Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a conservative branch of Judaism that adheres strictly to the beliefs, practices, and restrictions of traditional Judaism as found in the Hebrew Bible. Orthodox Judaism arose in the mid-nineteenth century as an answer to the modernization of the religion by sects of Jewish progressives. In the twenty-first century, about two million people worldwide follow Orthodox Judaism.

History of Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is a conservative interpretation of standard, mainstream Judaism. It holds many of the same core beliefs as any other Jewish group yet remains unique in its insistence on loyalty to every rule, order, and prohibition of ancient Judaism. The most fundamental aspect of Judaism in all its forms is its monotheism, the belief in only one god, in this case, the God of the Hebrew scriptures.

Traditional Judaism

The basis of any of the branches of modern Judaism is the Hebrew Bible, specifically the Torah. This is the name for the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures that Jews believe contain all of God's original laws and prescriptions for the Jewish people. Traditional Judaism holds that the line of Jewish people began with Abraham, the man God chose as a patriarch of the Israelites.

The Torah later describes the Israelites' journey through the desert under the leadership of Moses, who accepts God's law at Mount Sinai and later recites it to the people. Contained mostly within the Book of Leviticus, this law contains all of God's commands regarding priestly procedure, offerings, sacrifices, religious celebrations, diet, the Sabbath, idolatry, property, sexual morality, and a range of other subjects. To the Jewish people, God defines the standard by which all aspects of Jewish life are to be lived.

All the information required to know and understand Jewish law, lifestyles, and beliefs is contained within the Torah. Other books of the Hebrew Bible, such as the books of Isaiah and Ezekiel, contain mixtures of history, biography, theological discourses, and predictions about God and his relationship to humanity.

For modern Christians, the Hebrew Bible forms the Old Testament, the first half of the Christian Bible. The latter half is the New Testament, the collection of writings about Jesus, whose teachings form the basis of Christianity. The primary difference between Judaism and Christianity is the person of Jesus; while Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior sent by God to deliver humanity from death, Jews adamantly do not.

Jewish scriptures predicted the Messiah to be a political warrior who would destroy evil, reward goodness, and reinstate the line of King David over all the Jewish people. To Jews, Jesus did not do this; Christians use other standards to accept Jesus as their Savior. Thus, Orthodox Judaism does not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, as its system of beliefs begins and ends with the Hebrew Bible.

Formation of Orthodox Judaism

The 1770s marked a turning point for mainstream Judaism, for in this era the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, began in central and western Europe. Largely a response to the western European enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Haskalah was an intellectual movement that encouraged Jews to engage in the modern areas of science, philosophy, business, and the arts, as well as to learn European languages to become more closely assimilated into their countries of residence.

However, this Jewish intellectualism did more than simply bring Jewish people into the ranks of their progressive European fellows. It also forced Jews to turn a critical eye toward themselves, specifically to their own faith and religion. By the 1820s, the middle of the Haskalah movement, this intellectual criticism had led to the creation of what became known as Reform Judaism in Germany.

Steeped in modern Haskalah thought, Reform Judaism was a liberal offshoot of traditional Judaism that encouraged the application of reason, rationality, and humanism to the Jewish religion. It taught that the Torah was not a divine work composed by God or any other spiritual being, but rather was a divinely inspired human creation, subject to the frailties and shortcomings of its authors. Much value was still to be found in the Torah, Reform Jews believed, but the text clearly displayed its age, and some of it could be considered outdated.

Using reason to inspect all elements of ancient traditions became a defining aspect of Reform Judaism. For example, the movement supported Jews engaging in all of the Torah's prescribed religious practices but still allowed individuals to determine for themselves which of these practices brought them closer to God. Other facets of early Reform Judaism that survive today include the acceptance of women as equals of men and the importance of performing good works in one's society, as a holy duty, over simply reciting daily creeds and prayers.

Reform Judaism became immensely popular among European Jews in ensuing decades. By the 1870s, however, the movement had inspired the objections of highly conservative Jews, who rejected its modern liberalism, especially its casual attitude toward the Hebrew scriptures. Working from the teachings of several authoritative rabbis of the previous age, Moses Sofer in Hungary and later Samson Raphael Hirsch in Germany began publicly teaching the traditional Jewish ideology that today is known as Orthodox Judaism.

The movement took its name from what was initially a derogatory label placed on conservative Jews by Reform Jews, who claimed that any religion that could not modernize was doomed to become obsolete. Traditionalist Jews scoffed at this accusation and began proudly proclaiming themselves as Orthodox.

At the same time, however, Orthodox Jews did not consider themselves members of a new faction of Judaism or even looked to the figures of Sofer and Hirsch as founders. This was because Orthodox Jews saw their faith and religious practices as nothing more than the continuation of true, ancient Judaism and, therefore, not a new sect as Reform Judaism was.

One of the first formally recognized Orthodox Jewish communities was founded in Germany in 1876. Around the same time in Hungary, Orthodox Jews formed the Shomrei ha-Dass organization, meaning "Keepers of the Faith," to attempt to repress the popularity of Reform Judaism in Europe. This ultimately did not succeed, and Orthodox rabbis passionately refused to affiliate with Reform Jews to any degree. These same divisions appeared between the opposing sects even as Orthodox Judaism expanded beyond central Europe.

The first Orthodox Jews, mostly from Germany, arrived in the United States in the early 1800s and began establishing synagogues, temples of Jewish worship. As the American Orthodox Jewish population increased over the rest of the century, learned rabbis started collaborating to continue Orthodoxy's opposition to Reform Judaism in the United States. Today the highest concentration of American Orthodox Jews is located in New York City. Other areas with large Orthodox Jewish communities include central Europe and Israel.

Beliefs and Practices

Some Orthodox Jews view the moniker of "Orthodox," given the term's history, as somewhat unofficial. These individuals may alternately use the term "Torah-true" to define their faith. Despite the various names that can be applied to the tradition, Orthodox Judaism consists of certain specific religious beliefs and practices by which Orthodox Jews identify themselves.

The core of Orthodox Judaism is its strict adherence to halakhah, the Jewish law detailed in the Torah. Orthodox Jews follow all of these laws as they relate, for example, to prayer and synagogue attendance. The law requires Jews to pray three times a day, and they must also offer berachot, or blessings, to God for nearly every individual event of their daily lives.

Orthodox Jews observe Shabbat, or the Sabbath, every Saturday by attending temple services and ceasing all work and business. Orthodox synagogues are generally plain in design and feature no iconography of any kind. While attending temple, Orthodox Jewish men keep their heads covered—as they must do at all times of the day—and wear phylacteriesnear their foreheads. These are small black boxes that contain Torah verses written on paper. At Orthodox worship services, men sit apart from women, who, according to traditional Judaism, are not regarded as equals of men. Orthodox Jewish women are also required to bathe in a mikvah, or ritual bath, after each of their monthly periods. Orthodox Jews generally dress in traditional black clothing.

Most of this stands in direct opposition to the traditions of Reform Judaism. Reform synagogues, for instance, may be quite elaborately designed and appear similar to Christian cathedrals. Men and women are also permitted to sit among one another at temple, due to the Reform tradition's support of gender equality. Finally, Reform Judaism ignores many prayer and blessing requirements in daily life and at Jewish festivals and Sabbath services. These practices embody Orthodox Jewish objections to the Reform tradition; if the original halakhah can be changed, Orthodoxy argues, then God's word is not eternal.

Orthodox Streams

Despite Orthodox Judaism's seemingly unilateral acceptance of traditional Judaism and rejection of attempts to modernize it, Orthodox Jews have been historically quarrelsome among themselves. This has led to the creation of several different branches of Orthodox Judaism, though the sect itself remains unorganized and without a central headquarters or leadership.

Conservative Judaism

Of the various streams of Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism is the most similar to mainstream Orthodoxy. Its main difference lies in its interpretation of the Torah as a human product rather than a divine work. Conservative Jews believe that the halakhah does not represent the exact word of God but rather was influenced by human faculty and is open to interpretation.

Conservative Judaism can be viewed as being midway between the traditionalism of Orthodoxy and the modernity of the Reform movement. For instance, Orthodox Jews adhere to the Torah's prescription against lighting fires on the Sabbath by not using even electric lights on that day, while Reform Jews flaunt this rule entirely. Conservative Jews, meanwhile, obey the letter of the law by not lighting fires but are comfortable using modern lamps.

Haredi Judaism

Also known as ultra-Orthodox Judaism, Haredi, or "those who fear God," follows the Torah even more closely than Orthodox Jews by rejecting almost all aspects of modern secular society. Haredi Jews live their lives entirely within their own religious communities and do not engage in any parts of "outside" culture. Smaller branches of Haredi include Hasidism, a mystical kind of Judaism, and Oriental Judaism, in which adherents attempt to live as their ancestors did in the past.

Neo-Orthodoxy

Neo-Orthodoxy combines the basic elements of mainline Orthodox Judaism with the Haredi tradition. Originally espoused by Samson Raphael Hirsch, a central ideological leader of the traditional Orthodoxy movement, Neo-Orthodoxy teaches that although it is important to obey every aspect of the halakhah, interacting with modern Western culture is not only permitted but is encouraged. This is because much of Western society is inherently good, such as its ability to provide its members with resources and opportunities for personal advancement.

Orthodox Judaism in the United States

The overall Jewish population of the United States in the 2020s is more than 7.5 million people, according to the Pew Research Center. About 9 percent of these identify as Orthodox Jews, while Reform Judaism, by far the most popular Jewish sect in the country, claims 37 percent of American Jews. Conservative Judaism follows behind this with 17 percent. About 32 percent of American Jews report no affiliation with a particular branch of Judaism.

Professional research has indicated that American Orthodox Judaism is steadily growing. This is shown by the Orthodox population's higher fertility rate than that of the total American Jewish population, as well as by the fact that about 98 percent of American Orthodox Jews tend to marry inside their own faith and then teach their religious values to their children. Other facets of Orthodox Judaism in the United States include a tendency of followers to support the politically conservative Republican Party and to hold favorable views of the country of Israel.

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