Journalistic Abuses Have Gone Too Far

To the Editor:

In the December 22nd edition of The Commentator, Aaron Klein wrote an article concerning funding to YU from the Stone Foundation. According to the quoted statements from the Stone foundation, the family will direct its resources away from institutions that "sow divisiveness among Jews," and will "provide financial support exclusively to those individuals and/or institutions whose public views encourage unity among Jews."

Klein could not be satisfied with objective reporting, so he wrote, without quotations, that the family would direct its resources "toward those more open to religious pluralism. Accordingly, Yeshiva University has been placed on the top of the Foundation's list of institutions to support." In saying this, Klein has stated that YU supports religious pluralism, this being said without one source for support. In doing so, Klein has falsely reported the views of the University, and of Rabbi Lamm. What Klein does not realize, or doesn't think important, is that "unity among Jews" is not the same as "religious pluralism."

Let me define religious pluralism for Mr. Klein. According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, pluralism is "a theory that there are more than one or more than two kinds of ultimate reality." In a resolution entitled "Reaffirming Religious Pluralism in Israel," The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (The Synagogue Arm of the Reform Movement) called upon Israeli leaders to "extend equal recognition and support to all streams of Judaism," and to "recognize the various expressions of Judaism." This statement was echoed in a form letter entitled "Send your message to Prime Minister Netanyahu in support of religious pluralism in Israel." Religious pluralism, or more specifically, Jewish religious pluralism, is the idea that all denominations, including Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist, are legitimate forms of Jewish expression or practice. As an Orthodox institution, supporting the concept of a Divine Torah M'Sinai, YU cannot subscribe to religious pluralism. Tolerance and Unity differ entirely from pluralism. To love your fellow Jew, whether he or she is on the right path or not, is a Klal Gadol Ba'Torah, but to admit that the wrong path is an acceptable one is in violation of everything that Orthodoxy stands for.

What Klein has done is one level below the classical journalistic "out of context quote." He has put words into people's mouths that never existed. In claiming that this institution supports religious pluralism, Klein has done a disservice to YU, Rabbi Lamm, The Commentator, and the students of Yeshiva University. I sincerely hope that in an effort to keep the reporting in this paper unbiased and objective, opinions will be reserved for opinion columns and editorials, and that the editors of this great forum of freedom and truth ensure that a reporter's views do not cloud the facts that he is supposed to report.

Yossi Pinsker
YC '99