Letters on Noah Feldman

New York Times:

Noah Feldman’s highly personal essay raises many issues with which the American modern Orthodox Jewish community grapples as we seek to be faithful to our ancient tradition while engaging with the modern world (July 22). But it is the difficulty of this challenge that makes a person’s choices so critical, and it is with many of Feldman’s choices that we disagree.

It was Feldman’s choice to send as clear a signal as he could, through his marriage, that he was rejecting fundamental principles of the community. His expression of surprise at the reaction of the community’s institutions, including his alma mater, where he was taught these principles, strains credulity....

Feldman’s own life seems to be a testament to what can happen when one loses the balance between engaging with modern culture and a core commitment to Orthodox tradition and continuity, which so many others continue to maintain with dignity and much fulfillment.

Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb
Executive Vice President
Orthodox Union

Today's NYT Sunday Magazine contains an interesting selection of letters responding to the Feldman article. There is no doubt that intermarriage (without conversion by the non-Jewish partner) is an exceptionally painful topic for many within the Jewish community, perhaps particularly so within Orthodoxy. There can be little doubt that a person with Feldman's education would be well aware that his "out-marriage" would be ill-received, at least on an "official" level, by his (former?) modern Orthodox community. That recognized, Rabbi Dr. Weinreb's assertion that "It was Feldman’s choice to send as clear a signal as he could, through his marriage, that he was rejecting fundamental principles of the community" instrumentalizes a fundamental life choice in a fashion reminiscent of the ghetto (in this case, a voluntary rather than externally -imposed one), and strangely innocent of the ways of the heart in contemporary, open American society. The invocation by one letter-writer of Fiddler on the Roof (based on Shalom Aleichem's tales of Jewish life in the 19th century Pale) further reinforces this spatial and temporal displacement from our contemporary circumstances.

Might it be just possible that Feldman married for love, and not "to send ...a signal"?

Noah Feldman

I finally got to read Noah Feldman's piece on the dilemmas of modern Orthodoxy in the Sunday Times Magazine of two weeks back. I find the published Orthodox critiques of Feldman hyperbolic and inconsistent with a fair reading of the piece. In fact, I believe they mischaracterize both what Feldman said, and his likely intent in saying it. (I am not taking a position on certain highly specific accusations against Feldman and the Times pending further factual clarification.) For now, I've taken down my postings of excerpts from two of the critical pieces; perhaps I can return to consider why they characterize Feldman as they do. But not right away.

Long time readers will know that my own Jewish identification and sympathies are post-denominational, with strong ties to the havurah movement. My patterns of belief and practice are not modern Orthodox, although I certainly have friends and persons I admire within that stream of Judaism. Feldman's exploration of the dilemmas of modern Orthodox identity resonated strongly with me, and have salience for more liberal-minded Jews, although the particulars take different form (including parallel tensions with our more secular-minded friends and colleagues, some of whom approach any religious sensibilities as atavistic and incomprehensible in thinking persons of any intelligence). Frankly, I think this is one of the more sympathetic and persuasive pieces by Feldman that I've read.

Noah Feldman on ???

New York Times Magazine: By NOAH FELDMAN
Published: June 24, 2007

The de facto division of Palestine over the last week into a Hamas-led enclave in Gaza and a Fatah-dominated West Bank marks a new low in the sorry annals of Palestinian affairs. ... The Bush administration, too, deserves its share of the blame for openly neglecting the Middle East conflict for its first four years in office. As it turned out, feeling abandoned made ordinary Palestinians despondent about the prospects for peace — which enabled them to cast protest votes for Hamas without worrying that its election would effectively scuttle an already moribund peace process.

So what now? There will be no meaningful progress in the direction of peace until Abbas and Olmert are replaced by stronger leaders who can unify their constituencies enough to make negotiations seem credible. It will certainly take years for Israelis to once again see a partner for peace and for Palestinians to acknowledge that without a deal they are doomed to misery. In the classic Middle Eastern paradox, the mutual confidence that is the precondition of real compromise cannot emerge as long as each side sees the other as incapable of actually delivering on its promises. ...

Although our involvement obviously cannot guarantee improvement, there is a modest payoff at which we can aim: to stop the slide into anarchy before it really is too late.

If this goal of avoiding the worst in an already bad situation sounds familiar, it should: staving off disaster without much hope of short-term progress is also our current goal in Iraq. ...

Noah Feldman has a lot of impressive credentials, and seems on a rapid ascent (including a recent appointment at Harvard Law). For my taste, he seems to blather on in self-important fashion (very often on topics I care a great deal about), ultimately producing little lasting illumination. I could be wrong, and/or a bit jealous.