Identity Conflict in Modern Orthodox Judaism and the Laws of Family Purity

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Guterman
Keyword(s):  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Identity Conflict ◽  
Sample Group ◽  
Dependent Variables ◽  
Modern Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Family Purity ◽  
Modern Orthodox

AbstractThis research was designed to study the issue of observance of the ritually unclean period amongst Modern Orthodox Jews. A sample group of fifty-three congregants filled out a questionnaire survey. The sample was then subdivided into "older" and "younger" groups. Measurements of thirteen dependent variables were broken down into "strict" and "lenient" categories. The study concludes that many laws are being broken overall, that more "lenient" laws are being broken than "strict" ones, and that older congregants are more likely to break the laws than younger ones.

Maxine Jacobson, Modern Orthodoxy in American Judaism: The Era of Rabbi Leo Jung. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2016. 250 pp.

2020 ◽  
pp. 294-296
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Jewish Immigrant ◽  
Dominant Group ◽  
American Judaism ◽  
German Jewish ◽  
The Many ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Modern Orthodox

The premise of this book, actually based on an article I published in 1982, is that rabbis can serve as indicators of the Orthodoxy they serve. In her examination of a once-dominant group within Orthodox Judaism, the so-called “Modern Orthodox,” Maxine Jacobson focuses on Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, a German Jewish immigrant to America who became a prominent spokesman and exemplar of these Jews. Admitting that a precise definition of Modern Orthodoxy is elusive and that even many of those who came to be associated with this worldview and its allied behaviors were uncomfortable with the term (nor did they all agree on its parameters), Jacobson falls back on metaphor: “The Modern Orthodox Jew has been pulled in two directions” (p. 10). Those two directions are defined by Jacobson as either “not religious enough” or “not modern enough” (p. 10). Effectively, Modern Orthodoxy hoped to harmonize these two opposites, having relationships of respect with non-Jews and embracing the larger surrounding open culture, while remaining conscientiously observant. In contrast, Jacobson notes, “the Ultra-Orthodox group seeks to exclude” all that is different from it (p. 11). Nothing new here. The many faces of Orthodoxy have been more or less defined, from almost the first days that Orthodox Jews were subject to critical analysis, by a variety of observers, including myself....

Mythical Roots of Women's Impurity in the Laws of Leviticus: Gendered Mathematics of the Pure and Impure

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (01) ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
Olivette Genest
Keyword(s):  
Menstrual Cycle ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
The Real ◽  
Monetary Value ◽  
Semiotic Approach ◽  
Modern Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Condition Of Women ◽  
Purity And Impurity ◽  
Modern Orthodox

AbstractIn the biblical book of Leviticus, the whole life of the Hebrew people is codified under the aspect of purity and impurity, and the reintegration into purity. When read in the light of gender, these prescriptions show that women are twice as impure as men, while their monetary value is half. Using the semiotic approach developed by A. J. Greimas, this study shows that, beneath the religious discourse obscuring this valuation, is an equally gendered ideology. The source of this valuation is not the foundational events which engender mosaic law, but its roots are to be found in deeper mythical ground. For the condition of women to change, the issue of their impurity—inferiority must be treated at this level. A striking example illustrating this argument is the persistence of purification rites related to the menstrual cycle in modern Orthodox Judaism. Over the course of centuries, the code that contains them has become obsolete. Nevertheless, they remain in place through successive reinterpretations, which do not address the real reason for their existence.

scholarly journals Whence Orthodox Jewish Feminism? Cognitive Dissonance and Religious Change in the United States

Religions ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 332
Author(s):  
Michelle Shain
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
The United States ◽  
Orthodox Jews ◽  
Orthodox Judaism ◽  
Women's Roles ◽  
Religious Change ◽  
Religious Doubt ◽  
Research Survey ◽  
Women’S Roles ◽  
Modern Orthodox

A large literature on feminist theology and philosophy of religion has explored the various ways in which feminism has reshaped religious thought and practice within different faith traditions. This study uses Festinger’s (1965) cognitive dissonance theory and the 2017 Nishma Research Survey of American Modern Orthodox Jews to examine the effect of tension between feminism and Orthodox Judaism on lay men and women. For 14% of Modern Orthodox Jews, issues related to women or women’s roles are what cause them “the most pain or unhappiness” as Orthodox Jews. The paper examines the sociodemographic characteristics associated with this response and tests whether those who experience this cognitive dissonance are more likely to (1) advocate for changes in the role of women within Orthodox Judaism and/or (2) experience religious doubt. The analysis reveals that these individuals overwhelmingly take a feminist stance on issues related to women’s roles in Orthodox Judaism, and they also manifest more religious doubt. The paper discusses the dual potential of cognitive dissonance to either spur changes in women’s religious roles in traditional religious communities and/or threaten the demographic vitality of those communities.

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