New York – He always dreamed of writing a novel but never did. Now, after writing and editing 26 books, Rabbi Marc Angel – who served as rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue for 38 years – has finally published his first work of fiction, “The Search Committee” (Urim). The novel revolves around a yeshiva’s search for a new head. Two candidates are considered for the position of rosh yeshiva: Rabbi Grossman, the haredi son of the former rosh yeshiva, and Rabbi Mercado, who is both Sephardic and Modern Orthodox.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Rabbi Angel, who holds a doctorate degree in Jewish history and is a former president of the Rabbinical Council of America, retired last year to found the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals.
The Jewish Press recently spoke with Rabbi Angel.
The Jewish Press: Isn’t The Search Committee unfair in depicting Rabbi Grossman as arrogant and Rabbi Mercado as the perfect gentleman?
Rabbi Angel: I think people who read it that way read it wrong. Rabbi Grossman is not arrogant; he’s a zealot. His grandfather founded the yeshiva, his father was rosh yeshiva, and he gives the top shiur, so he feels there was no reason to have a search committee in the first place.
I think the book is very fair. It happens that I love Rabbi Mercado and I wish I could study in his yeshiva. But there are very strong cases made on both sides of the equation.
JP: You’ve been criticized on some Jewish blogs for having, in the words of one critic, “made the characters too stereotypical.” What’s your response?
Rabbi: Well I don’t accept that either, of course. This is a work of fiction, it’s a story. Very often readers, because of their own personal hashkafot, interject their personal feelings into the book and take sides, which is very interesting actually. But this is a story and readers should try to judge it as a literary work, not as a polemic.
JP: One character in the book complains that Yeshivas Lita “establishes one set of rules and takes no other traditions or opinions into consideration If you do not follow [the yeshiva’s] way, you are wrong, ignorant, or religiously deficient. Students learn, subtly and not so subtly, to discount their own family traditions.” Do you generally agree with these sentiments?
Rabbi: Yes. Torah Judaism as we understand it has been in business for about 3,500 years. It’s flourished in many different countries, with many different languages and hashkafot, all of which are wonderful and all of which reflect aspects of this jewel we call the Torah. So to restrict the Torah to one of those hundreds of different versions or interpretations is false to the whole Jewish tradition. There were great chachamim in Yemen, Berlin, Izmir, Russia – all over the place. All of those people belong to the Torah community, all of those traditions are valid.
JP: So it’s fair to say that you don’t believe in yeshivas pressuring students to conform.
Rabbi: Not only that, I think it’s mamash a sin. I’ll give you an example. When I was in Yeshiva University we learned that when a man is saying Kiddush the people listening are not supposed to say “baruch hu u’varuch shmo” because it’s considered a hefsek.
Now in our family we always said it. So when I came back home to Seattle the next summer I said, “Dad, we’ve always been doing it wrong.” He said, “What do you mean, that’s the way my parents and grandparents did it.”
I said, “I can’t help it, I learned the rules.” So, very hurt, he said okay.
In 1992, a year after my father died, I bought a sefer called Minhagei HaChida. In it, it states that the Jews of Turkey say baruch hu u’varuch shmo, “v’ein mochim b’yadam [and we should not protest].” Not only that, in the notes of the book I learned that the Baba Sali, a Moroccan rabbi, says you must say baruch hu u’varuch shmo. In fact, the author writes that he was at the Baba Sali’s house and when someone didn’t answer baruch hu u’varuch shmo, he said you can’t stay at my table!
In the meantime I had made our whole family change our tradition (we’re from Turkish background) because the person who taught me didn’t know, didn’t even present that there was another possible point of view. I felt so bad. My father had already passed away, so how am I supposed to apologize?
JP: In the book, Mrs. Mercado says women no longer need to cover their hair. Is that your opinion?
Rabbi: My opinion is that there are various opinions on the subject. There’s a wonderful teshuvah by Rav Yosef Messas (a great Moroccan rabbi and later chief rabbi of Haifa). He says that not only do married women not have to cover their hair but that they shouldn’t cover their hair. First of all he’s 100 percent against a sheitel because it looks better than a woman’s own hair. And to cover with a snood, hat, etc. is not healthy, he says, because they will become less attractive to their husbands who constantly see women with uncovered hair in the streets.
Not too many poskim follow him; he’s a yachid. But when I was a kid there certainly were many rabbis’ wives who didn’t cover their hair. So, I’m not giving a psak. I’m saying there are different opinions.
JP: Please talk about your new organization, the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals – its raison d’être and some of its activities.
Rabbi: I wrote a lot about this on our website, jewishideas.org. But briefly, over the last number of years I have felt increasingly choked within the Orthodox world. Legitimate discussion has been limited and the rabbinical world’s become more narrow in focus and more subject to authoritarianism.
We publish a journal, which is going to come out three times a year. We’re also publishing books. For example, I’m currently preparing a book, probably for the high school level, on Orthodox Jewish religious leadership during the modern period. There will be Sephardim, Ashkenazim, men, women – and not in separate chapters – in order to show in a natural way that there were a lot of people with different positions and ideas that were relevant in creating Judaism as we know it. I want students to know from an early age that we have different models of leadership we can draw on.
JP: You also recently founded the International Rabbinical Forum with Rabbi Avi Weiss. Why?
Rabbi: The IRF was founded to create a safe forum for Orthodox rabbis. Safe means no reporters, no TV cameras – you can say what’s on your mind without worrying if you’re going to lose your job or be disinvited to a rabbinical conference.
We already have about 150 members and have had several conferences. I’ve never been to rabbinical conferences so powerful in my life. The conversations were so honest, heartfelt and sincere and touched on subjects which you never could ordinarily touch on.
JP: Switching to the book you wrote on Rabbi Benzion Uziel, the first Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel [d. 1953]
Rabbi Uziel once wrote that the holiness of the Jewish people is “not the holiness of asceticism and separation from life and the work of life. On the contrary, [it is] the holiness that is in life itself – to sanctify ourselves in thought and deed, to sanctify our landour individual and national beings, andthe entire world.” This sounds a lot like Torah im Derech Eretz or Torah Umadda.
Rabbi: Look, Rabbi Uziel never went to university. Nonetheless, he had this open view on life; he read all kinds of things. He was very attuned to the needs of society at large, Jewish and non-Jewish. The Torah was not given to be kept in a closet; it was given to bring light to the whole world. And I think that spirit imbued him.
I’ve never met Rabbi Angel, but I understand that he is quite knowledgeable but has been marginalized, even among modern orthodox rabbonim for some of his extreme (he would call it progressive) views on hilchos geirus. My guess is that when he writes a work of fiction of this sort he is writing of about his personal feelings and in effect lashing out at the more traditional rabbis within the orthodox community.
In any event, with all due respect to Rabbi Angel’s knowledge of torah, having a mahnig that has the desire to devote his time to writing stories of fiction is something that is foreign to the chareidi world.
Rabbi Angel is off the derech in his hashkafa. Since he isnt a Torah Gedol he attacks the decisions of the gedolim. Maybe he has a point that yichus is too over valued and knowledge of Torah isnt valued enough. However, we are to 100% follow the majority opinion of the gedolim…
If Rabbi Angel is not a Torah Gedol, can you tell me who is?
anon at 5:00pm there has always been rabbis writing fiction books for people to read, some of it even good, just take a look at rabbi marcus lehman in germany who was one of the leading rabbis in germany who’s books have been read by generations of children to this day!! (Akiba for example)
Well I don’t accept that either, of course. This is a work of fiction, it’s a story. Very often readers, because of their own personal hashkafot, interject their personal feelings into the book and take sides, which is very interesting actually. But this is a story and readers should try to judge it as a literary work, not as a polemic>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
Exactly true! All opinions are based on personal experiences. That is the way life is and not much will change!
How many times do we read about someone being charged with a crime and then we see the comments on this blog being very mixed with emotion?
We see comments of “be dan lkaf zechus” or “we do not believe it is true….” and then we even see people write about people “HANG THEM!”
For the people that have had money stolen by ganavim they will feel one way on an issue and vise versa.
For anyone that does not like what this Rabbi wrote how about writing your own book?
sid, rabbi angel, is off “your” derech in his hashkafa. You don’t agree with him. He is a talmud chacham and disagrees with other talmeidei chachamim. His “gedolim” aren’t your “gedolim”. Its lashon hora on him, and you probably owe him mechila birabim…Remember Satmar chasidim, follow their rebbe, and bobov their rebbe (whomever that may be),, why are non-chassidim any different.
anon 5:12
yes that easy… any posek whether they are ashkenazi or sephardi… THey are the gedolim of our generation, look to them for instructions and guidance concerning Torah life.
Did he just accidentally choose that the hero in his work of fiction would have a sephardi sounding name and the lower, less intelligent rabbi to have an ashkenazic name?
Does this lofty and great angelic leader of the Jewish people wherever they may dwell, notice that there could actually even be gedolim even bigger and more knowledgeable and more observant and more well known than this angel and that (oh forgive the following disrespectful words!) some of those chachamim could be ashkenazim?
Is it true that they march down the aisle in his shul in a special procession to present themselves as the high, holy, astoundingly lofty members of his universally famous and worldwide acknowledged synagogue in a choreographed procedure, while ostensibly using said procedure to merely be innocently presenting the Torah? His willingness to peer down at those of us who happen to be of European heritage, and yet refer to us as being Jewish, shows his willingness to be open minded to the peasants of the lower class. For this we thank him.
avrohom abba your attempt to be clever and sarcastic
just make it seem like your trying too hard
it doesnt even make sense
Avrohom Abba you couldn’t be more wrong. I know R. Angel personally. He is no elitist. Quite the contrary he has great respect for ALL Jews. He’s also a great lover of Ashkenazi Chazzanut. He does however have great pride in his Sephardic heritaqe, the same pride we Ashkenazim have in ours, which appears odd in Ashkenazi dominated America. Additionally don’t mock the ritual at Shearith Israel till you see it. Never have I seen more dignity and elegance in schul than in Shearith Israel.
Avrohom Abba,
Great point on his fictional portrayal of the ashkenazi / sephardi candidates.
I have read some of Rabbi Angel before… He is not only opposed to many ashkenazi poskim but also to the sephardi Rabanite in Israel. He is a big believer that converts do NOT need to accept all of the 613 mitzvots upon becoming Jews. He believes they can gradually learn then after they have become full fledged Jews.
In my opinion he is an off the derech Rabbi who is popular amongst his shul and liberal elements in the Orthodox world. He may be knowledgeable in Torah but the liberal goyish galus mindset has polluted his yetzer tov with messugas.
In response to anon who has a problem with rabbis writing fiction
Many Talmidei Chachamim have written works of fiction. This includes the Ramchal who wrote deep plays.
In recent years Rabbi Einstater, Rov of the Agudath Israel of Cleveland and a big talmud chacham and secular scholar, wrote a fictional book called With All MY Heart, With All My Soul, about a yeshiva student who falls in love with a shiksa.
When a Rabbi or any offiicial clergy writes fiction whose characters are from within his religious comunity,it usually reflects his personal Hashkafa. Imagine the pope writing a novel whose plot involves Vatican in- fighting. It would definily reflect his personal view on the matter.
to shtreimel,
great point,i completely agree
The man is a living chilull hashem. He brazenly and arrogantly says that there are legitimate halachik opinions that a married woman does not have to cover her hair. The gemorah learns out the issur from a passuk in the torah which makes it a d’oyraisa. Any rabbi that he is refering to who’s wife did not cover her hair would never have said that the torah sanctions such behavior. It is very easy to quote such a “teshuva” without showing us where to find it! He’s a disgrace to yidishkeit!
HE IS DEFITELY NOT AN “ANGEL”
It is forbidden by our torah for a lady to go out uncoverd, end of story. & hoever says otherwise….
To formerly known as yodea sefer – you just proved you don’t know or you formerly knew..
If you were to read other dafs you would know that there were different ‘styles’ in different times of married women setting their hair – other than covering. One daf has women putting pins in their hair similar to what ancient Japanese women did – another daf has women braiding their hair in a way single women would not – another daf has women braiding ribbons it their hair – and another has women wearing a gold ring with a metal pin holding it in place and yet another has women braiding in a scarf that went around their neck and possibly their body.
Only RASHI says women totally covered their hair and Rashi could have been talking about his era in France.
If you went through Seylot and Teshovot from various eras you would find many opinions by great poskim – and that proves his point that now people think there must be only one way.
Rabbi Angel also has a point – when a Sephardi sends his child to an Ashkenazi school – the child will learn that Ashkenazi custom is the only correct way – we can see many minhagim disappearing even various European minhagim – as the yeshiva education system is very narrow minded in its haskafa.
to Don:
Again I say, it’s very easy to quote a “teshuva” with out telling me how to find it. I am not sure what you are refering to when you say “other dafs”. The halacha in shulchan aruch (115:4 & 119:4) is that one must DIVORCE his wife for such an infringement in halacha. Please tell us where you get your ideas from. I would like to know of one such reference that can be brought to support your stupidity! There are no “great rabbis” that would tell a married woman not to cover her hair in front of other men! It would be advisable for you to keep your mouth shut when it comes to making light of issues that are the very foundation of klal yisroel’s survival!
DON – “only RASHI, is anyone disputing him, no place douse it say there hair were not coverd, the braids,pins,,,, were all covred. maybe you tell me wich Seylot and Teshovot?
Until modern times, married women of most cultures covered their hair, so I am quite dubious there was a time married Jewish women did not cover their hair. All those elaborate hair styles previously mentioned were probably under a head covering.
Don,
“Only” Rashi??? Only Rashi?? The Chasam Sofer says that a woman must cover her hair completely, The Tzemeach Tzedek says that a woman must cover her hair completely, the Chofetz Chaim (geder oilam) says that woman must cover her hair completely. That’s a pretty wide spectrum. If your “gedoilim” don’t include any of the above, then we belong to different religions.
formerly known as yodea sefer,
Rabbi Angel gave you the name of the posek in his interview; if you really want to read it rather than making an *ad hominem* attack you can call Rabbi Angel at his synagogue and asking for him to mail you a copy.
The fact is, we in Judaism often get very uncomfortable when things we thought were 100% certain turn out not to be. But Judaism isn’t about comfort, it is about truth! Rabbi Angel is both a seeker of truth and a total mensch (if I can use an Ashkenazic term for a Sefardic rabbi).
It is also worth mentioning that his congregation is famous for not permitting any departures from its nusach for any reason. It is not only the oldest Jewish congregation in North America, it has almost certainly been more faithful in preserving what the founders considered correct minhagim than any other, and this is the mesorah that Rabbi Angel follows. While it differs from that of Ashkenazic or other Sefardic communities it might be good for us to give it the benefit of the doubt as it certainly is an older mesorah than any current Ashkenazic practice.
Could someone please explain to this author that Klall Yisroel since Moshe Rabeinu always understood we need Gedolim to guide us. Torah is predicated on this Emunas Chhachomim. We listened to our Gedolim not because they are authoritarian dictators, but because we understand they are transmitters of the Mesorah from Har Sinai. Is there machlokes in Psak and other areas – yes – that came to existence thousands of years ago. But their psaks and positions we accept as our derech hachayim. Torah is not a liberal agenda. Each of us comes from a Mesorah of minhagim and Psak – we follow them accordingly. Ashkenazim do not fret over Sephardik mehagim and vice versa – Litvish and Chassidim understand we have different appraches – Shivim Derachim B’Torah.
But what is constant amongs those we accept as our Torah standard-bearers and Gedolim is true Yisras Shomoayim, and the total committment to serving HaShem without liberalizing and watering-down Torah. For the author to quote a source that says no sheitels are required, and make it appear opur Poskim for centuries have been authoritarian and narrow-minded, is a desire to water-down, and weaken Daas Torah.
To me, the fact that this author chose avi weiss as a compatriot, someone who is a vociferous spokesperson against the Mesorah of current and previous Gedolim, whether Chassidish, Litvish or Sephardik says it all about his values, and his approach to Torah.
Rabbi Angel should learn a lesson from his father, a”h. Though he believed he had a heritige going back many years, he changed what he did because Rabbis said so. I understand that in that particular case with the Turkish minhagim the Rabbi was incorrect, but I have no doubt in my mind that in heaven he was looked upon more favorably for doing the “wrong” thing, yet being submissive to Rabbis that he believed knew more than him.
Rabbi Angel seems to be a product of a society where every body’s greatness and self esteem has to be justified by not acknowledging that there are those who are much greater then them. It used to be a very satisfying feeling to be submissive and to look up to our great leaders. Now many people think that they have to be “independent” and feel undermined if they are “told what to do”. It is their loss to not take the role of “talmud” and to continue learning from those greater than them.
As an aside, the rabbeim and rosh yeshivas are predominately litvish because they’re the ones who stressed torah learning. You can’t expext them to be fluent in all cultures’ different variations of halacha. If the sefardim, chassidim (which I am), yekkisn etc… want to be more well represented in yeshivos, then they should stress more the importance in learning. B”H, it seems this taking place, as there are more and more sefardishe yungerleit in BMG, for example, who are becoming rebbes and rovs in their sefardishe communities.
charlie hall:
It would seem like you are traumatized from thinking that there are actually things that are set in stone. Someone that has his his head screwed on straight would instantly understand that this vile and pathetic person should learn a thing or two before he deviates from what he KNOWS is right. If someone were to tell you that there is a “wonderfull teshuva” from a “great posek” who is of the opinion that idol worship is not forbidden but rather encouraged, would you send him a letter asking where to find it? You obviously had either no chinuch or a very unsettling experience which would cause you to comment the way you did.
I often encountered a disrespect toward the minhagei Yisrael of other communities in my days in Litvishe yeshivos. And that was despite the fact that most of the students were not from Litvishe background. And the upshot was that most people, self included, did some outward conforming…. hid my gartel, bought an Ashkenaz Siddur etc. but ultimately wound up with a reasonably happy mix of the minhogim of my Galitzianer grandparent, my Hungarian ancestors, one parent’s adopted German customs, my Roshei Yeshivos practices and chumros and kulos of the great Poskim of our time. Some of this is the norm anywhere. But the reality is that Rabbi Angel is not the only one who felt a little cheated by the regimentation of his yeshiva! Ask any chassidishe or Hungarian bachur who learned in Lakewood if he didn’t have a taste of the same treatment.
By the way, there is a published fictional story, a type of parable, written by the Steipeler (zecher tzadik vekodosh livrocho). And then there are stories written by Rav Nachman zechuso yagen alenu. So there is plenty of precedent for rabbinical fiction.
Just because your father was an am ha aretz and your grandfather,also,does not give you the right to be one if you learned in yeshiva and received semicha
formerly known as yodea sefer,
Your comparison to Avoda Zara is abhorrent.
Here is the Wikipedia article on Harav Yosef Messas:
http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A3_%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%90%D7%A9
in which it says:
בדרכו זו לעתים נקלע למצב בו דעתו היא דעת יחיד. כך לעניין כיסוי ראש לנשים, פסק שכיום אין חובה הלכתית אף על אישה נשואה לכסות את ראשה (אוצר המכתבים, ח”ג, אלף תתפד, עמ’ ריא).
Does it mean we should follow him? No.
Should his opinion be respected and not compared to Avoda Zara? Yes.
Should you apologize to both Rabbi Angel and Charlie Hall for your insensitive (to say the least) comments? Yes.
I’ve read some of the rabbi’s opinions and found them to be anti-Torah hashkofo. The reformers would be happy to have him in their camp.
Rabbi Messas’s reasoning reminds me of quasi-orthodox feminist Blu Greenberg who said that since shaitels became merely a fashion statement, she doesn’t have to cover her hair! The logic in the other part of his comic-teshuva that since men see uncovered hair in the street it then becomes mutar, could be used to allow women to walk around in shorts and tanktops since that’s what men might see in the streets nowadays!! Great halachic reasoning! Brilliant Teshuva!