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Tikkun Chides Jewish Law
As Problematic And Intolerant
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ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
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n the four years it has
been publishing, Tikkun
magazine' has carved out •
an interesting niche: A
liberal-leftist alternative to
Commentary, the neo-
conservative journal publish-
ed by the American Jewish
Committee; an advocate of
better Black-Jewish relations
unafraid to criticize someone
such as Jesse Jackson; an'
editorial staff with proper
liberal-leftist credentials
unafraid to criticize others to
the left of center who slander
Israel or who cozy up un-
critically to the Palestine
Liberation Organization.
In its March/April issue,
Tikkun tackles a new issue,
one no less sensitive than
some of its predecessors in the
magazine's pages: The alleg-
ed intolerance and outright
cruelty of some classical
Jewish teachings, especially
those in the halachah, or
Jewish law.
Writing
under
a
pseudonym, an Orthodox rab-
bi ordained by New York's
Yeshiva University stated
that there are "elements of
the [Jewish] tradition that do
not coincide with the ideal
Jewish way." He called on his
"religious colleagues to build
a contemporary halachic
structure that is not a
desecration of the Divine
Name but, on the contrary, is
a sanctification of that Name
— the Name that brings this
world closer to redemption."
In a note, the rabbi who
wrote the article, "The Pro-
blem With Halachic Ethics,"
said he used a pseudonym
"because there has been a
decrease in openness within
the mainstream of the Or-
thodox world toward discuss-
ing difficult issues such as
these, and I would be unable
to remain unscathed by peo-
ple's anger and adverse reac-
tions were I to give my name."
In a future scenario, the
author illustrated what he
envisioned as one of the more
problematic facets of
halachah. By the year 1996,
he wrote, Israel has either
been transformed into "a
complete theocracy" or its
religious parties have been
able to have a law passed that
excludes someone from
criminal prosecution for
observing a particular
halachic injunction.
But it is discovered that one
of the "most brilliant"
.
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38
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 1989
surgeons at Jerusalem s
Hospital has a peculiar
record: Of the 3,000 patients
on whom he operated in the
past ten years, 70 percent of
the Jews survived and 70 per-
cent of the non-Jews did not.
And of those Jews who died,
90 percent were completely
secular.
The doctor is charged with
mass murder. At the trial, his
attorney cites the Shulchan
Aruch, the authoritative 16th
century compendium of
Jewish law, which states
"quite clearly that it is forbid-
den to save the life of an
idolater or of a Jew who
brazenly rejects the kosher
dietary laws or any other
religious law. This prohibition
applies also to a Jew who is
apikores — someone who does
not believe that the dead will
be resurrected someday or
that a descendant of David
will be the Messiah. The law
'
The attorney says
the rights of an
idolater in Israel
are nonexistent.
is directed especially at doc-
tors, who should withhold
treatment from such people."
"In fact," continues the Tik-
kun author, "the Shulchan
Aruch suggests ways to get
rid of such people, including
spreading rumors about them
that will eventually lead to
their being killed, or remov-
ing the ladder from a place to
which they have fallen and
have no other means of escape
(in this way, the man or
woman simply starves to
death). The attorney cites
supporting evidence that the
rights of an idolater in Israel
are nonexistent and adds that
Maimonades asserted (in his
Laws of Idolatry) that, when
Jews have a secure military
hold on Israel, the above-
mentioned laws do not go far
enough. Idolaters must not be
permitted to be in the land at
all . . ."
The doctor in this scenario
is acquitted and Israel's non-
Jews and secularists "scram-
ble to establish their own
hospitals." Others plan to
leave the country.
This hypothetical case,
asserts the author, is "not an
isolated problem of one dif-
ficult law regarding idolaters
. . . The problem involves a
huge body of Jewish law that
has been rather carelessly ap-
plied to all non-Jews both in
ritual and in civil law. Most
important, this body of laws
will, in the years ahead, be
used by some people, with in-
creasing frequency, as a bat-
tering ram against Palesti-
nians and anyone else, Jewish
or gentile, who gets in the
way of an amoral ultrana-
tionalism."
As an antidote to allowing
"halachah to become a vehi-
cle of murderous or suicidal il-
lness," the author proposed
continuing "what. enlighten-
ed Orthodox and Conser-
vative halachists have
already begun — namely, the
articulation of the many high
moral standards that the
traditional texts demand of
Jews." He also urged Jews to
"acknowledge the context in
which much of the halachah
concerning non-Jews was
written and face squarely
what we are to say and do
about the morally pro-
blematic laws. . ." The
"mutual hatred between Jew
and Christian that prevailed
for thousands of years .. .
made it extremely difficult for
Jews to develop an objective,
moral, halachic perspective
on the status of the gentile."
Finally, he encouraged Jews
to "refuse to leave halachah
in the hands of those who not
not care about the horrifying
possibilities of the above-
mentioned laws and instead
to develop it and struggle
with it as has been done for
three thousand years." This,
he said, "would wrest authen-
ticity from those who' have ex-
traordinary attachment to
ritual observance, but little
knowledge of Judaism's many
moral laws and insights."
Mideast Coverage
Earns Award
For Reporter
John Kifner of the New
York Times has received the
prestigious George Polk
Award in the category of
foreign reporting for his
coverage of the Israeli-
Palestinian crisis.
The award was given for
Kifner's "objective stories
from both sides of the conflict
[which] maintained a sen-
sitivity to the human emo-
tions of Palestinian youths
and young Israeli soldiers
caught in their grim confron-
tation" of the Palestinian in-
tifada and Israel's response to
it.
"While
other
cor-
respondents were reporting
the death of a young Israeli
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