I found Gary Rosenblatt’s column, “Is it ‘Anti-Orthodox’ To Seek A Safer Community?” (Aug. 5), both eloquent and a bit generalized. There is Orthodox and then there is Orthodox.
I doubt that The Jewish Week receives much criticism of being “anti-Orthodox” from mainstream institutions like Yeshiva University, Young Israel or the Orthodox Union. The literary finger wagging seems consistently from the right-wing segment of this community.
And the reason why, I believe, is that the only ones in a position to criticize — or raise questions regarding — the behavior of the “black hat” part of Orthodoxy is, in their minds, their rabbis. Those in the right-wing segment of the Orthodox community feel that non-Orthodox institutions, community-based newspapers and the rest of the world simply doesn’t have the right.
When your newspaper has a front-page picture of a rabbi taken away in handcuffs, if the rabbi is, let’s say, Reform, that’s “journalism” — if it’s a black hatter it’s unnecessary “bashing.” Looking ahead, I see no reason why this will change.
Highland Park, N.J.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
