In relation to my remarks about Professor Berger:
“In my mid-teens, I experienced periods of perplexity and inner struggle while reading works of biblical criticism. While I generally resisted arguments for the documentary hypothesis with a comfortable margin of safety, there were moments of deep turmoil. I have a vivid recollection of standing at an outdoor [sabbath service] in camp overwhelmed with doubts and hoping that God would give me the strength to remain an Orthodox Jew. What saved me was a combination of two factors: works that provided reasoned arguments in favor of traditional belief and the knowledge that to embrace the position that the Torah consists of discrete, often contradictory documents was to embrace not merely error but [heresy].”
-From his autobiography published in 1993.
I’ll let all of you decide for yourself if these comments disqualify him from opining on whether or not these beliefs are kfira, and “beyond the pale of orthodoxy”.
(As an aside, when a 50 year old writes an autobiography, it speaks volumes about his character, and specifically his ego.)
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