Statement on Modern Orthodoxy

By Barry Freundel

Kesher Israel Congregation is a modern orthodox . To best understand that designation we need to define the two terms "modern" and "orthodox."

"Orthodox" means a complete commitment to traditional Jewish law. We believe that the Bible, and most important, the five books of Moses were revealed by to mankind. As a result, all of its laws are eternally binding. In addition, interpretation of those laws by the carries the weight of Jewish law (called halachah) as well. The fruits of the early generations of this rabbinic scholarship were codified first in the (compiled between the second and eighth centuries), and the Codes (written between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries).

While we see these works as authoritative, rabbinical interpretation continues to this day as new situations and new questions arise. However, these questions are always approached with an eye toward complying with the legal and moral requirements of the earlier authoritative works.

The term "modern" is somewhat more complex because it gives the impression that this is a development of recent times. In fact there has always been a modern orthodoxy and it is not a phenomenon of the last year, the last decade, or even the last century. By modern we mean an orthodoxy that is fully engaged with contemporary society. There has always been a modern orthodoxy. When lived in Palestine under Greco-Roman control there were some within the traditional community who engaged the secular community and the secular knowledge of that day. This was true in Spain in the fourteenth century and in Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well.

So too there are orthodox Jews, such as many of the members of this congregation, who see a value in fully engaging secular society and the positive things it has to offer.

To modern orthodox Jews, secular knowledge is another window into God's creation and therefore valuable as study in and of itself. Obviously secular knowledge may at times be at odds with halachah, and in such a case halachah holds sway, but more often than not secular knowledge complements Jewish thought and where there is disagreement what results is a fruitful tension that adds to the understanding of both sides of the equation. This is not the only principle of modern orthodoxy that distinguishes it from the other designations within the orthodox community. Some of the other issues that distinguish us are of great contemporary significance. First is the theological meaning of the State of Israel. For us the emergence of the State of Israel, especially in the same generation as the horrors of the Holocaust, is an indication that God has responded to our prayers of two thousand years to return to our homeland. Further, modern Orthodox Jews as a matter of principle will work with Jews of other denominations in any setting where we are not called upon to violate our beliefs and our understanding of Jewish law. In this way, we can make common cause in areas of shared concern.

There are other differences, but it is perhaps more important to understand the similarities. Whatever our differences and debates on the points noted above, because of our common commitment to Jewish law we share far more with anyone who calls themselves Orthodox than with Jews of other denominations, and there is far more that we share than that which divides us.