Criticism of Modern-Orthodoxy

In the 1800’s, the Orthodox Jews of Germany were adapting more to the ever-so changing industrial society and were incorporating those norms into their Yiddishkeit. There were Orthodox Jews who had learned at German universities. They weren’t as Liberal as the Reformed Jew who was becoming so Goyish that you couldn’t tell he was a Jew.

The philosophy of  Torah im Derech Eretz (תורה עם דרך ארץ) was founded in Germany and showed the interest in learning how to blend the worldly interests with Torah values. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch promoted the idea of Torah being the primary interest and objective in one’s life while having the secular knowledge of worldly pursuits as secondary. Rabbi Hirsch never emphasized the idea that they were parallel. The ideological [camp] of “Neo-Orthodoxy” does not fall into the category of what became Modern-Orthodoxy.

In 1912, when European Jewish immigrants (mostly from Eastern Europe) were moving to America , they were less likely to have already known English and did not have all the vocational training needed to live in America, and some of these Modern-leaning groups were able to combine Sabbath-observance with the American work environment. The Young Israel movement was able to help them out. In the beginning, some of these communities were more “middle of the road”. They were not Left-Wing enough in their cultural attitudes to be as dangerous because the culture they were adapting to was the American culture of the Pre-War era. Some of them promoted mixed dancing at social events. This is something they did so that they could encourage Jewish people to fraternize with other Jews in order to move against intermarrige. Eventually, Modern-Orthodoxy became equivalent to being Sabbath-Observant without keeping [anything else], and in only one century, did we see the social decline of Modern-Orthodoxy.

In many of these Modern-Orthodox communities, the congregation was not wearing a Kippa in public. When more Observant Jews moved in wearing noticeable head-coverings, did their own neighborhood have males wearing a Kippa. The Modern-Orthodox crowd made more of an effort to assimilate without losing all touch with their Jewish roots. Many Modern-Orthodox parents didn’t want their future son’s learning in a Yeshivish learning environment. However, some of them became observant later on and did. The internal attempt to suppress Jewishness from within the nation – failed.

The Western culture that the early Modern-Orthodox crowd was adapting to was not at the same level of [ethical lowness] as it is today. Over time, many of these Modern-Orthodox congregations have failed to keep the true essence of spirituality in Judaism.

These are people who won’t dare to touch treif chicken but can fully accept and participate in mixed dancing. Some of them promote this ideology because they want Jewish people to socialize with other Jews so that they can marry Jews and not Goyim. However, this movement has not stood the test of time. It did not lead to the growth of the Jewish nation. The ethical foundation of Modern-Orthodoxy is warped by a social movement that tries to incorporate modern American values into their Yiddishkeit without taking into consideration how one will affect the other.
Eventually, many fragments of the spiritually-declining culture of Modern-Orthodoxy have been approved of by female clergy. Some sects even go as far as to condone the destruction of the sanctity of marriage.