To the Editor:

The characterization of the Rabbinical Council of America as a Modern Orthodox organization respected by the haredi community is incorrect on two counts. First, the Rabbinical Council of America has never declared itself any particular “brand” of Orthodox. Some of it members define themselves as Modern Orthodox, some define themselves as Centrist Orthodox, which insiders and outsider to that group perceive as to the “right” of Modern Orthodox. Some present themselves as Modern Orthodox but more or less consistently take positions that are, in fact, Centrist— “right.”

Second, as for recognition by the haredi community, especially the haredi rabbinic community, it is an overstatement to say that the Rabbinical Council of America is recognized by them. I will not deny, for example, that haredi batei din recognize the gittin (Jewish divorces) issued by the Bet Din of America, the RCA’s religious court. Generally they do. But whether Hasidic communities like Satmer, Skver, and Bobov have deep levels of respect or give recognition to Rabbinic Council of America rabbis as a group is incorrect. Polling the opinions of such haredi enclaves as Borough Park, Flatbush, Lakewood, and Monsey about the RCA would, I believe, correct the Jewish Link’s impression.

Third, your statement about Rabbi Asher Lopatin is problematic. Rabbi Lopatin is not considered too liberal by haredi rabbis alone. He is considered too liberal by many of the so-called Modern Orthodox rabbis— and certainly by most of the Centrist ones who are members of the Rabbinical Council of America. So, who is Modern Orthodox? RCA members? Rabbi Lopatin? And who has the authority to use or confer that title on a rabbi or organization?

Finally, to state that Rabbi Lopatin is “considered too liberal by haredi rabbis” given the atmosphere in the Orthodox community is to declare him less “authentic” than the RCA members who are supposedly, but not actually, recognized by most of those same rabbis. This is unfair to him. When it comes to haredi recognition, Rabbi Lopatin and the overwhelming majority of RCA members are pretty much in the same boat. It is only a question of who would like to have that recognition and who could care less.

Michael Chernick

To the Editor,

I am writing this letter in response to the article entitled Point- Counterpoint: The Kotel Wars Continues in the January 9, 2014 issue. When I read the title of the article and saw that you included statements by both Women of the Wall (WoW) and Women for the Wall (W4W), I was excited as the majority of media that represents the Kotel story in the U.S. media has only presented the situation from WoW’s point of view, while the perspective of more traditional Jews has largely been ignored or dismissed as being the mindless rants of brainwashed followers of Haredi rabbinic handlers.

Despite the balanced coverage at the end of the article, I did have some difficulties with the prologue of the article as I felt that the survey material included was flawed and misleading. The Israeli Democracy Institute’s survey quote cited did not, as you claim, reveal that 48% of Israel’s population supports the Women of the Wall. Rather, it showed that 48% of Israelis support the idea that Jewish women should be able to pray in any fashion they please “at the Wall,” which includes the alternate space known as Robinson’s Arch, which is currently used by both the Conservative and Reform movements for egalitarian prayer services. To date, at Robinson’s Arch just a few feet away from the main Kotel plaza women are permitted to read from the Torah, wear tefillin, and daven in a minyan in accordance with the traditions of more modern Jewish denominations.

After 25 years of praying monthly at the Kotel, WoW has been unable to muster up 50 Israeli participants for their prayer services, while 15,000 Israeli women turned out to oppose them. Women of the Wall is regarded by the majority of Israeli’s as a nuisance or worse. Americans should not be misled by Women of the Wall’s flawed survey information or propaganda-driven news stories to believe any differently.

Sara Davis-Conway PhD