[Avodah] Open Orthodoxy, again

[Lisa Liel]

On 7/23/2013 3:30 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 03:25:44PM -0400, Rich, Joel wrote:
> : Is it the contention that simply by studying Academic Bible one has
> : rejected the traditional understanding of Torah Min Hashamayim?
>
> Actually, it's in the bio included in the paper I linked to, in
> the section http://thetorah.com/torah-history-judaism-part-3
>    

[snip]

>      At that point I made a fundamental methodological decision:
>      I would compartmentalize my thinking for a while. When I studied
>      history and text I would do so without any preconceived notions,
>      no matter what the conclusion, and I would not let that effect my
>      religious thinking until I felt I had a real grasp of the subject.
>    

And I think it's apparent what the result of this methodological 
decision has been.  And I think it would be a tragic result were he a 
private individual. But as a leader, questions of his influence on 
others have to be asked, and determinations have to take the good of 
those others into account.

As the Conservative movement slipped, gradually but inevitably, further 
and further away from the Torah once they breached the basic line which 
differentiates Orthodox Judaism from the heterodox movements, this 
methodology is slipping just as inevitably, but not quite as gradually.

Lisa