American Orthodoxy

Matt Williams wants to know what exactly a "non-observant Orthodox Jew" is before deciding whether or not it's vanishing.

Today's letters to the editor rethink the utility of Torah u-Madda in today's world. Noam Stadlan reminds us that all knowledge is God's creation and thus inherently valuable, while Larry Grossman (author of “The Rise and Fall of Torah U’Madda“) argues that Torah u-Madda fails to address the various issues that now confront Modern Orthodoxy.

No two Orthodox rabbis think exactly the same way, particularly on the matter of Darwinism in the wake of the Scopes Trial. 

Continuing the Yitzhak paradigm, Rabbi Yaakov Bieler offers another perspective on the nuances of Jewish education.

Shmuel Winiarz contributes to the Lehrhaus Symposium on the recent OU statement regarding female clergy.

In commemoration of the upcoming Sheloshim of Rav Moshe Kahn, Mindy Schwartz Zolty shares a Hesped of her teacher in which she discusses his derekh ha-limmud and his derekh as a melamed.

Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein responds to the details of the previously published Rav timeline.

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.

Sruly Motzen argues that to ensure that our shuls emerge as strong as possible after the pandemic, first and foremost we must strengthen the relationships between our rabbis and their communities today.

Chaim Saiman explains how the demand threshold for gedolim may explain fault lines in the broader Orthodox community.