Why Modern Orthodoxy is Dying

That might be the question put to me if I were the one saying it. Well, I didn’t say that exactly. But I have said something quite similar. I mention this because of an article by David Stein in Lehrhuas. He charges that the Modern Orthodox community is not teaching its ideology. To put it the way Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm did (whom he quoted): 

I believe that as a result of this a cultural phenomenon is taking place, Modern Orthodoxy will eventually disappear as it splits into 2 distinct categories. If the current trend continues, the left will eventually find itself outside the orbit of Orthodoxy and the right (Centrists) will increasingly merge with moderate Charedim as they both adopt many of each others modalities. 

Since our lifestyles will be almost identical and our Hashkafic differences will eventually disappear -  we will  end up with what I have called a cultural centrism based on lifestyle rather than an ideology. I continue to believe that this is the future of Judaism, much as I lament the disappearance of Hashkafos that I truly believe to be Emes – the Truth of the Torah.

How can it be that the truth will disappear? I can’t really answer that. And I hope I am wrong. But if the current trajectory continues, that is the likely outcome. Unless ideological Centrists do something about it. Which may be impossible in our day because of the lack of interest by most people in the ideology behind their lifestyles. Unfortunately, most people these days behave in certain ways without thinking about it too much because that is the culture in which they were raised.

The question remains however. What can be done about maintaining and perhaps even advancing  the core values of a Centrist Hashkafa - so that it could grow rather than decline?

Part of the problem with doing that is the strength of the Charedi world – bolstered by its current numbers that far exceed modern Orthodox Jews and by the its ongoing exponential growth - far outpacing Modern Orthodox growth (even if there is any growth which is debatable - see the article). 

The simple truth is that the Charedi world cares even less about ideology than the Modern Orthodox world. I believe that most Charedim are about the ‘what’. Not the ‘why’. They do not question. They just do. Na’aseh V’Nishma. They leave deep philosophic thought to others that care about it. Since they mostly don’t.

That this approach has worked very well for them is beyond obvious. And it is increasingly becoming the approach of ideological Centrists as well - as they focus less on their own Hashkafos.

That is the challenge for those of us that care. Motivating people to think about why they do the things they do. Not just to do them without thinking.

There was a time when people cared about these things. That is why  R’ Shamshon Raphael Hirsch felt the need to explain the ‘why’ through what he believed to be the Emes of the Torah – Torah Im Derech Eretz (TIDE). That was a model for many in his time that lived a lifestyle that engaged with the modern world and modern thinkers. R’ Hirsch explained the ‘why’ and taught which elements of the modern thinking to accept and which to reject. For R’ Hirsch, it was all about using those elements of modern thought that enhanced our beliefs. The rest he believed was of no value at all.

In the 1980s Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm developed what he called Torah U'Mada (TuM). He understood that to be Emes. It was a different approach than R’ Hirsch’s TIDE. If I understand correctly Dr. Lamm based his views somewhat on those of Rav Solovietchik’s seminal work, Halakhic Man which dealt with the world of cognitive man versus homo religiousus.  

Rav Solovietchik  believed that cognitive man and homo religiousus were two independent and conflicting forces within man that were ultimately irreconcilable. Emes, he said, was achievable only through the dialectic tension between the two. 

Rav Soloveitchik lauded the fact that Yeshiva University separated the Yeshiva and the university into two entities - leaving them both intact since it would have been impossible to reconcile all of western thought with our belief system. Combining the two in some sort of artificial synthesis would have not done justice to either.

If either of these two approaches (TIDE or TuM) would be part and parcel of the overarching educational paradigm, of modern Orthodoxy, the Hashkafa might have a chance to survive. 

What is happening instead is that most modern Orthodox children on the left are being sent to schools that empathize secular academics using religious their studies as a means of teaching them how to navigate that world as religious Jews. 

Ideological Centrists end up sending their children to moderate Charedi schools that focus on religious studies but tend to take secular studies a lot more seriously -  knowing that their students will need it to better their lives through careers mostly available to those with a higher education.

Is there any school that emphasizes either a TIDE Hashkafa or TuM Hashkafa? I am beginning to believe that Hashkafa has basically ‘left the building’.

Why this is the case is beyond the scope of this post. Although I think it might have something to do with how we have all been raised at home. If our parents don’t focus on Hashkafa, why should the school?

The lack of any emphasis on Hashkafa in our schools (and in our homes) is why I believe Modern Orthodoxy (at least the Centrist version of it) is dying. There are just too few of us that care about it.

Why do I care? It is unconscionable for me to believe that Judaism cannot be explained in an intelligent fashion in the real world  where Torah and Mada both exist. That we are asked to ignore modern challenges and simply believe (i.e.  Emunah P’Shuta). 

That may work for a lot of people. In fact it is considered to be a higher form of belief than belief through reason. But for the rational mind which thinks about such things, Emunah P’Shuta alone doesn’t work. We seek answers to our questions and resolutions to conflicts between the two worlds. TIDE or TuM may might not have all the answers. But they sure do provide a lot of them.  It is so sad for those of us that think about such things that they are increasingly being ignored. We do so at our own peril.