The latest dispatch from Rabbi Daniel Gordis is entitled Where Have All The Rabbis Gone. I found it to be interesting and intriguing.
Gordis covers multiple issues such as the stupid remarks (my opinion) by the Sephardic Chief Rabbi about why the recent events in SouthEast Asia, ridiculous comments about Israel (again my opinion) and many others such as the events surrounding the withdrawal from Gaza and more.
It is a long piece and well worth reading, far too long to post in it’s entirety, but I think that this quote is particularly apt:
“What they all lack is the sense that though they have strong opinions, they recognize that there might be some legitimacy to other viewpoints. What they are all missing is the Talmudic insight that discourse is genuinely religious — and wholly Jewish — when conflicting opinions co-exist on the same page, locked in respectful combat for generations to follow. What we, and they, are missing, is the sort of religious leadership which once made Judaism profound. We could use those Talmudic sages around these parts again.”
That seems to be a real problem everywhere, too many people who have to be right all of the time, compromise has to be found somewhere. There doesn’t only have to be one way to do things.
Lots of food for thought in this article. It was so disheartening to read that the Chief Sephardic Rabbi blamed the tsunami on the victims, saying that G-d was angry with them.
And this is very unsettling:
For even a cursory read of the biblical and rabbinic accounts of why Jerusalem fell thousands of years ago suggest that matters had much more to do with infighting among the Jews than the power of our enemies.