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Reviewed by:
  • The Next Generation of Modern Ort hodoxy ed. by Shmuel Hain
  • David B. Levy
The Next Generation of Modern Ort hodoxy Shmuel Hain , ed. The Orthodox Forum. Brooklyn, NY: KTAV, 2012. 359 pp.

The Next Generation of Modern Orthodoxy consists of 19 insightful essays from the latest Orthodox Forum. The essays represent new thinking around interests, not institutions, and leaders such as Rabbis Shimshon Raphael Hirsh, Reines of Mizrahi, Yehi'el Ya'akov Weinberg, Avraham Kook, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

The volume has two types of papers. The first revisits three important themes raised in Orthodox Forums past including the impact of new voices (female, academic, and spiritual) on the traditional Beit Midrash, a reexamination of the tension between rabbinic authority and personal autonomy, and new perspectives on social justice and Tikkun Olam.

A second set of papers examines three topics of interest to a younger generation of Orthodox Jews: the Odyssey Generation, the role of emerging adults in the Jewish community, the future of Modern Orthodoxy and the prospects for Modern Orthodoxy's educational system. [End Page 137]

Part 1, Tikkun Olam, Social Justice, and Jewish/Gentile Relationships, features three essays. The first, "Re-anchoring Universalism to Particularism" by Dyonna Ginsburg, draws on social action of Tikkun Olam to create a more just Israeli society. The second essay by Rivka Schwartz, "Privilege, Perspective, and Modern Orthodox Youth," recognizes that students have arrived where they are not only by dint of their own work, but also by the accretion of an unearned legacy of privilege provided by the labors of previous immigrant generations that sacrificed for their future grandchildren. The third essay by R. Meir Y. Soloveichik, titled "The Universalism of Particularity," deals with the issue of Jews serving as a beacon of light to the world at large as ministers of ethical monotheism, Am Mamlekhet Kohanim.

Part 2, Personal Autonomy and Religious Authority, continues the discussion of a previous Orthodox Forum volume edited by Rabbi Moshe Sokol. Shayna and Judah Goldberg's "Ba'al Ha-Bayit-Centered Halakhic Consultation" gives voice to transcendent values such as shalom bayit, kevod ha-beriyot, and the role of the yo'etzet halakhah in the context of family purity. Tully Harcsztark's "Authority and Autonomy" warns against the misconception that as an independent-minded Jew, one may pick and choose the parts of Judaism. Rabbi Gil Student's "The Decline and Fall of Local Rabbinic Authority" calls for the principle of hakham she-asar ein hakham aher rashai le-hattiro (when one authority prohibits another may not permit with regards to a davar kasheh), the dynamic between humra addicts and kulla seekers on renegade blogs, R. Student's founding of Yashar books to give voice to the censored writings of Rabbi Slifkin, and the eternal need for greater shemirat ha-lashon being tolerant of more than one opinion, eilu va-eilu.

Part 3, Spirituality, Scholarship, and the Beit Midrash, begins with David Flatto's essay, "Tradition and Modernity in the House of Study," which deals with the relationship between the conceptual and critical methods of studying Talmud. Yakov Nagen's (Genack) "Scholarship Needs Spirituality: Spirituality Needs Scholarship" treats the challenges for emerging Talmudic methodologies. Both essays address the different methodologies (Revadim, i.e., aiming to inform students of the stages of the gemarah's development: tannaim, amoraim, stammim), and approaches of traditional rabbinic study (lomdut u derekh ha-limmud vs. mahasha) with modern methods that juxtapose rabbinic texts alongside extra-biblical Jewish traditions such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, celebrating many ways to learn, and yagdil Torah va-ya'adir. The final essay in the section is Esti Rosenberg's [End Page 138] "The World of Woman's Torah Learning," which treats the developments, directions, and objectives of the new wave of womens' opportunities for Torah education and increasing leadership roles.

Part 4 examines The Odyssey Years: Perspectives on Identity and Membership. Aharon Horowitz's "Modern Orthodox Diaspora as a Strategic Asset" speaks to the Odyssey Generation, which must return to its halakic obligations as a means of furthering social values. Asher Lopatin in, "How Orthodoxy and Orthodox Synagogues Can Meet the needs of the Odyssey Generation" offers insight about his...

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