{"id":55715,"date":"2017-02-23T10:53:57","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T15:53:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=55715"},"modified":"2017-02-26T02:46:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-26T07:46:16","slug":"misguided-zeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/","title":{"rendered":"Misguided Zeal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d like to discuss a recent incident that took place at the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS) in Florida. Rabbi Efrem Goldberg invited motivational speaker Matthew Kelly to speak. From there, things got ugly. (It bears mentioning that BRS is an OU-member synagogue, though I\u2019ve never been there and I don\u2019t know Rabbi Goldberg.)<\/span><\/p>\n

A particular individual started a campaign to get the event canceled. The objection was that Mr. Kelly, a practicing Catholic, is what one would call a \u201cmissionary.\u201d On the surface, that seems a very reasonable complaint but the word means different things for Jews than it does for Catholics. When we use the term, we generally mean people who stealthily attempt to lure us away from Judaism by misrepresenting our faith and theirs \u2013 and such people certainly do exist and prey on Jews. What Kelly does, however, is what we would call kiruv rechokim<\/i> \u2013 he attempts to bring members of his own faith closer to their own religious heritage. He doesn\u2019t proselytize to other faiths.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a blog posted by Rabbi Goldberg, he received harassment that included being assured of a \u201cspecial place in hell,\u201d being told that he \u201cdishonor(s) the memory of those killed in the Holocaust,\u201d and being called the most evil person since Korach. His wife was likewise harassed, being told that it was her job to be like the wife of the Biblical Ohn ben Peles and, in Rabbi Goldberg\u2019s words, \u201cstop her wicked husband.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the event was canceled, not by Rabbi Goldberg but by Mr. Kelly. In his letter to the rabbi, Kelly described how the \u201chate campaign\u201d grew in intensity: \u201cdisagreements became harassment, harassment became bullying, bullying turned into threats lightly veiled as warnings, and finally, the warnings became all out threats.\u201d (Apparently, he was also called an \u201canti-Semitic idol worshipping missionary bozo.\u201d) While initially concerned for Rabbi Goldberg\u2019s safety, that was Rabbi Goldberg\u2019s call to make. When his own safety was threatened, Kelly decided he had to withdraw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Online, the protestors rejoiced in their success but were they correct? In his blog post, Rabbi Goldberg describes how the people who mobilized to prevent a chillul Hashem (a desecration of God\u2019s Name) ended up perpetrating one. He writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThrough their absurd campaign, the critics who have spread lies, slander, hate, and threats have also ironically spread more of Christianity\u2019s teachings, tenets, and texts to the Jewish community than Matthew Kelly ever has or would. Through their campaign they have achieved exactly what they illegitimately declared Kelly was going to do \u2013 they have driven Jews further away from Judaism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Based on online comments, it seems that the protestors continue to disagree with Rabbi Goldberg\u2019s perspective. Such is to be expected, one imagines. I would like to address another question: that of the protestors\u2019 zeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeal is a tremendous thing. It\u2019s a praiseworthy character trait. Not everyone exercises the opportunity to stand up for God\u2019s honor. At the golden calf, Moses called out, \u201cWhoever is for God \u2013 to me!\u201d (Exodus 32:26) and the Tribe of Levi rushed to his side. Rashi on this verse cites the Talmud (Yoma 66b) that their zeal was a sign of their righteousness. We even learn from the incident of Pinchas that zealousness can sometimes imbue one with extra-legal authority (Sanhedrin 82a on Numbers 25:7). Zeal is good but it can also be misplaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

We see a lack of zeal following the incident of the spies (Numbers chapters 13-14). The spies claimed that the nation would not be able to conquer the Canaanites. Rather than trust in God, the people cried. They complained. They even planned to go crawling back to Pharaoh. They demonstrated a complete and utter lack of zeal. As punishment, they were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years. The adults who left Egypt would die out and their children would be the ones to conquer the land.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a familiar story but it has a lesser-known epilogue, at the end of Numbers 14. After the nation was sentenced to perish in the wilderness, the people finally got the idea that zeal is desirable. They got up early, intending to conquer the land then and there. Moses said, \u201cWhy bother? God isn\u2019t with you so you cannot succeed!\u201d The people persisted but their invasion was driven back by the Amalekites and the Canaanites. <\/span><\/p>\n

This contingent was certainly zealous but that\u2019s not how the Torah remembers them. It calls them \u201cinsolent\u201d (Numbers 14:44 and Rashi there). Their hearts may have been in the right place but their cause wasn\u2019t just. That makes all the difference. (King Saul also had a problem with misguided zeal \u2013 see I Samuel 13:11-14 and 15:14-23 for two prime examples and their consequences.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get back to Boca Raton. I think we can all agree that a missionary proselytizing in a shul would be a terrible thing and should be protested but is that what happened here?<\/span><\/p>\n

Kelly\u2019s faith is not a secret. If you visit his web site, you\u2019ll note that the initial portal offers two options, each leading to the web site of separate endeavors that Kelly has founded or co-founded. Clicking \u201cBusiness Development\u201d takes one to Floyd Consulting; clicking \u201cSpiritual Development\u201d takes one to Dynamic Catholic. These are separate enterprises with completely different agendas. Kelly has a sterling reputation; he has addressed government officials, college students, and more than forty Fortune 500 companies \u2013 audiences that have no interest in hearing about Kelly\u2019s faith, which is fine because there is no record of him ever proselytizing to his business audiences. In short, the zeal here appears to be misplaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

Surely Kelly\u2019s business practices are informed by his faith, as they should be, but he properly compartmentalizes his discussion topics. Let\u2019s contextualize that:<\/span><\/p>\n

Imagine, if you will, an Orthodox Jewish scientist who gives a daf yomi shiur in his community. We\u2019ll call him Shlomo. (I assure you, there are many such people.) Shlomo is invited to guest lecture at a local college about his area of specialization, molecular biology. Then someone finds his daf yomi shiurim online and starts a campus protest. \u201cWe don\u2019t want that Jew coming here and teaching his Talmud in our science classes!\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s going to teach Creationism!\u201d The protest intensifies until Shlomo feels compelled to withdraw.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doesn\u2019t that sound wrong? Yes, Shlomo is an observant Jew. In context that means that he tries to be honest in business and refrain from gossip. He won\u2019t lecture on Shabbos or eat in the school\u2019s non-kosher cafeteria. But we all know that Shlomo\u2019s expertise in gemara would be reserved for his daf yomi shiurim; he\u2019s perfectly capable of discussing molecular biology without bringing Rashi and Tosfos into it. If we heard of such an incident, I\u2019m fairly confident that we\u2019d all complain that it was thinly-veiled anti-Semitism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly. The same piece of gemara that tells us that zeal conferred extra-legal authority upon Pinchas also tells us that he first invested the proper legwork to ensure that his cause was just. As we see from the would-be invaders of Canaan, misguided zeal can do more harm than good.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d like to discuss a recent incident that took place at the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS) in Florida. Rabbi Efrem Goldberg invited motivational speaker Matthew Kelly to speak. From there, things got ugly. (It bears mentioning that BRS is an OU-member synagogue, though I\u2019ve never been there and I don\u2019t know Rabbi Goldberg.) A particular<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":55718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nMisguided Zeal? - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Misguided Zeal? - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-23T15:53:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-26T07:46:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"795\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"530\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/\",\"name\":\"Misguided Zeal? - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-23T15:53:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-26T07:46:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\"},\"description\":\"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg\",\"width\":795,\"height\":530,\"caption\":\"Fist in the Air\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Misguided Zeal? - OU Life","description":"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Misguided Zeal? - OU Life","og_description":"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2017-02-23T15:53:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-26T07:46:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":795,"height":530,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/","name":"Misguided Zeal? - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-23T15:53:57+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-26T07:46:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c"},"description":"Zeal is important but it can be misdirected. It\u2019s such a powerful tool that it\u2019s our responsibility to ensure that it\u2019s always used properly.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/misguided-zeal\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Fist-in-the-Air-e1488094367523.jpg","width":795,"height":530,"caption":"Fist in the Air"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/50551cbad585e4b2a31b4b0227e06c1c","name":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Rabbi-Jack-Abramowitz_avatar-96x96.jpg","caption":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz"},"description":"Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including The Tzniyus Book and The Taryag Companion. His latest work, The God Book, is available from OU Press as well as on Amazon.","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/rabbi-jack-abramowitz\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55716,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55715\/revisions\/55716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}