New Posts on Blog Min Hashamayim

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New Blog!

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MO: Medieval Orthodox

Let's face it: Modern Orthodoxy is a failure from a Hashkafic perspective (lifestyle wise I guess it's mostly OK). It's neither Modern nor particularly Orthodox. It has completely failed to address the hashkafic challenges of modernity, including science, ANE history and of course Biblical scholarship. Science and Torah reconciliation efforts are mostly a joke, the only people who buy that stuff are brainwashed, ignorant or both. The insistence on rationalism drains the mystery and spirituality from the theology. A 12th Century Philosopher who held that the planets were spiritual beings is held up as a beacon of common sense. Modern Orthodoxy? More like Medieval Orthodoxy. There's no new thought, and our leading intellectuals are mired in stupid debates about a single freaking brachah. Pathetic. I'm embarrassed to have a blog called Modern Orthopraxy, lest someone identify me with Modern Orthodoxy. Maybe in the 1960's it was hip and cool and groovy but that was 50 years ago.I feel more affinity theology wise to the Reconstructionists AND the Chareidim (in different ways of course). It smacks of intellectual dishonesty (We must integrate modern scholarship except of course where it contradicts the sayings of a 12th century medieval philosopher).  I don't see much chance of anything changing anytime soon, so for intellectual gratification I'm going to have to look elsewhere. On the bright side, I have read some fun and interesting books lately, including 'Imagine: John Lennon and the Jews' which had some good lines, and 'Jewish Philosophy as a guide to Life' which is mostly impenetrable to anyone without a background in Jewish Philosophy but it did have some good quotes from Rosenzweig and Levinas. Luckily for me I happen to have some friends who do have a background in Jewish Philosophy, and also other friends who can read Tenach in Akadian (what, you never heard of the Artscroll Akadian Tenach?) so I do have access to some interesting thoughts. So in the spirit of that enterprise I'm shutting this old blog down. And starting a new one. This will be the last post on this blog.

Religion is a tool

In the hands of the weak it's a crutch.
In the hands of the wicked it's a weapon.
In the hands of the masses it's a comforter.

Hirhurim Strikes Gold

It takes a lot for me to post something these days, just too busy, and I've said pretty much everything there is to say. However this latest post from Hirhurim is worth reading. And in Elul too!

Did Chazal ruin Biblical Judaism or improve it?

One often hears in MO (and more specifically LWMO) circles about how Chazal darshened away some of the more egregious aspects of Biblical Judaism e.g. Ben Sorer uMoreh, the various death penalties and such. However from another angle, Chazal took Judaism in a worse direction than the Biblical writers. The Neviim were huge proponents of social justice (or were made to appear so), with various famous passages proclaiming how God hates avodah and mitzvos and just wants basic justice and kindness. Of course Chazal were not against justice and kindness, but with their emphasis on halachic minutae it seems that the Neviim's message has gotten somewhat lost, and this is reflected even today with the Chareidi emphasis on halachah and chumrah as opposed to basic morality and care of all humanity,

Trembling before Chareidim

I noticed someone recently posted a blog about how people in the Chareidi community live in fear of being labelled not sufficiently frum enough, and how happy the author was to be in Modern Orthodoxy. This is funny, considering that in my experience, nobody is more fearful of being honest about their true beliefs than educated Modern Orthodox Rabbis. And RWMO live in perpetual fear (or maybe concern) that the excesses of the LWMO are going to delegitemize all of MO before the Chareidim. Everyone looks over their right shoulder. I guess you can claim that the MO Rabbis just want to hold onto their jobs and status, so it's not really fear per se, but rather just being practical, kind of like not being rude to your boss, even though you want to. Whereas in the Chareidi community there is actual fear, because coming out could ruin your life. Could be.

Analyzing Hirhurim

I. Style

Gil used to write with his own voice. More recently, all his posts seem to have a very detached quality about them. Not sure what he's trying to achieve but it's just not as good.

II. Format

He keeps using the short paragraph format, with each section having a title. Who said this was a good idea?

III. Readership

For some reason, the bulk of Gil's commenters are centrist or LWMO. He doesn't seem to have any RWMO or Chareidi commenters anymore. Recently, when Gil was posting about women Rabbi's and such, someone commented that Gil was totally out of touch with his readership. But it's not Gil's fault, all his readership is to the left! Bizarre.

IV. Arguments

Gil's standards of arguments has fallen. Used to be he at least tried to make a case for his views. More recently, he just states his opinions. It's like his heart isn't in it.

V. Conclusion

I liked the old Gil better. Bring him back!