We can hem and haw all day about Open Orthodoxy and it’s threat to Judaism, but in reality, no truly frum person holds of YCT, Maharat, Avi Weiss, or any of the other shenanigans that cling to the open orthodoxy label. Anyone who opens a gemara on a regular basis, checks their vegetables for bugs, and makes it to shachris more than once a week is probably not going to even consider the open orthodox movement to be somewhat valid. To most frum people, Open Orthodoxy is just a bunch of conservative Jews who want to have a mechitza and take on a label they aren’t entitled to. On the other hand, Yeshiva University is viewed as Orthodox by most frum Jews, sure the yeshivish velt takes cracks at YU, but it’s generally viewed as part of Orthodoxy and this is precisely why it’s so dangerous to authentic Judaism.
Yeshiva University and their stream of watered down supposedly Hirschian Judaism has been moving ever slightly to the right they say, but don’t be fooled. Just last week, I read an article by a woman who feels it’s high time for the social norms of girls wearing pants to change. Remember last year when a girl wrote a piece about her one night stand, it made a big deal, YU sought to hide the true ways of its students by taking away funds for its student run newspaper, but the damage was done. Yeshiva University masks its haskallah-esque ways behind the black hats of its rabbis, but since when do black hats mean anything? Behind all of those black hat bearded rabbis, is a student body of kippah sruga and jeans wearing evil doers.
Did you know that many YU supporters also support the widespread usage of the Koren Sacks siddur? Many people don’t know this, but lead poskim tried to ban such a siddur from being printed, not only would it damage artscrolls monopoly on the siddur market, but like it’s open orthodox supporters, Koren siddurs have an apologetic paragraph about shelo asani isha…since when has this issue been even a hava minah to the frum world. Slowly but surely, YU is sneaking it’s left leanings ways into Orthodoxy, Under the guise of authentic Judaism they lurk, unlike their cohorts at YCT, they have “tall enough” mechitzas and don’t advertise that they have a masters degree in Talmudic studies for women, chazal bring down multiple times about how bad it is to teach women Torah.
We must bring to light the terrible tragedy that Yeshiva University is sneaking into authentic Judaism, while everyone is still focusing on these conservatives with mechitzas.
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