One of the biggest mistakes people make about the “Orthodox” is that we’re all the same. Or all Hasidic. Or all Joseph Liebermans. Well, just like lots of other things in life, it’s all about a continuum. Points along the spectrum.
I will not attempt to speak for any of these groups, since I do not reside in all of them, but will instead offer very superficial distinctions between them. What I would love is to have members of these various groups speak for themselves, so if you identify as one of them, give me a holler and perhaps you would guest-blog for me. It may be anonymous, if you’d like.
For example:
2. Together with and separate from Hasidism is Chabad-Lubavitch. Chabad is a form of Hasidism, but their primary focus is outreach to fellow Jews to inspire them in Judaism, as opposed to insularity. Chabad is famous for stopping people on the street to perform a mitzvah such as laying tefilling or shaking a lulav and is incredibly idealistic, self-effacing, and devoted in their mission, even moving to far-flung areas such as (famously) Mumbai, Shanghai, or Chile to be there for fellow Jews searching for meaning, inspiration, or just a warm hello and some home-cooked kosher food.
3. We now arrive at the “yeshivish” community. They are easily spotted by the black hats, suits and white shirts at all occasions. More on the yeshivish community here.
4. The next group would be “regular” Orthodox. They don’t wear the black hats. They don’t only dress in “black-and-white” either. The guys might wear khakis, colored shirts, and jeans while in casual mode. The women are harder to distinguish from category #3. Good luck with that. Some people find themselves fluctuating between various groups, too, or living somewhere between. They may have a TV or allow moderate forms of secular culture in their homes and lives.
5. Modern Orthodoxy is a group that believes passionately in Religious Zionism, in embracing secular culture and being a part of the larger world for the purpose of creating a “kiddush Hashem” – showing the world that you can do both. Senator Lieberman, I believe, identifies as Modern Orthodox.
What do you say, readers? Would you agree with my breakdown? Offer your own? Have something to add or subtract? Would love to hear about it! Per the nature of my blog, if there is disparaging or rude comment made about another group, it will not be published.
I like the visual map available through Varieties of Orthdoox Judaism.
I also would include Open Orthodoxy in the list – a movement started by Rabbis Avi Weiss and Marc Angel. Open Orthodoxy is also passionately Zionist. It supports a greater degree of interaction with the heterodox than other Orthodox movements, and is more open to changing roles for women without endorsing full egalitarianism.
I also have to say that these differences look bigger from the inside than the outside. To my mind as a NY centric observant Jew the big difference between most of the Orthodox and most of the heterodox is the degree to which Jewish ritual restrictions impact their lives.
Most O Jews (in the NY area at at least, and outside that most large communities I am familiar with) keep kosher in and out of the house (although they disagree over what food/restaurants may be kosher.) They are Sabbath observant beyond the point of simply going to shul on Shabbat (although disputes over what is and is not a legitimate Shabbat activity are legion.)
In my town I get incredulous looks when I tell them I see the differences between the local Agudah (a Yeshivish shul) and the local MO shul as insignificant, but compared to the C shuls I grew up in and attended as an adult that really is the case.
As per the discussion on my Facebook a few weeks ago, I am an 'Underconstructionist Jew.'
That means I am on a path of growth in observance and hope for a growth in spiritual perspectives as well.
For me, where I sit right now is Shomer chag, kashrut and Shabbat. I am traditional in many ways. I do wear sleeves shorter than my elbows, don't cover to my collarbones (who could even find them?) and I don't cover my hair all the time, although funny enough a lot of people think I do because I cover my hair for work (with food) and once I have hat head, I don't uncover it while in public. Maybe if I grew my hair and could put it in a pony, but as long as I have hat head, forget it!
I am respectful of others and to some extent, I take what I like and leave the rest. I grew up pretty secular affiliated with a Conservative shul, however culturally, I could not have been more Jewish. I am far less judgemental than I used to be about other Jews and make many fewer assumptions….
so, in the words of popeye the sailor, I yam what I yam.
Larry, I respectfully differ with including Open Orthodoxy in the list. Perhaps that's not very open of this Orthodox Jew. 😉
Something the above list of groups all have in common, despite some real differences, is a strong allegiance to gedolei-Yisroel, our great Torah leaders. The chassidic communities have their rebbes/admorim and the Litvishe communities have their roshei yeshiva/poskim, as do the modern-Orthodox (giants like the late R'Yosha Ber Soloveitchik and his talmid-muvhak R'Hershel Shachter shlit"a.)
But I greatly fear the Open Orthodoxy movement does not have the backing of any giants among our gedolei-Yisroel, making its innovations constitute a dangerous deviation from the mesorah, even if well intentioned. (Mrs. Koval, I hope this doesn't come across as a disparaging comment about another group, but if it it's not posted, I'll understand.)
Schwevy, the subject of where a newcomer to Orthodoxy would align on the spectrum and why is a very interesting one, and I hope to explore this more in a future post.
Larry, very interesting visual – not sure I'd agree with all of it, but thanks for posting.
Denver, I appreciate the respectful and factual tone of your comment. Would be interested to know why Larry considers this its own group rather than a subset of modern orthodoxy.
Another subset of Orthodoxy that occurred to me are the Sefardim. They couldn't rightfully be classified as chassidic or yeshivish yet they are often no less "chareidi" or insular. Communities who follow the rulings and teachings of the Ben Ish Chai, the Baba Sali, Rav Kadouri, R'Mordechai Eliyahu, and ybcl"c Rav Ovadiah Yosef. They way Sefardim relate to their chachamim and tzaddikim reminds me of that of chassidim with their rebbes.
Ruchi:
I was thinking about the spectrum issue and thought of myself. I have no idea how to define my judaism. I keep kosher and celebrate shabbat each week, but I am not shomer shabbat as of yet. I am not conservative anymore, as I am comfortable davening with a mechitzah (spell?). I also align myself spirtually with a more orthodox persepective. I wear a lot of skirts but sometimes still dress in jeans. Am I conservadox, who knows?
Love,
Susan
Denver, true. In my community sephardim align with any of the other groups. Ie there are modern orthodox sephardim, yeshivish sephardim, etc. Maybe because Cleveland does not have a large enough sephardic community to be their own group.
Susan, I know what you are: south African! South African Jews believe in Judaism the way the orthodox do, but in practice are more similar to conservative. Now you need the cute accent (thanks Robin).
I'm interested in your distinction between Yeshivish and "regular" Orthodox. I've been frum for 10 years now, and this is the first time I'm catching on to it (maybe I should talk to more FFB's!). I always lumped the two together.
I'm in a "mixed marriage" (BT/FFB), and have always sort of felt like my husband's (very successful, B"H) pursuit of a job was b'dieved (not the ideal)…that he should be learning instead. (Never mind that he is much better suited for his chosen profession than kollel.) Chalk it up to the fact that I've heard too many classes on the beauty of a Torah home, and have brothers-in-law in kollel.
So now you come to tell me that there's such a thing as "regular" Orthodox. How liberating. To finally be able to classify myself and husband as what we truly are, instead of always wishing we were "better."
Wait- is that liberating, or does that mean we've just given up?
Which is better, to be happy with what you are, even if it's a "lower" standard…or miserably second-guessing yourself but at least you're shooting for the right goal?
I hope you'll understand if I wanna keep this anonymous 🙂
P.S. Looking forward to the post you promised schwevy about where BT's fit into all this. I often play the BT card when I want to avoid pigeonholing myself.
Ruchi, I had no idea about the South African Orthodox community. That's really interesting. I'm curious, do South African Jews tend to take flak from Orthodox folks from other parts of the world due to their more Conservative/Conservadox approach to practice?
I don't think being comfortable davening with a mechitza necessarily revokes a person's Conservative credentials, incidentally. I don't have any huge issues davening with a mechitza (well, depending on how the mechitza is implemented- I got trapped in a tiny, overcrowded womens' section behind a Berlin Wall of a mechitza once, and that wasn't great), but I would say I'm still pretty firmly aligned Conservative (conversion issues aside) due to my outlook on whether women are allowed to adopt positive, time-bound mitzvot and views on the evolution of halacha.
Anonymous, I don't know know why you think any of these groups are "higher" or "lower" than any other. In each subset, you will find inspired and uninspired Jews. In each you will find Jews that look to their leaders and teachers with respect and for guidance, and those that don't; those that wear the external garb of their group but are empty on the inside, and those that are passionate through and through. Liberated is a good thing! Your relationship to God is the main thing, along with your ability to be a part of a community. Being strictly defined is not necessarily a goal.
Diplogeek: you raise an interesting point. What is the definition of a Conservative Jew?
A quick blog post cannot do justice to the complexity of this subject.
For example, there was no mention of the Dati Leumi "Religious Zionist" community. Contrary to popular belief they are not Modern Orthodox Jews who happen to live in Israel but a distinct group in and of themselves whose philosophy revolves around seeing the State of Israel as part of the unfolding final redemption God has been promising us about for so long. But again, that's just scratching the surface!
As for Conservative and Reform, membership in the synagogue/temple is pretty much the definition. You can find Conservatives who are very detailed in their practices of kashrus, Shabbos, etc. and others who don't know about to spell "shul" in the same congregation. Same with Reform. It's all about where the dues got paid, eh?
Garnel, I am not sure conservative or reform jews would agree with that. By the same token I don't know what you would call yourself.:)
Oh, if I had to I'd say "Religious Zionist".
See, here's the essential divide between Orthodox and Non-Orthodox. Orthodoxy includes the belief that God gave us the Torah in a national revelation at Har Sinai like the Good Book says He did, and that this Torah, both Oral and Written are authoritative on us. Deviation from those basic principles removes one from Orthodoxy.
…and then there's Lubavitch. A religion all it's own! (I am that)
Diplogeek- don't think they get flak. At least not that I've seen. But sometimes they have a hard time figuring out how to affiliate in America.
Faygie, you're right there in category 2. Wanna write a guest post for me?
Garnel, sounds accurate to me. Stoll haven't heard the definition of a Conservative Jew though.
Oof, this is hard, precisely because there are differences on the Conservative spectrum, just as there are on the Orthodox.
But I’m going to attempt to offer some core values/beliefs/thoughts of Conservative Judaism that most Conservative Jews could agree to. Or at least a few of them; we are still Jewish after all (c; I think a lot of this comes from my understanding of Emet V'Emunah:
1) We believe in G-d as Creator, though we differ in our perceptions and experiences of reality. Humanity alone was created in G-d’s image, endowed with free will, and alone received Revelation. The Torah is the result of this human encounter with the Divine, G-d’s will revealed through Moses, the Prophets, the Sages. By descent or by destiny, all Jews are commanded to obey G-d’s will.
2) Halakah has never been monolithic or immovable, but instead has grown and developed through changing times and diverse conditions.
3) There have been a variety of Judaisms lived throughout the ages, reflecting the historical times and politics/culture of the surrounding communities.
4) Halakah and Aggadah are a precious resource, authority, and literature for those who want to grow closer to G-d, enriching our spiritual life.
5) Halakah and minhag underscore the centrality of ethics in life.
6) Israel, in addition to be the land where our faith was born and developed, remains essential to our present and future, as a symbol of Jewish unity, a homeland for millions. We strengthen our communities as we strengthen Israel.
7) Halakah and Aggadah enrich Jewish life, helping to bring about G-d’s Kingdom.
Thank you! As far as I can tell, all but #2 and #3 jive with orthodox belief.
I would also like to see a broad category here of dati leumi thru charda"l (charedi leumi). In terms of halachik practise, I am indistiguishable from my many charedi neighbours, but my hashkafa and attitude to so many things is very different.
I also agree with one of the other posters who suggested Sephardim/Eidot Hamizrach as a distinct group. Interesting to note that the average Sephardi synagogue will have people davenning there that run the whole gamut of ultra-leumi-modern etc, whereas most Ashkenazi synagogues are far less homogenous.
South African Jews are unique in the fact that most have a very strong affiliation to Orthodox synagogues, despite the fact that many of them practise very little halacha. I grew up in one of these nominally Orthodox families. Many of my friends had a family meal with candle lighting and kiddush on Friday nights and afterwards went out to movies, nightclubs etc.
Melissa, I'd be very interested in hearing what this attitudinal differences are.
So true re: varied sephardic religious levels. In some ways they are similar to south Africans: very traditional minded, even if halachic practice is nebulous.
Ruchi, one reason I separated out Open Orthodoxy from Modern Orthodoxy is the attitude of people like Denver, who question whether it is Orthdox at all. (People also question the legitimacy of Modern Orthodoy, but those people don't say it isn't Orthodox, they say it isn't "Torah True".
Another reason is that Open Orthodoxy is beginning to develop its own institutions – International Rabbinic Fellowship, Yeshivat Maharat, The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals etc.
Assuming the movement fully divides from MO in the same way people distinguish between MO and Charedi historians will not doubt have a great deal of fun discussing the question "Did they fall or were they pushed?"
Larry, your comments actually raise another extremely interesting question: how would you define an ORTHODOX Jew? Philosophically? Behaviorally – by keeping certain mitzvot? If so, which? Does the violation of any particular mitzvah invalidate one's Orthodox status? Presumably, driving on Shabbos moves one from "Orthodox" to Conservative – would you agree? What if you keep Shabbos but not kosher? Shabbos and kosher but not mikvah?
Ruchi
1) Before I became observant, the base definition of an Orthodox Jew (to me) was observance of Kashrut, Shabbat, and Taharat Hamishpacha.
2) As far as living my day to day life as an observant Jew, since I don't drink wine I don't care about denominational affiliation. If a person keeps Shabbat and kashrut I'll eat over their house.
3) I'm interested from an anthropological and sociological perspective in questions of what constitutes Orthodoxy, but I think that the question has different answers in different contexts.
4) Taken literally, Orthodoxy means 'right thoughts' as contrasted with Orthopraxy which means 'right practices'. I have no need personally to treat the Orthoprax differently than the Orthdox. Many other people feel differently. I think there are perhaps 13 million Jews world wide, 5 million in America. Half of those are affiliated with a denomination. Between 10 and 20% of those claim Orthodox affiliation. That's already a small enough group, I don't feel a need to reduce it further in search of ideological purity.