American Orthodoxy

Sarah Rindner contemplates whether Torah u-Madda as it’s sometimes interpreted can engender unreflective allegiance to trends in contemporary society that might harm our religious communities.

Responding to Moshe Kurtz, Olivia Friedman argues that forging deep connections between Torah and popular culture can be an uplifting and sanctified experience.

Shira Hecht-Koller Earlier this year, Apple released the iPhone X. When the first iPhone was released in 2007, I was completing my second year of...

As this election season draws to a close at last, Zev Eleff crunches the numbers on the Modern Orthodox vote—a demographic whose politics are not so easy to pin down.

Zev Eleff examines some of the toys peddled around by mitzvah merchants and other fascinating features of Ultra-Orthodox culture. 

Leah Sarna contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

Miriam Gedwiser Chaim Saiman argues that the number of “gedolim” associated with a community - in this case, the modern and liberal Orthodox communities - is...

Moshe Kurtz regales us with his love of science fiction & fantasy, suggesting that the genre’s literature, movies, and games can teach Torah lessons in ethics and morality, but cautioning that Torah u-Madda ought not to become Torah u-Movies.

On this flag day, Moshe Kurtz surveys the arguments for and against displaying national flags in synagogues.

In his latest for the Lehrhaus, Steven Gotlib reviews the recently published collection of essays, Strauss, Spinoza, and Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith, which tries to answer: is there a philosophical defense of Orthodoxy in the modern world?