Unbeknownst to my family friends and me Modern Orthodox Judaism is fighting for its life.
Apparently a debate has been raging in academia and the Jewish media as to how to define Modern Orthodoxy.
At the same time there is a movement to protect Modern Orthodoxy from the encroachment of ‘ultra-Orthodox’ Judaism. Many who attended Yeshiva College have been surprised to learn that their rabbis and teachers who are themselves products of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and students of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveichik are now deemed ‘ultra-Orthodox.’
As a result Yeshiva Chovevei Torah was founded as a Modern Orthodox alternative to the ordination program at Yeshiva University.
Pundits have even ascribed Richard Joel’s appointment as Yeshiva University president to the need by the university to maintain its Modern Orthodox soul.
I disagree with this assessment. I do not believe that Modern Orthodoxy is under siege. Indeed I believe that the siege mentality arises out of a historical misconception about what Modern Orthodoxy was and what it has evolved into today.
You see I have excellent Modern Orthodox credentials — even better than those of some of the experts. I am a fourth generation Young Israelite and the organization’s current president. My great grandmother was a founder of the Young Israel Women’s League. My grandparents belonged to the Young Israel of Brooklyn. My parents attended the synagogue’s youth programs. I have davened in and belonged to Young Israel synagogues my entire life.
From my vantage point I believe that while Modern Orthodoxy has evolved from its early form it is thriving and is alive and well.
My grandparents and parents have described to me the mainstream American Orthodox community of their day. The Young Israel of Brooklyn had mixed dancing at its social events and co-educational youth and young adult programs. Virtually none of the married women covered their hair outside of shul. The men wore hats but not for religious reasons — all men wore hats. (Just look at pre-1960 photographs depicting the fans at any major league baseball game.) When the men attended a movie the theater or other indoor events they took their hats off and sat bareheaded. Yarmulkes were not worn in public.
My mother and most of her friends attended public school and sang Christmas songs with their classmates each December. Their formal Jewish education consisted of after-school Talmud Torah programs. Although my father and most of his friends attended yeshiva for elementary school and high school many boys ended their formal Jewish education in the eighth grade.
Formal post-yeshiva high school Jewish education was rare. While my grandparents struggled to raise and support their families during the Great Depression and World War II they had to also contend with Sunday Blue Laws and employers who would not hire Sabbath observant employees.
This past year the National Council of Young Israel celebrated its 90th anniversary by issuing a special edition of its magazine Viewpoint. The editor and I read many articles columns and editorials dating from 1936 to the present. In its early years the National Council of Young Israel maintained an employment bureau to assist young men to obtain jobs that permitted Sabbath observance. Children wrote letters thanking Young Israel for providing Shabbat afternoon youth groups which were their only opportunity to socialize with other Orthodox children. Editorials discussed problems with kashrut standards.
A poem written by a distraught mother in 1950 described how helpless she felt trying to convince her daughter not to do her nails or go to the movies on Shabbat. Adult education classes were designed to provide the basics of Jewish knowledge and halachic observance for those who wished to follow halacha and raise Orthodox families.
