Jonathan Winchester weighs in on the significance of the Cardinals' visit to RIETS. As usual, he has interesting things to say. The thing is, they can visit the beit midrash for 20 minutes and speak to a few people for a few hours, but there really arent that many people in the beis that a) really want to talk to them and b) aren't already. Still, read his whole piece below.
The story of the Cardinals in the Bais Medrash this
past Monday has concluded Wednesday night with the
afterward from Rabbi Lamm & Rabbi Charlop, defending
their actions. Oh, of course, there will be more
articles in the Forward & The Jewish Week, and, if YU
is lucky, a vicious attack from the right, which gives
YU & Lamm the moral high ground, for making a
"difficult" and "couragious" choice.
But what is really going on here? What is the
significance of the day trippers? According to Rabbis
Lamm & Charlop, nothing. In their speeches, this was
a relatively insignificant event, except for the
possible Kiddush Hashem involved.
But in my amateur opinion, much more is going on. I
might be wrong, but this is an idea that I am
developing. And lets see where it goes.
The Jewish Communal World is a giant messy
bureaucracy. Now everyone wants power there. And
power is measured in many ways. Access to money is
one. Access to political power is another. Access to
connections is power. And power is what you can
deliver.
Inter-faith dialogue has been stumbling over the past
few years. The Radical Christian Right has been
funding Jewish causes, but the federation world is
really not taking them seriously as theological
partners. And while every major Jewish communal group
has its inter-faith official, lets be the past few
years have been tough for these guys.
Now the 800 pound gorilla is the Roman Catholic
Church. You make nice with them and you seem like the
big boys in the block who has the connections, and
therefore the power, etc.
But how do you get the Church? Give them what they
want.
And what do they want? Orthodox Jews.
The Church under John Paul II still cares about
theology. It still cares about Church orthodoxy.
Despite his impressive concessions in the political
and dialogic sphere, when it comes to theology he is
pretty hard core. And based upon how and with whom he
has stacked the college of Cardinals with lately, it
looks like things are set to stay that way.
When they want to talk to other faiths, they want the
same. Religious Orthodoxy. Genuine belief. Now,
anyone who doesn't have their head in the sand knows
that the Conservative movement (and kal vechomer
Reform Judaism) pretty much chucked belief years ago
in favor of whatever passes for Civic Religion
nowadays. And the Federation and company (AJC,
AJCommittee, etc.) never had it, never will.
The only ones left with real belief and genuine
theological integrity is Orthodox Judaism. And here
is where you run into the brick wall. For despite
Rabbi Soloveitchik's guidelines, Orthodox, both Modern
and Ultra, have not been major players at this game.
And those individuals who have been active in this
area, everyone knows are not serious, theologically
speaking.
So what does the Church want? The frumayiddin. And
who can deliver them what they want?
Well this is where Israel Singer/the World Jewish
Congress steps in. Because of assorted connections
that Singer and his staff has, he pulled off this
coup, getting the Church to the table in a big way.
And what is his bate? Orthodox Jews.
So do not believe that this trip to the RIETS Bais
Medrash is only a minor event, no different than any
other incident at YU. For, do you think that the
Church will be happy with only one meeting with
Orthodox Rabbis? Or will they want to come back for
another visit. Another "non-theological" dialogue.
Another "conference"?
And will Rabbi Singer deliver? You can bet your
bottom dollar that he will.
Oh, they will maintain, Rabbi Soloveitchik's strict
rules against "theological dialogue". They will not
discuss incarnation, or transubstination. But
Orthodox Jews do not discuss theological issues. When
was the last time the Orthodox Forum had a theological
topic? Halakha is never about "theology" as Modern
Orthodoxy frame it. And they will talk and talk and
talk. But never about "theology". So the letter of
Rabbi Soloveitchik's article is maintained.
Brother, the floodgates have been unlocked. Let the
water roll.
the floodgates opening: in your opinion, a good thing? Or a bad thing? And what might the consequences be?
Posted by: Simon at January 23, 2004 12:25 AMJonatahn Winchester's point about the church being intersted in Orthodox Jews is born out by history. Yacov Ariel, in his fascinating study of missions to the Jews in America, 1880-2,000, Avengelizing the Chosen People, notes that missionaries in the early years of the twentieth century were not very interested in Reform Jews, because they felt they had really abandoned the Jewish religion, and missionizing them would not be very meaningful.
Posted by: Joshua Hoffman at January 23, 2004 12:43 AMYou are onto to something here. However, it has been going on with the Agudah for decades already.
Rabbi Scherer(?) and others have had close working ties with Cardinals O'Conner and Keeler on political issues. While they do not discuss theology, they work on a host of practical political issues that have strong connections to religious opinion.
Looks like YU might want in on the action.