"Orthoprax"
May. 13th, 2011 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuI first encountered the word "orthoprax" back in high school, as referring to one who observes the commandments but whose beliefs are not orthodox. I liked the word, because it helped me define who I wanted to be, and also how I see Judaism: "Deed, not creed" as they say. The Talmud says in the name of God: "Better that they should forget Me and keep My commandments than the other way around." After all, in Hebrew the expression we use to describe someone is shomer mitzvot, one who observes (or safeguards) the commandments.
I just read an interesting essay on Rav Slifkin's blog. He's following up on an article in "Ami" magazine (that's "Ami" as in the Hebrew for "My People" and not the French for "Friend") which decries the presence of a fifth column in frum communities: people who are (*gasp*) Orthoprax.
Interestingly, in the perception of the magazine (with which Rav Slifkin disagrees), Orthopraxy is just another name for apikorsus, heresy. (I'm reminded of the joke about the man who apprentices himself to the Great Apikorus of Prague, and is shocked to learn that the Apikorus is punctilious about keeping Shabbat. I won't spoil the rest of the joke here.)
The way I learned it, though, apikorsus is defined as intentionally violating the commandments for the sake of spiting God (as opposed to for the sake of one's own pleasure, or ignorance, or greed). You've got to believe in God to be an apikorus. The story of Acher in the Talmud is the epitome of this: and his learning was so great that even though he was an apikorus, Rabbi Meir continued to learn from him.
So I reject the idea that orthopraxy is the antithesis of proper Jewish behaviour. I argue that it is, in fact, the only proper standard of halachic Judaism.
I just read an interesting essay on Rav Slifkin's blog. He's following up on an article in "Ami" magazine (that's "Ami" as in the Hebrew for "My People" and not the French for "Friend") which decries the presence of a fifth column in frum communities: people who are (*gasp*) Orthoprax.
Interestingly, in the perception of the magazine (with which Rav Slifkin disagrees), Orthopraxy is just another name for apikorsus, heresy. (I'm reminded of the joke about the man who apprentices himself to the Great Apikorus of Prague, and is shocked to learn that the Apikorus is punctilious about keeping Shabbat. I won't spoil the rest of the joke here.)
The way I learned it, though, apikorsus is defined as intentionally violating the commandments for the sake of spiting God (as opposed to for the sake of one's own pleasure, or ignorance, or greed). You've got to believe in God to be an apikorus. The story of Acher in the Talmud is the epitome of this: and his learning was so great that even though he was an apikorus, Rabbi Meir continued to learn from him.
So I reject the idea that orthopraxy is the antithesis of proper Jewish behaviour. I argue that it is, in fact, the only proper standard of halachic Judaism.