Re-branding Orthodoxy

Orthodox Judaism in US seems to have real image problem. Maybe it's time to do away with term 'orthodox,' with all its negative connotations
Rabbi Levi Brackman

Unlike the UK and Israel, the United States has no central Chief Rabbinate and the default Jewish affiliation is not orthodox. In fact, Orthodox Judaism in the United States seems to have a real image problem.



I was shocked when people would call our office and ask to be taken off the mailing list because they did not want to have anything to do with a Judaism which is narrow minded, blinkered and unenlightened.


Indeed, when I first arrived here a well-meaning friend warned me not to tell people that I believed that the stories in the Torah actually happened, lest people would see me as being naive and unintelligent.



So, why is the Orthodox Judaism seriously misunderstood amongst so many Jews in the United States?



Clearly, misinformation, deep prejudice, bad press, lack of knowledge and some legitimate criticism all contrive together to give orthodoxy a negative image amongst many North American Jews. The predicament, however, goes beyond the problem of a rift amongst Jews; it is an existential threat.



The Antony Gordon and Richard Horowitz Demographic Study shows that out of 100 reform Jews today only 13 will remain Jewish after four generations. Contrast this with the finding from the same study, that 100 orthodox Jews today will produce 2588 Jews in four generations - a colossal difference.



The study declares that “the strongest counter-assimilation effect is exerted by orthodox Day Schools; the less time-intensive forms of Jewish education have almost no effect on (slowing down the rate of) intermarriage.”



However, as long as orthodoxy has an image problem many non-orthodox Jews will be unwilling to identify with it, even less send their children to an orthodox school, thus, making the fight against assimilation all the more challenging.



Fiddler-On-The-Roof style Jews


The dilemma for all those concerned with the high rate of assimilation is how can we positively transform the seemingly tarnished image of orthodoxy? And for those who believe, as I do, that in addition to their counter-assimilation effect, the traditional wisdom of Torah and practice of Mitzvoth are enormously relevant to the lives of the modern Jew, this is a dilemma that we must solve.


Whereas in the past the low level of interaction between orthodox Jews living in an enclave and more liberal Jews living in suburbia may have exacerbated this problem, today, with the proliferation of orthodox outreach to non-orthodox communities, there is a greater potential for better understanding.



But there seems to be another obstacle to this - the term “orthodox” itself. For many American Jews “orthodox” conjures up stereotypical images of Fiddler-On-The-Roof style Jews who are viewed as ignorant, unworldly and backward looking.



Not 'orthodox' - 'traditional'



Maybe it is time to do away with the term “orthodox,” with all its negative connotations, and replace it with a term that is not so emotive. I would suggest the use of the term “traditional” instead of orthodox.


Although it has much to offer in the way of philosophy and theology, traditionally, Judaism has always been defined by its practice. Since Sinai, Judaism has been a religion of Mitzvoth (religious ritual), so traditional Jews are observant Jews. Indeed, it is the practice of Judaism that connects modern day traditional Jews to their grandparents going back multiple generations.



So although the terms orthodox and traditional both refer to a full level of observance, traditional somehow sounds less threatening and is not bound to the negative connotations that seem to come with the term orthodox. I admit that a re-brand of orthodoxy may not offer the solution to the Jewish assimilation crisis: however, it may be one piece of the puzzle.



Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website .


1. Re-branding Orthodoxy
With all due respect with Rabbi Brackman, there is no image problem. The overwhelming majority of non-Orthodox parents don't send their children to any form of day school is because of the high costs of tuition, which are paid with after-tax dollars. For a parent who is not commited to a Torah-true lifestyle, the USD 10-15,000 per child per year cost of day school/yeshiva may well be beyond their financial capability. As long as the local Federations place a higher priority on the funding of projects in Israel rather than on local Jewish education, the risk of intermarriage will grow.
Plaintalk , Brooklyn, NY (06.09.06)

2. Re-branding Orthodoxy
Wasn't the term "Orthodoxy" made up by re German Reform Jews?
Leibl , Costa Rica (06.09.06)

3. I like the word mainstream instead,
gabriela ben ari (06.09.06)

4. "Traditional" sounds ambivalent
By calling oneself "Traditional", one can imply that the basis for continuing Orthodox religious customers and practices is simple nostalgia, rather than halacha. This is sort of David Letterman-like irony, in which the viewer never knows whether he is serious, and if so how serious he is.

The word "Traditional" is useful if Rabbi Brackman wants to fuzz over the distinction between a nonbelieving Jew who nonetheless follows arcane customs and practices for sociological reasons of cultural authenticity, on the one hand, and a believing Jew who believes that Judaism requires observance of halacha as it has been developed through the leaders of the generations, on the other hand.

Some might feel that the distinction is important to preserve.
Piranha , Chicago, Illinois (06.09.06)

5. Levi - look how Ortho Jews are Treated on Ynet
You point fingers at everyone except yourself and this website.

Ynet is horribly anti Jewish calling the Bible fake and making Orthodox Jews as bad as Hamas

Your with the enemy and the cause of the "problem" for goodness sakes

6. Re-branding?
If I may be so bold as to say, that I know that it is not really how one is defined by society, whether he be orthodox or reform or secular for that matter, but rather how one is defined by ones self. To paraphrase a Hasidic story ; a carrige driver was getting behind on his runs and was concerned about making it to shul on time, so he asked his rabbi if he was serving G-d like he should be. The rabbi asked him if he took poor people who could not afford the fair and the man said yes. The rabbi assured the man that he had been serving G-d, as if you were in shul.
It does not matter what moniker is applied to the individual as long as we are getting the job done, by what means we have available to us or however we are able to. Let G-d sort out the details.
Moe Chile , London, Canada (06.09.06)

7. off the mark
it seems like he is visiting a different country from where i live:

i have found very few non observant jews who think negatively of orthodox jews. by in large, they have a lot of respect for them. the reason they are non-observant is not out of some strongly held conviction, rather they were never taught otherwise.

it is true that many non-observant jews do not know who orthodox jews are, but that is simply a matter of demographics - there aren't a lot of us yet.
that will change (and it already is)
david , miami usa (06.09.06)

8. traditional is the wrong term
that implies that we are not serious about judaism, we just do it because of some fuddy duddy "tradition".
(that is the reason that the consevatives took up that term - they are not very serious about their observance)

instead, use the term "observant", i think that is much more on the mark
david , miami usa (06.09.06)

9. Practacing Orthodox Jews
Rabbi Levi Brackman’s is grappling with the age old dilemma, just what stories are believable as described in the Torah, and just how to teach them not, to very young children who are susceptible to believe without question the Torah’s ideological theories, but to inquisitive teenagers and mature adults.
As the Jewish tradition and it’s observances are directly intertwined with each other their source is based upon the Torah, the true dilemma that is facing our Torah abiding teachings are, if the basic foundation of Judaism is in conflict with a persons acceptance of “stories written in the Torah” will inevitably lose all the “story influenced” Jewish adherences, since the Torah is not a story book, the Torah is not a history book, the Torah is not a philosophical theory nor can it be taught as such to any intellectual minded individual.
Christens teach their young about Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, to ingrate a sense of tradition and family values.
Torah teachings are not diluted nor is any element of its teachings not considered viable when a person becomes a mature self thinking adult, the Torah is according to tradition from its conception considered as a living, viable truism.
The identification or the name attributed to its adherences are unimportant, but what is important for our educators to impart to the Jewish Observing Community is, True and basic Halacha and not afflict them with their personal theory.
To our detriment and the cause of so many Jewish persons falling away from following the beautiful faith based traditions, that enabled our survival as a distinct entity through the continual assault by the world nations or beliefs in their attempts to either destroy us physically or spiritually, is caused by a failure of our current teachers or Rabbis.
The Orthodox Rabbi when asked to give a halachic edict falls back upon the age old tradition of “if he does not understand it” it is forbidden, to support his Pesak he relies upon a Peask or thought of a Rabbi that lived during the historical century of his edict and was directly influenced by norms of that period.
Such reliance is according to the Torah unacceptable, as the Torah stress that since it is written as a guide that requires explanations, you must follow the teachings of “Your Generation”
Just how a certain group of Jewish observing people label themselves is not the criteria that will reenergize the Jewish world, but developing a teaching system that requires the teachers to become fully familiar with current sciences and who are able to dove tail the science into the teachings of the Torah.
What is the norm today in any orthodox Jewish school, if any student queries or demands a explanation of so that he is able to understand a seemingly conflicting theory with the Torah, the probable result would be at best to label such student as a heretic, or more likely to expel such student from the Yeshiva.
Torah is a guide to live by, it is not a story book (see the Rambam) it does not conflict with science all it requires is a true understanding of just how to integrate and remove the two seemingly conflicting aspects into one, do not destroy the living breathing Torah and its viability to enlighten our future generations through ignorance.
chaim , phoenix usa (06.09.06)

10.
David , NY (06.09.06)

11. Semantics
The problem is not the distance of "nonpracticing" Jews from
"practicing" Jews; the problem is the distance of some Jews from Torah.

No matter what you call them--"observant", "traditional",
"orthodox"--Torah-Conscious Jews still practice a "religion" utterly alien and irrelevant to some Jews. By imposing new labels on to segments of the Jewish population, you further fragement the Nation of Israel. Nothing can be more damaging to our Jewish future. No more "names"! Please. Do you really think the "orthodox" segment will get an agree to this, unanimously? No. Instead, you will have some "orthodox" Jews calling themselves "traditional", some ex-"Conservadox" Jews, who now call themselves "traditional", fighting to preserve their category, and a whole bunch of "Reform" and "Conservative" Jews laughing from the sidelines. Can you really blame a Jew who doesn't want to associate himself with this?

Dissolve these barriers! That, more than anything else, is the first, necessary step towards unification--the miracle that will herald Moshiach.
David , NY City, USA (06.09.06)

12. Read this


Read some of the debates at jewlicious.com.
voracious reader , diaspora (06.10.06)

13. HOW ABOUT....?
THE WAY THE TRADITIONAL BELIEVE, WHY NOT JUST SAY JEWS OR TRUE JEWS?
ALAN , USA (06.10.06)

14. Traditional
I think perhapsRabbi Brackman should rethink the term "Traditional" as the new name for Orthodoxy. Surely he knows that the Conservative movement's name in the world is "Masorti Judaism." (Hebrew) masorti = (English) traditional
Joan , Haifa (06.10.06)

15. The problem with the orthodox..
Is that they feel they are superior to all other branches of Judaism. They also have way too much control over the Rabbinate in Israel. The strong anti-orthodox feelings in Israel are completely justified. Nobody is comparing them to HAmas, but still, they need to ask themselves how "righteous" they really are and they need to accept other branches of Judaism - such as Reform...
Edan , Beer Sheva (06.10.06)

16. The problem with Orthodoxy...
The problem with Orthodoxy is not that it is hard to believe the stories from the Torah. It is that halacha has gone completely out of control because there is no way to effect meaningful change throughout the generations. It leads to a, in my opinion, pretty silly way to live one's life. If I thought G-d cared about some of this ridiculous stuff, I would do it, but it just doesn't pass the laugh test.

Such as...
can you believe that it is forbidden to open the awning on a baby stroller or to open an umbrella on Shabbat or a chag because it is considered MAKING A TENT!

...the beautiful notion of not not cooking meat in the milk of it's mother has been extened to the non-mammal CHICKEN because chicken has assumed the importance of beef, or one might be mistaken as one who is eating meat with milk. (!)

...combing one's hair on Shabbat is forbidden because, get this, it could lead to the prohibition of "selecting", meaning if you comb your hair, stray hairs could come out and you'd be removing them from the rest of the hair on your head, which wolud be a prohibition...

You can't take an aspirin on Shabbat because someone might think you "compounded" it yourself, which is prohibited.

The layers of halacha have made a beautiful religion meaninless. G-d doesn't care abour this nonsense.
Wendy , Chicago (06.11.06)

17. MayB u shd use MATISYAHU as yr spokesman
Last night I was listening to MATISYAHU again, and boy he really knows how to beat-box - and talk the soft side of the Chabad line. Maybe if he were the official spokesman for orthodoxy, there might be a few more guys signing up for the minyan.

Realistically, though, even if 100 Reform Jews today will have 13 Jewish grandchildren - those 13 will be committed Jews. How many of the 2088 grandchildren of the 100 orthodox Jews will be alienated, Spinoza-ized, or even (G!d forbid) - so alienated to become Son-of-Sam????
Daniel , Israel (06.11.06)

18. "Traditional" Jewry in Midwest America
The term "Traditional" is used to desribe
orthodox synagogues in he Chicago
area that have mixed seating i.e. no
mechizah. So Rabbi Brackjman's suggestion would not convey the type
of observance that he is in favor of.
(06.11.06)

19. How about fundamentalist?
I'm mean they do cuzzie up to Bush and Co.
Dorothy Friend , Tel Aviv (06.12.06)

20. Orthodox vs. Traditional
You can dress a pig in an evening gown and paint lipstick on it but it will still be a pig. Until the orthodox become more inclusive and accept other ways of jewish worship and practice they will continue to carry the stigmas outlined in the article. You need to change the behavior not the title.
Allan , Delray Beach, FLA (06.16.06)