Rabbi Yitzchak Blau make a valuable contribution to the discussion of the Rabbinical Assemby teshuva authored by Rabbi Hammer in his comments. It strikes me as particularly so when you combine his first and second paragraphs. He states:
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I am not in favor of abolishing the prohibitions of stam yeinam or bishul akum. Nevertheless I have some sympathy for aspects of Rabbi Reuven Hammer's essay.
1) Despite the contemporary popularity of the Ivan Karamazov position, the overwhelming majority of rabbinic sources think there is an ethic beyond halakha (see my article [
www.yutorah.org]) If this ethic does not outlaw harming innocent people, what does it do? Our ethical intuitions cannot overturn Torah law but they can influence interpretation in ambiguous situations and pesak in cases of debate. I think it religiously correct that we should feel more drawn to sources that affirm gezel hagoy as a biblical prohibition. Contra the factors raised by R. Broyde, this is an ethical position and not based on pragmatic factors.
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and this goes to the heart of the educational mission problem (which I thought was missing from Rabbi Hammer's writings). There are two issues at play here -- one is the rabbinic desire to reduce the likelihood of intermarriage and the second is our important obligation to insure the "in the image of God"ness of all humans. As we teach our children (and adults also) to behave in the modern world, we recognize that both of these goals are important and the portrayal of the Gentile in halacha and hashkafa is not simple or simplistic but reflective of these two somewhat competing goals. We need to raise our children to recognize that harming innocent people -- Jew or Gentile -- is wrong an improper and a violation of halacha, while also diminishing the idea that intermarriage is permissible or that any and all distinctions between Jews and Gentiles are problematic. That nuance was, I think, completely missing from Rabbi Hammer's writings on this topic and thus made, at least in my view, his work here as less valuable to the Orthodox reader who is concerned with expressing both values.
Michael J. Broyde
Professor of Law
Emory University School of Law
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2016 01:53PM by mlb.
