Last week, as word was received of the serious illness of the Gaon, Rabbi Aaron Kotler, a heartwarming and spontaneous reaction of grief and sympathy passed over the entire religious community. In the yeshivas and the houses of learning, students and scholars paused in the midst of their studies to supplicate and to beseech, to ask and petition, to lift voice and heart to the Father of Mercy to have compassion and to grant a gift to Reb Aaron, the gift of recovery.
And not only in the halls of learning, but in the places of worship, in the synagogues throughout the land, as telegrams were received apprising the rabbis of the serious news, preparations were immediately made for the saying of Tehillim (Psalms) and prayers for recovery.
From the pulpits of dozens of synagogues, praise of the Gaon, admiration for Reb Aaron, and hopes for the gift of healing rang out. Such were our gifts last week to Reb Aaron Kotler.
One Gift Missing
Yet, one cannot help but wonder what the object of all these gifts was thinking. One cannot escape the feeling that from his bed – as word was passed to him of all these gifts – Reb Aaron Kotler may have shaken his head sadly, as searching through our gifts he failed to find the one gift that was most meaningful to him.
For we have given him a gift of our lips; we have granted him the gift of our well wishes; we have sent him the gifts of our time. We have, however, withheld from him the gift he yearns for most – the gift of obedience.
The Issue
It is almost seven years since Reb Aaron Kotler and ten others of the leading Roshei HaYeshivas in America met, convened, deliberated, and issued a prohibition to all rabbis against taking part in any way in a rabbinical body comprising non-Orthodox elements.
The language of the prohibition was clear and distinct. It left no room for doubts and hesitation as to its real meaning. For the sake of those who may have forgotten it, it bears repeating:
“We have been asked … if it is allowed to participate in and to take part in the New York Board of Rabbis or similar organizations in other cities that combine Reform and Conservative ‘rabbis.’
“And as we have gathered to clarify this point, it is decreed by us that it is forbidden by the laws of the Torah to be a member in or participate in any such group.
“Similarly we were asked (concerning) the Synagogue Council of America which combines Reform and Conservative organizations and we have decreed that it is forbidden … to participate either as an individual or in the role of a communal organization.
“Signed…this 18 Adar 5716, here in New York:
(Rabbis) A. Yaffen, A. Kalmanowitz, A. Kotler, G. Shor, D. Lifshitz, C. M. Katz, Y. Kaminetsky, Y. Y. Ruderman, Y. Hutner, M. Y. Zaks, M. Feinstein.”
Following this prohibition, similar interdictions were issued by the late Brisker Rav, Rabbi Velvel Soloveichik, zt”l, and by other leading Gedolei HaTorah in Israel, including: Rabbis Z. P. Frank (Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem), Z. Sorotzkin, D. Weidenfeld (Chubiner Rav), R. Katz (Chief Rabbi of Petach Tikva), A. Sofer (Pressburger Rav), and B. Marcus (Chief Rabbi of Haifa).
Seriousness
Almost seven years have passed, and the decree of the luminaries of Israel has been ignored. Orthodox rabbis, professing loyalty to Torah Judaism, continue to belong to these groups, continue to participate in them, continue to disregard a decree by the Torah authorities.
It is important that we understand the true seriousness of the whole problem, for by the disregarding of the decree of our rabbis, the problem has transcended the particular question involved, and has raised a far more basic question, one which strikes at the very roots of the authority of Torah.
Recognition
The signers of the prohibition did so not out of malice or hatred towards non-Orthodox elements. They and we – and indeed all Orthodoxy – feel in our hearts naught but love, sympathy, and compassion for all brother Jews. It was not hate, but a terrible fear for the future of Torah that drove the leading authorities to ban these groups. For the rabbis understood that by our sitting with these groups, by our according them status as rabbis and as representatives of the Jewish religion, we were digging the grave of Torah.
For if we ourselves call them rabbis, then surely the layman can too. Then surely the average Jew can rely on them for weddings and divorce and kashrus and authority to rule on any matter of law. When we place the other “wings” of Judaism on an equal footing, when we even accord them recognition, we are in effect acquiescing to their arguments that there are three separate but equally legitimate versions of Judaism and any Jew can quite properly choose the one he feels is most suitable to him.
And on the day that we admit this hypothesis to be true – we are undone. It is only our insistence on our sole legitimacy and our indictment of the others as frauds that can keep the light and darkness separate in the minds of the people, that can still cause them pangs of conscience, that can render our battle meaningful. To all Jews – as individuals – we grant everything; as self-proclaimed religious leaders – nothing.
This then is why the Gedolim – in their wisdom and vision – issued their decree. And the many, many rabbis – including not inconsequential names – who have defied them, and remained within the banned groups in order to savor a whiff of “prestige” or lick a bit of “kavod” have done a far greater harm to Judaism than that of helping to legitimize the Reform and Conservative. They have done much, much worse.
Authority Undermined
What they have done is nothing less than undermine the time-hallowed power and authority of the Sages. It is this authority that – in every generation – is the voice of Heaven speaking to us. In one era it may be a Moses, in another a Samuel, in still another a Yiftach. But Yiftach is to his generation as Samuel was to his, the source of authority in religious matters, the basis of guidance.
It is precisely this authority which was the first thing undermined when Reform and later Conservatism first reared their heads. It was the usurpation of power by the unfit and unlearned, the disregarding of the fountain of authority which was the first step to the creation of a neo-Judaism, formed not in the spirit of G-d, but out of Man.
And consider. Is there any shade of difference between this – the disregard of minor rabbis for their sages and the disregard of laymen for their rabbis? Can a rabbi who snubbed the decree continue to have the gall to chastise his congregation for disregarding his admonition? Is there any qualitative difference between a simple rabbi defying a Gadol, and a simple layman defying a rabbi?
Is there not an alarming similarity to that wing of the Conservative movement which also vows allegiance to Torah but refuses only to acknowledge the Torah authorities?
On the day that the authority of the Torah elders was disregarded and disgraced, the Torah blanched with shame. Worse, anarchy and chaos entered the American Torah scene. For no group and no society can long endure when the rule of law and obedience to the deciders of that law are flouted.
And so, to all those rabbis and leaders who last week offered Reb Aaron Kotler their gifts of sympathy, lips and time:
Rabbosei – gentlemen! If you would really give Reb Aaron the gift of life – of eternal life – save these gifts and in their place substitute another. It is a far more simple one than that of fasting, a far less time-consuming one than that of Psalms, a far less tiring one than lengthy sermons of praise.
Grant honor to the Torah! Grant respect to its representatives! Restore the crown to its former glory! The unity of Torah can only be achieved through our recognizing our proper place in the Torah society. Hearken to the decree of our Gedolim and this – rest assured – will be the sweetest gift for Reb Aaron – and ourselves.
26 Cheshvan 5723 – November 23, 1962