Slifkin Ban: Shame on the Gedolim! Below is a letter sent to the editor of Yated Ne'eman's affiliated website (http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com)  in response to their online article on the ban on Rabbi Nosson Slifkin's books. _____________________________________________________________ 25 Shevat 5765—February 4, 2005 To: Mordecai Plaut, Editor;  G. Safran;  Dei’ah veDibur;  Yated Ne’eman   Dear Editor Plaut and Mr. Safran: You should be ashamed of yourselves for publishing your scandalous article about Rabbi Nosson Slifkin, as should the "gedolim" you quoted and cited be ashamed of themselves. This letter is addressed to all of you. And I believe that my opinions, expressed below, are shared by many others. I have read some of Rabbi Slifkin’s books and have found them inspiring—inspiring not only because they address issues that trouble many Jews, but also because he is one of only a few rabbonim who are not afraid to write about these troubling topics with intellectual honesty and integrity. I have seen the world of the gedolim that your article names. It is a world in which emes is not allowed to see the light of day, where knowledge is suppressed and where books are banned or burned. If these gedolim disagree with Rabbi Slifkin, let them debate him on the issues and let them try to give reasonable explanations, according to their own beliefs, of that which he struggles to explain. They cannot do so, nor, in their state of self-delusion, do they even see any need to try. They are content to live in their own fantasy world, in which they reinforce each other’s ignorant, mistaken ideas. They have the smug, blissful certitude of ignorant people who do not care to be bothered with facts. They are bullies who suppress knowledge and truth. The Torah and the Gemara present many conflicts with modern scholarship. I recently questioned frum scholars, including knowledgeable rabbonim, about a particular issue in which modern scholarship is in conflict with the views of Chazal and the meforshim, who did not have available to them information we now have. Not a single one of these frum scholars questioned the correctness of the modern scholarly view. It was clear that they already were well aware of the problem I had raised. When I asked why they had not published articles on this, one told me that this is a topic that he speaks about only in private, but cannot put in print. One rov told me that he was afraid to write about it. Another rov was so unnerved when I e-mailed him about this question that he said this was not a topic that he was comfortable discussing, especially by e-mail. These frum scholars and educated rabbonim are afraid of disclosing what they know is the emes. They are afraid of ignorant bullies like the gedolim named in your article. They are afraid of the effect that discovery of emes will have on the followers whom your gedolim have kept in a state of ignorance for so long. They remain officially silent, while acknowledging the problems in private. This is a well-known matter among frum scholars, though no doubt unknown to your gedolim, most of whom shun science and history and speak only to each other. If any of your gedolim are aware of this problem, they dishonestly choose to keep it to themselves, and, if asked about it publicly, will revert to what passes for intelligent comment in your community: "chas vesholom." One result of this suppression of emes is a distortion of the true meaning of the Torah, as the Torah, being emes, must accord with reality. The responsibility for this distortion, which I consider a grave aveiroh, rests on the shoulders of your gedolim. Truth is no longer paramount in Yiddishkeit. What has become paramount is the suppression of knowledge, and the avoidance of conflict with uninformed gedolim (and their ignorant followers) who are out of touch with reality and who abuse their power in order to suppress emes and to bully into submission those who know them to be in error. Your article quotes a godol (Rav Sheiner) who claims that the concept that the world is millions of years old is "nonsense" and should not be heard or believed. Yet I personally heard (at a public address) from the mouth of Rav Moshe Tendler, a respected scientist and the son-in-law of Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt"l, that the world may well be billions of years old. I think that Rav Tendler knows a bit more about this topic than Rav Sheiner does. Rav Sheiner speaks out of ignorance, which is not surprising, as he is a product of a society that suppresses knowledge. Why don’t you put Rav Tendler in cherem? And put Rav Moshe in cherem posthumously for allowing his daughter to marry an apikores? As more and more people come out of the caves in which you have shielded them from emes you will have to put practically everyone in cherem. Rav Wachtfogel writes of Slifkin’s work that "what is not heretical is expressed in a way only a heretic would speak." He is partially correct: in Rav Wachtfogel’s world, intellectual honesty (which requires one to consider—if only for the sake of argument—the possibility that his beliefs may be incorrect) equates with heresy; no frum person is capable of it. And then there is the matter of ethics. You state that "Rabbonim who gave their haskomoh to the book retracted their approbation in a letter explaining that they relied primarily on the fact the author was the product of yeshivas." This is absurd. Eminent rabbonim and gedolim commit fraud by giving haskomos to books on obviously sensitive topics without reading them? I think not. (If it were true, these rabbonim would be as out-of-touch and incompetent as the ones that signed the ban.) If any of them have indeed retracted their haskomos, it is because your bully-machine, your juggernaut of gedolim, has turned them into cowards who are afraid of being defamed themselves. And what percentage has in fact retracted their haskomos? Your article is vague and, in my opinion, designed to mislead. Moreover, it does not name any rabbonim who continue to stand by their haskomos (nor even state that some do), and thus gives the impression of unanimity, which, based on what I have read elsewhere, appears to be a false impression. This would not be surprising, as it would be in character with the general disregard for emes in your community. Truth becomes expendable in your community when the important business of oppressing someone who disagrees with you needs to be attended to. You would do well to review the dinim regarding sheker. The writer of the article appears almost gleeful as he adds one name after another to the list of gedolim who trash Slifkin. Perhaps his yetzer horah has gotten the better of him. And how many of your gedolim had the integrity to take the trouble of fully reading the books before publicly pronouncing their defamatory judgment (how many even read English)? It would appear that the rabbonim and gedolim who gave haskomos to Rabbi Slifkin’s books actually read them, unlike those gedolim who engaged in character-assassination and condemned the books without bothering to read them. How does one raving, rabid rabbi read a book, photocopy and distribute a few pages completely out of context (with his virulent, irrational comments scribbled in the margins), and thus incite gedolim to defame the author, bring grief to his family and try to destroy his livelihood, all without bothering to read the books or hear the author’s side? Is this how gedolim behave? Heaven help us. Many goyim behave better than this. Your writer further claims that "Rabbi Slifkin was offered a chance to meet with the gedolei harabbonim who signed the letter to discuss his views, but he declined." This is absurd, and I suspect yet another slanderous distortion of the facts. Based on what I have read, it would appear that it was they who refused to meet with him. That, at least, would make sense: it is easier to condemn someone from afar than have to face him and try to refute the knowledge he brings to the table, which they are too ignorant to refute because they have abandoned the search for knowledge. They prefer to cling to the delusions that Chazal were infallible regarding scientific matters (which has been clearly disproven) and possessed all knowledge, including such things as relativity and quantum mechanics, and that further learning therefore is purposeless. If the Rambam were alive today he would put your gedolim in their places (and they would put even him in cherem). Unlike your gedolim, the Rambam studied biology, physics and philosophy—branches of knowledge pioneered by apikorsim that he respected, not by Chazal (yes, you may rend your garments). Had he (chas vesholom) attended one of your yeshivos he never would have become "the Rambam," but would, instead, have turned out to be as ignorant as you are. Yiddishkeit stands for emes. You people suppress emes and are afraid of it. It is you who are the heretics, for the seal of Hashem is emes. It is you who are the threat to Yiddishkeit, not honest people like Rabbi Slifkin, who seeks truth. It is you who should be banned. If you woke up one morning, davened Shacharis, ate lunch and dinner, looked out at the dark sky and davened Ma’ariv, and then someone showed you in the Torah or Gemara a statement that, read literally, indicated it was in fact daytime in your neighborhood, you would start putting on your tefillin again. Why bother with reality when you have seforim that tell you what is true? You should take note that Hashem not only gave you the Torah, but also gave you eyes, and, presumably, expects you to use them. (In your twisted thinking, perhaps you will respond that Hashem gave man eyes in order to test him, to see if he has sufficient emunah to ignore that which is clear to see. I would not be surprised.) The ignorance of your gedolim, and the efforts they go to in order to preserve it, bring to mind a number of proverbs that describe them aptly: "Those who know nothing must believe everything." "Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." "Against logic there is no armor like ignorance." You are ignorant people who make a laughingstock of Yiddishkeit, and engender disrespect towards talmidei chachamim. You are indoctrinated from birth, told what you may and may not read, and what you may and may not think. You become incapable of independent, objective thought with respect to any matter connected with emunah, and totally incapable of any semblance of intellectual honesty, which requires one to be able at least to consider the possibility that his views are incorrect (hence intellectual honesty equates with heresy to you). There are, however, thousands (if not millions) of Yiddin out there who do read, who have learned how to think independently and objectively, and who are greatly troubled by apparent conflicts (and there are many) between Torah on the one hand, and science and history on the other. These are people who are not willing to put on their tefillin at night. In order to deal with their problems one must have the ability to examine the Torah viewpoint honestly and objectively, and—as those who have doubts will do—assess its apparent weaknesses (heresy to you) and address them. You cannot truly understand the difficulties such people face, let alone offer them any helpful answers, inasmuch as you do not read, cannot be objective and are incapable of intellectual honesty regarding such matters. (One of the gedolim you quote apparently even finds it difficult to utter more than a few consecutive words without interjecting a "chas vesholom.") You live in a dreamworld and are totally incapable of reaching these Yiddin, who need reasoned, intellectually honest answers, not circular, obscurantist, dogmatic foolishness. Along comes an exceptional person like Rabbi Slifkin, someone obviously completely committed to Torah (which you would have discovered had you all been ethical enough to read his books or meet with him before publicly defaming him) yet able to think and write objectively and with intellectual honesty, who writes books the purpose of which (which you also would have known if you had bothered to read them) is to help these otherwise lost neshomos. He does this not by absurdly claiming that scientists are ignorant or by repeatedly uttering "chas vesholom," not by resorting to the misleading arguments and outright deception that some kiruv professionals find necessary in order to reach educated Yiddin, and not by offering one-sided, circular, non-intellectually-honest arguments—the kind you apparently favor—that will convince no one but the already-indoctrinated and the brain-dead. He does this, as he must, by presenting and honestly evaluating all sides of an argument, including views you consider heretical. And he does this, as he must, by relying on the views of recognized gedolim who use the eyes Hashem gave them, who do not believe that night is day and who accept the possibility of such things as a vastly old universe. Try telling these educated, uncommitted Yiddin that modern science, which has uncovered the secrets of the atom and the human genome, doesn’t know what it is talking about—they will mock you as members of the Flat Earth Society. And, call you hypocrites, as this is the same science that has produced the airplanes that your gedolim fly in, and the medical treatments they gladly accept when they are ill (both of which are based on the science taught by "fools" who believe in evolution and an ancient universe). Your abject ignorance and obstinacy will consign these Yiddin to spiritual oblivion. Nosson Slifkin, a man of obvious integrity and emunah, has the honesty and objectivity to deal with, rather than suppress, the uncomfortable questions that you are too ignorant to confront—or even to recognize as legitimate questions. When he stands up and tries to help these fellow Yiddin, foolish people like you turn on him and try to destroy him. Shame on you all! You will have to answer to HaKodosh Baruch Hu for your suppression of truth—the foundation of Yiddishkeit—and distortion of the Torah; for your disgraceful defamation of a man who works honestly and tirelessly to spread Torah and rescue Yiddishe neshomos; and for each and every neshoma that is lost to Yiddishkeit as a result of your ignorant and wrongheaded attempt to silence him. Kindly publish my letter in full on your website, if you have the courage to do so (I’m certain you won’t, as the continued existence of chareidi society depends on the suppression of information), and in your newspapers and on the lampposts and billboards you favor to communicate your diatribes to your ignorant followers. You may accompany it with condemnations from the usual "gedolim." I have nothing but contempt for your behavior, which is a chilul Hashem and violates the most important tenet of Yiddishkeit—emes—and I would consider criticism from you to be an honor. History will record your behavior as a blot on Yiddishkeit. Yechezkel Berkovits Brooklyn, NY yberkovits@usa.com