And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12) A pdf version of this essay can be downloaded here [*] Years in brackets refer to an individual’s or book author’s year of birth Thought experiment for the day: Anyone born 1945 would be pushing towards 80 and mostly past their prime. So name any Charedi sefer written by someone born post war that has or is likely to enter the canon, be it haloche, lomdus, al hatorah or mussar. Single one will do for now — IfYouTickleUs (@ifyoutickleus) July 27, 2022 A tweet in the summer which gained some traction asked for a book by an author born from 1945 onwards that has entered the Torah and rabbinic canon or is heading in that direction. I didn't exactly phrase it this way and some quibbled about 'canonisation'. The word does indeed have a precise meaning though in its popular use it has no narrow definition. Canonisation, or ‘entering the canon’ is generally understood to...
This is what the recently retired canon of St Paul’s Cathedral, the Rev Giles Fraser, had to say in an interview in Friday’s Guardian:
"I used to be a socialist and for a long time I did have the view that there was something intrinsically immoral about capitalism. I changed my mind quite fundamentally about that quite a few years ago. I had a conversion sitting in Notting Hill market, reading the chief rabbi on the subject – an essay called 'the moral case for market economy'.”
Perhaps not quite a road to Damascus moment but then Notting Hill is a lot safer especially these days.
I do however wonder whether the Chief would ever dare tell the world of a conversion of his by a leader of another faith. He got himself into trouble in the past when suggesting that Judaism may have something to learn from others, which he then hastily retracted. Ever since he has steered clear of sensitive issues for fear of getting tangled in the knotty beards or the crocheted yarmulkes.
It is a shame he lacks his predecessor’s forthrightness on anything from Israel to charedim. For while the world benefits greatly from his writing and speeches Judaism sorely lacks someone of his stature and capabilities to give us some straight talking.
Well, a rabbi resigning on point of principle. When was the last time you heard that one?
Hello again,
ReplyDeleteAre you going to include on your blog any divrei torah, reviews, interviews etc?
I won't touch the JC and I know of nobody who reads it for pleasure: we read it because there is, or seems to be, no alternative. As for the Tribune, I gave up reading it when it said that Saddam Hussein ought to have been drawn and quartered as well as hanged. What I dream of is an online Jewish paper that does its best to include as many differing views as possible as well as to write something that can be read with pleasure.
When I was at Walford Road Synagogue we used to produce a community magazine that really had a bit of everything: Torah, interviews, history, short stories, you name it. We were going to do some investigations into the price of kosher food, unfortunately at that time due to various upheavals at shul it never happened. We were only a small shul, and yet between us we managed to come up with some very interesting material.
There must be enough creative talent out there to produce the kind of thing I have in mind. Any feedback on this?
Kol tov
Simcha
And I got myself into similar trouble for supporting him. Unlike Rabbi Sacks, I would not be browbeaten to rewrite something just because the Chareidi establishment didn't like it. To be successfully good you have got to have a dash of something evil, otherwise you would never stand your ground when challenged. I perceive that Rabbi Sacks is too nice for his own good.
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