The Pluralism Diaries by Rav Goni

We live in a pluralistic world. So it's no surprise that the Jewish world is pluralistic, too. Once you realize this you begin noticing expressions of this reality in all sorts of places. Pluralism can be expressed intentionally or inadvertantly. Pluralism is a commitment embraced by some and excoriated by others. But, accepted or rejected, it is here. Institutions and individuals may consciously engage in or eschew pluralism's agenda, but our actions and ideas all, one way or another, are manifestations of its power. The most blatant way that pluralsim is expressed in through agencies and prgrams that proclaim their desire to engage all denominations of Judaism. Discussion of that issue will have to wait for another time.

But another manifestation of pluralism is the growing willingness of Jews to engage in eclectic choices as they define their own Jewish identities and commitments. The conviction underlying this is that coherence of meaning is built by and through the individual instead of being decreed by an already defined system or by some authority. This is one reason why many in the Orthodox community are uncomfortable with the notion of pluralism. For instance, in the March '06 issue of Sh'ma, an issue devoted to discussing pluralism, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik writes:

What is needed, argued [Rabbi David] Hartman, is "an ideology of pluralism," the notion "that my faith can be nurtured without claiming exclusive truth." This is an approach that Orthodoxy cannot accept.

His rejection of the idea of pluralism is not simply that it may lead to anarchy and the destruction of the community, but, more fundamentally, that pluralism is antithetical to Orthodoxy, as such. Nonetheless, pluralistic thinking can be found in the Orthodox communtiy as well.
Here a fascinating statement by a person struggling with this tension. The May 4, 2006 issue of The Jerusalem Post revealed that Rabbi Haviva Ner-David was recently given recognition by her rabbinic mentor, after 12 years of study and preparation, that she is equally qualified to serve as a rabbi as any man. This is tantamount to rabbinic ordination, and Rabbi Ner-David is called up to the Torah in her Modern Orthodox community as Ha-Rav Haviva. The article quotes her as saying "that she would not define herself as an Orthodox rabbi."

I feel strongly that such labels only serve to divide the Jewish people in a time when what we need is unity. Moreover, such labels tend to limit at a time when what we need is a fresh perspective and new voices, she explains. I call myself a Jewish rabbi, a rabbi of and for the Jewish People. And that is actually true for the types of people I tend to counsel and teach... [I am] part of an emerging and growing post-denominational community of serious, struggling, committed Jews who are less interested in fitting in and more interested in finding an intellectually and spiritually honest path to God by listening to the rainbow of voices that can be heard through constant interpretation and reinterpretation of our traditional texts and rituals.

Pluralism can mean the joint cooperation of denominations as they continue to maintain their differentiation, or it can the disregard of denominational definitions and affiliations for the sake of something else, something that may feel fresher, more encompassing and more honest.