It is not easy for Orthodox Jews to live in the modern world these days. While observances like Shabbos or kashrus for example have become relatively accessible there is a growing tension and strain between the overarching values and mores of classical Judaism and those of contemporary society. Pure unadulterated chareidim have it relatively easy spiritually speaking. Having constructed a protective wall — albeit one that is porous and not impenetrable with inevitable contradictions here and there — chareidim by and large are less influenced and less impacted upon by non-Jewish values. For other Orthodox Jews the efforts to remain faithful to Sinai in an atmosphere of instant gratification within an amoral society is enough to challenge the most devoted of Jews. The resultant juggling act can result at best in tortuous rationalizations and distortions and at worst in ludicrous and unforeseen consequences.

Exhibit A wasJerusalem’s recent “pride” parade which brought the contradictions to the fore. Just prior to the event a leading Orthodox rabbi severely condemned same-gender activity citing the Biblical strictures (Vayikra 18:22) that refer to the act as toeivah a very strong term meaning “abomination.” The result predictably was a liberal media feeding frenzy with the rabbi branded as a troublemaker and an insensitive bigot.

Reacting to all this a prominentJerusalemrabbi the head of an institute of Jewish learning participated in the parade demonstrating his solidarity with what he considered an oppressed minority. The rabbi is undoubtedly a Shabbos-observing tefillin-donning kashrus-eating Jew and is apparently from the so-called “liberal” wing of Orthodox Judaism. When asked by the media how as an Orthodox rabbi he reconciles his support for the parade with the clear Biblical prohibition against toeivah behavior he replied “What is deviant and not deviant shifts over time.” As for the strong explicit prohibition he stated that “Judaism’s ability to reinterpret texts is almost infinite.” Furthermore he foresees a time when Jewish law will “evolve” to the point that it will accept this modern toeivah. (These are direct from his interview with the Jerusalem Post Online July 21 2016.) (Why rabbis with such views do not officially align themselves with the Reform or Conservative movements is a good question and a subject for a future essay.)

Here we have an intelligent apparently knowledgeable Jew lapsing into intellectual contortions brought on by a desire to pay obeisance to the contemporary zeitgeist while clinging to the sanctuary ofMount Sinai. But well-meaning though he may be his efforts raise some bizarre questions: a) If what is “deviant and not deviant shifts over time ” what could possibly be wrong with same-gender marriages the definition of deviance having shifted over the years? b) If Jewish law will someday evolve to accept toeivah what other “texts” will soon evolve into permissibility? Theft? Adultery? Will Jewish law “evolve” to permit eating bread on Pesach? c) Is there any Torah mitzvah that is immutable and not subject to reinterpretation? Which ones and who decides? Will we reinterpret the text of the First Commandment so that we can worship more than one G-d so that Shema Yisrael will soon declare that the L-rd is not necessarily Echad One but two or three? Let us not be extremists let us be moderate tolerant and — today’s buzzword — inclusive for has not the meaning of “One G-d” shifted over time? d) Have we not “evolved” enough 19 centuries later to stop mourning on Tishah B’Av and to reinterpret it as a day of festivity?

Absurdities such as these are the inevitable result of trying to be simultaneously loyal to two competing worlds. The impulse to give equal weight to both G-d and Baal is natural but it inevitably leads to mind-straining distortions and at best to platitudes and bromides. Somewhere along the way choices have to be made; something has to give. (See I Melachim 18:21 about Eliyahu onMount Carmel.) After all it was such dual loyalties that caused the destruction of our Beis Hamikdash.

Whether a Jew lives in a chareidi neighborhood inJerusalemor in the Modern Orthodox enclaves ofManhattan’sUpper West Side he or she is ineluctably subject to the obvious and the subtle influences of the world outside. Such influences “crouch at the door” (Bereishis 4:7); they are relentless and ubiquitous. Despite the pressures one of the marks of a serious Orthodox Jew is his effort to keep them at bay.

Those who successfully negotiate the narrow ridge between the disciplines of Sinai and the permissive mores of the 21st century and do so without apologies and tortured rationalizations and without sacrificing the mitzvos and values of Sinai — they are heroes who deserve their own pride parade. —