Chief Rabbi Sacks and Jewish Unity

The Times of Israel described it as  "star studded farewell dinner" with eight hundred guests.  Charles the Prince of Wales was present.  Chief Rabbi Sacks has retired and this event functioned as his outgoing speech. What was one of the topics?  Rabbi Sacks spoke about the evils of the haredi approach. Not exactly a pitch for Jewish unity when the world is watching.

According to Times of Israel,  "Speaking at his own retirement dinner Monday night, Sacks drew an equivalence between assimilated Jews “who embrace the world and reject Judaism, and those who embrace Judaism and reject the world.”That the center is shrinking is “worse than dangerous,” said Sacks. “It is an abdication of the role of Jews and Judaism in the world. We are here to engage with the world, to be true to our faith and a blessing to others regardless of their faith.”

England has a sustantial haredi population.  I hope the eight hundred guests don't view haredim as "worse than dangerous."  

The truth is that every approach within Torah has its dangers.  Each path has pros and cons.    
This applies to haredi Orthodoxy and to Modern Orthodoxy, where an open attitude to secular culture comes at a price.  Modern Orthodoxy has its strengths, but is missing some of the strengths of haredim.  

Rabbi Sacks could have gotten his message across by simply proclaiming the virtues of engaging with the world.  Dumping on his fellow Jews before Prince Charles is unbecoming.

Chief Rabbi Sacks is seen as a leader and spokesman for the gamut of British Jewry.  In some ways he represents even those haredim who do not look to him for guidance.  That makes his divisive speech even worse.

I cannot imagine giving a talk about the evils of Modern Orthodoxy before a non-Jewish and ultimately global audience.  Context matters.

 After Rabbi Sacks' speech, Harry Maryles wrote, "And the wedge gets deeper. I cannot tell you how aggravated I am by this further erosion of Achdus. It is as though we are turning into separate nations."  Bizarrely, Maryles was not referring to Sacks' speech but to the published objections of Agudath Israel!  That the speech itself was divisive escaped this prominent blogger.

Each group in Orthodoxy has problems with which it needs to grapple.  We all need to be part of the solution.  Rabbi Sacks made clear to Prince Charles and the "star studded guests" haredi Judaism is the shul he does not attend.  That kind of talk is not the solution. It is part of the problem.