I strongly disagree with the sentiments being spewed here. You can hate the messenger, and you may question the need to "burn" the book, but the message is still true.
I've heard from one of the signatories that it's a bad sefer and that nobody should learn it. (Didn't hear "burn" from his mouth but didn't ask about it.) This signer, a respected rosh yeshiva, clearly saw the book and clearly stood behind his stance that the book is terrible and should not be learned.
I have no idea who is behind the campaign, or how many crazy things he's done, but please don't normalize the book just because they guy might be a nut. The sefer should not be learned. (The author may be a great person who meant well. But the final product is not according to the mesorah we have, and can be detrimental to our hashkafah.)
There is indeed an element of Israeli politics here. One of the reasons ostensibly given is that one of the talmidei chachamim on the team who wrote the sefer is from בית מדרש הגר״א, Rav Inbals yeshiva. The yeshiva has a somewhat unique derech halimud that sets it apart from the classic yeshivos and includes machshava, mechkar, and contrasting the poshut pshat of tanach with the drush. It is controversial with Rav Dovid Cohen being a notable Rosh Yeshiva opposed to their derech. Complicating the picture, at one point Rav Inbal wrote a kuntrus in support of Rav Shteinman against Peleg which led to the Peleg newspaper mounting a campaign against him and his yeshiva.
In the lengthily kuntrus that was put out (the author emailed it to me) they claim they are judging the Sefer strictly on its content and not basing their criticism on any author but the accompanying literature does judge it based on one of the supposed authors.
The Eidah Hachareidis, initially a warm supporter of the Sefer has since put out a letter that Leshem will revise any issues before the next printing. The Kol Koreis on the other hand say the Seder is unfixable and should be removed.
The opposition circulated a while back in Israel. It was recently revived and pushed in America, one would assume by this blogger who wrote about it a couple of weeks ago and put infomercials in the papers. The fact that he appears to believe all sorts of conspiracy theories and blogs about the maskilim having secret groups infiltrating us today make me extra wary when that is the claim that it being made against the sefer.
I would definitely like to hear more from signatories who have gone through the Sefer and will articulate the concerns. One does not take such signatories lightly but neither does one trust every pashkevil that comes out purporting to have all the gedolim in opposition. Is there widespread agreement that the Sefer is melevolent or are there differing opinions. Is the problem with an author or is it the content. What is the specific problem with the content?
After going through quite a few pages of the kuntres, there seems to be several repetitions of the idea that Rashi IS THE POSHUT PSHAT , and to state that Rashi brings the Medrash on a particular possuk but there is also a poshut pshat is apikorsus.
As others have mentioned, the Rashbam says he spoke to his grandfather Rashi about putting out another biur with the poshut pshat and Rashi told him that if he had the time he would do exactly that.
The Ibn Ezra, Abarbanel, and a host of other Rishonim take pains to present the poshut pshat. For example when Rashi incorporates the Medrash of saddling the donkey himself, the Ibin Ezra says it was his servants. There are numerous other examples.
The kuntrus seems to feel it’s apikorsus to not bring Yaakov’s kefitzas haderech to Har Hamoria or the twelve stones turning into one, but why should that belong in the poshut pshat?
Is the problem that no one is on the level to say pshat nowadays, even pshat collated from the rishonim. The Torah is given over in pshat, Remez, drush and sod. One can put out a Sefer of drush without any issue. Why is pshat different?
Is the issue that they are teaching it to schoolchildren before Rashi? Is it a sixth sense that the work will have a detrimental effect on Klal Yisrael? I would love to hear from someone who went through the Sefer himself clearly articulate the exact issues.
If at the end of the day there is a clear consensus of our manhigim based on through familiarity with the Sefer that is good enough for me even if I wouldn’t understand their reasoning. I don’t thing we are currently at that point.
