CSJO-CU8.4

=CSJO-Grade 8 Lesson 8.4 (CSJO-Template)=


 * Title: Modern Orthodox: Secularization of Ultra-Orthodoxy**
 * Goals:**
 * Explore how and why the New Orthodox (neo-Orthodox and Modern Orthodox movements) formed.
 * Explore differences of New Orthodox compared to Ultra-Orthodox and Conservative Judaisms.


 * MATERIALS:** simplified chart of the Network of Jewish Currents, Varieties, Branches and Offshoots

. Wanting to be successful in the newly free secular society, they adapted Rabbinic Judaism to a more modern lifestyle. "The difference between them and the Old Orthodox, [now called the Ultra-Orthodox,] was sometimes as great as the difference between them and the other Reformers. Western clothing was adopted. Beards vanished. [...] Women entered public life. Men and women entered secular universities to study secular subjects in a secular way. Tradition was [primarily] visible at home and in the synagogue" (Wine, Kindle Locations 6390-6394) and they continued to follow Jewish Law (Halachah).
 * 1. Gain the attention of the learner:** <???>
 * 2. Relevant past learning:** The reaction of Jews to modernity had 3 major Jewish options (see chart): ignore modernity as much as possible (Orthodox - lesson on Hasidism, Mitnagdim in 1700s); remove religion from Jewishness and make it an ethnic group and/or nationality (Naturalists - future lessons on secular Jews); or try to combine the two by modernizing the religion and public behaviors (Reformers - lessons on Reform and Conservative Judaisms; current lesson). In the United States by the 1880's, most of the 250,000 Jews were Reform and of recent German extraction. In the next 40 years, over 2 million Jews from the Pale of Settlement (Poland and Russia) would migrate to the United States (Barnavi, 194). The majority of the migrants were Orthodox (Barnavi, 204) with a significant secular minority (Sachar, Kindle Locations 3724-3725).
 * 3. Introduce new material:** While the Reform Jews replaced the unchanging nature of Jewish law with the idea of a constantly evolving religion, the New Orthodox (neo-Orthodox in Europe beginning in the 1850's and the Modern Orthodox in the United States beginning in the 1880's) kept the belief that God gave the law to Moses at Sinai all at once and forever. They are the true heirs of the attempts by Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah to blend Orthodoxy and the Secular Revolution.

The training and role of rabbis was also secularized. Abandoning the old yeshiva system, the New Orthodox organized modern seminaries for training rabbis just like the Reform and later Conservatives. The first in the United States was Yeshiva University, founded in 1886 with a philosophy of Torah Umadda ("Torah and secular knowledge"). Their rabbis were now trained to be preachers and congregational leaders rather than Talmudic scholars and judges. They studied academic subjects of history, sociology and science with the potential to undermine religious belief: "If miracles were illusions, much of the Bible was illusion; If God is only a non-intrusive creator of the universe and an inventor of natural law, [...] then he is both boring and irrelevant [and prayer is useless] (Wine, Kindle Locations 6259-6260).

For the neo-Orthodox (European), traditional religious texts (Torah, Talmud, Shulhan Aruch) are the "sole barometer of truth" by which to judge secular disciplines; interacting with the secular world should only occur when it helps to apply Torah to the secular world. For the Modern Orthodox (American), traditional Judaism and secular knowledge, when different, provide different perspectives. Together, they present the possibility of a higher truth with secular culture and knowledge seen as a complement to Torah, and, to some extent, encouraged for their own sake.

The Modern Orthodox did maintain laws that made it difficult to integrate fully into non-Jewish society
 * Prohibition against intermarriage - could not marry non-Jews
 * Prohibition against non-kosher food - could not eat at the homes of non-Orthodox Jews
 * Prohibition against driving to synagogue on Shabbat - had to live within walking distance of an Orthodox synagogue and near other neo-Orthodox families

The basic dilemma for modernizing Orthodoxy is that religious orthodoxy requires submission to religious authority, while modernity emphasizes the ideology of personal freedom and choice. (Wikipedia)

Hold meeting to reform Orthodoxy: Begin with a welcome to the members of Orthodox Community. Remind the students that in traditional communities only men would be public figures and involved in the changes, so even though the class is of mixed gender, for the purposes of this practice, address them as if they are all males. You might ask the female students to pick male names for themselves. If that makes them uncomfortable, that's good. (To students: "Hello Moshe, Shalom Benjy, etc. Sit down, we have a very important topic to talk about today. And that topic is the Reform Movement. Our brethren are leaving behind their culture and their religion to assimilate. We're losing numbers fast and soon our brothers will become strangers. Our cousins will become our enemies. If it's change that our people want, we must adapt our Orthodoxy so it still maintains our essence. I am going to break you up into committees. The changes we need to make will be in: dress, gender roles, education. Who would like to lead one of these committees?) Rules: Dress-- modest, elbows covered, no flashy colors, knees covered, "normal" looking Gender Roles-- maintain hierarchy, integrate women into public society Education-- integrate secular subjects, but keep focus on halacha, the religious law concerning practices and observances Form groups of students Many of the immigrant Jews were Hasids because Hasidism was the only kind of practice in their town or village. When they came to the US, why might they join a Conservative or Modern Orthodox synagogue even if it was very different from the religious experience they had in Europe? Why wouldn't they? Our community has families who are not secular. Why are they members? Why are they permitted to be members? (this question may be postponed to the lesson on secular Jewish groups)
 * 4. Guided Practice:** <???>
 * 5. Independent Practice:**
 * 6. Close the Lesson:**
 * 7. References:**
 * Wine, Sherwin T. (2012-10-10). A Provocative People: A Secular History of the Jews. IISHJ/Milan Press. Kindle Edition.
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Orthodox_Judaism
 * Barnavi, Eli, editor.(2002, revised edition by Denis Charbit) A Historical Atlas of the Jewish People: From the Time of the Patriarchs to the Present. Schocken Books, New York.
 * Sachar, Howard M. (2013-07-24). A History of the Jews in America (Vintage). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.