Author Topic: Agudath Israel of America: "Open Orthodoxy movement isn't Orthodox Judaism"  (Read 509 times)

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Offline edu

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http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/356441/moetzes-gedolei-hatorah-issues-kol-korei-on-open-orthodoxy.html
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Recent years have seen an effort by various institutions, under the rubric of “Open Orthodoxy,” to claim, as per that chosen name, that their theology and attitude toward Jewish religious law comprise an acceptable expression of what has long been called “Orthodox Judaism.”
The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America, or Council of Torah Sages, which serves as Agudath Israel of America’s highest rabbinic body, has examined statements and positions put forth by representatives of the “Open Orthodox” groups and found that the movement is beyond the pale of Orthodoxy.

To help prevent the Jewish public from being misled on the matter, the Council issued the following statement today:
“OPEN ORTHODOXY,” and its leaders and affiliated entities (including, but not limited to, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Yeshivat Maharat, and International Rabbinic Fellowship), have shown countless times that they reject the basic tenets of our faith, particularly the authority of the Torah and its Sages. Accordingly, they are no different than other dissident movements throughout our history that have rejected these basic tenets.

We therefore inform the public that in our considered opinion, “Open Orthodoxy” is not a form of Torah Judaism (Orthodoxy), and that any rabbinic ordination (which they call “semicha”) granted by any of its affiliated entities to their graduates does not confer upon them any rabbinic authority.

May the Almighty have mercy on the remnants of His people and repair all breaches in the walls of the Torah, and may we be worthy to witness the raising of the glory of Hashem and His sacred Torah

Cheshvan 5776
MOETZES GEDOLEI HATORAH OF AMERICA

Does anyone know if anyone outside of the Agudath Israel movement has reached the same conclusion?

What exactly is the so called "Open Orthodox" movement saying, that has gotten them to be classified with
Deform and Con Judaism instead of Torah-observant Judaism?

Offline Israel Chai

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http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.666064  Open orthodox rabbi, calls himself that after calling himself orthodox a few times, he's a sneaker.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/17152 He wants gays, pretend-Jews and the intermarried to be part of it. It's reform basically.
The fear of the L-rd is the beginning of knowledge

Offline edu

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excerpt from http://www.jewishpress.com/blogs/haemtza/saying-kaddish-for-open-orthodoxy/2015/07/13/
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I did not think they warranted being expelled from Orthodoxy. Until one fine day Zev Farber, one of YCT’s prime products revealed that after studying biblical criticism he concluded that the Torah was probably written by different people at different times in history. That is a heretical view.

YCT president, Rabbi Asher Lopatin reacted to that by reaffirming his belief in the traditional view that the Torah is the word of God as recorded by Moshe; and this is what his Yeshiva YCT teaches.


But he nevertheless defended Zev Farber’s right to question those foundational beliefs – calling him a major Talmud Chacham, and continued to embrace him as one of YCT’s own. That (as I have indicated in the past) is a deal breaker for me. I challenge my good friend Asher do explain how you can assert traditional views to be the truth and at the same time say that one of their brightest graduates has a right as an Orthodox Jew to question it?

I don’t see how any movement that does exactly what the Conservative movement does vis a vis belief can be called Orthodox. The Conservative movement too allows for such beliefs, just as they do the traditional ones. How is Open Orthodoxy all that different with respect to their belief system? As I said in a recent essay, they have essentially started a new movement that is not Orthodox, despite use of the word in their name.