ORTHODOXY

The laws of Torah and the ordinances of the Rabbis form the Jewish way of life. they are the Halakhah. Over the centuries they have been codified more than once, but above all in the Shulhan Arukh of Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575), a work that has remained the guide for traditional Jewry. In addition, customs adopted by all of Israel or by individual communities have come to acquire the force of law. They are called Minhagim (plural of Minhag).

Thus protected, the Jew found historic stability. Every facet of life was minutely regulated within the covenant. Jewish destiny was seen as divinely ordained,. God's reward for faithful performance was assured. The rebellious or neglectful Jew might expect divine retribution. The Jewish people would be redeemed and return home in the Messianic age.

Orthodox Jews are guided by these principles. As in days gone by, they are protected by a strong spiritual bulwark against a hostile world and uplifted by the awareness that they dwell within God's presence.

When, in the period of the Emancipation, the outside world began to intrude and the power of the rabbinic leadership to enforce obedience was reduced, a German rabbi, Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), attempted a new interpretation that would leave Halakhah in Western culture. Fearful that contact with Jews of other convictions might contaminate the Orthodox, Hirsh called for complete separation from non-Orthodox Jewish society and its institutions,. At the same time, he undertook to synthesize Jewish tradition and modern insights. He created Neo-Orthodoxy, according to which Jews may contribute fully to the life of society without compromising Torah in the slightest.

In the United States, the prime center of Neo-Orthodoxy is the Rabbinical School of Jeshivah University. But there are other forms of Orthodoxy and other academies that transmit the ancient forms of Jewish tradition. A special place may be accorded to the Lubavitcher Rebbe, a great Hasidic leader who has developed a chain of schools fusing secular and Jewish knowledge and has set up student centers at numerous universities to reveal to all Jews the emotional appeal of Orthodox observance.

Fundamentally, Orthodoxy can make no basic concessions to modernity, nor can in recognize other forms of Judaism as legitimate.