When I began to write this blog, I responded to the comments.
Then I was told by some people that it is improper etiquette to do so.
So I stopped responding to the comments.
But lately I have been reading other blogs and I have noticed that some bloggers respond to comments.
I actually think it is a good thing to respond to comments. It shows that I am reading what my readers have to say. And it creates a dialogue. I didn't start writing this just to be heard. I started to write so that maybe I can make a difference.
So from now on, I will try my best to respond to comments. Obviously, not every comment would need a response.
Let's just play it be ear and see how it goes.
Thank you.
Be well.
SD
7 comments:
I am so glad you've decided to respond to comments.
One of the blessings you get from creating a blog is the potential to establish dialogue with people from all over the world.
And I'm also glad you're posting more.
Good to see you posting more regularly.
Your readers may be interested to know that a number of YU students and alumni have started a campaign to let the YU administration know that we appreciate the fact that they made this event happen. While Pres. Joel's statement was not what we were hoping to hear, it may have more to do with the fact that the great silent majority of people pleased with this event did not feel the need to tell Pres. Joel how proud we are that this happened.
Please send emails of support and thanks to Pres. Joel at rjoel@yu.edu
That is a great idea.
I sent an email to Dr. Joel and to Rabbi Blau commending them on their courage.
SD
great idea, will do the same
I have been following the comments since the Y.U. symposium and was very disturbed by the ludicrous response that Rabbi Twersky made.His arguments and comparisons were so foolish,it was an embarrassment to read.
I particularly enjoyed the rebuttal of Mordechai Levovitz,who broke down each of Rabbi Twersky's arguments in a talmudic and appropriate response.
I truly believe that if Rabbis disapprove of these types of symposiums,it is smarter for them to say nothing, rather than responding with stupidity.
One of the panelists talked about his depression and of his consideration of committing suicide. Is that what the rabbis would prefer?
I believe that the orthodox world has to develop some compassion for our young people who just want to be accepted for WHO they are and not what their orientation is.
It's time for the orthodox community to leave G_d's creations alone.
One of the aspects of our religion I used to point to with pride was the fact that it was constantly adapting and confrontng new situations and concerns.
We have been called the people of the book and lauded for our supposed thirst for knowledge.
What we have seen in some of our co-religionists is the exact opposite.
We should remember the words of Hillel spoken to the scoffer when he asked to be taught the Torah while standing on one foot.
I see many of our rabbis standing on one foot. The other is firmly in their mouths.
Dear Saul David,
Thank you so much for your blog - our son told us about two weeks ago, at the same time as it became relevant for us. One way I have dealt with the news is by composing the open letter attached below.
A father
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“A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality.” That well-worn line occurred to me as I reflected on the debate over the Wurzweiler panel on gays and Orthodoxy.
Any honest discussion of this issue must start with a basic truth: being gay is not something that people choose. This is both a scientific fact and an intuitively true statement. As a friend of mine put it, why would a person raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, who desperately wants to remain an Orthodox Jew, choose a sexual orientation that threatens to ostracize him from that community and that risks a life of loneliness and despair? Unfortunately, it is clear from the statements made by the Roshei Yeshiva following the Wurzweiler panel that they do not accept this basic truth. This refusal is evidenced by their use of such phrases as “those who profess homosexuality” and by comparisons of gays to shoplifters who need to control their urge to steal. It would be bad enough if this refusal to see the obvious merely dishonored our obligation to seek truth and justice and disgraced the Torah. The actual harm is far worse than this, though: it causes deep mental – and, in some cases, life-threatening – anguish for untold numbers of Orthodox Jews and drives thousands away from a community whose embrace as human beings and fellow Jews they yearn for.
The same Torah that condemns mishkav zachar tells us “mi’dvar sheker tirchak” – abhor falsehood – and to love our fellow Jew. And when Hillel was asked to summarize the Torah while the heathen was standing on one foot, he chose a variant of the last, not the first, of those statements as our faith’s fundamental principle: “What is hateful to you, do not do unto others.”
Which brings us back to our opening line: “A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged by reality.” When – not if, because it is inevitable – one of those Roshei Yeshiva learns that a talmid muvhak or a close family member is gay, he will have been mugged by reality. And we will then be able to say that “a tolerant Rosh Yeshiva is an intolerant one who’s been mugged by reality” – we will then have a Rosh Yeshiva who will realize, with pellucid clarity, that sexual orientation is not a choice. He will then understand – and hopefully help others to understand – that, when given a choice between violating “mi’dvar sheker tirchak” – denying the undeniable – and keeping “ve’ohavta le’rei’acha kamocha” – loving your fellow Jew as yourself – the latter is to be loudly proclaimed as preferable to the former.
We welcome discussion of the issues – the halachic, hashkafic, and social ones – as long as the discussion is based on the unflinching truth: the truth of life which is, ultimately, the truth of Torah.
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