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Thursday, August 02, 2007

Changing Everything

(Hat tip: Chana UPDATED: Chana's post, and R' Gil's, both excellent; R' Gil quotes R' Dr. Norman Lamm's letter on the subject which was also very sharp. Was in training most of the day, and only quickly put up what I saw from my e-mail.)

Wow, this is something:
Snap, Crackle, But Not Cropped
Feldman admits controversial photo was not altered by school, which acknowledges it axed his lifecycle notices. Jonathan Mark - Associate Editor

Noah Feldman, who ignited a firestorm of criticism last week with his pointed attack on Modern Orthodoxy in The New York Times Magazine, admitted this week that he learned before publication of his article that he in fact was not intentionally cropped out of his reunion photograph.

In the article, “Orthodox Paradox,” Feldman, a Harvard Law School professor, asserts that he was erased from a newsletter’s photograph by his former yeshiva, the Maimonides School in Brookline, Mass., because he was standing alongside his non-Jewish girlfriend. The reunion anecdote led off the story in a dramatic way and the image of Feldman and his wife allegedly being stricken from the photo appeared central to his feelings of being left out.
That pretty much kills the article, however much else was true. Shame on Noah Feldman, and shame on the Times for allowing that part of the article to remain while they did not allow a photo after understanding why he wasn't included.

Feldman has a few interesting comments that really make sense but contradict what he implied in his original article, but I'll have to get to those later - currently attending all-day training.

8 comments:

  1. N. Feldman: "D'Oh"

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  2. Wow, that really is something. It certainly leaves Feldman with no credibility in my mind.

    But, the fact remains that after the story came out many defended Maimo's "decision" to crop the photo. Regardless of whether it happened or not, the parable still served as an interesting jumping point for discussing the appropriateness of such an act.

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  3. So there goes my major issue, I thought that it was absurd for the school to crop the photo, and turns out that they didn't.

    OH SNAP.

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  4. Well, this certainly makes him look ridiculous.

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  5. What JT said. I hope this doesn't detract from the much-needed discussion about how MO communities should treat those who leave and/or intermarry.

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  6. G - :)

    JT - Yes and true, and I am one of those who did so, and stand by it in a theoretical case. Nevertheless, it now becomes merely an academic discussion.

    Annie - And here, I thought you changed your mind after your other post... :)

    Apple - Yep.

    JA - Agreed, but it likely will (rightly or wrongly) cause further doubt about the claims they make and/or their agendas, making such discussion a lot less discussion-like and a lot more accusatory/questioning.

    Ironically, Feldman - by lying - may have further set such discussion back rather than the reverse.

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  7. Ironically, Feldman - by lying - may have further set such discussion back rather than the reverse.

    Agreed. I didn't post about the article originally because so much of it was so... bizarre. Maybe I should start writing for the NYT magazine. ;-)

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  8. Hey JA: We should reject intermarriage---and atheism, too.

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