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Orthodoxy
By Benjamin Kerstein / August 27, 2007
The New Republic has an interesting profile of an evangelical priest who converted to Orthodox Christianity because of his disatisfaction with the frivolousness of evangelical ritual. I couldn't help but notice a certain synchronicity at work.
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Strikes me as that which has evolved out of halachic tradition and not out of a conscious break from it, i.e. Reform or Conservative Judaism.
What exactly constitutes "unadulterated traditional Judaism"? Does it entail the wearing of 18th century Polish clothes and melodies borrowed from Eastern European folk tunes?   When does the tradition become inexorably adulterated? By switching to melodies composed in the past generation – or do Carlebach tunes get a pass for their clever use of "traditional" musical tropes? When is the "mystery" lost? When a woman's voice is heard in prayer or seen in the absence of a mechitza? When aliyot are no longer handed out to Cohanim?  When the d'var Torah is given in the language of the congregants? Â
There is a vast range between a shtiebl in Mea Sharim and Temple Beth Suburb in Scarsdale.  Untethered from any genuine halakhic or religious mandate, a preference for 21st century Orthodox aesthetics is simply that – an aesthetic preference. You may not get anything out of the organ-chorale bombast of classical Reform, or the folk-rock swaying of camp Reform, or the hand-motion, responsive reading and cantorial acrobatics of standard Conservative, or the six-part a capella harmonies of a traditional egalitarian service, but why sneer at those who do?  Jewish prayer certainly hasn't remained in a pristine, unchanged shape in the past 2000 years.  This year at Rosh Hashanah, why not fire up the incense and go really old-school.   After all, what can be more "authentic" or "mysterious" than animal sacrifice? Â
There is something deeply compelling about ancient liturgical tradition that modern aesthetics simply cannot match. As a secularist, I still must concede that the sense of transcendence created by religious art and music has yet to be evoked by its more "rational" and so-called "acessible" heirs.
I'm curious where you saw "unadulterated traditional Judaism in action"? Is that a reference to Orthodox Judaism in general, or to a particular synagogue or movement in Israel?Â
–Z
I like your description of the effect of a beautiful service onto people -something like art for the masses? (In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess that I am bored to tears by pretty much any kind of religious service.)
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