version of the Passover liturgy. Rather, writes Alan Brill, it aims self-consciously to set “an agenda for the future of Orthodoxy”:

Willy-nilly, one finds oneself reading about the problem of women unable to obtain halakhic divorces while everyone is singing Dayenu and about the rapid downfall of a local rabbi who violated everyone’s trust while everyone is singing Ḥad Gadya. For many, these juxtapositions will be their first impression of this Haggadah. . . .

There is no significant use of historical context, [academic Jewish studies], or source criticism. The volume is not aimed at those who seek an intellectual discussion. Its audience is not seeking aesthetics or [a synthesis of Torah and secular thought]. In addition, there is focus neither on the Holocaust nor on the state of Israel. . . . [This Haggadah] was not written for intellectual or spiritual edification, or for those who want to hear about how God took us out from Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm.

In short, this Haggadah oozes moxie and a direct appeal to those who like the Orthodox lifestyle but find a tension with what they perceive as the abuses of the system. For them, they do not need reasons for the commandments, rather an active commitment, determination, and ability to overcome their social concerns. All who are hungry for this moxie, let them come and eat.

Read more at Book of Doctrines and Opinions

More about: Avi Weiss, Haggadah, Open Orthodoxy, Religion & Holidays, Social Orthodoxy

It’s Time for Haredi Jews to Become Part of Israel’s Story

Unless the Supreme Court grants an extension from a recent ruling, on Monday the Israeli government will be required to withhold state funds from all yeshivas whose students don’t enlist in the IDF. The issue of draft exemptions for Haredim was already becoming more contentious than ever last year; it grew even more urgent after the beginning of the war, as the army for the first time in decades found itself suffering from a manpower crunch. Yehoshua Pfeffer, a haredi rabbi and writer, argues that haredi opposition to army service has become entirely disconnected from its original rationale:

The old imperative of “those outside of full-time Torah study must go to the army” was all but forgotten. . . . The fact that we do not enlist, all of us, regardless of how deeply we might be immersed in the sea of Torah, brings the wrath of Israeli society upon us, gives a bad name to all of haredi society, and desecrates the Name of Heaven. It might still bring harsh decrees upon the yeshiva world. It is time for us to engage in damage limitation.

In Pfeffer’s analysis, today’s haredi leaders, by declaring that they will fight the draft tooth and nail, are violating the explicit teachings of the very rabbis who created and supported the exemptions. He finds the current attempts by haredi publications to justify the status quo not only unconvincing but insincere. At the heart of the matter, according to Pfeffer, is a lack of haredi identification with Israel as a whole, a lack of feeling that the Israeli story is also the haredi story:

Today, it is high time we changed our tune. The new response to the demand for enlistment needs to state, first and foremost to ourselves, that this is our story. On the one hand, it is crucial to maintain and even strengthen our isolation from secular values and culture. . . . On the other hand, this cultural isolationism must not create alienation from our shared story with our fellow brethren living in the Holy Land. Participation in the army is one crucial element of this belonging.

Read more at Tzarich Iyun

More about: Haredim, IDF, Israeli society