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Beth Abraham Hillel Moses
IS
PEOPLE
There's a warm, friendly feeling at Beth Abraham Hillel Moses. It comes from
people who care about their congregation and their community.
Our young couples club, sisterhood, men's club and Parent Teacher Organization
provide opportunities for service and socializing. And family-oriented programming,
including special Shabbat services and activities, are enjoyed by toddlers and grand-
parents alike.
But our interest in people extends beyond our walls. We have "adopted" residents
of Jewish Association For Retarded Citizens group homes, involving them in all
- congregational activities. Through Mazon, a Jewish-
sponsored program for feeding the hungry, and the
Oakland County Food Bank, our members contribute
funds and foodstuff to the needy.
People. It's one of the building blocks which makes
Beth Abraham Hillel Moses a great place for you —
and your family.
(SETH ABRAHAM KIEL MOSES
For information about
membership and our education
programs, please call us at:
851-6880
5075 W. MAPLE ROAD • WEST BLOOMFIELD
36
FRIDAY AUGUST 5 1988
Should Orthodox Talk
To Non-Orthodox Rabbis?
GARY ROSENBLATT
Editor
T
he debate within Or-
thodox Judaism over
whether or not to talk
with the leaders of Conser-
vative and Reform Judaism
has been the topic of a sharp
debate, in print, between two
rabbi-scholars in the pages of
the Jewish Observer, the
monthly publication of the
Agudath Israel of America.
At the core of this and other
debates is whether it is better
for the Orthodox to sit down
and negotiate with the
leaders of the Conservative
and Reform movements over
religious divorce, conversion
and other personal status
issues that may determine
the future of Jewish life or if
it is preferable to distance
Orthodoxy as far as possible
from the other branches,
reaching out to individual
non-Orthodox Jews while
refusing to deal with the -
leaders of the movements for
fear of legitimizing their
beliefs.
The latest round began
when Rabbi Norman Lamm,
the president of Yeshiva
University, spoke at the Fifth
Avenue Synagogue in New
York last spring on "Centrist
Orthodoxy." A 900-word sum-
mary of his talk appeared in
the New York Times, with
Rabbi Lamm asserting that
for too long the right-wing Or-
thodox "have set the religious
agenda" in the U.S. and
Israel. He called on the more
moderate, centrist or modern
Orthodox to reassert
themselves.
Labels are slippery when it
comes to describing the
various branches of Ortho-
doxy. According to Rabbi
Lamm, while centrist Ortho-
doxy follows Halachah
(Jewish law) as the
authoritative norm for daily
conduct, it is, unlike the right
wing, "open to secular
culture, unabashedly Zionist,
and values tolerance of dif-
ferent opinions?'
He said that since Reform
"long ago abandoned
Halachah" and Conservatives
have sometimes altered it
outside the boundaries,
rightist Orthodoxy has no use
for these branches and views
them as illegitimate and anti-
Torah.
But centrist Orthodoxy, ac-
cording to Rabbi Lamm,
believes "that one must in-
deed disagree with the non-
Orthodox, but we must do so
respectfully. That means
Rabbi Normal Lamm:
Opponent of pluralism.
lowering the temperature of
the polemical rhetoric,
acknowledging that they are
valid groupings and, indeed,
in granting that, if they are
sincere in their convictions,
they possess spiritual digni-
ty?'
Rabbi Lamm's views were
praised by the leaders of the
Conservative and Reform
movements, and strongly
criticized by the right-wing
Orthodox. Professor Aaron
Twerski, a Brooklyn Law
School professor with
from the Ner Israel Rab-
binical College in Baltimore,
challenged Rabbi Lamm to
Rabbi Lamm's
views were praised
by leaders of the
Conservative and
Reform
movements, and
strongly criticized
by the right-wing
Orthodox.
define what he meant by cen-
trist and right-wing Ortho-
dox, and to explain how the
Reform and Conservative
movements were "valid:' Are
Conservative and Reform rab-
bis to be seen as legitimate in
terms of Jewish law?
Writing in the April issue of
the Observer, Professor Twer-
ski addressed the Times
report and faulted Rabbi
Lamm for appearing to deal
with Conservative and
Reform leaders with respect
and dignity.
Rabbi Lamm responded in
the June issue of the maga-
zine by suggesting the Times
article did not reflect the