Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism . Theologically , it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah , both Written and Oral , as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since.
141-571: Schiffschul , officially Khal Adas Yisroel , was a former Orthodox congregation and synagogue , located at Grosse Schiffgasse 8, in the second district, known as Leopoldstadt , Vienna , Austria . The synagogue was destroyed by the Nazis on Kristallnacht in 1938. The congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite . Located adjacent to the Schiffshul and was a building that currently houses
282-683: A kippah from a young age in order to ingrain the habit. The argument for the kippah has two sides. The Vilna Gaon said one can make a berakhah without a kippah , since wearing a kippah is only a midos chassidus ("exemplary attribute"). In the 21st century, there has been an effort to suppress earlier sources that practiced this leniency, including erasing lenient responsa from newly published books. Or Zarua (13th century) wrote that "our rabbis in France" customarily made blessings while bareheaded, but he criticized this practice. According to 20th-century Rabbi Isaac Klein ,
423-627: A kippah ), but in Reform synagogues there is no requirement. However, kippot may be provided to anybody who wishes to wear them. The Kippah was not always as widely used as it is today: Promotional images used by the orthodox New York Yeshiva university show board members bareheaded as late as 1954. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the distinctive Jewish headgear was the Jewish hat ,
564-645: A personal God in his opening six articles. The six concern God's status as the sole creator, his oneness, his impalpability, that he is first and last, that God alone, and no other being, may be worshipped, and that he is omniscient. The supremacy of the God of Israel is even applied to non-Jews. According to most rabbinic opinions, non-Jews are banned from the worship of other deities. However, they are allowed to " associate " lower divine beings with their faith in God (mostly to allow contact with Christians , accepting that they were not idolaters with whom business dealings and
705-529: A reform of Jewish education , abolition of coercion in matters of conscience , and other modernizing measures. They bypassed rabbinic approval and set themselves, at least implicitly, as a rival intellectual elite. A bitter struggle ensued. Reacting to Mendelssohn's assertion that freedom of conscience must replace communal censure, Rabbi Cohen of Hamburg commented: The very foundation of the Law and commandments rests on coercion, enabling to force obedience and punish
846-403: A shul called Bet Hamidrasch Khal Chassidim . This shul is led by Rabbi Avraham Yona Schwartz. The upper level of the building has been functioning as a yeshiva since the 1940s and is headed by Rabbi Michoel Pressburger . It also serves as temporary spiritual refuge to thousands of Jewish refugees from Iran who have transited through Vienna over the past 30 years. There is a memorial plaque
987-549: A 5–4 decision that active military members were required to remove the kippah indoors, citing uniform regulations that state only armed security police may keep their heads covered while indoors. Congress passed the Religious Apparel Amendment after a war story from the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing about the "camouflage kippah " of Jewish Navy Chaplain Arnold Resnicoff was read into
1128-475: A celebration (bar/bat mitzvah or wedding). Kippot for women are also being made and worn. These are sometimes made of beaded wire to seem more feminine. A special baby kippah has two strings on each side to fasten it and is often used in a brit milah ceremony. The Israelites might have worn a headdress similar to that worn by the Bedouins , but it is unknown whether a fixed type of headdress
1269-428: A consensus on the adaptation of halakha . Their initiative was thwarted by a combination of radical, secularist maskilim and leading conservative rabbis. This was highlighted during the battle that erupted after Moshe Leib Lilienblum 's 1868 call for a reconsideration of Talmudic strictures. Reines, Pines and their associates gradually formed the nucleus of Religious Zionism , while their conservative opponents adopted
1410-552: A convenience. German Orthodox leader Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch referred to "the conviction commonly designated as Orthodox Judaism"; in 1882, when Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer became convinced that the public understood that his philosophy and Liberal Judaism were radically different, he removed the word Orthodox from the name of his Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary . By the 1920s, the term had become common and accepted even in Eastern Europe. Orthodoxy perceives itself as
1551-519: A creed, although the 13 principles expounded by Maimonides in his 1160s Commentary on the Mishna , remained the most widely accepted. Various points were contested by many of Maimonides' contemporaries and later sages, such as the exact formulation and the status of disbelievers (either misinformed or expelled heretics). Similarly, Albo listed only three fundamentals, and did not regard the Messiah as
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#17327798742471692-491: A decade; the lifting of formal discrimination also strongly affected the Jews of independent Poland , Lithuania and other states. In the 1930s, it was estimated that no more than 20%–33% of Poland's Jews, the last stronghold of traditionalism where many were still living in rural and culturally-secluded communities, could be considered strictly observant. Only upon having become an embattled (though still quite large) minority, did
1833-504: A full hat with a brim and a central point or stalk. Originally used by choice among Jews to distinguish themselves, it was later made compulsory by Christian governments in some places as a discriminatory measure. In the early 19th century in the United States, rabbis often wore a scholar's cap (large saucer-shaped caps of cloth, like a beret) or a Chinese skullcap. Other Jews of this era wore black pillbox-shaped kippot . Often,
1974-592: A key tenet. Many who objected argued that the entire corpus of the Torah and the sayings of ancient sages were of canonical stature, rather than a few selected points. In later centuries, the 13 Principles became considered universally binding and cardinal by Orthodox authorities. During the Middle Ages, two systems of thought competed for primacy. The rationalist-philosophic school endeavored to present all commandments as serving higher moral and ethical purposes, while
2115-463: A large fortune, rose to the wardens' board. Breisach died soon after, and the Pressburg community became dominated by the conservatives. Sofer also possessed a strong base in the form of his yeshiva , the world's largest at the time, with hundreds of students. And crucially, the large and privileged Hungarian nobility blocked most imperial reforms in the backward country, including those relevant to
2256-617: A less stark one emerged in Eastern Europe during the Interwar period . Among the Jews of the Muslim lands , similar processes on a large scale began only around the 1970s, after they immigrated to Israel. Orthodoxy is often described as extremely conservative, ossifying a once-dynamic tradition due to the fear of legitimizing change. While this was sometimes true, its defining feature was not forbidding change and "freezing" Jewish heritage, but rather
2397-409: A male Conservative Jew ought to cover his head when in the synagogue, at prayer or sacred study, when engaging in a ritual act, and when eating. In the mid-19th century, Reformers led by Isaac Wise completely rejected the kippah after an altercation in which Rabbi Wise's kippah was knocked off his head. Nowadays, almost all Conservative synagogues require men to wear a head covering (usually
2538-584: A more equal and secularized society. The Jews were one of the groups affected: excommunication was banned, and rabbinic courts lost almost all their jurisdiction. The state, especially following the French Revolution , was more and more inclined to tolerate Jews as a religious sect, but not as an autonomous entity, and sought to reform and integrate them as "useful subjects". Jewish emancipation and equal rights were discussed. The Christian (and especially Protestant ) separation of "religious" and "secular"
2679-581: A notable change, for the Orthodox had to adapt to modern society no less than anyone else; they developed novel, sometimes radical, means of action and modes of thought. "Orthodoxization" was a contingent process, drawing from local circumstances and dependent on the threat sensed by its proponents: a sharply-delineated Orthodox identity appeared in Central Europe, in Germany and Hungary, by the 1860s;
2820-504: A partition. By 2005, that number went down to one, and ceased to exist when that synagogue resigned from the OU in 2015 after understanding that the OU was planning to expel it. In the postwar era, the vague traditional coalition came to a definite end. During and after the Holocaust , a new wave of strictly observant refugees arrived from Eastern and Central Europe. They typically regarded
2961-512: A polemic instigated by Hirsch. Lesser became a rallying point for conservative elements, concerned mainly with public standards of observance in critical fields such as marriage. A broad non-Reform, relatively traditional camp slowly coalesced as the minority within American Jewry, serving the nonobservant. Their synagogues liberalized their approach: omission of piyyutim from the liturgy; English-language sermons; secular education for
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#17327798742473102-525: A rabbinic ordination and limited knowledge would have marked him as a heretic by European standards . In 1845 he introduced the words "Orthodox" and "Orthodoxy" into the American Jewish discourse, explicitly to oppose Reform. Leeser was a staunch proponent of Zecharias Frankel , whom he considered the "leader of the Orthodox party". at a time when Positive-Historical and Orthodox positions were hardly distinguishable. In 1861, Leeser defended Frankel in
3243-627: A rabbinical seminary including secular studies. The progressives viewed him as too conservative. After four years of constant strife, he lost faith in the possibility of reuniting the Jewish public. In 1851, a group in Frankfurt am Main that opposed the Reform character of the Jewish community turned to Hirsch. He led them for the remainder of his life, finding Frankfurt a hospitable site for his unique ideology, which amalgamated acculturation, dogmatic theology, thorough observance, and strict secession from
3384-516: A requirement to wear a head covering even when traversing fewer than four cubits, and even when one is standing still, indoors and outside. Kitzur Shulchan Aruch cites a story from the Talmud ( tractate Shabbat 156b) about Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak , who might have become a thief had his mother not saved him from this fate by insisting that he cover his head, which instilled in him the fear of God. In Orthodox communities, boys are encouraged to wear
3525-516: A sacred space such as a synagogue or cemetery. The Reform movement has historically been opposed to wearing kippot , but wearing a kippah during Torah study and/or prayer has become more common and accepted as an option among Reform men and women. According to several authorities, however, the practice has since taken on the force of law because it is an expression of yir'at Shamayim ("reverence for Heaven"; i.e., respect for God ). The 17th-century authority David HaLevi Segal holds that
3666-449: A strict observance of Jewish Law, or halakha , which is to be interpreted and determined only according to traditional methods and in adherence to the continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire halakhic system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, essentially beyond external and historical influence. More than any theoretical issue, obeying the dietary , purity , ethical and other laws of halakha
3807-485: A symbol of Reform in Germany since 1818, so much that Hildesheimer seminarians had to sign a declaration that they would never serve in a synagogue that introduced one – was accepted with little qualm by the French Consistoire in 1856, as part of a series of synagogue regulations passed by Chief Rabbi Salomon Ulmann . Even Rabbi Solomon Klein of Colmar , the leader of Alsatian conservatives who partook in
3948-496: A united observant pro-Zionist front would be formed, were dashed between 1897 and 1899, as both the Eastern European nationalist intellectuals and Theodor Herzl himself revealed an uncompromising secularist agenda, forcing traditionalist leaders to pick sides. In 1900, the anti-Zionist pamphlet Or la-Yesharim , endorsed by many Russian and Polish rabbis, largely demarcated the lines between the proto- Haredi majority and
4089-421: A year. German Neo-Orthodoxy, in the meantime, developed a keen interest in the traditional Jewish masses of Russia and Poland; if at the past they were considered primitive, a disillusionment with emancipation and enlightenment made many young assimilated German Orthodox youth embark on journeys to East European yeshivot , in search of authenticity. The German secessionists already possessed a platform of their own,
4230-434: Is another Yiddish term for the same thing. Halachic authorities debate as to whether wearing a kippah at all times is required. According to Maimonides , Jewish law dictates that a man is required to cover his head during prayer. In non-Orthodox communities, some women also wear kippot , and people have different customs about when to wear a kippah —when eating, praying, studying Jewish texts , or entering
4371-479: Is not required, when a non-Jew wears a kippah in a synagogue, it is considered a sign of respect. Kippot are often provided to guests at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah . They are also often provided at bereavement events and at Jewish cemeteries . According to the Conservative Committee on Jewish Law and Standards , there is no halakhic reason to require a non-Jew to cover their head, but it
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4512-473: Is the hallmark of Orthodoxy. Practicing members are easily distinguishable by their lifestyle, refraining from doing numerous routine actions on the Sabbath and holidays, consuming only kosher food, praying thrice a day, studying the Torah often, donning head covering and tassels for men and modest clothing for women, and so forth. Other key doctrines include belief in a future bodily resurrection of
4653-490: Is the most common type of head-covering worn by men in Orthodox Jewish communities during prayers and by most Orthodox Jewish men at most other times. Among non-Orthodox Jewish individuals, some wear them at most times, while most wear them only during prayer, while attending a synagogue , or at other ceremonies, and others wear them rarely or never. The term kippah ( Hebrew : כיפה ) literally means "dome" as
4794-432: The kippah . Rabbi Abraham Shemtov , the leader of the group, responded: "Mr. President, the kippah to us is a sign of reverence." Rabbi Feller, another member of the group, continued: "We place the kippah on the very highest point of our being—on our head, the vessel of our intellect—to tell ourselves and the world that there is something which is above man's intellect: the infinite Wisdom of God." Passage of
4935-559: The Congressional Record . Catholic Chaplain George Pucciarelli tore off a piece of his Marine Corps uniform to replace Resnicoff's kippah when it had become blood-soaked after being used to wipe the faces of wounded Marines after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing. This amendment was eventually incorporated into U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) regulations on the "Accommodation of Religious Practices Within
5076-578: The Czar 's government all had little influence. School modernization under Max Lilienthal , the growth of rabbinical seminaries and the mandating to appoint clerks known as "official rabbis" all had little impact. Communal autonomy and the rabbinic courts' jurisdiction were abolished in 1844, but economic and social seclusion remained, ensuring the de facto authority of Jewish institutions and traditions. In 1880, only 21,308 Jewish pupils attended government schools, out of some 5 million Jews; In 1897, 97% of
5217-584: The Divine Presence is always over my head." This was understood by Rabbi Yosef Karo in the Shulchan Arukh as indicating that Jewish men should cover their heads and should not walk more than four cubits bareheaded. Covering one's head, such as by wearing a kippah , is described as "honoring God". The Mishnah Berurah modifies this ruling by adding that the Achronim established
5358-643: The Freie Vereinigung für die Interessen des Orthodoxen Judentums , founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch in 1885. In 1912, two German FVIOJ leaders, Isaac Breuer and Jacob Rosenheim , managed to organize a meeting of 300 seceding Mizrahi, proto- Haredi and secessionist Neo-Orthodox delegate in Katowice , creating the Agudath Israel party. While the Germans were a tiny minority in comparison to
5499-545: The Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis formed the classical Orthodox response to Higher Criticism. Hoffman declared that for him, the unity of the Pentateuch was a given, regardless of research. Hirsch often lambasted Hoffman for contextualizing rabbinic literature. All of them stressed the importance of dogmatic adherence to Torah min ha-Shamayim , which led them to conflict with Rabbi Zecharias Frankel , Chancellor of
5640-493: The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau . Unlike the Reform camp, Frankel insisted on strict observance and displayed great reverence towards tradition. But though appreciated by conservatives, his practice of Wissenschaft left him suspect to Hirsch and Hildesheimer. They demanded again and again that he state his beliefs concerning the nature of revelation. In 1859, Frankel published a critical study of
5781-490: The Mishnah , and added that all commandments classified as " Law given to Moses at Sinai " were merely customs (he broadened Asher ben Jehiel 's opinion). Hirsch and Hildesheimer seized the opportunity and launched a public campaign against him, accusing him of heresy. Concerned that public opinion regarded both neo-Orthodoxy and Frankel's "Positive-Historical School" centered at Breslau as similarly observant and traditionalist,
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5922-587: The Sages . The more radical among the Wissenschaft rabbis, unwilling to limit critical analysis or its practical application, coalesced around Rabbi Abraham Geiger to establish Reform Judaism . Between 1844 and 1846, Geiger organized three rabbinical synods in Braunschweig , Frankfurt and Breslau , to determine how to refashion Judaism for present times. The Reform conferences were met with uproar by
6063-491: The historical-critical study of scripture and the dominant philosophies of the day, especially Kant and Hegel . Influenced by the critical " Science of Judaism " ( Wissenschaft des Judentums ) pioneered by Leopold Zunz , and often in emulation of the Liberal Protestant milieu, they reexamined and undermined beliefs held as sacred in traditional circles, especially the notion of an unbroken chain from Sinai to
6204-564: The synagogue wished to appeal to acculturated Jews with a modernized ritual. They openly defied not just the local rabbinic court that ordered them to desist, but published learned tracts that castigated the entire rabbinical elite as hypocritical and obscurant . The moral threat they posed to rabbinic authority, as well as halakhic issues such as having a gentile play an organ on the Sabbath, were combined with theological issues. The Temple's revised prayer book omitted or rephrased petitions for
6345-455: The "zealots" were shocked by the demise of the traditional world into which they had been born. Like Moses Sofer a generation before them, these Orthodox émigrés moved east, to a pre-modern environment that they were determined to safeguard. Lichtenstein ruled out any compromise with modernity, insisting on maintaining Yiddish and traditional dress. They considered the Neologs as already beyond
6486-530: The "zealots"' cause, dismissed their legal arguments. In 1865, the ultra-Orthodox convened in Nagymihály and issued a ban on various synagogue reforms, intended not against the Neologs but against developments in the Orthodox camp, especially after Samuel Sofer violated his father's expressed ban and instituted vernacular sermons in Pressburg. Schick, the country's most prominent decisor, and other leading rabbis refused to sign, though they did not publicly oppose
6627-409: The 1818–1821 Hamburg Temple dispute , with its concerted backlash against Reform and the emergence of a self-aware conservative ideology, marks the beginning of Orthodox Judaism. The leader and organizer of the Orthodox camp during the dispute, and the most influential figure in early Orthodoxy, was Rabbi Moses Sofer of Pressburg , Hungary . Historian Jacob Katz regarded him as the first to grasp
6768-577: The 1840s, secularization and acculturation turned Neo-Orthodoxy into the strict right-wing of German Jewry. It was fully articulated by Bernays' mid-century disciples Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer . Hirsch, a Hamburg native who was ten during the Temple dispute, combined Orthodox dogmatism and militancy against rival interpretations of Judaism, granting leniency on many cultural issues and embraced German culture. The novel mixture termed Neo-Orthodoxy spread. While insisting on strict observance,
6909-707: The 5.2 million Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland spoke Yiddish their mother tongue, and only 26% were literate in Russian. Though the Eastern European Haskalah challenged the traditional establishment, it flourished from the 1820s until the 1890s. Unlike its western counterpart, it thrived despite ongoing acculturation. The leading rabbis maintained the concept of communal unity: in 1882, when an Orthodox party in Galicia appealed for
7050-502: The Breslau School, who don silk gloves at their work, and Geiger who wields a sledgehammer . During the 1840s in Germany, as traditionalists became a clear minority, some Orthodox rabbis, such as Salomo Eger of Posen , urged the adoption of Moses Sofer 's position and to anathemize the principally nonobservant. Eating, worshipping or marrying with them were to be banned. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , whose journal Treue Zionswächter
7191-538: The Eastern Europeans, their modern education made them a prominent elite in the new organization, which strove to provide a comprehensive response to world Jewry's challenges in a strictly observant spirit. The Agudah immediately formed its Council of Torah Sages as supreme rabbinic leadership body. Many ultra-traditionalist elements in Eastern Europe, like the Belz and Lubavitch Hasidim, refused to join, viewing
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#17327798742477332-464: The Frankfurt community, and decreed that all Orthodox should do the same. However, unlike the heterogeneous congregations of Hungary, which often consisted of recent immigrants, Frankfurt and most German communities were close-knit. The majority of Hirsch's congregants enlisted Rabbi Seligman Baer Bamberger , who was older and more conservative. Bamberger was concerned with the principal of unity among
7473-538: The Hamburg community by accommodating their aesthetic demands (but not theological ones, raised by only a learned few). The combination of religious conservatism and modernity in everything else was emulated elsewhere, earning the label " Neo-Orthodoxy ". Bernays and his like-minded followers, such as Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , fully accepted the platform of the moderate Haskalah , taking away its progressive edge. While old-style traditional life continued in Germany until
7614-603: The Hungarian ultra-Orthodox struggled to provide strong halakhic arguments. Michael Silber wrote: "These issues, even most of the religious reforms, fell into gray areas not easily treated within Halakha. It was often too flexible or ambiguous, at times silent, or worse yet, embarrassingly lenient." Schlesinger was forced to venture outside of normative law, into mystical writings and other fringe sources, to buttress his ideology. Most Hungarian Orthodox rabbis, while sympathetic to
7755-400: The Jews. Hungarian Jewry retained its pre-modern character well into the 19th century, allowing Sofer's disciples to establish a score of new yeshivas , at a time when these institutions were rapidly closing in the west, and a strong rabbinate to appoint them. A generation later, a self-aware Orthodoxy was well entrenched in the country. Hungarian Jewry gave rise both to Orthodoxy in general, in
7896-456: The LGBT community, or in the colors of sports teams, especially football . In the United States, children's kippot featuring cartoon characters or themes such as Star Wars have become popular; in response to this trend, some Jewish schools have banned kippot with characters that do not conform to traditional Jewish values. Kippot have been inscribed on the inside as a souvenir for
8037-674: The March 1938 Anschluss , Rabbi Fuerst fled for his life from Vienna and died in England in 1943. Some members of the persecuted community succeeded in reaching America and settled in Williamsburg . These refugees reestablished a kernel of the Vienner community in the then Agudath Israel headquarters on Bedford Avenue on May 15, 1941. They named the new congregation Khal Adas Yereim and invested great energy in its development. In 1948
8178-399: The Middle Ages, Maimonides and his contemporaries reported that anthropomorphic conceptions of God were quite common in their time. Kippah A kippah (plural: kippot ), yarmulke , yamaka , skullcap , or koppel is a brimless cap , usually made of cloth, traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfill the customary requirement that the head be covered . It
8319-686: The Military Services". This story of the "camouflage kippah " was re-told at many levels, including a keynote speech by President Ronald Reagan to the Baptist Fundamentalism Annual Convention in 1984, and another time during a White House meeting between Reagan and the American Friends of Lubavitch. After recounting the Beirut story, Reagan asked them about the religious meaning of
8460-553: The Mizrahi minority, and terminated dialogue; in 1911, when the 10th World Zionist Congress voted in favour of propagating non-religious cultural work and education, a large segment of the Mizrahi seceded and joined the anti-Zionists. In 1907, Eastern European proto- Haredi elements formed the Knesseth Israel party, a modern framework created in recognition of the deficiencies of existing institutions. It dissipated within
8601-529: The Orthodox need to tolerate the nonobservant majority: Many of their own congregants were far removed from strict practice. For example, he allowed congregants to drink wine poured by Sabbath desecrators, and to ignore other halakhic sanctions. Yet German neo-Orthodoxy could not legitimize nonobservance, and adopted a hierarchical approach, softer than traditional sanctions, but no less intent on differentiating sinners and righteous. Reform rabbis or lay leaders, considered ideological opponents, were castigated, while
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#17327798742478742-592: The Orthodox seceded from the Congress and appealed to Parliament in the name of religious freedom. This demonstrated the internalization of the new circumstances: Twenty years before, in 1851, Orthodox leader Meir Eisenstaedter petitioned the authorities to restore the old coercive powers of the communities. In 1871 the government recognized a separate Orthodox national committee. Communities that refused to join either side, labeled "Status Quo", were subject to Orthodox condemnation even when impeccably conservative. However,
8883-437: The Orthodox tolerated nonobservant Jews as long as they affiliated with the national committee: Adam Ferziger claimed that membership and loyalty, rather than beliefs and ritual behavior, emerged as the definitive manifestation of Jewish identity. The Hungarian schism was the most radical internal separation among the Jews of Europe. Hildesheimer returned to Germany soon after, disillusioned though not as pessimistic as Hirsch. He
9024-595: The Orthodox. Warden Hirsch Lehren of Amsterdam and Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger of Altona both organized anti-Reform manifestos, denouncing the new initiatives, signed by scores of rabbis from Europe and the Middle East. The tone of the signatories varied considerably along geographic lines: letters from traditional societies in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire implored local leaders to petition
9165-502: The People Israel and dismissive of Hirsch, whom he regarded as unlearned and overly assimilated. He decreed that since the mother community was willing to finance Orthodox services and allow them religious freedom, secession was unwarranted. Eventually, less than 80 families from Hirsch's 300-strong congregation followed their rabbi. The vast majority of the 15%–20% of German Jews affiliated with Orthodox institutions cared little for
9306-535: The People of Israel like earlier heretical sects. Unlike most, if not all, rabbis in Central Europe, who had little choice but to compromise, Sofer enjoyed unique circumstances. He, too, had to tread carefully during the 1810s, tolerating a modernized synagogue in Pressburg and other innovations, and his yeshiva was nearly closed by warden Wolf Breisach. But in 1822, three poor (and therefore traditional) community members, whose deceased apostate brother bequeathed them
9447-1089: The Religious Apparel Amendment and the subsequent DOD regulations were followed in 1997 by the passing of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). However, the Supreme Court struck down RFRA as beyond Congress' powers to bind the states in the 1997 case City of Boerne v. Flores . RFRA is constitutional as applied to the Federal government, as seen in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal . The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), 114 Stat. 804, 42 U. S. C. §2000cc-1(a)(1)-(2), upheld as constitutional in Cutter v. Wilkinson , 44 U.S. 709 (2005), requires by inference that Orthodox Jewish prisoners be reasonably accommodated in their request to wear kippot . The French government banned
9588-579: The Sephardi posek Chaim Yosef David Azulai , hold that wearing a head covering is a midat hasidut —an additional measure of piety. In a recent responsum , former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Ovadia Yosef ruled that it should be worn to show affiliation with the religiously observant community. The Talmud states, "Cover your head in order that the fear of heaven may be upon you." Rabbi Hunah ben Joshua never walked four cubits (6.6 feet (2.0 m)) with his head uncovered, saying "because
9729-659: The Talmudic exegesis , which derived laws from the Torah 's text by employing hermeneutics , was binding d'Oraita . Geiger and others presented exegesis as an arbitrary, illogical process, and consequently defenders of tradition embraced Maimonides ' claim that the Sages merely buttressed already received laws with biblical citations, rather than actually deriving them. Jay Harris commented, "An insulated orthodox, or, rather, traditional rabbinate, feeling no pressing need to defend
9870-732: The UOR as overly Americanized. Typical of these was Rabbi Aaron Kotler , who established Lakewood Yeshiva in New Jersey in 1943. Alarmed by the American innovations, Kotler turned his institution into an enclave, around which a community slowly evolved. It was unlike his prewar yeshiva at Kletsk , Poland , whose students mingled with the rest of the population. Lakewood pioneered the homogeneous, voluntary and enclavist model of postwar Haredi communities, which were independent entities developing their own subculture. The new arrivals soon dominated
10011-491: The Vienner Shul moved to a new building on Rodney and South 5th Street, and appointed Rabbi Yonasan Steif as its Rabbi. Due to the community's growth they moved in the mid 50s to a larger building on 27 Lee Avenue. Today the Williamsburg congregation bears little resemblance to its predecessor due to the mostly Chassidic nature of the community. There is a branch of the Vienner shul in Borough Park at 1350 50th St. Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism therefore advocates
10152-546: The attributes of God in Judaism : one and indivisible, preceding all creation, which God alone brought into being, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, absolutely incorporeal, and beyond human reason. This basis is evoked in many foundational texts, and is repeated often in daily prayers, such as in Judaism's creed-like Shema Yisrael : "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Maimonides delineated this understanding of
10293-494: The authorities and have them ban the movement. Signers from Central and Western Europe used terms commensurate with the liberal age. All were implored by the petitioners to be brief and accessible; complex halakhic arguments, intended to convince the rabbinic elite in past generations, were replaced by an appeal to the secularized masses. The struggle with Wissenschaft criticism shaped the Orthodox. For centuries, Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities espoused Nahmanides ' position that
10434-700: The castigation of Zecharias Frankel, allowed the instrument in his community. In England, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler 's United Synagogue shared a similar approach: It was vehemently conservative in principle and combated ideological reformers , yet served a nonobservant public – as Todd Endelman noted, "While respectful of tradition, most English-born Jews were not orthodox in terms of personal practice. Nonetheless they were content to remain within an orthodox congregational framework" – and introduced considerable synagogue reforms. The slow pace of modernization in Russia, Congress Poland and Romanian principalities delayed
10575-507: The civil authorities, which eventually justified Cohen. However, the unprecedented meddling in his jurisdiction profoundly shocked him and dealt a blow to the prestige of the rabbinate. An ideological challenge to rabbinic authority, in contrast to prosaic secularization, appeared in the form of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement which came to the fore in 1782. Hartwig Wessely , Moses Mendelssohn , and other maskilim called for
10716-407: The clergy; and many did not partition men and women. In 1885, the antinomian Pittsburgh Platform moved conservative religious leaders to found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). Orthodoxy never became consistent and was mainly motivated by a rejection of Reform. They variously termed their ideology as "Enlightened Orthodoxy" or " Conservative Judaism ". The latter gradually became
10857-675: The color and fabric of the kippah can be a sign of adherence to a specific religious movement, particularly in Israel. Knitted or crocheted kippot , known as kippot serugot , are usually worn by Religious Zionists and Modern Orthodox Jews. They also wear suede or leather kippot . Knitted kippot were first made in the late 1940s, and became popular after being worn by Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria . Members of most Haredi groups wear black velvet or cloth kippot . More recently, kippot in specific colors are sometimes worn to indicate political or community affiliation, such as
10998-466: The coming of the Messiah and renewal of sacrifices ( post factum , it was considered to be the first Reform liturgy). More than anything else, this doctrinal breach alarmed the traditionalists. Dozens of rabbis from across Europe united in support of the Hamburg rabbinic court, banning the major practices enacted there and offering halakhic grounds for forbidding any changes. Most historians concur that
11139-568: The common mass was to be carefully handled. Some German neo-Orthodox believed that while doomed to minority status in their native country, their ideology could successfully confront modernity and unify Judaism in more traditional communities to the east. In 1847, Hirsch was elected Chief Rabbi of Moravia , where old rabbinic culture and yeshiva s were still extant. His expectations were dashed as traditionalist rabbis scorned him for his European manners and lack of Talmudic acumen. They became enraged by his attempts to reform synagogues and to establish
11280-412: The communities, was rapidly acculturating and often sought to oblige the state's agenda. Rabbi Elazar Fleckeles , who returned to Prague from the countryside in 1783, recalled that he first faced there "new vices" of principled irreverence towards tradition, rather than "old vices" such as gossip or fornication. In Hamburg , Rabbi Raphael Cohen attempted to reinforce traditional norms. Cohen ordered
11421-472: The community had a direct connection to the Pressburg Orthodox community. The liberal contingent grew in influence, and subsequently Rabbi Spitzer led the observant Orthodox secessionist congregation to a new location, built from 1858 to 1864. The new synagogue accommodated seats for 750 worshipers (500 for men, 250 for women). Rabbi Yeshaya Fuerst (d. 1943) succeeded Rabbi Spitzer in 1894. He
11562-529: The crisis of traditional society for decades. , Harsh discrimination and active persecution of Jews continued there until 1917. Old-style education in the heder and yeshiva remained the norm, retaining Hebrew as the language of the elite and Yiddish as the vernacular. The defining fault-line of Eastern European Jews was between the Hasidim and the Misnagdic reaction against them. Reform attempts by
11703-518: The dead , divine reward and punishment for the righteous and the sinners, the Election of Israel as a people bound by a covenant with God , and an eventual Messianic Age ruled by a salvific Messiah -King who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem and gather the people to Zion . Orthodox Judaism is not a centralized denomination. Relations between its different subgroups are often strained, and
11844-474: The decree. On the other end of the spectrum, Hildesheimer's planned seminary was too radical for the same mainstream rabbis, and he became marginalized and isolated by 1864. The internal Orthodox division was complicated by growing tension with the Neologs. In 1869, the Hungarian government convened a General Jewish Congress that was aimed at creating a national representative body. Fearing Neolog domination,
11985-505: The divinely revealed status of the Torah and a strict observance of halakha , separating it from Conservative ideology. Physically separate seating (symbolized by gender partitions ) became the distinguishing mark of Orthodox/Conservative affiliation in the 1950s, and as pushed by the RCA. However, many Modern Orthodox followers were barely observant, and many synagogues did not use a gender partition. As late as 1997, seven OU congregations lacked
12126-454: The early and mid-19th century, with the advent of the progressive movements among German Jews, and especially early Reform Judaism , the title Orthodox became the epithet of traditionalists who espoused conservative positions on the issues raised by modernization. They themselves often disliked the name that was earlier adopted by eastern Christianity, preferring titles such as "Torah-true" ( gesetztreu ). They often declared they used it only as
12267-406: The elderly, traditional Chief Dayan Baruch Oser with Isaac Bernays . The latter was a university graduate, clean-shaven, and modern, who could appeal to the acculturated and the young. Bernays signified a new era, and historians marked him as the first modern rabbi, fitting the demands of emancipation: his contract forbade him to tax, punish, or coerce, and he lacked political or judiciary power. He
12408-494: The emergence of distinctly Orthodox communities and ideologies, were the exception rather than the rule in Central and Western Europe. France, Britain, Bohemia, Austria and other countries saw both a virtual disappearance of traditional Jewish life, and no serious interest in bridging Judaism and modernity. The official rabbinate remained technically traditional, in the default sense of not introducing ideological change. The organ –
12549-694: The epithet Haredim (generic term for the observant and the pious). Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism , with its nonobservant if not staunchly secular partisans, was the key question facing Eastern European traditionalists, although it was tangled with modernization. Salmon claimed that the future Zionists were: supportive of a national agenda; motivated by criticism of Jewish society; supportive of modernity; tolerant of nonobservance; and approving of traditional faith and practice. Their proto- Haredi opponents sharply rejected all he former positions and espoused staunch conservatism, which idealized existing norms. Any illusion that differences could be blanded and
12690-411: The exact limits of Orthodoxy are subject to intense debate. Very roughly, it may be divided between Haredi Judaism (ultra-Orthodox), which is more conservative and reclusive, and Modern Orthodox Judaism , which is relatively open to outer society and partakes in secular life and culture. Each of those is itself formed of independent streams. These are almost uniformly exclusionist, regarding Orthodoxy as
12831-447: The formation of Orthodox ideology and organizations was itself influenced by modernity. This was brought about by the need to defend the very concept of tradition in a world where that was no longer self-evident. When secularization and the dismantlement of communal structures uprooted the old order of Jewish life, traditionalist elements united to form groups that had a specific self-understanding. This, and all that it entailed, constituted
12972-571: The heir of late Hatam Sofer, considered appointing Hildesheimer as his assistant-rabbi in Pressburg and instituting secular studies in the city's great yeshiva . The rabbi of Eisenstadt believed that only a full-fledged modern rabbinical seminary could fulfill his neo-Orthodox agenda. In the 1850s and 1860s, however, a radical reactionary Orthodox party coalesced in the northeastern regions of Hungary . Led by Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein , his son-in-law Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and decisor Chaim Sofer ,
13113-505: The importance of daily practice and adherence to halakha (Jewish law) mooted theoretical issues. Others dismissed this view entirely, citing ancient rabbinic debates that castigated various heresies with little reference to observance. However, even without a uniform doctrine, Orthodox Judaism is basically united in its core beliefs. Disavowing them is a major blasphemy . . Several medieval authorities attempted to codify these beliefs, including Saadia Gaon and Joseph Albo . Each composed
13254-739: The kippah is worn on the head like a dome. The Yiddish term yarmlke ( Yiddish : יאַרמלקע ) might be derived from the Polish jarmułka or the Ukrainian yarmulka and perhaps ultimately from the Medieval Latin almutia ("cowl" or "hood"). The word is often associated with the phrase ירא מלכא ( yire malka ), formed from the Aramaic word for 'king' and the Hebrew root ירא , meaning 'fear'. Keppel or koppel
13395-520: The latter half of the 18th century, Jewish communities in Central and Western Europe were autonomous entities, with distinct privileges and obligations. They were led by the affluent wardens' class ( parnasim ), judicially subject to rabbinical courts , which governed most civil matters. The rabbinical class monopolized education and morals, much like the Christian clergy. Jewish Law was considered normative and enforced upon transgressors (common sinning
13536-428: The like are forbidden.) The utter imperceptibility of God, considered as beyond human reason and only reachable through what he chooses to reveal, was emphasized among others in the ancient ban on making any image of him . Maimonides and virtually all sages in his time and thereafter stressed that the creator is incorporeal, lacking "any semblance of a body". While incorporeality has almost been taken for granted since
13677-471: The local traditionalists complete their transformation into Orthodox, albeit never as starkly as in Hungary or Germany. Eastern European Orthodoxy, whether Agudah or Mizrahi, always preferred cultural and educational independence to communal secession, and maintained strong ties and self-identification with the general Jewish public. Within its ranks, the 150-years-long struggle between Hasidim and Misnagdim
13818-422: The men in his community to grow a beard, forbade holding hands with one's wife in public, and decried women who wore wigs, instead of visible headgear , to cover their hair; Cohen taxed and otherwise persecuted members of the priestly caste who left the city to marry divorcees, men who appealed to state courts , those who ate food cooked by Gentiles , and other transgressors. Hamburg's Jews repeatedly appealed to
13959-430: The movement as a dangerous innovation; and the organized Orthodox in Hungary rejected it as well, especially after it did not affirm a commitment to communal secession in 1923. In the Interwar period , sweeping secularization and acculturation deracinated old Jewish society in Eastern Europe. The October Revolution granted civil equality and imposed anti-religious persecutions, radically transforming Russian Jewry within
14100-447: The movement both tolerated and advocated modernization: Traditionally rare formal religious education for girls was introduced; modesty and gender separation were relaxed to match German society; men went clean-shaven and dressed like Gentiles; and exclusive Torah study virtually disappeared. Basic religious studies incorporating German Bildung provided children with practical halakhic knowledge for thriving in modern society. Ritual
14241-551: The movement. In total, Orthodox Judaism is the largest Jewish religious group, estimated to have over 2 million practicing adherents, and at least an equal number of nominal members or self-identifying supporters. The earliest known mention of the term Orthodox Jews was made in the Berlinische Monatsschrift in 1795. The word Orthodox was borrowed from the general German Enlightenment discourse, and used to denote those Jews who opposed Enlightenment. During
14382-475: The mystical tradition, exemplified in Kabbalah , assigned each rite with a role in hidden dimensions of reality. Sheer obedience, derived from faithfulness to one's community and ancestry, was believed sufficient for the common people, while the educated chose one of the two schools. In the modern era, the prestige of both declined, and "naive faith" became popular. At a time when contemplation in matters of belief
14523-422: The need to adapt to the segment of Judaism in a modern world inhospitable to traditional practice. Orthodoxy often involved much accommodation and leniency. In the mid-1980s, research on Orthodox Judaism became a scholarly discipline, examining how the need to confront modernity shaped and changed its beliefs, ideologies, social structure, and halakhic rulings, separating it from traditional Jewish society. Until
14664-670: The non-Orthodox. That year, Hildesheimer visited Hungary. Confounded by urbanization and acculturation – and the rise of Neology , a nonobservant laity served by rabbis who mostly favoured the Positive-Historical approach – the elderly local rabbis at first welcomed Hildesheimer. He opened a modern school in Eisenstadt that included secular studies in the curriculum. Traditionalists such as Moshe Schick and Yehudah Aszód sent their sons to study there. Samuel Benjamin Sofer ,
14805-590: The norm. Separation of church and state and dynamic religiosity along the Protestant model shaped synagogue life. In the mid-19th century, Reform Judaism spread rapidly, made popular by formally abandoning traditions that few upheld. The United States was labeled the Treife Medina , or "Profane Country", in Yiddish . Isaac Leeser was an ultra-traditionalist in the American context, although his lack of
14946-576: The notion that the Oral and Written Law were intertwined and inseparable. Wissenschaft posed a greater challenge to the modernized neo-Orthodox than to the traditionalist. Hirsch and Hildesheimer divided on the matter, anticipating modernist Orthodox attitudes to the historical-critical method. Hirsch argued that analyzing minutiae of tradition as products of their historical context was akin to denying its divine origin and timeless relevance. Hildesheimer consented to research under limits, subjugating it to
15087-505: The now-lost communal autonomy, the Neo-Orthodox turned Judaism from an all-encompassing practice into a private religious conviction. In the late 1830s, modernist pressures in Germany shifted from the secularization debate, moving into the "purely religious" sphere of theology and liturgy. A new generation of university-trained rabbis (many German states required communal rabbis to possess such education) sought to reconcile Judaism with
15228-435: The only authentic continuation of Judaism as it was until the crisis of modernity. Its progressive opponents often shared this view, regarding it as a remnant of the past and lending credit to their own rival ideology. Thus, the term Orthodox is often used generically to refer to traditional (even if only in the sense that it is unrelated to modernist movement) synagogues, rites, and observances. Academic research noted that
15369-532: The only legitimate form of Judaism. While adhering to traditional beliefs, the movement is a modern phenomenon. It arose as a result of the breakdown of the autonomous Jewish community since the late 18th century, and was much shaped by a conscious struggle against the pressures of secularization , acculturation and rival alternatives. The strictly observant Orthodox are a definite minority among all Jews, but there are also numerous semi- and non-practicing persons who are officially affiliated or personally identify with
15510-523: The pale of Jewishness, and were more concerned with neo-Orthodoxy, which they regarded as a thinly-veiled gateway for a similar fate. Chaim Sofer summarized their view of Hildesheimer: "The wicked Hildesheimer is the horse and chariot of the Evil Inclination ... All the heretics in the last century did not seek to undermine the Law and the Faith as he does." In their struggle against acculturation,
15651-680: The polemics. They did not secede over reasons of finance and familial relations. Only a handful of Secessionist, Austrittorthodox , communities were established in the Reich; almost everyone remained Communal Orthodox, Gemeindeortodox , within Liberal mother congregations. The Communal Orthodox argued that their approach was true to Jewish unity and decisive in maintaining public standards of observance and traditional education in Liberal communities. The Secessionists viewed them as hypocritical middle-of-the-roaders. The conflicts in Hungary and Germany, and
15792-409: The predetermined sanctity of the subject matter and accepting its results only when they accorded with the latter. More importantly, while he was content to engage academically, he opposed its practical application in religious questions, requiring traditional methods to be used. Hildesheimer's approach was emulated by his disciple Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann , a scholar and apologetic. His polemic against
15933-661: The preferred term. Strictly traditionalist Eastern European immigrants formed the Union of Orthodox Rabbis (UOR) in 1902, in direct opposition to the Americanized OU and JTS. The UOR frowned upon English-language sermons, secular education and any acculturation. In 1897, an old-style yeshiva , Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), was founded in New York. Its students rebelled in 1908, demanding rabbinic training more like that of their JTS peers. In 1915, RIETS
16074-411: The realities of the modern age. Sofer understood that what remained of his political clout would soon disappear, and that he had largely lost the ability to enforce observance; as Katz wrote, "obedience to halakha became dependent on recognizing its validity, and this very validity was challenged by those who did not obey". He was deeply troubled by reports from his native Frankfurt and the arrival from
16215-488: The reason is to enforce the Halachic rule to avoid practices unique to non-Jews . Segal reasons that, as Europeans are accustomed to going bareheaded, and their priests insist on officiating with bare heads, this constitutes a uniquely non-Jewish practice. Therefore, he posits, that Jews should be prohibited from behaving similarly and rules that wearing a kippah is required by Halacha. Other Halachic authorities, like
16356-464: The right of secession, the Netziv and other Russian rabbis forbade it for contradicting the idea of Israel's unity. In the 1860s and 1870s, moderate maskilic rabbis like Yitzchak Yaacov Reines and Yechiel Michel Pines called for inclusion of secular studies in the heder s and yeshiva s, anticipating a communal disintegration as in the west. Instead they proposed a careful modernization, based on
16497-404: The sense of a comprehensive response to modernity, and specifically to the traditionalist, militant ultra-Orthodoxy . The 1818–1821 controversy also elicited a different response, which first arose in its very epicenter. Severe protests did not affect Temple congregants, eventually leading the wardens of Hamburg's Jewish community to a comprehensive compromise for the sake of unity. They replaced
16638-617: The site of the former synagogue that reads "This Jewish place of worship was destroyed by the Nazis in the pogrom of November 1938." With the constitution of the Israelitsche Cultus-Gemeinde (official Jewish community) in 1852, the shul was established. The first rabbi was Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Spitzer (d. 1894) who was elected in 1852. He was a son in law of the Chasam Sofer 1763-1839 (Rabbi Moshe Sofer). As such,
16779-567: The traditionalist wing of American Jewry, forcing locals to adopt their views. The younger generation in the JTS and the Rabbinical Assembly concurrently demanded greater clarity, theological unambiguity and halakhic independence from the Orthodox veto on serious innovations. In 1935, for example, the RA shelved its proposal for a solution to the agunah predicament. "Conservative Judaism"
16920-469: The transgressor. Denying this fact is akin to denying the sun at noon. However, maskilic '-rabbinic rivalry ended in most of Central Europe, as governments imposed modernization upon their Jewish subjects. Schools replaced traditional cheders , and standard German began to supplant Yiddish . Differences between the establishment and the Enlightened became irrelevant, and the former often embraced
17061-430: The two stressed that the difference was dogmatic and not halakhic . They managed to tarnish Frankel's reputation in the traditional camp and delegitimized him for many. The Positive-Historical School is regarded by Conservative Judaism as an intellectual forerunner. While Hildesheimer distinguished Frankel's observant disciples from Reform proponents, he wrote in his diary: how meager is the principal difference between
17202-484: The validity of the Oral Law, could confidently appropriate the vision of most medieval rabbinic scholars; a defensive German Orthodoxy, by contrast, could not. ... Thus began a shift in understanding that led Orthodox rabbis and historians in the modern period to insist that the entire Oral Law was revealed by God to Moses at Sinai." 19th-Century Orthodox commentaries, like those authored by Malbim , attempted to amplify
17343-571: The views of the latter (now antiquated, as more aggressive modes of acculturation replaced the Haskalahs program). In 1810, when philanthropist Israel Jacobson opened what was later identified as the first Reform synagogue in Seesen , with modernized rituals, he encountered little protest. The founding of the Hamburg Temple in 1818 mobilized the conservative elements. The organizers of
17484-512: The wearing of kippot , hijabs , and large crosses in public primary and secondary schools in France in March 2004. The government of Quebec , Canada passed "An Act respecting the laicity of the State" in June 2019, which prohibits the wearing of "religious symbols" by government employees including teachers, police officers, judges, prosecutors, and members of certain commissions. Though it
17625-401: The west of dismissed rabbis, ejected by progressive wardens, or pious families, fearing for the education of their children. These émigrés often became ardent followers. Sofer's response to the crisis of traditional Jewish society was unremitting conservatism, canonizing every detail of prevalent norms in the observant community lest any compromise legitimize the progressives' claim that the law
17766-701: Was a disciple of the Ksav Sofer 1815-1872 (Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Binyamin Sofer) and he too had close ties to the Pressburg Orthodox community. The Cantor of the shul prior to the Holocaust was Avrohom Braun, who was hired in 1922. The shamash ( sexton ) was Reb Hersh Lipschutz, who immigrated to the United States, where he was active in the Vienner Shul. With the approach of the Holocaust and
17907-484: Was adopted as an exclusive label by most JTS graduates and RA members, became a distinct movement. In 1950, the Conservatives signaled their break with Orthodoxy by acceptance of a far-reaching legal decision, which allowed one to drive to the synagogue and to use electricity on Sabbath. Judaism never formulated a conclusive credo ; whether it reflects a dogma remains controversial. Some researchers argued that
18048-419: Was applied to Jewish affairs, to which these concepts were alien. The rabbis were bemused when the state expected them to assume pastoral care, foregoing their principal judicial role. Of secondary importance, much less than the civil and legal transformations, were the ideas of Enlightenment that chafed at the authority of tradition and faith. By the end of the 18th century, the weakened rabbinic establishment
18189-474: Was appointed rabbi of the Orthodox sub-community in Berlin (which had separate religious institutions but was not formally independent of the Liberal majority), where he finally established his seminary. In 1877, a law enabling Jews to secede from their communities without baptism was passed in Germany. It was a stark example that Judaism was now confessional, not corporate. Hirsch withdrew his congregation from
18330-473: Was associated with secularization, luminaries such as Yisrael Meir Kagan stressed the importance of simple, unsophisticated commitment to the precepts passed down from the Beatified Sages. This became standard in the ultra-Orthodox world. Judaism adheres to monotheism , the belief in one God. The basic tenets of Orthodoxy, drawn from ancient sources like the Talmud and later sages, chiefly include
18471-681: Was customary with the Assyrians and Babylonians, for example, whose fashions likely influenced the costume of the Israelites—particularly during and after the Babylonian Exile . In Yemen, the wrap around the cap was called מַצַר , matzar ; the head covering worn by women was a גַּרגוּש , gargush . In Goldman v. Weinberger , 475 U.S. 503 (1986), the United States Supreme Court ruled in
18612-504: Was facing a new kind of transgressor: they could not be classified as tolerable sinners overcome by their urges ( khote le-te'avon ), or as schismatics like the Sabbateans or Frankists , against whom sanctions were levied. Their attitudes did not fit the criteria set when faith was a normative and self-evident part of worldly life, but rested on the realities of the new, secularized age. The wardens' class, which wielded most power within
18753-418: Was fluid or redundant. He was unwilling to trade halakhic opinions for those he considered to be pretending to honor the rules of rabbinic discourse, while intending to undermine them. Sofer regarded traditional customs as equivalent to vows; he warned in 1793 that even the "custom of ignoramuses" (one known to be rooted solely in a mistake of the common masses) was to be meticulously observed and revered. Sofer
18894-492: Was forbidden from interfering in the Temple's conduct. Conservative in the principal issues of faith, in aesthetic, cultural, and civil matters, Bernays was a reformer and the Temple leaders. He introduced secular studies for children, wore a cassock like a Protestant clergyman, and delivered vernacular sermons. He forbade the spontaneous, informal character of synagogue conduct typical of Ashkenazi tradition, and ordered prayers to be somber and dignified. Bernays' style re-unified
19035-550: Was frank and vehement about his stance, stating during the Hamburg dispute that prayers in the vernacular were not problematic per se , but he forbade them because they constituted an innovation. He succinctly expressed his attitude in wordplay he borrowed from the Talmud: "The new ( Chadash , originally meaning new grain) is forbidden by the Torah anywhere." Regarding the new, ideologically-driven sinners, Sofer commented in 1818 that they should have been anathemized and banished from
19176-663: Was largely subsided; the latter were even dubbed henceforth as "Litvaks", as the anti-Hasidic component in their identity was marginalized. In the interwar period, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan emerged as the popular leader of the Eastern European Orthodox, particularly the Agudah-leaning. American Jewry of the 19th century was small and lacked traditional institutions or strong rabbinic presence due to its immigrant-based nature. This informality allow religious innovation to flourish. Voluntary congregations were
19317-484: Was rebuked, but tolerated) invoking all communal sanctions: imprisonment, taxation, flogging, pillorying, and, especially, excommunication . Cultural, economic, and social exchange with non-Jewish society was limited and regulated. This state of affairs came to an end with the rise of the modern, centralized state, which appropriated all authority. The nobility, clergy, urban guilds, and all other corporate estates were gradually stripped of privileges, inadvertently creating
19458-475: Was reformed to match prevalent aesthetic conceptions, much like non-Orthodox synagogues though without the ideological undertone, and the liturgy was often abbreviated. Neo-Orthodoxy mostly did not attempt to reconcile its conduct and halakhic or moral norms. Instead it adopted compartmentalization, de facto limiting Judaism to the private and religious spheres, while otherwise yielding to outer society. While conservative Rabbis in Hungary still thought in terms of
19599-618: Was reorganized as a Modern Orthodox institution, and a merger with the JTS was discussed. In 1923, the Rabbinical Council of America was established as the OU's clerical association. Between the ultra-Orthodox and Conservatives, Modern Orthodoxy emerged as a distinct movement. Its postwar leader, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik , left Agudas Israel to adopt a positive, if reserved, attitude toward Western culture. As dean of RIETS and honorary chair of RCA's halakha committee, Soloveitchik shaped Modern Orthodoxy for decades. RCA stressed
19740-485: Was the first regular Orthodox newspaper, signifying the coalescence of a distinct Orthodox millieu, rejected their call. Ettlinger, and German neo-Orthodoxy in his wake, chose to regard the modern secularized Jew as a transgressor rather than a schismatic. He adopted Maimonides' interpretation of the Talmudic concept tinok shenishba (captured infant), a Jew by birth who was not raised as such and therefore could be absolved for not practicing, and greatly expanded it to serve
19881-490: Was used. That the headdress of the Israelites might have been in the fellah style may be inferred from the use of the noun צַנִיף , tzanif (the verb tzanaf meaning "to roll like a ball", Isaiah 22:18) and by the verb חַבָּש , habash ("to wind", compare Ezekiel 16:10; Jonah 2:6). As to the form of such turbans, nothing is known, and they may have varied according to the different classes of society. This
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