A young Orthodox Jew may consider him or herself "orthodox," but no longer feels the need to read and write exclusively in Hebrew (Singer 2008). The demands of modern U.S. society have put a strain on many Orthodox Jews, but others see these demands and cultural or social responsibilities as opportunities to continue to redefine what it means to be a young Orthodox Jew in American society.
A major motivator behind the rethinking of the Jewish religion, as happened in the mid 19th century, was the fact that as the Jewish religion grew and more and more Jews found themselves in incongruous cultural living situations, there was a need to reinvent what it means to be Jewish (Erlich, 2009). The very same thing is going on today, in America and Israel especially, among those youth who consider themselves to be "orthodox." Certainly the very idea that an Orthodox Jew needs to reinvent themselves is an oxymoron, but this group of people has realized that they need to rejuvenate the orthodox ways and the cultural and social events taking place inside their circles confirm this. Erlich (2009) points out that in the mid 19th century, just as Ahad Ha'am, the founder of spiritual or cultural Zionism realized that, "Jewish renewal could only be secured by recasting Judaism as a secular culture" (Erlich, 2009, p. 404) there exists a need for Orthodox Jews to recast their own beliefs in an image that more non-Jews can understand and will be attracted to. This is not to say that Orthodox Judaism has to go away entirely so it can be reinvented, but it needs to be refreshed if the orthodoxy that so many believe in is to survive into the next century.
References
Angel, Marc D. (2005) Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion. (1st ed.) Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House Inc.
Blutinger, Jeffrey C. (2007) "So-called Orthodoxy": The History of an Unwanted Label.
Modern Judaism, 27, 310-328.
Erlich, M. Avrum. (2009)…
Sample Source(s) Used
References
Angel, Marc D. (2005) Choosing to Be Jewish: The Orthodox Road to Conversion. (1st ed.) Jersey City, NJ: KTAV Publishing House Inc.
Blutinger, Jeffrey C. (2007) "So-called Orthodoxy": The History of an Unwanted Label.
Modern Judaism, 27, 310-328.
Erlich, M. Avrum. (2009) Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture, Volume 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
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