Comments on Unorthodox Gymnastics: Not My Real Name

I agree. My participation in the Jewish community ...

2011-05-11T11:04:33.254-04:00

I agree. My participation in the Jewish community has less to do with halacha, which no longer feels binding, but with tradition, family and community.

As a student in orthodox day schools, I was often ...

2011-05-11T10:56:49.052-04:00

As a student in orthodox day schools, I was often told, "Judaism isn't like Christianity. Jews ask questions and every question is permissible." It really wasn't true and I learned it the hard way.

My parents raised us to be critical, inquisitive thinkers. They believe, as I still do, that the truth will stand for itself; if Torah is worthwhile, it will hold it's own.

I am no longer religious.

Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to be confronted with the truth and remain religious. I think if you do, you have to accept that you are religious for other reasons, such as community, history, tradition, or faith.

The answer to me, is not obfuscation, but I wonder if they were less protective, their way of life would disappear.

Or maybe it is legitimate to question the bounds o...

2009-05-13T13:32:00.000-04:00

Or maybe it is legitimate to question the bounds of Orthodoxy as practiced by others? I wonder. Sophisticated Modern Orthodox scholars make convincing cases for their attempts at synthesizing Judiasm with modernity. Still, YU doesn't proselytize to the Brooklyn crowd, although their philosophy by definition rejects much of the communities intellectual philosophy.

I have long been conflicted about those book revie...

2009-05-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

I have long been conflicted about those book reviews in Jewish Weeklies/Dailies (The Forwards and kin excluded). "Loshan Hara" (lit. evil talk) issues would most certainly prevent any honest assessments, excluding the rare instances a critic felt the work was perfect. So perhaps it is a given that the writer is not being impartial, and the reader knows the article is akin to the psuedo-reporting that fills the free circulars distributed in so many Kosher markets and restaurants.

I'm overwhelmed thinking about the issue of Orthodoxy and literature.
For instance I often wonder whether those light novels so popular in the Orthodox community are a positive or a negative. On the one hand people are reading a book, which is a pretty big deal. Yet the standards sketched in Ploni's article, combined with the (usually) horrendous lack of style, originality, and meaningful content, makes such work difficult to consider worthwhile.
I wonder too if it is legitimate to restrict confronting the boilerplate themes of literature (read: life) because the structure is not essentially Jewish?
Then I must question whether that question is legitimate, or am I simply and unfairly indicting an entire worldview, part of which calls for the avoidance of secular culture. You will not catch me writing screeds against the Amish, and I don't feel comfortable criticizing devout Muslims or Hindus for their beliefs, so is it fair to question the fervently Orthodox?

But then why wipe the cannon clean? What about the myriad short stories and novels that even a sage couldn't object too? There must be sufficient Mark Twain to go around.
Also, has this attack on literature (likely an unfair term) grown out of the alleged increasing conservatism of the Orthodox community? Or have those who don't read anything not published by Feldheim always avoided secular literature? I always thought there was a very wide spectrum of tolerance on the issue, as evidenced by the varying texts in Yeshiva English classes, but are positions consolidating towards the restrictive end of the band?