Presence

GodolHador had a good post a bit back explaining just who cares about the Slifkin issue. It's only of interest to the left wing of the right wing (from which I sit a little bit to the left of center). It's true; while I may be astounded at the mental gymnastics displayed by the various Gedolim, it's only an issue for me because of the barriers it creates between me and the rest of my community. Because of my background, I'm outside the whole Godol culture; to me, they are smart rabbis that I have respect for, but I neither live nor die by their word (to be honest, and not that I've tried that hard, but I can't remember a single d'var torah from a Godol that I found insigthful and/or inspiring or, apparently, worth remembering). The problem is that I live with these other folks that take them very seriously. These folks happen to influence things that affect me, like the curriculum of my kid's school, or the ready availability of a fresh salad. If I lived someplace like Teaneck, I probably wouldn't have these problems; Baltimore is a horse of a different color, as the saying goes. It's very frustrating; it would be nice if we could all get along, and just agree to disagree, and get on with things like feeding poor people, curing cancer, finding meaning in our finite existence or whatever it is that we are supposed to be doing, all of which really has little to do with whether Genesis can be interpreted literally or not. But that doesn't seem to be the way things are going (on either side of the fence, mind you). It's such a damn shame.