mentalblog.com comments:
Noah Feldman is perhaps one of the most brilliant scholars in America (if not the world) today. He is clear in shas and poskim in addition to his secular achievements. See Boteach's article in response to NYT article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
ra...wh_b_57321.html
The "anonymous" Rabbi mentioned in Boteach's article, who told Feldman off right before he got married to his shiksa, is Shmully Hecht, then Shliach at Yale. Feldman was classmates with Corey Booker at Yale and Oxford. the joke goes that someday, Booker will be President and Feldman his supreme court justice.
Its sad because the Jewish Nation lost a potential gadol hador with Feldman(intellectual gadol at least, midos is a different story)
miv: He chose to get lost out of the jewish nation, he got invited to the Maimon's reunion, and he has never been kicked out of a shul on shabbos or yom kippur.
He's a putz. End of story.
Please, like all it takes is impeccable academic credentials to be a gadol hador(in the jewish world or in the legal world)? It is not like Feldman is necessarily going to be the next Cardoza. Many people are brilliant with high IQ's but to achieve greatness in your field, requires more then that. It requires a lot of conviction to take unpopular positions and a lot of creativity to choose those positions.
Shmuly Boteach failed as Noah Feldman's rabbi in Oxford. He should be doing Cheshbon Hanefesh regarding his inability to give this guy some pnimius, not writing op-eds to justify him. Perhaps he was intimidated by Noah. Of course, I have not met Noah and shouldn't judge. However, he looks like a very bright guy but also a superficial one - this happens with bright people.
i find Feldman's article to be a reflection on his personal experience. nowhere in this article did i find that he "badmouthed" his former community or "attacked his school". he is perplexed with the "paradox", in other words how far he can stretch it. but i must be missing some sensitive spots that are easily felt by the modern orthodox.
"Maimonides is the school that cultivates these characters in spades"
Can we hear some more names? (Call a spade a spade)
well i think that Noah's thoughts and person is emblematic of the religious and moral ethos of our time. He was given a very good education as it relates to his intellect, however the education of his "Character" (Midos) was neglected. As "Synonymous" points out, in Cordoza's time, people were brought up to aspire to be like people who had "character". And if I dare say, one can only acquire "character" from people with "character". It is not something you can acquire from studying a book. Today there is a great lack of people with character both in the religious and the secular world.
I agree with you. But how and why do you think that happened?
Clear in Shaas and posekim. I take it this translates into normal Yiddish Klor in shaas und poskim.Sure he is a smart guy, but exactly under whom diid he do shimush for Halachic training ?
c'mon schneur, halachic training מן דכר שמיה? it was only said that he is an erudite jew. that's all. nobody seriously considers him a rabbi.
He is a cry baby putz that will make it nowhere.
I guess he can take credit for the iraqi contitution.
"I guess he can take credit for the iraqi contitution."
Not according to Wikipedia
"He worked as an advisor in the early days of the Paul Bremer transitional team in Iraq for the writing of the country's then unwritten constitution (his advisory role, however, ended abruptly, and whether he quit or was fired has never been made clear)"
oxymoron,
My comment was said in sarcasm. There isn't much to take credit for. He is a vunderkind - and soon the vunder will be gone and the kind will still be there.
oxymoron, remember that any internet user can edit wikipedia, your "Not according to Wikipedia" sounds like you are referring to some strong source of information.
Schneur, to paraphrase marlon brando, "he coulda been a contender, he coulda been something!"
You see, in addition to Noah being an intellectual force, he can also be very personable, charming, in a genuine kind of way not in a career climber kind of way. Most recently he was a prof of law at NYU and from all reports his classes were the most popular in NYU law school. So he has a gift for teaching and articulating complex concepts, in an appealing manner. This indeed is a rare combination. The Rav comes to mind. The problem is, and perhaps this points to the vulnerability of Modern Orthodoxy, that his education placed great emphasis on intellectual and secular achievements. As a counter to that magnetic attraction of universal acclimation as one who has the capability of reaching the highest echelon in the secular world, one needs to have a very strong Jewish character, which is seldom dealt with in "Niglah D'Torah" (at least todays version).
Simon Jacobson's weekly e-mail essay addresses Noah Feldman's article in a brilliant and thorough fashion. A must read. Perhaps you should post it here.
Is his Family and homelife irrelevant. I have seen little mention of what kind of home he came from i.e. was torah study at home part of his father's routine, was shabbos a holy day or a day off etc. Maybe his school did a good job in imparting the necessary tools for halacha to be relevant but that this was not reinforced at home?
In my opinion the foundation of a childs relationship to Torah and mitzvos is established at home and that a strong foundation in addition to a good Jewish education leads to better overall results in adulthood.
"For many Jews who lack intellectual curiosity liberalism is the new religion."
this is not only true for Jews who might lack curiosity, but also for those who might also lack opportunity...to have been raised among a proper amount of Yiddishkeit.
Thank G-d some Jews' natural curiosity gets them relatively closer to where they are supposed to be...somehow....but a well intentioned Jew who just does not know any better might just be attracted to liberalism's lofty ideals, but there does not seem to be much of a valid excuse for Feldman...who one would think should know better.
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Edited By Siteowner
http://www.americanthinker.com/
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Feldman has now entered the ranks of the perfidious apostates that have afflicted the Jewish people through out our history:
OU Demands Apology from New York Times
(IsraelNN.com) The Orthodox Union (OU) has demanded that The New York Times apologize for publishing an article that included statements despite being warned ahead of time that they were false. The OU also called on the newspaper to remove the essay's author, Noah Feldman, as the Times's Sunday Magazine Contributing Editor.
Feldman, who was raised as an orthodox Jew, wrote that his Orthodox high school intentionally eliminated a picture of him and his non-Jewish fiancée at a school reunion. The OU cited a New York Jewish Week expose that revealed that Feldman and the Times were informed before publication of the essay that the information was false.
The OU, in its demand to the Times, noted that Feldman made offensive remarks "by...scurrilous anti-Orthodox characterizations" referring to Yigal Amir, who assassinated former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, and Baruch Goldstein, an Orthodox Jewish doctor who killed more than two dozen Arabs after having treated many victims of Arab terrorism, many of whom died in his arms during emergency care. Feldman also compared the wearing of tefillin (phylacteries) to "masochistic devices," according to the OU.
Here's the link, as I said a must read.
http://meaningfullife.com/oped/
2...._The_World.php
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