". . . Life and death I have put before you, and blessing and
curse. And you should choose life so that you and your
descendants will live" (Devorim 30:19).
Is it wrong to add: "Don't choose death"?
Is it an unwarranted, or intolerable, restriction of
someone's freedom if rabbonim say to him: "This reading
material is deadly for your soul. Keep away."?
Are rabbonim expected to just "mind their own business"
(which is truly in part the spiritual health of Klal
Yisroel) and not speak out when they see people who
sincerely seek the truth and wish to expand and deepen their
knowledge and understanding of Torah, and innocently try to
realize their ambitions by studying "books [that] are in
opposition to our Torah" (HaRav Shechter and HaRav
Kamenetsky) and in fact "do terrible offense to our hallowed
tradition, and distort and undermine the Torah's clear
truths," as the Novominsker Rebbe wrote?
Is there anything wrong with this? On the contrary, if the
rabbonim see things this way is it not a terrible crime for
them not to warn the innocent? If Slifkin has a right —
granted to him by modern society — to express his ideas
be they what they may, certainly those who see those ideas as
distortions have no less of a right to express their views in
reaction. By their own evaluation, and in the view of anyone
who follows them, they even have a clear obligation to
proclaim their assessment to anyone who might be exposed to
those ideas that are "in opposition to our Torah" but were
definitely not perceived as such before the rabbonim made
their views known.
Many books include ideas mentioned by Slifkin, but only his
were condemned. Why? Because of "the impudent and audacious
spirit of throwing off the yoke (prikas ol) of the
mesorah miSinai and our sages (rabboseinu
hakedoshim) who are its bearers (maggidehoh),"
that is not found in those others.
Are the rabbonim asking or telling us to stop thinking? Do
they wish us to be intellectual wimps who cannot and do not
evaluate critically what they hear?
What an absurd suggestion! If we close down our minds we will
not even be able to understand the Torah that they transmit
to us daily, not to mention the holy words of our Sages of
previous generations back to Sinai. No intellectually honest
person could say that our rabbonim do not want us to think!
The often-heard response that pronouncements such as this one
are anti-intellectual betray a desire to ridicule us and our
rabbonim, not a serious charge.
Free, serious and deep inquiry is our goal, constantly
pursued. But — yes there is a "but" — it must be
within the spirit of Torah and not in the spirit of the
secular world which is deeply, unremittingly hostile to
Torah.
As one observer of the modern scene wrote, "rarely have we
faced a culture more antithetical to the values of Judaism,
not superficially but at its very roots." Superficially it
appears friendly, and certainly compatible. But at its roots
the hostility is very strong.
When we faced the Greeks in the time of the Maccabim, the
issues were clear and in the open. They said, "Write on the
ox horn that you have no part in the G-d of Israel." You
cannot get more direct than that. They did not let us learn
Torah and do mitzvos. The violated our money and our
daughters and our Sanctuary.
Now they leave our daughters alone (except for once-in-a-
while attempts in the State of Israel). They shower us with
wealth. They allow us to learn and to do mitzvos with
hiddurim that were undreamed of by earlier
generations.
Yet the spirit of the Western world, in its media, in its
science, in its art, in its politics, is a challenge to the
authentic Torah spirit from the floor to the rafters.
Just pick up a Mesillas Yeshorim and consider the
catalogue of things that the Ramchal lists as inimical to the
very first step of the Path of the Righteous (Chapter 5), and
it is clear that modern society has raised the difficulty of
overcoming them to new heights: 1] Dealing with distractions
and necessities of the world; 2] Laughter and ridicule; 3]
Pressures of an evil society.
The mass of modern media and communication make the
temptations of excess in the first area stronger than they
ever were, even as it has increased greatly the amount of
information that we really have to deal with. The amount of
comedy and ridicule has increased tremendously compared to
any previous period, even as its prestige has grown, making
it harder to dismiss. Finally, society is so intrusive, even
as it is free, that it exerts tremendous pressure to conform
to its increasingly decadent values.
These are each individually powerful challenges, and their
wearing-down effects are accruing. But note that in each case
their is nothing overtly coercive about the hostility. The
media appear friendly. Society appears open. The ideas appear
tolerant.
It is hard to know who is for us and who is against us. Our
rabbonim do not reject modern society wholesale, but they
draw lines for us: This is ok. Stay away from that.
Whoever wants to, is free to go it alone. He or she can
plunge in to the treacherous waters of the modern world
alone, and try to reach the truth heroically alone. It is a
big task for an individual.
The rest of us will take shelter under the banner of
gedolei Yisroel. As in the generation of Chanukah, so
too in our generation — the gedolei veziknei
hador cry out to us all: Mi laSheim eilai!
Whoever wants to reach Hashem should join them!
