One People, Two Worlds: We Need To Ban More Books Like This

ectomorph ↓

Mon, Dec 23 2024, 6:21 pm

One People, Two Worlds: We Need To Ban More Books Like This

Nothing makes a teenager want to read a book quite like banning it. When I learned that "One People, Two Worlds" was forbidden to Orthodox Jewish readers, I did what any self-respecting teenager would do: I marched straight to the public library and checked it out. It sounded fascinating.

Perhaps G-d engineered the ban knowing it would draw quirky contrarians like myself to this controversial book. Thankfully, this act of teenage rebellion ultimately strengthened both my faith and my self-confidence.

About this book
The idea seemed simple: take two rabbis—one Reform, one Orthodox—and let them debate their differences through email. Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch in one corner, Orthodox Rabbi Yosef Reinman in the other, with a moderator keeping the discussion civil. What could have been just another theological debate turned into something more: a guidebook for questioning minds. I doubt I'm the only rebellious teenager who, in seeking to challenge authority, accidentally found answers instead.

Relevance in a Fragmented World
The debates over religious authority, gender roles, secularism, and Israel haven't softened—they've calcified. These days, people with different viewpoints are about as likely to have a real conversation as online debaters are to admit they might be wrong.

One People, Two Worlds was published in 2002, and countless books on religion have appeared since then. Yet I keep returning to this one. In a world of shallow takes, shouted opinions and trolling, this book offers something precious and rare: an intense but respectful conversation about what divides and unites us.

For me, reading their exchange felt like eavesdropping on a familiar family debate. Coming from a religious home where my parents chose orthodoxy rather than inheriting it, I grew up hearing both sides of these arguments. Against this backdrop, finding this book as a teenager was like discovering a map through contested territory..

The issues they discuss are the same ones that shaped my own religious journey. By bringing these topics out of the shadows, the book proves that sunlight truly is the best disinfectant.

While social media has given us new platforms to argue, it hasn't helped us actually listen to each other. That's what makes this book so valuable—it reminds us that genuine dialogue is possible, even necessary. Their conversations model a kind of intellectual humility that feels almost revolutionary today.

Topics covered
The book tackles the fundamental questions that define religious identity:

Is the Torah divine, or a human creation?

Are gender roles essential differences, or social constructs?

Do our values come from tradition, or from the society around us?

How relevant is religious history to modern practice?

How should we label and categorize different religious movement ents?

These aren't just academic questions—they're the fault lines along which families and communities divide.

The Unresolved Role of Women
The debate over gender roles is always a particular favorite for me when rereading this book. Hirsch argues for egalitarianism from the Reform perspective, while Reinman defends the Orthodox framework of distinct but essential roles. While I'm enough of a feminist to appreciate having the right to open a bank account, the Reform position never really appealed to me in practice. I've always found joy in being a stay-at-home mother and caring for children.

The Orthodox viewpoint presents women as "different" from men, suggesting they should find fulfillment in running the home. In Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist services, women are counted as equals and part of the minyan; in Orthodoxy, their ritual status is more limited. Reinman acknowledges that women can theoretically hold leadership positions—citing the biblical Deborah as precedent—but argues that modern Orthodox modesty standards make this impractical.

From my perspective, there's a biological reality to gender differences, and many women today seem stressed by the pressure to work outside the home. To put it in religious terms: why should we take on Adam's curse when we already bear Eve's? Yet I recognize this view might seem regressive to some modern readers.

A Takeaway for All Readers
This book isn’t just for those wrestling with Jewish identity. It’s for anyone who wants to understand how people hold on to their truths while acknowledging the validity of someone else’s experience. Their journey underscores a critical lesson for both Jews and non-Jews: dialogue doesn’t need to erase differences to be productive.

Conclusion
So yes, it’s an old book. Yes, it was banned. But maybe that’s exactly why we should be reading it now.

A heartfelt thank you to Rabbi Reinman for letting me share this publicly.

(You will have to click through to my substack for images, but this is the entire text. If you do click through, please subscribe. https://ishayirashashem.substa.....atore)

amother

Lawngreen ↓

Mon, Dec 23 2024, 6:35 pm

I read this book. I had no idea it was banned. I’m a mainstream, ffb, sheitel wearing, challa baking, top seminary graduate, Jewish wife and mother. Rabbi Reinman is brilliant and Ammiel Hirsch is no slouch either. This isnt easy reading, or at least for me it wasn’t. It made me think and gave me answers. Highly recommend.

↑ ectomorph ↓

Mon, Dec 23 2024, 6:56 pm

amother Lawngreen wrote:

Thanks! Do you mind if I copy the text of this post and email it to Rabbi Reinman?

amother

↑ Lawngreen

Mon, Dec 23 2024, 7:08 pm

ectomorph wrote:

Thanks! Do you mind if I copy the text of this post and email it to Rabbi Reinman?

No, I don’t mind.

amother

Copper ↓

Mon, Dec 23 2024, 8:23 pm

I was delighted to find the book in the public library. Three weeks later, stuff broke loose. I don't know what I would have done had I not read the book.
But, es chatai ani mazkir hayom, I went to the local Jewish book fair and heard Hirsch. It was bashert that Rabbi Reinman not be there, but indulging in alternative history fantasy is fun; you have to wonder what could have been.

↑ ectomorph ↓

Tue, Dec 24 2024, 8:00 am

amother Copper wrote:

Lol. Same question as above

amother

↑ Copper

Tue, Dec 24 2024, 8:08 am

ectomorph wrote:

Lol. Same question as above

My pleasure.

↑ ectomorph ↓

Yesterday at 12:53 pm

Thanks everyone!

amother

Stonewash

Yesterday at 1:01 pm

It's banned? Great to know LOL

Growing up in an orthodox Jewish home with my father being a kiruv Rabbi, this book was encouraged and openly discussed.
Rabbi Reinman is a brilliant mind, clearly and cunningly making his points. I have referenced this book so many times in the many arguments I had about Orthodoxy.

↑ ectomorph

Yesterday at 1:03 pm

amother Stonewash wrote:

It's banned? Great to know LOL

Lol!! Same.

I see why it was banned. I was already exposed to these ideas, so it made very little difference.

Molly Weasley

Yesterday at 1:10 pm

Just to be clear, it wasn't banned in the traditional sense.

Rabbi Reinmanwas initially told he would have the final editing rights to ensure that the Orthodox mindset is highlighted at the end of the book.

Unfortunately, the publisher reneged on that agreement and the end result seemed to indicate that Rabbi Reinman agreed or at least didn't push back at the reform view.

I recently reread the book....

itsokay

Yesterday at 1:40 pm

Fun fact R' Reinman is Avner Gold from the ruach ami series. He's an amazing author/historian/Rabbi