2008 Woodie Awards
FROM THE DESK OF THE EIC: The Closing of the Modern Orthodox Mind
Zev Nagel
Issue date: 5/16/05 Section: Editorials/Op-Ed
- Page 1 of 1
"Modern Orthodoxy Sucks." Such was the undeniable conclusion after a weeklong of family table conversations this recent Passover holiday. Alongside scallion thrashings (yes, scallions) during lively recitations of Dayenu, our family also cracked its rhetorical whips in albeit a completely different fashion. Modern Orthodoxy was inconspicuously placed on trial, and no one stood up to defend it.
It all started when my father, a native resident of Los Angeles, inquired about the quality of Jewish education in the New York era, and more specifically, if my aunts and uncles were pleased with their children's yeshiva day schools. Their qualms slowly led to a broader discussion, and it was soon discovered that the tribunal was mostly displeased by the contemporary sprawling hedonism that has replaced our once rich and passionate value system. Needless to say, the criticism was real and well deserved. One need not be a rigid student of Salanter to realize that our communities are having a serious affair with materialism and flamboyant opulence. But the most precise criticism was shot at the basis of our cultural and intellectual heritage, Jewish education. Modern Orthodoxy, they reasoned, is a complete failure because our educational system has unsuccessfully incubated an authentic commitment to Torah values and the modern project; simply put, religious fervor and committal stand no chance against a braving materialism. Thus Spake Zarathustra, and frankly I felt violated.
With three weeks to go until graduation - and after three especially fruitful years at Yeshiva University - I could not sit still while my intellectual and ideological foundations were unilaterally undermined. I desperately wanted to throw out all the punches, stand up on my soapbox and denounce their accusations. I wanted to point fingers and assign blame. But for some reason, and this may be the first time in my life, I sat in silence, speechless and dumfounded. Could they actually be right? Was what I thought to be Modern Orthodoxy's viability and vitality a complete sham, a mere psychological ploy to satisfy my own cognitive dissonance? Was it hubris that prevented me from accepting defeat?
Admittedly, I cannot discount all the problems with Modern Orthodoxy, and in this case, its educational institutions. Our educational system especially has its fair share of problems, which are often more acute for those of us who do not live in the "dalet amos" of New York City. As they currently exist, our high schools are largely perceived as feeding schools for the Israel experience. Obviously this is a gross generalization - yes, something does happen between the sandbox parties in kindergarten and the flipping of the tassel on the high school graduation stage - but our yeshiva day schools do not succeed in igniting the passion and soul within our youth (this I believe is true for the kodesh and the chol). It is sadly pathetic that the seeds of our young Jewish minds are only planted during the ten hour plane ride to Israel, and are only then subsequently treated during a one-year plus sabbatical from reality.
But the most drastic existential threat to the soul of Modern Orthodoxy is our failure - as adults in particular - to share with each other our love and passion for life. Rather than find substance in our intellectual (Torah and general) culture, we look towards the TiVo, our gas guzzling SUVs, and Dougies - the glatt kosher hedonism, as R. Lichtenstein has referred to it - permeating every aspect of American Orthodoxy. If "Modern Orthodoxy sucks," it is because we starve our intellect and our soul and feed our burning guts instead with slipshod philistinism. Ritual is done by rote, and we remain aloof to the broader ethical and philosophical questions that should concern us.
And it gets worse. We have closed off the Modern Orthodox mind. Today's generation does not grapple. Creative tension, the essential elements conducive to growth, is shunned and dishonored. Today we look for neat fitting solutions, carefully cropped black and white patterns to mold our already restrained vision. Confrontation is skirted by diminishing our exposure to the cultural, intellectual and social elements that present the greatest perceived threats. Encounters with general culture are seen as willful surrenders to temptation rather than auspicious opportunities for growth. We look for guidance and answers available in sound bites, monosyllabic statements of "mutar" and "assur." We settle for simplistic assessments of life's most excruciatingly difficult questions. And that is ultimately dishonest and harmful. As a professor of mine once said in his legendary Introduction to Bible course, "sometimes tzarich iyun is an answer."
Fortunately, Yeshiva has always been an environment where grappling is encouraged, where the mind is not shut down, and where creative tension resounds. Though I cannot assess the intellectual fervor of each student on campus, the realities of the classroom overwhelmingly point to a broad student engagement of the mind and soul. Indeed, the recent religion index organized by The Commentator (see front page story) shows 64 that percent of students have experienced tensions between tradition and modernity, and have for the most part spoken with someone at Yeshiva close to them - either a friend, professor, or rabbi - about their concerns. The current curriculum at Yeshiva is set up to enable a cross-section of study, especially in disciplines like academic Jewish Studies, where often some of the most troubling issues are dealt with. And the myriad of co-curricular events each week provides broad coverage of some of the most pressing intellectual conundrums of today. Even those critics who will generalize about the student body here and call them "apathetic" or "polarized" cannot deny that the academic programming, inside and outside the classroom, speaks to students wishing to struggle and ultimately expand their intellectual horizons. True, not everyone on our campus is interested in grappling in the same way; but at least a Yeshiva education provides the intellectual framework and tools to do so.
As evident from this year's seminal Commentator project, YUdaica, the historical hallmark of Yeshiva has been its willingness to embrace the tensions of contemporary life and learn from it. Yeshiva students have always flirted with fundamentalism, and campus polarization has been around since inception. Simultaneously, however, we see almost conflicting portraits from the YUdaica contributors, as some remember the earlier years of Yeshiva as distinct from today, while others contend that nothing has changed. Indeed life was, and will always be, complex. Yes, the 60s were a special time in America, but we neither live in it nor long for it. We sell ourselves short if we contend that they were the only ones able to achieve the legendary "synthesis" of a Yeshiva College and Modern Orthodox education. We owe it to ourselves to at least give it a try. Otherwise, the truth will come out on its own. Modern Orthodoxy has not failed us; if anything we have failed it.
POSTSCRIPT: As this is my last column and issue as Editor-in-Chief of The Commentator, it's appropriate for me to share my indebted gratitude to Yeshiva - to its students, faculty, administration, alumni, and members of the board - for the opportunity to study here, and in particular, for the opportunity to lead its undergraduate newspaper. The past three years have been extraordinarily rewarding, both in terms of my classroom and Beit Midrash learning, and co-curricular life as a student on this campus. This year's newspaper staff in particular have been a great source of inspiration and friendship which I know will last in our collective memory forever; I also have high hopes for Ari and his new team and the goals they will set for themselves in the next few weeks. Of course, I have my parents to thank for giving me the freedom to pursue an education of my own interests and spend these years dependent on their generosity and love. They and Yeshiva have given me the intellectual tools for a life of meaning, and whatever I amount to in the future can only be credited to them.
Zev Nagel can be reached - only for a few weeks longer - at zev@yucommentator.com
It all started when my father, a native resident of Los Angeles, inquired about the quality of Jewish education in the New York era, and more specifically, if my aunts and uncles were pleased with their children's yeshiva day schools. Their qualms slowly led to a broader discussion, and it was soon discovered that the tribunal was mostly displeased by the contemporary sprawling hedonism that has replaced our once rich and passionate value system. Needless to say, the criticism was real and well deserved. One need not be a rigid student of Salanter to realize that our communities are having a serious affair with materialism and flamboyant opulence. But the most precise criticism was shot at the basis of our cultural and intellectual heritage, Jewish education. Modern Orthodoxy, they reasoned, is a complete failure because our educational system has unsuccessfully incubated an authentic commitment to Torah values and the modern project; simply put, religious fervor and committal stand no chance against a braving materialism. Thus Spake Zarathustra, and frankly I felt violated.
With three weeks to go until graduation - and after three especially fruitful years at Yeshiva University - I could not sit still while my intellectual and ideological foundations were unilaterally undermined. I desperately wanted to throw out all the punches, stand up on my soapbox and denounce their accusations. I wanted to point fingers and assign blame. But for some reason, and this may be the first time in my life, I sat in silence, speechless and dumfounded. Could they actually be right? Was what I thought to be Modern Orthodoxy's viability and vitality a complete sham, a mere psychological ploy to satisfy my own cognitive dissonance? Was it hubris that prevented me from accepting defeat?
Admittedly, I cannot discount all the problems with Modern Orthodoxy, and in this case, its educational institutions. Our educational system especially has its fair share of problems, which are often more acute for those of us who do not live in the "dalet amos" of New York City. As they currently exist, our high schools are largely perceived as feeding schools for the Israel experience. Obviously this is a gross generalization - yes, something does happen between the sandbox parties in kindergarten and the flipping of the tassel on the high school graduation stage - but our yeshiva day schools do not succeed in igniting the passion and soul within our youth (this I believe is true for the kodesh and the chol). It is sadly pathetic that the seeds of our young Jewish minds are only planted during the ten hour plane ride to Israel, and are only then subsequently treated during a one-year plus sabbatical from reality.
But the most drastic existential threat to the soul of Modern Orthodoxy is our failure - as adults in particular - to share with each other our love and passion for life. Rather than find substance in our intellectual (Torah and general) culture, we look towards the TiVo, our gas guzzling SUVs, and Dougies - the glatt kosher hedonism, as R. Lichtenstein has referred to it - permeating every aspect of American Orthodoxy. If "Modern Orthodoxy sucks," it is because we starve our intellect and our soul and feed our burning guts instead with slipshod philistinism. Ritual is done by rote, and we remain aloof to the broader ethical and philosophical questions that should concern us.
And it gets worse. We have closed off the Modern Orthodox mind. Today's generation does not grapple. Creative tension, the essential elements conducive to growth, is shunned and dishonored. Today we look for neat fitting solutions, carefully cropped black and white patterns to mold our already restrained vision. Confrontation is skirted by diminishing our exposure to the cultural, intellectual and social elements that present the greatest perceived threats. Encounters with general culture are seen as willful surrenders to temptation rather than auspicious opportunities for growth. We look for guidance and answers available in sound bites, monosyllabic statements of "mutar" and "assur." We settle for simplistic assessments of life's most excruciatingly difficult questions. And that is ultimately dishonest and harmful. As a professor of mine once said in his legendary Introduction to Bible course, "sometimes tzarich iyun is an answer."
Fortunately, Yeshiva has always been an environment where grappling is encouraged, where the mind is not shut down, and where creative tension resounds. Though I cannot assess the intellectual fervor of each student on campus, the realities of the classroom overwhelmingly point to a broad student engagement of the mind and soul. Indeed, the recent religion index organized by The Commentator (see front page story) shows 64 that percent of students have experienced tensions between tradition and modernity, and have for the most part spoken with someone at Yeshiva close to them - either a friend, professor, or rabbi - about their concerns. The current curriculum at Yeshiva is set up to enable a cross-section of study, especially in disciplines like academic Jewish Studies, where often some of the most troubling issues are dealt with. And the myriad of co-curricular events each week provides broad coverage of some of the most pressing intellectual conundrums of today. Even those critics who will generalize about the student body here and call them "apathetic" or "polarized" cannot deny that the academic programming, inside and outside the classroom, speaks to students wishing to struggle and ultimately expand their intellectual horizons. True, not everyone on our campus is interested in grappling in the same way; but at least a Yeshiva education provides the intellectual framework and tools to do so.
As evident from this year's seminal Commentator project, YUdaica, the historical hallmark of Yeshiva has been its willingness to embrace the tensions of contemporary life and learn from it. Yeshiva students have always flirted with fundamentalism, and campus polarization has been around since inception. Simultaneously, however, we see almost conflicting portraits from the YUdaica contributors, as some remember the earlier years of Yeshiva as distinct from today, while others contend that nothing has changed. Indeed life was, and will always be, complex. Yes, the 60s were a special time in America, but we neither live in it nor long for it. We sell ourselves short if we contend that they were the only ones able to achieve the legendary "synthesis" of a Yeshiva College and Modern Orthodox education. We owe it to ourselves to at least give it a try. Otherwise, the truth will come out on its own. Modern Orthodoxy has not failed us; if anything we have failed it.
POSTSCRIPT: As this is my last column and issue as Editor-in-Chief of The Commentator, it's appropriate for me to share my indebted gratitude to Yeshiva - to its students, faculty, administration, alumni, and members of the board - for the opportunity to study here, and in particular, for the opportunity to lead its undergraduate newspaper. The past three years have been extraordinarily rewarding, both in terms of my classroom and Beit Midrash learning, and co-curricular life as a student on this campus. This year's newspaper staff in particular have been a great source of inspiration and friendship which I know will last in our collective memory forever; I also have high hopes for Ari and his new team and the goals they will set for themselves in the next few weeks. Of course, I have my parents to thank for giving me the freedom to pursue an education of my own interests and spend these years dependent on their generosity and love. They and Yeshiva have given me the intellectual tools for a life of meaning, and whatever I amount to in the future can only be credited to them.
Zev Nagel can be reached - only for a few weeks longer - at zev@yucommentator.com