One of the great English words yet to break into Orthodox Jewish discourse is the nominal adjective antinomian, and its corresponding philosophy antinomianism. It’s one of those Medieval Latin coinages that made its way into English shortly after people decided to stop being medieval, in order to describe a current yet timeless phenomenon.
Breaking the word into its constituent elements reveals its meaning: anti- ἀντί- ‘against’ + nomos νόμος ‘law’ (it may be helpful to know that the Septuagint translates תּוֺרָה ‘divine law’ as νόμος). Simply put, antinomianism is a descriptor of any ideology that is opposed to the observance of the Tora.
Antinomianism may be as old as the Tora itself, but I won’t bore you with a history lesson. If there’s one thing we learn from history, it’s that people learn nothing from history. The same principle applies, of course, to antinomianism. People rebrand antinomianism and be like “behold my new ideology”.
No thanks, Paul.
A generation later, their reskins appear foolish and their foreskins appear conspicuous. But this is only because the values of the time have shifted. As soon as your ideology has discovered a hammer with which to crack a Tora principle, every mitswa begins to look like a geode. Fun to crack, but there’s nothing sparkly inside. No refunds.
Antinomianism exists under ever evolving names, but all instances may be sorted under three general categories I call explicit antinomianism, implicit antinomianism, and accidental antinomianism, and collectively, the trinity of antinomianism (credit goes to my wife for this phrase).
Explicit antinomianism describes an idea or practice which involves explicit rejection of Tora values and/or commandments. Usually, but not necessarily, this is done in favor of a foreign ideology. My favorite example of this is the Trefa Banquet 2.0, which unlike the original, actually lived up to its reputation.
Implicit antinomianism is more subtle than the former: the Tora is implicitly rejected by embracing a foriegn ideology, but without saying as much. “No, we’re Jews who love Tora and ___. No, I have no idea why other Jews don’t do ___, they must have malice!” Mordechai Kaplan’s line that "the past has a vote, but not a veto" is a lobster entree of implicit antinomianism: giving the Tora a trial so you can sentence it to death.
Accidental antinomianism is the most subtle of all, and the most difficult for both the believer and outsiders to detect. A concept which the proponent believes to be Tora-based is unconsciously used to overturn a Tora principle. This one’s fun because you can use it to give frum people identity crises. Examples: Purim costumes. Cheesecake on Shavu`oth. You don’t want to know where shlissel challah comes from.
No category should be associated with a particular Jewish movement, even if one movement engages in an antinomianism of a certain category more than others. Rather, the trinity of antinomianism provides a framework for examining a particular expression of antinomianism.
The utility of the term antinomian is that it is an umbrella term that describes everything religious Jews should oppose. It’s interesting to see the Orthodox community invent new villains (the most recent being “Open Orthodoxy”, but my money is on “Orthodox Anti-Zionism'' as the next), but to justify why each new movement is bad is exhausting and pointless. Easier to frame Tora-observance = good, antinomianism = bad.
I would refrain - contrary to the historical usage of the word - to apply antinomian to a person. No one can be antinomian, only their actions and/or philosophy. My reasoning is both political and philosophical.
First, telling a person that they’re against the Tora is a great way to turn them against the Tora. “A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth,” fake African proverb and all.
Second, none of us are free from antinomianism. I needn’t get into detail on this, but I’ve heard some remarkably sophisticated justifications for antinomian behaviors from Jews of all affiliations. I’ve even thought of a few new ones myself!
The term antinomian provides a new weapon in the struggle against all forms of antinomianism. For it to catch on, it will take both skillful application by charismatic orators and prudence to avoid the semantic drift that would dilute it into just another insult.