The Treadmill of Orthodoxy

Documentary hypothesis.two Isiah's. Biblical Criticism. Codex Aleppo. Lower source. Higher source. Wissenschafte des Judentams. Biblical scholarship. Biblical authorship.....and on and on and on and on......

What do all these words and phrases have in common aside from the obvious.....growing up as a sheltered, innocent religious Jewish boychick, none of them were part of my vocabulary or even close to being part of my lexicon. Why you ask? Let the Ramblin' Jew ramble and perhaps we can get to the bottom of this.....

Firstly, they were secular subjects, lemudia chol, and were a distant second to the far superior body of knowledge contained in the first three pages of Bava Kamma. Oh wait, lest I forget, the most amazing thought provoking R’ Akiva Eiger question on the height of a third wall. That is true knowledge, divine knowledge - why waste time, it is bittul z'man, to even think about any of these dangerous and heretical ideas.

Second, one would argue - "We cant teach that to the boys. They would all stray from the right path!" To which I say, you are not teaching the right path by concealing true knowledge. You are not teaching them the right path by maintaining them on a steady diet of myth and fantasy. The arrested development of this Generation’s philosophical and theoretical knowledge is devastating and will unfortunately result in the serious and rapid decline of our insular communities.

Ritual reigns supreme in this day and age, rationalism is shunned, even scorned. We will do, and we will hear! That is the battle cry of the Orthodox educational system. First do, then if you really need to ask, you should just tell yourself Hashem knows all and I cant understand because I am just a mere mortal.

Now the problem is, anytime I want to learn more about one of the above-mentioned topics, my ability to comprehend even basic concepts is weighed down by the years of molding my brain to think within one system. That is the problem facing the Ramblin' Jew. He is on the treadmill, it is goin' fast, and it is on a serious incline. It is all catch up now, but nearing the age of 30, Ramblin' Jew realizes that he is fighting a battle he will never win.

So here is the Ramblin' Question - Is the fight worth fighting?????