Who Runs Klal?

As part of my business writing courses I introduce the idea of using visuals as part of the writing process. One of the types of visuals we look at in class is the flow chart/organizational chart. Done correctly, such a chart shows clearly 1)the lines of authority--who reports to whom, who is higher/lower in the hierarchy of authority--and, 2)what are the steps of a sequence for completion of a project.

Just for fun I tried completing such a flow chart for Klal. My conclusion? It can't really be done. While the theory suggests that such a flow chart is pyramidal, going from the highest authority and spreading outward as the authority goes downward, it doesn't seem to want to work that way in this situation.

The first problem is that "Klal" is too amorphous. The terms used to define Klal are constantly changing, depending on whom you speak to and what "horse" they are backing in the race. Orthodox is not favored by some, so let's try the word "frum" instead. Well, right off the bat we are excluding some members of Klal Yisroel if we define Klal as frum. But let's accept that for the moment and try and do an authority chart for frum Klal.

Foiled again. In discussing this with a few people whose Jewish learning is far above mine, they pointed out that I would have to divide Klal again. They pointed out that Sefardim and Ashkenazim are usually going to have a different authority figure at the top of the pyramid, if and when there is only one authority figure at the top. I countered that we talk about a "gadol ha'doar." Is that gadol only a gadol for one group or for both? Does being a gadol transcend being Ashkenazic or Sefardic? They sighed. I got the picture.

So I tried to draw that chart for Ashkenazic frum Jewry. Still no luck. While there were a number of names that were thrown out by various people, what soon became clear was that no single name is agreed upon as "the" authority figure, no single name was even mentioned by all whom I asked. Granted, there were a few names that came up frequently and I asked if those names could be considered as the ones who are running Klal or ran Klal. Blank stares ensued. The basic answer was that these people did not run Klal, although a few people pointed out that they might be considered to be running their little corner of Klal.

So I decided to try this a different way. What if instead of particular people I tried instead to list the type of authority that should go on top and throughout the pyramid. No luck again. A few people mentioned that Rabbanim should be at the top. Okay, I thought, but asked which Rabbanim, since obviously merely having smicha would turn the pyramid on its head, with the broad base at the top, given the number of Rabbanim. Again, no one could agree on who gets to go on top.

So I tried subdividing frum Ashkenazic Klal even further. And I ran into dozens and dozens of groups. I tried Yeshivish as a subdivision but it was pointed out to me that there will be no unified concensus as to who to put at the top of the pyramid. There isn't one Rosh HaYeshiva from one particular yeshiva that all other yeshivas would consider as "the" head of the Yeshivish pyramid. I tried it for Chasidism and no luck there either. I tried it for what is loosely called Modern Orthodoxy and was told I'd have to define that a whole lot differently and I still wouldn't get to the top of the pyramid.

Okay, getting nowhere in starting at the top of the pyramid, I tried to reverse the order. I'd start at the bottom and work my way up. Who are the people lowest on the authority totem pole. Grrrrr. The basic definition from what people were describing is that all of us are on the bottom, except for the ones who are higher up. So I asked, do we on the bottom have no authority at all? Well, they conceded, we sort of have authority within our own little family units, except when we exceed that authority and should be going to someone higher for instructions."How do we define when we have exceeded our authority?" I asked. And the answer was that those above us in authority will tell us when we have gone beyond our authority.

To sum up my frustration, what I discovered was that it was impossible to draw an organizational chart for frum Klal as a whole. I discovered that we aren't a grand multi-national "firm" on the idea of an Exxon or a Siemens. There is no real "corporate" structure to Klal. We are like a whole bunch of mom and pop businesses, some tiny, some larger, all pretty much functioning according to all kinds of different authority structures. Even if it would be more efficient, these smaller structures aren't looking to merge together, because whoever is at the top of the little pyramids isn't going to give up that position to become just another cog in the wheel. I discovered that we have a whole bunch of people/organizations that we can go to for an answer to a question, but the answers won't always be the same, depending on who we go to, and lots of people are going to disagree with the answer, and maybe even the question.

Basically, no one speaks for Klal--no one can. Klal is a theoretical idea--one unified Jewish people. Now before someone yells "apikoris" let me add that obviously at the tippy top of the Pyramid is Hashem and the Torah. It's after that that things begin to get murky.

And then I asked my final question: What if c"v some real immediate danger threatened Klal? What if c"v a threat like the Nazi threat of WWII arose? How would we be able to respond to that threat when Klal is so many disjointed groups? How would we organize ourselves to respond to such a threat? Surely, despite political/philosophical/practical differences among all the various groups, there has to be in place a scenario for if things go wrong? I mean, every school and business building is required to have a fire evacuation plan in place, one that is practiced on a regular basis. Who is Klal's disaster management team? Do they meet regularly to discuss what would need to be done and how to get the news out? One of the people I was talking to verbally patted me on the head and said: "Don't worry. Should something c"v be a danger to Klal, we'd all be together to face it in a jiffy."

Yeah, I'd like to believe that, but I'd feel a whole lot better about that answer if I could fill in all the boxes on my flow chart and actually see some black and white proof that Klal has got an underlying structure, one that everyone would agree on.