Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since.
The relationships between the various denominations of American Judaism are complex and include a range of trends from the conciliatory and welcoming to hostile and antagonistic.
Samson Raphael Hirsch was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed neo-Orthodoxy, his philosophy, together with that of Azriel Hildesheimer, has had a considerable influence on the development of Orthodox Judaism.
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the modern world.
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.
Azriel Hildesheimer was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany and as a founder of Modern Orthodox Judaism.
Torah im Derech Eretz is a phrase common in Rabbinic literature referring to various aspects of one's interaction with the wider world. It also refers to a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–88), which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world. Some refer to the resultant mode of Orthodox Judaism as Neo-Orthodoxy or in some historiographies as Frankfurter Orthodoxy.
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was a leader of American Orthodox Judaism and founder of institutions including Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. In 1921 he became principal of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, an early day Brooklyn-based yeshiva initially founded as an elementary school in 1918. He subsequently added a high school and post graduate program to the yeshiva. His policies were often informed by the Orthodox philosophical movement Torah im Derech Eretz.
Norman Lamm was an American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, academic administrator, author, and Jewish community leader. He was the Chancellor of Yeshiva University until he announced his retirement on July 1, 2013.
Joseph Breuer, also known as Yosef Breuer was a rabbi and community leader in Germany and the United States. He was rabbi of one of the large Jewish synagogues founded by German-Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi oppression that had settled in Washington Heights, New York.
Torah Umadda is a worldview in Orthodox Judaism concerning the relationship between the secular world and Judaism, and in particular between secular knowledge and Jewish religious knowledge. The resultant mode of Orthodox Judaism is referred to as Centrist Orthodoxy.
Feldheim Publishers is an American Orthodox Jewish publisher of Torah books and literature. Its extensive catalog of titles includes books on Jewish law, Torah, Talmud, Jewish lifestyle, Shabbat and Jewish holidays, Jewish history, biography, and kosher cookbooks. It also publishes children's books. The company's headquarters is located in New York, with publishing and sales divisions in Jerusalem. Its president is Yitzchak Feldheim.
Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch was founded in New York City in 1944, as a means of reestablishing the Orthodox Jewish community of Frankfurt, Germany in the United States. The school, founded by Rabbi Joseph Breuer, is run according to the philosophy of Rabbi Breuer's grandfather, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch. It is located in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights.
Judith Bleich is a professor of Judaic studies at Touro College in Manhattan. She specializes in the nineteenth-century development of Reform and neo-Orthodoxy in the wake of the enlightenment and emancipation, and has written extensively on modern Jewish history. She is also a member of the steering committee for the Orthodox Forum organized by Yeshiva University.
SolomonBreuer was a Hungarian-born German rabbi, initially in Pápa, Hungary, and from the early 1890s in Frankfurt as a successor of his father-in-law Samson Raphael Hirsch.
Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg (1884–1966) was an Ashkenazi Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva. He is best known as the author of the work of responsa Seridei Eish.
Meir Yaakov Soloveichik is an American Orthodox rabbi and writer. He is the son of Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, grandson of Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, and a great nephew of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the leader of American Jewry who identified with what became known as Modern Orthodoxy.
Orthodox Jewish philosophy comprises the philosophical and theological teachings of Orthodox Judaism. Though Orthodox Judaism sees itself as the heir of traditional rabbinic Judaism, the present-day movement is thought to have first formed in the late 18th century, mainly in reaction to the Jewish emancipation and the growth of the Haskalah and Reform movements. Orthodox Jewish philosophy concerns itself with interpreting traditional Jewish sources, reconciling the Jewish faith with the changes in the modern world and the movement's relationships with the State of Israel and other Jewish denominations.
To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians is the Orthodox Rabbinic Statement on Christianity published by the Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation (CJCUC) in 2015. It was initially signed by over 25 prominent Orthodox rabbis in Israel, United States, and Europe, and now has over 60 signatories.
Torah Lehranstalt, also known as the Frankfurt Yeshiva or the Breuer Yeshiva, was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Frankfurt am Main, founded in 1893 by Rabbi Dr. Solomon Breuer, the rabbi of the city's seceded Orthodox community.
