Halacha Vs. Art

A Old Concept, a New Approach

Confrontation between secular culture and halakhic values is an inevitable ramification of Modern Orthodox Judaism. The very notion of Torah U' Madda, while being somewhat ambiguous concerning subtle nuances, undoubtedly describes some kind of reconciliation between the wisdom's of society and the study of Torah. Certainly, an integral part of the halakhic process is the adaptation of timeless halakhic ideals to the mundane realities of life. This is why it is both surprising and disconcerting that I would have to defend a forum that allows Yeshiva University students to write about how they, as halakhic individuals face modern culture. I always thought that this was the idea behind an Arts and Culture section in a YU newspaper.

How can we write about going to plays, movies, concerts and clubs while ignoring the fact that we are halakha-abiding critics? This is not an apologetic section. We don't supply movie reviews for nebach, the few sinners in YU that can't help themselves from attending the Hell that is the cinema. This art section is for everyone in YU; we are proud of culture and are excited to be able to present it to the student body. We want to share our experiences encountering culture with other YU students. As Jews, part of the experience of encountering the outside world always involves a halakhic analysis. Halakha and learning are not merely morning classes peripheral to everyday life; they imbue in us a methodology with which we approach everything. There can be no facet of life in that halakha does not involve itself with. It would be a crime for a Yeshiva University newspaper culture section not to deal with how halakha tackles the artistic world. In this light, I introduce the Halakha vs. Art column.

Every so often, students, instead of reviewing whether they enjoyed a particular movie/play/book etc., will review the Halakhic/Hashkafic issues that these parts of culture raise. What makes this different from any other halakhic paper that you may find in Hamevaser or Tradition, is that besides a student-laymen presenting his or her halakhic and artistic research, he or she will then be forced to clearly articulate his or her opinion on the matter. Note that these are the opinion of the layman author and not in any way a psak or an authoritative halakhic ruling. This will re-ignite the art of personal opinion. It will encourage the rethinking of halakhic issues that for some reason have seemingly reached an intellectually harmful status quo. This campus should once again be alive with vibrant opposing positions and debate. Students coming from the arch-liberal left and the black-hatted right, will be able to tackle the halakhic problems that come up with artistic issues such as nude sculptures at the Met, religious art at the Cloisters, women singing on Broadway, and of course romantic scenes in the movies.

Sadly, some think that the need for a posek disposes of the need for individual halakhic opinions. They could not be more wrong. If they were correct, how could we ever decide which posek to follow? Even for the most difficult halakhic decisions it is really the layman who makes the final decision. For example, if chas v'shalom one is faced with the grueling decision of organ donation, he knows that if he looks for a posek using the letter T in the phone book he'll get one answer and if he uses the letter B he'll get another. So who is really making the decision?

Even having one rabbi for everything doesn't obviate the need for a personal opinion. It would be ridiculous to think that a layman has the power to make a lofty halakhic judgment like deciding which rav, from which shul, from which community, from which sect of Judaism should be his one posek, but can't make his own decision regarding whether he can open soda bottles on shabbat or listen to a woman sing at a show.

Independent thought is integral to a halakhic life and certainly essential in concepts like Torah U'Madda. To claim that students don't have the right to approach culture by independently researching halakhic material and forming their own opinions, is to question the very ideal of Torah U'Madda and hence the very validity of Yeshiva University.

This new column will hopefully set the tone for the Arts and Culture section. It will strengthen us. There will be no subject matter that this section won't be able to take on and review from both an artistic and halakhic point of view. We will no longer be apologetic concerning the fact that we are Jews critiquing art. This strength will raise both the interest factor and the caliber of our articles. Due to a higher caliber section some changes will occur. There will be less fluff and more provocation. This is not and will never be Yeshiva Today. The days when we would give a positive review to a Yeshiva production simply because it's a Yeshiva production are over. Furthermore, no one, and that includes the rabbeim, is beyond reproach! Welcome to a new age of Commentator Arts and Culture; you may disagree, you may even be offended...but hey, grow up, you're in college now!