In that same edition of Mishpacha Eytan Kobre has an interesting review of the recent Pew survey on American Jewry. Strangely enough I agreed with some of what he said – which is beside the point I want to make. In what has to be the most out of character way of making his point about the flourishing nature of Orthodox Jewry he quotes Noah Feldman’s salute to Lakewood that was published in Bloomberg.
The point Rabbi Kobre makes is that Feldman who was raised in a Modern Orthodox home and attended Modern Orthodox schools wrote an article that was highly critical of Modern Orthodoxy but sees the future of Judaism in a place like Lakewood.
The problem is that Noah Feldman has a more famous (or should I say infamous) claim to fame. He married a non Jewish woman. She did not convert. His children are not Jewish. This is a man who went off the Derech in the ultimate way by marrying out… someone that Charedim would hardly use to make a point. It’s like quoting the Al Capone about the beauty of following the law. Who knows… Maybe Charedim don’t think marrying out is so bad. At least not so long as they say nice things about them.
Visit Emes Ve-Emunah .