metro

Time For Change

Orthodox rabbi foresees shifts in Jewish law
to match contemporary life.

Rabbi Lopes Cardozo

Louis Finkelman
Special to the Jewish News

0

rthodox rabbis, often experts in how Jewish
law has changed over the centuries, may feel
less comfortable contemplating how Jewish
law should change in the future. Not so Rabbi Dr.
Nathan Lopes Cardozo, dean of the David Cardozo
Academy in Jerusalem, lecturer and noted author on
Jewish philosophy.
Lopes Cardozo, considered one of the most thought-
ful voices in contemporary Orthodoxy, was visiting
with his daughter and son-in-law, Devora and Rabbi
Michael Cohen of Oak Park, over Passover.
Born into a thoroughly assimilated Sephardic family
in Amsterdam in 1946, Lopes Cardozo felt mysteri-
ously attracted to Jewish practice in his youth. He
attended the Gateshead Yeshiva in England for 12 years
and was ordained there in that center of the strictest
Orthodoxy, but, he says, "I know this world better than
most, but I am still not fully a part of it"
He spoke with the Jewish News about how he
expects, and hopes, Jewish law will change.
Judaism must change in response to the estab-
lishment of the State of Israel and the conditions of
modernity that confront Judaism "with a reality unlike
any that it has encountered for nearly 2,000 years:' he
says.
Lopes Cardozo explains: "My commitment to
Judaism is unconditional; yet at the same time, I have
wrestled with Judaism"
He began with a discussion of the place of dogma in
Judaism. In the 12th century, sophisticated Muslim and
Christian thinkers challenged Jews to articulate the
mandatory beliefs of Judaism. Maimonides (Rambam)
responded with the famous 13 principles of the faith;
he denounced any Jew who would reject or doubt any
one of those principles.
Perhaps Maimonides felt the times demanded a dog-
matic answer; Lopes Cardozo wonders if Maimonides
foresaw how later generations would make his words
authoritative.

10 May 22 • 2014

JN

Professor and author Marc Shapiro at the University
of Scranton has recently demonstrated that many
respected Jewish teachers over the centuries have
rejected one or another of these principles, and even
Rambam himself apparently did not accept them all.
Lopes Cardozo notes that Jewish teachers have always
argued over the essentials.
"Trying to fit the Torah into a few formulas is like
trying to fit the ocean in a bathtub:' he said. "It just
won't work"
In Lopes Cardozo's opinion, "dogma does not fit in at
all with Judaism."
He said he believes the quest for unchanging prin-
ciples of faith, beyond discussion or rethinking, must
not succeed.
"The moment you stop discussion, you produce
something dead:' he said.
Rambam likewise wrote a code of Jewish law to set-
tle questions of behavior; he hid disputes or alternative
practices. Lopes Cardozo thinks that, in the centuries
of exile, perhaps Jews needed to conform to codes of
belief and practice to remain a community. We paid a
high price for these codes: Many people who did not
conform just walked away from the Jewish people.

Time For Change
Now that we have a State of Israel, an autonomous
Jewish democracy, Lopes Cardozo suggests, we may
need to de-codify Jewish law to make room for alterna-
tives. We should not take laws developed for communi-
ties of powerless Jews in exile and mechanically apply
them to a powerful state under Jewish leadership.
Some of the early rabbinic leaders in Israel realized
this. The first chief rabbis knew Jewish law was not
yet ready for the project. The established rabbinate in
Israel now shows no interest in that kind of change.
The Talmud records many diverse options for obser-
vance; we still need some conformity, but we also can
afford to accommodate the emotional, spiritual and
intellectual needs of varied individuals, according to
Lopes Cardozo.
Ideally, as Kabalah implies, everyone needs his own
Torah, his own Jewish law. When someone asks a point
of observance, the answer should include all legitimate
options; rabbis should not try to lay down the law.
Lopes Cardozo especially hopes to see modifications in
Jewish law as it applies to divorce and conversion.
Jews in America have a different relationship with
their non-Jewish neighbors. Lopes Cardozo believes
enactments that governed how Jews lived among
actively hostile neighbors should not govern how we
live in countries with accepting neighbors.
Judaism ultimately aims not at creating a people who
happen to eat kosher food and not work on Shabbat,
but a people that serve as an inspiration, he says. We
should become a light to the nations.
Experts in Jewish law should think about how to
advise those non-Jews who seek guidance in living
a spiritual life according to the seven Noahide com-
mandments. The Noahide commandments, says Lopes
Cardozo, provide a floor for evaluating a society, not a
blueprint for how to build it.

❑

Bill and Audrey Farber

For Education

Farbers' $10 million
gift to Temple Israel.

T

emple Israel in West Bloomfield has
received a $10 million endowment for
its Susan and Rabbi Harold Loss Early
Childhood Center (ECC) from longtime congrega-
tion members Audrey and William "Bill" Farber of
West Bloomfield.
The endowment will provide yearly scholarships
to members seeking a Jewish education for their
preschool to kindergarten-aged children.
"Young families in Metro Detroit with children
entering preschool are finding it increasingly chal-
lenging to find Jewish educational opportunities that
are affordable," Bill Farber said. "It was a priority for
Audrey and me to create this endowment to help
children and their families have this experience,
and to also make our community the ideal place for
young Jewish families to live and work"
Adds Rabbi Harold Loss, "This very generous
donation is a testament to the Farbers' commitment
not only to Temple Israel, but also to strengthen-
ing our Jewish community The Farbers share our
mission and vision to provide an exemplary Jewish
education, and they understand the importance of
retaining and growing the Jewish community in
Metro Detroit:
In addition to increased scholarships, the endow-
ment will provide a state-of-the-art learning envi-
ronment for the preschool program. The ECC is
a "Great Start to Quality" four-star rated facility
providing an interactive learning process meant to
strengthen a child's Jewish identity.
The ECC's hands-on curriculum includes pro-
grams teaching social and emotional development;
gross and fine motor skills; language; early literacy
and communication; math and science; and Judaic
studies. It also offers enrichment activities such as
sports, art and cooking, and family fun programs.
"This endowment will help ensure the future of
the Early Childhood Center at Temple Israel and
provide unparalleled educational opportunities to
Jewish children in Southeast Michigan," said David
Tisdale, executive director. "The Early Childhood
Center plays an influential role in introducing chil-
dren and their families to Jewish life and Jewish
engagement."
For more information on the ECC, go to www.
temple-israel.org or call (248) 661-5700.

❑

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