Rogerian Argument

Orthodoxy and Modernity

I write in hope of mutual understanding and not as an attack on anyone's beliefs or faiths. As someone with a Jewish upbringing, I've seen how religion offers meaningful structure, moral guidance, and communal stability to its adherents. I've experienced this, and I value it. I also understand the fear of assimilation. Jews have been persecuted for a long time, and now the newer generation is becoming more and more assimilated, and there is a real concern that younger generations may start losing tradition. With society becoming more secular and unpredictable, it is understandable that one would try to protect their faith and tradition. This paper is directed at the more extreme sects, but it is in no way exclusive, and lots of less extreme Jewish sects share a lot of these traits.

To Jewish communities, particularly Haredim, you are often willingly secluded from the rest of the world, and I believe you have a good justification in doing so. As society naturally becomes more and more chaotic and unreligious, you try to limit its influence by becoming more insular, and as society evolves, your communities go into lockdown. These insular and rigid expressions often conflict with the demands of a modern society. Even in my home neighborhood, some communities are not only trying to preserve their culture but are actively avoiding involvement in anything that is not community or religion-based, so that they don't risk being influenced by their surroundings.

One of the benefits of having an insular community is that it allows for a more controlled education system. It allows for the study of Torah and the Talmud. This allows for development in this world and the next, and it also greatly teaches a person how to think.

Your leaders often bring up a quote from Rabbi Moses Sofer, which Daniel Geretz discusses in The Times of Israel: "Chadash asur min haTorah." This phrase means "that which is new is biblically forbidden in all places." (Geretz) Other communities, like the modern orthodox world, don't seem to follow this and are willing to implement innovation in their lives and communities without losing track of their religious goals. A great example of this is Yeshiva University, in which I am currently a student. YU provides a diverse and high-level Yeshiva system for its students while also providing a university education. This balance is great for a lot of people, but may not be fitting for everyone.

One disagreement I have with both your insular community and the modern orthodox communities is how members are emotionally and sometimes physically trapped inside your community. In certain cases, if a member wants to leave your community and live autonomously, the community may treat it as a loss, which isn't inherently bad, but this sometimes leads to them being cut off from the community and looked down upon by your leaders, leaders whom they once looked up to. You may not want involvement with people who've left, but there is still an effect on the person. I think we can both agree that each member is important and should always have a door open for them. This is normally the case, but there are some cases where it is not, and I think it should be spoken about.

Seclusion is a working protective measure against secularism. What concerns me is when it leads to individuals being disconnected from the necessary knowledge and skills in the broader world and being emotionally cut off from their community. This can leave a person not only mentally alone but also stuck in a new world without the necessary skills to independently survive. I am not implying that the average member is trapped or dislikes their community. But this is a case that does come up at times and should be addressed.

Another potential issue with seclusion is that it might appear to trap your members in a closed-off bubble. There are even some reports that members of your community may take things to the extent of misleading your children, limiting their education, removing civic engagement, and removing individual autonomy. "These communities also believe that mainstream education threatens their traditional values and therefore provide little to no education for their children." (Levin)

This is where I personally have a fundamental disagreement. Preserving one's culture is not just okay, but an integral part of society, both inside your communities and outside of it. But a person should not be stripped of the right to education and autonomy. One should not have to feel as if they do not have importance in life aside from solely preserving the faith and the community. This may not be what is intended, but that is sometimes the impression given.

This kind of disagreement sometimes leads to families with poverty and/or being reliant on public assistance. And I know that leaders in your community simply don't mind some of these things, but what about the rest of the communities' wants? It leads to a new generation of people, sometimes lacking education, and people lacking social norms and understanding.

One good example of a communal disagreement is on the matter of the Israeli army. On average, your communities dislike the IDF and organize major protests against it. This image is one I personally took during one of these protests. One of the reasons for this dislike is that of the few people who do join the army, many of them become secularized. I understand this is a major issue, but we have to look at what the causes are. I have not been able to find good evidence saying that the IDF as a whole has the intention of secularising people. What I have found is that many members of your community who do enlist in the army were already in the process of distancing themselves from strict communal norms beforehand; in this sense, military service often reflects an existing trajectory toward social integration rather than being the primary cause of secularization. ("No Exemptions Left") If this is the case, why is the army getting the hate? It is a loss for the community, but I see no reason for the blame to on on the army.

Even if the army is not to blame, I cannot ignore the powerful idea that you believe full-time Torah studying may have security benefits as great, if not greater, than the army.

Even with these benefits, the prioritized care for religious study sometimes leads to neglecting one's family. I've seen many places where it is expected to see an extremely young girl taking care of even younger siblings with responsibilities that adults would otherwise be taking care of. The leader of a community should not be controlling the lifestyle of kids without care for their own or their parents, regard.

In the cases where your religious systems prioritize isolation over integration and obedience over critical engagement, you might unintentionally restrict individual potential and strain the broader society that helps sustain you. The lack of education leads to a lack of independence and reliance on the people you are isolating from. How is the public supposed to respond when the people are relying on them but are not willing to partake in any civic action?

I do not believe that the you should abandon the Torah, nor do I believe you should have to be fully culturally assimilated or deny religious authority. I simply think that there are issues with some aspects of your communities, and certain traits should be fixed.

The modern orthodox world shows that it is possible to merge religious life and secular engagement. If you were to teach some productive secular curricula alongside your Torah study, you would not lose the Torah, and you would gain knowledge that can lead your community members to become independent individuals who will be happy to remain in the community. At the same time, this is a risky balance, especially when the modern orthodox world also has certain issues, like sometimes prioritizing religious studies over essential secular knowledge. Additionally, civic engagement can provide the opportunity for a Kiddush Hashem (to honor God's name) because of the benefits it would have on your surroundings.

At the end of the day, we are all humans, and we are all trying to do the best we can with the knowledge and skills that we have. Your people have an admirable passion for what you care about. I can only hope that I have shown a similar passion for people to coexist without ruining their culture.

Works Cited

Geretz, Daniel. "Was the Chatam Sofer Really So Fair?" The Times of Israel, 18 Feb. 2018, https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/was-the-chatam-sofer-really-so-fair

Levin, Shmuel. "Test of Faith: Haredi Communities and the Right to Education." International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, vol. 32, no. 3, Dec. 2018, pp. 334–362, https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/eby015

"No Exemptions Left: How Israel Is Dismantling the Haredi Draft Privilege System." Baku Network, https://www.bakunetwork.org/en/news/analytics/15121