We can agree, I think, that all of us, including RYA, are 8th ikkar heretics. All of us know that some Tannaim and Rishonim recognized that some verses, or phrases, or letters were added later. All of us have studied these teachings, and all of us understand that if those great men, beginning with R. Yehuda on BT Bava Batra 15a can say that some verses in the Torah weren't written by Moshe, then clearly, it is not kefira to suggest that there are parts of the Torah that were written later, by people other than Moshe.
If all of us agree that the 8th ikkar is not operative or enforceable, why are the YCT rabbis being attacked as heretics? How can they be persecuted for violating a rule everyone of us knows is a bad rule, a rule violated by great Rabbis, too? Let the gentlemen of Cross Currents (plus Menken who, lets be truthful, is no gentleman) say that Farber et al are wrong. Let Gordiner and the rest fight their corner, and make their arguments as forcibly as possible. But, at the same time, let's demand that they make their case without hurling around the H word. Farber et al simply can not be heretics if the ikkar they are accused of breaking is an ikkar no one acknowledges as having any validity.
(This isn't the time or place to speculate on the RCA's real motive for attacking the new rabbinical seminary, but suffice it to say that established organizations always get their noises bent out of shape when upstarts encroach on their turf. This heresy nonsense might very well be a tool, a tool used knowingly by men who should know better, for the purpose of rubbing out their professional rivals.)
Search for more information about ### at4torah.com
No comments:
Post a Comment