Avodah Zara Bizmaneinu
Norman Podhoretz in WSJ (hat tip: Mashiach is Coming):
The upshot is that in virtually every instance of a clash between Jewish law and contemporary liberalism, it is the liberal creed that prevails for most American Jews. Which is to say that for them, liberalism has become more than a political outlook. It has for all practical purposes superseded Judaism and become a religion in its own right. And to the dogmas and commandments of this religion they give the kind of steadfast devotion their forefathers gave to the religion of the Hebrew Bible. For many, moving to the right is invested with much the same horror their forefathers felt about conversion to Christianity.
All this applies most fully to Jews who are Jewish only in an ethnic sense. Indeed, many such secular Jews, when asked how they would define "a good Jew," reply that it is equivalent to being a good liberal.
which clarifies why we are in the state we're in today:
Parshat Vayeilech:
וְאָנֹכִי, הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, עַל כָּל-הָרָעָה, אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה: כִּי פָנָה, אֶל-אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים
And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
Also, see R' Elchonon Wasserman's עקבתא דמשיחא (p. 16 in the pdf) for a similar idea.
posted by yaak @ 9/11/2009 10:55:00 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Ignoring it or adding to it (fences) produce identical results. Don't be too proud of what you follow either as there may be some error too. We are all in this battle together.
Shiloh, that's where you and I part company.
I believe in the tradition that has passed through the generations as divinely inspired.
I am therefore very proud of what I follow.
well those JEws who proudly proclaim their Judea Xtian values sure aren't going to bring liberal JEws to the fold
I am happy for you Yaak. I simply believe that it needs to be cleaned up by the Orthodox. In no way are many halachot divinely inspired. They have simply gone way to far in the fences which divide us in this world (and lead to the punishments that Moshe described as we changed or added to the Torah) and simply give zero benifit in the world to come. Shavua Tov.
One last thing, just as I and you know that both xtianity and islam are in no way divinely inspired from the G-d of the Hebrews as outlined in the Torah (see Devarim 13 1-6), look at what people will believe and do all because of the claim of Divinely inspired. It has produced nothing but chaos and the hatred of haShem by them, vented on us. If a religous leader proclaims that jumpin jacks or voting for a particular party will give you a place in the world to come, or make one holy, does that actually mean it to be true. I think not, from these ridiculous examples. Actually, one of them was proposed by a rather big Rav you look up to. This all traces back to the time of the Exodus and the results we live today. I won't go into details but I am certain you will know what I am talking about. Only until haShem makes His prescence known, can this all change. Until then, we follow what we have, it's that simple.
Shiloh, such comparisons to other religions are like comparing truth and fiction.
One is true and one is false.
One is Divinely inspired and one is not.
If you don't believe that our Mesorah as we have it today is Divinely inspired, then I pray that you will someday.
Norman Podhoretz is obviously such a big Tzaddik that he look down on non-frum liberals for their supposed allegiance to liberalism, as if he and his neo-conservative cronies care so much about Torah and Avodah. The fact is he mostly ignores how modern conservatism clashes with many Torah values like Tzedakah and V'ahavtem es HaGer.
Modern conservatism is not Torah Min Hashamayim, but to say that it clashes with values like Tzedakah and V'ahavtem et HaGer is totally false.
Tzedakah (in the form of handouts) is the responsibility of individuals, shuls, or organizations - not the US government. Whether this applies in Israel's government is more debatable, but the US government should work on the higher form of Tzedaka - creating jobs - not handing out money. Unfortunately for all, the Obama administration is not doing a great job at the tzedaka that it should be doing.
V'ahavtem et HaGer applies to people who were either already here or who come legally. To those who come illegally, one is not required to love, but rather, should kick out.
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