R’ Shalom,
I have been meditating, as I cleared my driveway of another 12 inches of snow, on my feelings regarding the inclusion of [
www.practicalhalacha.com] in the latest Announcements digest.
I reviewed the Lookstein Center’s mission statement and I can’t see that the website is in direct conflict with the mission but I have a sense that it is an abrogation of the spirit of Modern Orthodoxy that Rabbi Lookstein, the Lookstein Center and Bar Ilan University represent.
The email includes the following rejoinder: "These halachot are not intended to replace a rabbi who knows you personally or who knows the details of your specific question; rather the website is intended for when you have no access to a rabbi, such as right before Shabbat or Yom Tov, when travelling, or when the local rabbi does not have the expertise of a posek. Additionally, the website is useful as a convenient study text when no halachic books are available."
It seems, nonetheless, to be highly problematic and rather disingenuous.
1) There is almost never a situation when one can not contact an authority.
2) The centralization of pesak around ‘gedolim’ is a tenet of charediesm that is rejected by forward thinking Modern Orthodox rabbis and poskot. It is part of a larger vision that divests power from local rabbinates and rabbis. If you trust your local rabbi enough to ask them a question then you should trust that they will pass the question on if they are not qualified. Websites such as these strip baalei batim of confidence in their local rabbis.
3) The notion that the website is written for learning when no books are present is hard to understand. If one has access to the internet then one has access to myriad sifrei kodesh and English translations.
A line by line critique is beyond the scope of this email but I wanted to share the following excerpts and comments:
"Women are not prohibited from learning Talmud, but men should not teach them. Note: Since women are not required to study Talmud, they do not make a siyum if they complete studying any part.†This is strongly out of sync with the values expressed in the Lookstein community.
The section on Nida is written in a terribly objectifying way. It’s hard to read.
A section on Abortion is included, in case you can’t reach a posek before having one, I guess… “Even Down’s syndrome and other developmental or genetic problems may not be enough to justify abortion, but an expert rabbi should be consulted since this is a very complicated area.†I find this extremely insensitive and offensive.
There is a very unhelpful section on Jewish Spirituality: “‘Jewish Spirituality’ means an awareness of God’s presence.†I think we can do better than this and would not ever share this with anybody.
I’m not sure what can be done and I’m not sure of your editorial policy. I wanted to share by discomfort and even upset.
Kol Tuv,
Rabbi Mordechai Rackover
Educational Curation and Consulting
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/04/2015 07:31AM by mlb.
