A Framework for Critiquing the Ideal of Ultra-Orthodoxy

After discussing the good parts of orthodoxy last time, the natural next step is to consider the bad parts of ultra-orthodoxy. Before doing that, I want to develop the conceptual framework for critiquing the ideal of ultra-orthodoxy.

The key concept is that I’m limiting my discussion to the bad parts of the ideal of ultra-orthodoxy in relationship to the formulation of the ideal of modern orthodoxy. Meaning, that I’m not criticizing actual ultra-orthodox Jews, and the critique is only with regards to those aspects of the ideal that are inappropriate for the ideal of modern orthodoxy.

The secular age that began a few hundred years ago with the Enlightenment, Jewish emancipation, and the rise of secularity has presented significant challenges to the Jewish people. It has forced a self-preserving splitting of the Jewish world into multiple camps – two of which are modern and ultra-orthodoxy. These two camps are fundamentally different from one another. While neither is the sole answer to the problems of modernity, both camps are necessary for the survival of the Torah and the Jewish people in the modern world.

Given this framework, the question I want to address in more detail next time is what aspects of the ideal of ultra-orthodoxy are inappropriate, or bad, for the ideal of modern orthodoxy.