PLAY THE BALL, NOT THE PERSON

Fundamentalism, in a nutshell, is over-simplifying the world into two camps: mine and everyone else’s. It is a philosophy born out of stereotyping a particular race, culture or faith - generalising the most extreme from within that camp and extrapolating to everyone who identifies with it. It is a mindset that cannot see nuance and difference between individuals. Everything is black or white; there is no grey.

Unfortunately, life is grey. No two people think alike. There may be Arab terrorists, but that doesn’t make all Arabs terrorists. It doesn’t even make most Arabs terrorists.

This Letter to the Rabbi appeared in a UK Jewish Newspaper last week:

Female rabbis acceptable?

Dear Rabbi,

I was always sceptical about ordained Orthodox female rabbis. And now one has been given a job in an Orthodox synagogue. That should surely suggest it is becoming acceptable. Do you envisage that happening in the UK?

Gregory

Dear Gregory

In a word, no. Don’t get me started on these pseudo-suffragettes, or should that read “rabbragettes”? In any event, she got a job in an “Open-Orthodox” synagogue – whatever that means. Suffice it to say, a little digging and one discovers on the website that on the High Holidays they have a “family section” in their synagogue, i.e, no mechitza and men and women sit together.

So, in summation, when someone gets “ordained” in some so-called Orthodox manner and immediately takes up her posting in a synagogue that breaches some of the fundamentals of Orthodoxy (I guess that’s what they mean by “open”), then you have to call into question the establishment that “ordains” these women and indeed the women’s own levels of conviction.
My father always told me: “If the end result is no good, then you know the whole premise is flawed.”

Personally I am not in favour of the ordination of women, but to state that every woman who is interested in ordination is agenda-driven and fundamentally flawed is both overly simplistic and panders to the extreme elements in our community.

I cannot know the personal motivation of each feminist. Some may have agendas, but I am sure that many are as sincere in their belief as I claim to be.

How can this Rabbi claim to “know the inner rumblings of the heart”?  Is he so all-knowing that he can dismiss others with whom he disagrees, not on halachic or philosophical grounds, but rather on projected and assumed intent?

Apparently agendas are only in the other camps, not our own. 

Dear Rabbi- fight fire with fire. If you disagree, disagree on issues. Play the ball, not the person.