In a provocative essay, Ben Shapiro claims that "the Torah’s worldview is most valuable precisely where there is controversy." He then accuses Orthodox leaders of an unwillingness to articulate the religious values that underlie some of Torah's most seemingly controversial laws. In this episode, Rav David Silverstein and Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky analyze Shapiro's claim and discuss some of the larger challenges of articulating the Torah's moral vision.
Rabbi Sinensky's response:
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/modern-orthodoxy-and-morality-in-response-to-ben-shapiro/2022/12/21/Ben Shapiro's article:
https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/modern-orthodoxys-moral-failure/2022/12/12/Tzvi Sinensky is Director of Judaic Studies and Upper School Principal at Main Line Classical Academy, and Director of the Lamm Heritage Archives at Yeshiva University. He earned his PhD in Jewish Philosophy on the subject of rabbinic conceptions of manhood at Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. A popular lecturer and author, Tzvi completed three book-length series published by Yeshivat Har Etzion’s Virtual Beit Midrash, is editor of a forthcoming posthumous edition of Rabbi Lamm's halakhic writings, and is writing a book on the overarching themes in Rabbi Lamm's oeuvre. He has served as Lehrhaus editor for over four years, and lives in Lower Merion, PA, with his wife and three children.
Questions? Feedback? Have a topic you'd like to hear discussed? Email us at
oraytapodcast@gmail.com and we look forward to "continuing the conversation."
Background music from "Ashreinu" by Omek HaDavar.
Recorded in the Old City of Jerusalem at Yeshivat Orayta (
orayta.org).
