Page 14 - HaShofar 5709 1948

A CHALLENGE ·TO .ORTHODOX JEWRY
By RABBI AARON RINE
The ·modern Orthodox .religious leader is con~
fronted by numerous , obstacles in his efforts .to
spread observant Judaism. There are, in my
,opinion, ·two ·types _of prqblems that face religion
today. One type I would label "extern.al,", i.e. the
problem of nurturing religious thoughts and, atti-
tudes in an environment .of b~se material_ism and
•sensuality. . .This -is sti-ictJi . the· fault of our age,
not of religion. Another type of religious problem
is one that I would call '.'internal," i. e. the short-
coming of religion itself to be the dynamic force
that it should be in our · times. It is on a phase
of the latter type of problem that I shall deal with
in this article. "
. I am convin~ed that much dignity could be .re-
stored to Orthodox Judaism if an authoritative body
were to be set up, a type of Sanhedrin, that shall
deal ·with the unique problems of our day, vested
with _the ·same power and authority as the Judges
of old. We find today considerable confusion and
a variety of practice even among religious Jewry
with reference to whether certain · foods· may oT
may n:ot be eaten, or whether certain appliances
may or may not be used on the Sabbath or holiday.
The lack of authority ·and unified decision on many
religious problems make .our young, modern,
American generation look upon observant Judaism
as upon an antiquated system, unequal to the needs
and problems ·of the twentieth century. The maze
. of individual 'hechshairim," (Rabbinical approval) ·
often gnµ1ted by irresponsible people; add to 1the
q·
Rabbi Aaron Rine, .spiritual leader of Knesset Israel
Nusach Sfard, and a membe'r of the Chicago Rabbinic
cal Co.uncil, is an active member of Hapoel H;!lmiz-
rachi of Chicago.
,general confusion, and consequently, to the loss
of dignity for Torah Judaism.
. In the . last fifty years the world has witnessed
technological changes and scientific miracles ·that
revolutionized the life of every civilized human
being. ,Yet the · Halachic adjustments necessary .to
bring Torah observance up to , date were, in my
opinion, totally lacking. Lam fully aware of the
"adjustments" made by certain segments of our ·;
people, who negated Torah principles of past gen-
erations in order to "conform'' with the changing
environment. This is not the. type of adjustment
I am advocating. To me it seems that those ele-
ments have made the error of curing _a headache
by committing suicide. What we need is a body
of scholars, saintly -men of great knowledge of the
. Torah and of the modern sciences as well, who
can delve into the Halachah of past generations,
and therein 'find a solution .to the problems of our
times. Such a body should once and for all render
a decision on the use of ele9trical appliances, refri0
gerators, ovens, microphones, etc., on the Sabbath,
on the numerous foods containing gelatin in vari-
ous forms, on hard cheeses, on-toothpaste contain-
ing . soap, on· the automatic dish-washer, etc. What
about the need for a dear guide as to ethical busi0
ness . practices in the complex economic structure
of our day? This is certainly an integral part of
religion. What about clarifying the Torah atti~
tude toward labor and management and the rights
of each? I am aware of ,individual efforts that
were made here and there to tackle these problems,
but unless it is done on a universal scale for all of
our people by a recognized authoritative body, it
cannot have the dynamic influence that it should.
Many eyes are tui-ned to Israel for this type of
leadership. While I have no doubt that as time
goes on Israel wiff play the role of the cultural
c.enter for all Jewry as envisaged by Ahad Haam
and others, yet I feel for the presen,t , this_body
must come. from within the ranks of American
JeWTy. Only then would the body fully under-
stand the unique problems and faults of this
greatest Jewish settlement of the world today. I
·am confident that our great American Yeshivoth
together with members of the American Orthodox
Rabbinical bodies, have the caliber of men neces•
sary _to create a legislative body to act as a guide
for the Torah-true American Jew. '
There are some who may argue that our age has
not produced the . "Gedolim," 1:he great Talmudic
scholars; necessary to embark on such an Halachic
project. To them I point out the Talmudic saying
in Rqsh Hashanah 25b~ commenting on the pas-