I recently heard a kippa wearing professor of Jewish studies from Hebrew University proclaim in a public forum the oft repeated mantra of the liberal/feminist movement that 'if there is a rabbinic will there is a halachic way'. Now, the woman who popularized this accusation is ignorant of Jewish law and how the halachic system works. But this professor is a very knowledgeable person who spends day and night learning and writing about Torah, so he should know better.
This is what his former Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Aharon Lichtenstein said:
"..... Where
there is a Rabbinic will, they intone, there is a Halakhic way; and if, as
they insist, something is rotten in the state of Denmark, its wardens are responsible. Given the cultural climate conducive to the efflorescence of
such a feeling, its provenance is understandable; but, at the same time,
thoroughly regrettable. Its accusatory charges, are, in effect, aimed at
Malko Shel Olam, no less than at His emissaries; and the implication that
only the secular establishment is sensitive to human needs and/or suffering is blatantly damning."
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[Efflorescence - the action or process of developing and unfolding as if coming into flower. When Edgar Allan Poe spoke of an "efflorescence of language" in The Poetic Principle, he was referring to language that was flowery, or overly rich and colorful. This ties in to the garden roots of efflorescence, a word, like "flourish," that comes from the Latin word for "flower." More commonly, however, "efflorescence" refers to the literal or figurative act of blossoming much like a flower does. You could speak of "the efflorescence of nature in springtime," for example, or "the efflorescence of culture during the Renaissance." "Efflorescence" is also used in chemistry to refer to a process that occurs when something changes to a powder from loss of water of crystallization.]
