IM modern orthodox - AMA.

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:43 am

amother Hibiscus wrote:

The way we learned halacha in high school was by reading paragraph by paragraph inside the shulchan aruch, which lists a few different opinions and which one is best to follow.
Do MO schools do that?

In sem we sourced the halacha back to the Gemara and onward through the Tur and different Rishonim and then to the shulchan aruch and aruch hashulchan.

Is this typical for BY?

anony

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:44 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

I Answered this already. There is a continuum. Look upthread.

I guess it was your response to this. I think the people who don’t follow Halacha are not following what the rabbis hold. I wouldn’t say there is a continuum in regards to that.

That being said, the continuum falls when there is disagreement about what is halachically appropriate. We all believe in the concept of tznius, but some people hold short sleeves are tznius while others think sleeves need to cover elbows, etc.

Torah lo bashamayim hi

juggling

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:44 am

amother Tiffanyblue wrote:

How is it "incoherent" to ask why Modern Orthodox communities seem to openly accept the lifestyles of transgender people?

Which MO rav or community leader did you hear say that? Or is this based on things you're seeing from random influencers on Instagram?

Some MO Jews are vocal about certain viewpoints on the internet, that doesn't mean that MO as a movement endorses those viewpoints.

What is true is that MO encourages grappling with these issues, rather than pretending they don't exist or don't affect us. Grappling with the issues can lead to some people embracing viewpoints that their rabbis might not support. And not getting ostracized for doing so.

amother

Lilac

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:48 am

Shabbatiscoming, Can you answer this please?

amother Lilac wrote:

Who started modern orthodoxy? Where did it start? Are there different types of modern orthodoxy depending on its roots and location?

My husband's father grew up modern orthodox. His parents were frum.in America at a time when almost nobody else was. Furthermore he went on to learn after high school (if I remember correctly) and it wasn't respected at all then. He was part of Young Israel. He was practically a Rabbi and when Yidden came from Europe who had more Mesorah and knew more than him he felt very hurt (that's my understanding according to my husband). My husband's father went to learn in Israel against his parents wishes.. I'm not sure if he went to college. He learned all of Shas at a very young age and left the modern orthodox world. His two sisters were/are less Frum than their parents and I think that was a point of contention as they became adults.

My husband has an interesting viewpoint of modern orthodoxy because of this and I wanted to hear your thoughts, being that you live in Israel and how this story matches what you know of modern orthodoxy.

Thanks a lot! I never met his grandparents or his father unfortunately.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:51 am

anony wrote:

My point is that the mo world is a continuum. From people following every halacha as their rabbsnim have taught them all the way to people who keep the big three and anything else they decide if they keep of not. All called MO.
In terms of not agreeing about what is hakachically appropriate, thats where and why there is so much divide between frum jews. I learn xyz, she learned abc and the third person learned axby.
So sometimes it makes a continuum and other times it splits to different communities.

amother

Begonia

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:52 am

shabbatiscoming wrote:

As I wrote in a post somewhere above in this thread, all of the girls that I grew up with in america, are still modern orthodox. Its a thriving hashkafa. Not more to the right or more to the left. And going to college or university has no negative affects on the people who I am thinking of. It just helped them in their professional life.

I am around your age MO born and raised in the tristate area, and I can confirm we are thriving hashkafa. No mass otd movement here, my friends are raising their families and the next generation after me is continuing these traditions.

amother

Dahlia

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:55 am

amother Hibiscus wrote:

So back to my original question, which halachic standards are considered standard and how is it taught in school without offending people who are not up to that standard?
For example is halacha taught inside from the shulchan aruch? Which piskei halacha are chosen as the standard if the community is so diverse?

I could be wrong but I don’t think the shulchan orech talks about sleeve length.

We learn Halacha from the shulchan orech.

amother

Springgreen

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:56 am

crossroad wrote:

Was writing a whole thing and lost the page. Arghhh

Trying again.

Im mo.

In my large mo neighborhood on Long Island NY majority of the schools are very expensive, both mo and yeshivish. Mo probably more, not by much. No idea why.
It's hard for everyone.

Never heard of transgender being accepted.

I know of 1 group of women who get together for simchat torah and maybe lein megillah. Not sure what else. It's not so out in the open and not the norm at all.

My kids school (afaik similar to the other schools) teach Halacha, Chumash, Navi, Yehadut. Kids have uniforms. On this sight a lot about tznius is what seems to define level of religiousness (is that a word!?).

I think in a similar way that I am shocked to hear about bodekeses (women who check other women), shaving hair, not driving, dress codes, chumras that are taught as Halacha, the extreme non mixing of boys and girls, no internet, rules that schools impose, and Im sure a bunch more things I read here, is probably the shock that is felt by how things are in my community. Just a guess.

What I assume is that in both our worlds there is social pressure, money pressure, shalom bayis stress, raising children stress, mental health struggles, and everything in between. It just looks different.

I'm not here to defend, justify or accuse mine or anyone elses community. Everyone has room for improvement.

For reference I grew up yeshivish. There is good and not so good in both that world and mo.
I don't have time nor want to answer any personal questions. Its not my ama

Hope this helps in some way! Have a good yuntif!

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 6:58 am

amother Lilac wrote:

Shabbatiscoming, Can you answer this please?

I am sure modern orthodoxy is different in different locations.
I know how it was where and when I was groeing up. I also know when my parents were growing up (both in different parts of new york as secind generation afyer ww2) how the modern orthodox world is.

As for eho and when it began, look up rav shimshon refael hirsch. Im not going to give a history lesson here Smile

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:00 am

amother Begonia wrote:

I have many friends in the tri state area Smile

MO judaism is alive and well. And thriving in a big way. BH Smile

amother

Pansy

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:02 am

I do wonder about the claim that schools are more expensive because it’s a better education. I went to a BY we had a computer lab, a gym and a full extra curricular program ( no sports leagues ). I don’t find that any MO person knows more math, science, history, or English than I do. Jewish wise I can open any Sefer read it and understand, I know halacha inside out, I know Jewish history inside out, I don’t find myself not able to keep up with debates ever. So I’m curious about this better education claim, sometimes I feel like I had a more well rounded education than people I meet. Also about the teachers being better, I know hundreds of Lakewood guys that travel to five towns and nj schools to teach Jewish subjects, none of them have degrees. They claim the whole Judaic department is made up of yeshivish rebbeim and teachers in these schools.

amother

Pansy

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:03 am

amother Begonia wrote:

I also want to point out that tzedaka, chessed and making a kiddush Hashem are very important values in MO. I’m not so familiar with chassidish chessed organizations that people talk about here, because MO has so many chessed orgs of our own.

Curious which organizations? Never heard of any. All these are values of any Jew.

amother

Mauve

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:06 am

amother Pansy wrote:

I think the claim isn't that is a better education, its that the schools cost more to run.

amother

Mauve

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:08 am

amother Eggplant wrote:

I am not asking in a rude way but out of curiosity. When god forbid tragedy strikes a community or an individual and the leaders talk about doing teshuva and embettering their ways , what topics do they focus on most ?

Maybe the pre-question should be, when tragedy strikes a community or an individual, is the response of leadership to do teshuva, or embetterment.

shabbatiscoming

Fri, Oct 06 2023, 7:13 am

amother Eggplant wrote:

R
This is not really a thing in the mo world.
There may be movements to do xyz or take on this or that mitzvah, but its an individual thing.
Tzniut, the internet and other such things that are brought up in other communities as ways to bring about change, are not really done in mo communities.
It eould be more like "in the merit if or the memory of this person, I will try to speak less/no lashon hara".