Tomorrow, at a special ceremony, the Israel Prize will be awarded to ten individuals whose achievements have influenced and shaped the face of the country. One exceptional prize will be given to Professor Shema Yehuda Friedman for his achievements in Talmudic research.
The judges' reasoning stated: "Professor Friedman's contribution to the study of the Talmud is impressive in its scope and thoroughness, and his research extends to almost every field of Talmudic research. Through rigorous, meticulous, and in-depth philological treatment, Friedman reached new insights into the study of Talmudic literature.".
But these innocent lines conceal a fact that may raise questions about the choice of this particular professor. In the newspaper Haaretz, journalist Yair Ettinger pointed out that the prize for Talmud research has only been awarded seven times so far. Of these, four were won by graduates of the Conservative movement's Beit Midrash in Manhattan.
In addition to Yehuda Friedman, the following rabbis also won: Prof. Chaim Zalman Dimitrovsky (won in 1994), Avraham Goldberg (2000) and David Halvani (2008), all of whom, as mentioned, are graduates of the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), located in Manhattan.
Talmud study versus Lumads
That's all for the informative report. From now on, all that's left is to speculate, wonder, and perhaps even provide explanations.
Does the fact that the pinnacle of formal recognition for excellence in Israel - namely the Israel Prize, perhaps the most widely studied Jewish book today, is reached only by people from a Beit Midrash that carved out a break from Orthodox tradition somewhere in the 19th century?
The Conservative movement began in the rabbinical study centers in Breslau, Germany, and Padua, Italy. Why was the movement established? In 1885, the founding conference of the Reform movement was held at what was called the Pittsburgh Conference. The reform in Judaism, which began at the beginning of the 19th century in the famous Heichalum dispute in Hamburg, was not institutionalized until the conference in Pittsburgh, USA, where the rules of the movement were established, such as accepting only the moral commandments in the laws of the Torah, as well as not accepting commandments concerning the Land of Israel and commandments that do not harmonize with modern culture. Parts of this group, more conservative, who were not satisfied with the result, chose to split and establish the Conservative movement.
The principles of the Conservative movement are quite simple: Halacha should change in accordance with the spirit of the times, although not as radically as the Reformers advocate.
Israel is cutting itself off
Four scholars from this movement's Beit Midrash won an award that was entirely a religious, Torah-based work. How can we understand this? How did it happen that the Orthodox Torah scholars failed to reach, from the perspective of the Israeli establishment, the pinnacle of research excellence, the Olympus reserved for the best in the field?
Is Friedman the ultimate man who deserves to win the award for Talmudic breakthrough? Didn't each of the yeshivot heads, not necessarily the greatest, achieve greater achievements? Isn't Israel signaling by elevating the graduates of the Conservative Beit Midrash to a higher level that the Beit Midrash in the Hebron Yeshiva, Ponevezh, Ateret Yisrael, and Tifrach are less important? Or are they not important at all?
By awarding the prize to people like Prof. Friedman and his friends from conservatism, Israel is cutting itself off from the only segment that seriously studies the discipline of Talmud, from the yeshiva students who grew up to be Torah gurus, authors of books, and Torah teachers to thousands of students who never cease trying to chart a new breakthrough in ancient issues.
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