mentalblog.com comments:
Valid points, but the net, as a venue, seems to have too much of a tendency to emphasize negativity to really be "what chassidus was in the 18th and 19th centuries."
"Democracy of any manner has yet to reach the Charedi world"
since when does democracy exist in any religion?
Information on a new academic book with a whole chapter on Chassidim and yichus can be found here:
http://asimplejew.blogspot.com/2...-of-
polish.html
The double irony is that Perestroika created the most unbalanced oligarchy in the history of the world in the former CCCP. So ironically is Chasiduss based on this post.
Clearly, much of the 'system' is currently very problematic.
The question and problem with these open forums is often a not-improper and very human cynicism of the system leaks over to cynicism for the Torah itself.
good point, Akiva. And where is the perfect forum?
someone ask one time, a editor of the national jewish post to help him start a new jewish paper, the editor ask him if he will write 'mikveh talk'-(a free press) in the paper?.
he answered no. so the editor told him it's pointless for him to do it because he is not contributing anything to society.
Sadly, no where. Newspaper letters-to-the-editor would be good, if frum publications didn't so strongly censor.
Blogs are doing a pretty good job raising issues and attention, but there's a tendency to use the happy soapbox, espeically once there's an audience, for hyper-critisim. After all, we're human, a certain amount of poo-poo, or just differing priorities, is part of this world.
A bit off topic: about 10 years ago Dr. Haym Soloveitchik wrote this article: Rupture & Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy. I only came across it recently. But is a 'must-read'.
When did he write this?
1994
"The ideas advanced here were first presented in a lecture at the Gruss Center in Jerusalem of Yeshiva University in March 1984, and, then again, at a conference of the Kotler Center for the Study of Contemporary Judaism of Bar-llan University in the summer of 1985."
Berl, This is one of the best essays I ever read. [I picked it up when it was published orginally in Torah Umada].
" Valid points, but the net, as a venue, seems to have too much of a tendency to emphasize negativity to really be "what chassidus was in the 18th and 19th centuries."
chabakuk elisha | 05.17.06 - 12:38 pm"
Give me a break. Chassidus was and is very negative against anyone who opposed it. They demonize(d) their opponents terribly. And they keep on repeating those stories to this day.
Berl, is say here that he is leaving YU:
http://www.yucommentator.com/med...m&&
mkey=1052306
Not leaving, just stopping teaching and "taking the new position of University Professor".
Commenting by HaloScan
