Americans traditionally used to have a suspicion (a kind of prejudice) against experts. I share in this to some degree. I think a lot depends on the field in question. For example, in plumbing I would go with the experts. But there are other field like "Gender Studies" where the experts confer diplomas on themselves and their buddies. Fields that are all just make believe. Philosphy seems to be somewhere in the middle.
Authenticity was my motivation I believe for going to Shar Yashuv in NY and then the Mir. Reform Judaism did not seem all that authentic to me at the time. Nowadays I would have to revise my opinion. Not that the issue is all that clear one way or the other. True that the Litvak Yeshiva world is the most authentic approach to Torah. On the other hand there are lots of aspects that Reform and Conservative Judaism have that are not in the Litvak world.
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