In Search of Identity and Spirituality in the Fiction of American Jewish Female Authors at the Turn of the 21st Century. Dorota Mihulka
319; Nadler, 2011: 345).
The arrival of the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Joseph I. Schneerson (1880–1950) in New York in 1940 marked the rebirth of Hasidism in the New World. There are two characteristic features which distinguish the Lubavitcher Hasidism from the other Hasidic sects. The first is its unusual combination of radical mysticism with intense intellectualism, hence the acronym for the movement: Chabad, which stands for Hokhmah, Binah, Daat (Hebrew for ‘wisdom,’ ‘understanding,’ and ‘knowledge’). The other distinction of Chabad Hasidism is its openness, evangelism and commitment to spreading Hasidic doctrine to non-Hasidic Jews all over the world irrespective of their level of religious observance. It was their late rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson who emphasized outreach to young, liberal, ←47 | 48→secular Jews (highly unusual practice among Hasidic sects) in order to help them to learn about Judaism and ideally become more religiously observant. Due to his unstinting efforts, he managed to turn the Lubavitcher Hasidism into an influential force in the world of Jewish Orthodoxy by recruiting ba’alei teshuvah (returnees to Orthodox Judaism) into the movement. Moreover, he established many Chabad centers, both in the United States and abroad and initiated many programs of humanitarian aid and social services that reached beyond the Jewish community (cf. Levine, 2011: 217; Nadler, 2008: 99–100; “Lubavitch Hasidism,” 2009).
On the other hand, the Lubavitchers’ tremendous success in the religious proselytizing campaign and its apparent engagement with modernity by using contemporary media devices for their evangelical mission have posed many religious and political challenges to the American Jewish establishment. Moreover, the Lubavitchers have also become the source of significant tensions with America’s more conservative Hasidic communities, especially the largest and most religiously extreme sect, Satmar.
The Satmar Hasidism, which was started in North America by Rebbe Yoel Moshe Teitelbaum (1888–1979) in 1947, differs radically from the Lubavitchers. First of all, as Allan Nadler points out, “Satmar remains the most segregationist and ultra-conservative of Hasidic sects, having remained hermetically sealed from all aspects of modern society other than those necessary for financial support” (2008: 101). Secondly, they tend to avoid social contact with non-Hasidim, typically using Yiddish as their first language. Although many Lubavitchers are fluent in Yiddish, they have chosen English as their language of communication in North America. Additionally, Lubavitchers are strongly Zionist, whereas Satmars display an open hostility to Zionism (Levine, 2011: 218).
Satmar Hasidim have enjoyed tremendous population growth since arriving in North America, which is attributable not only to a high birth rate and relatively low attrition, factors characteristic of all Hasidic sects, but also to “[Rebbe] Teitelbaum’s personal charisma, […], and strong survivalist instincts in the face of the most tumultuous and tragic era of Hasidism’s history” (Nadler, 2008: 100). Apart from his energy and talent for leadership, the key to Teitelbaum’s success lay in his fierce resistance to any innovations in the traditional way of life of his Hasidim. The Satmar rebbe succeeded in recreating in America an enormous amount of the Hasidic old world that the Nazis had attempted to destroy, that is a Satmar fervent religious community with its own synagogue, the houses of study and worship, mikvot (ritual baths) for women, its own strict interpretation of the Jewish dietary laws, and most conspicuously of all, its distinctive style of Orthodox dress (Mintz, 1994: 30–31). In Jonathan Sarna’s words, “it was an act of audacious spiritual revenge that simultaneously paid homage to those who had perished and proclaimed victory over those who had murdered them” (2004: 297).22
←48 | 49→
1.2.4.2 ‘Modern Orthodox’ Judaism
Modern Orthodoxy is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that emphasizes the compatibility between traditional Judaism and modern life. Modern Orthodox Jews, similarly to the Haredim, also believe that one must adhere scrupulously to traditional Jewish law, but unlike the Haredim, their interpretation of Halakhah and Jewish customs, is more flexible. Neither do they believe that participation in the modern world and observance of Jewish law are mutually exclusive.
The founder and first leader of the new movement was a German rabbi, Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888) who proposed the idea of Torah in Derekh Eretz (‘Torah with the way of the land’ or ‘Torah with worldly culture’) as its central philosophy. Thus, he advocated a new style of Jewish living that combined full observance of Halakhah in the home and synagogue, with full participation in the modern economic and cultural life of the wider society. It was such a fruitful concept that the Neo-Orthodox movement (the ideological forerunner of Modern Orthodoxy) became a dynamic, successful movement first in Germany, and then, in the twentieth century, in the United States and in Israel.
Prior to World War II, Modern Orthodoxy represented a dominant voice in Orthodox circles in the United States. It developed mainly as a reaction to the Orthodoxy of the Yiddish-speaking immigrant generation. A key dividing line between ‘old immigrant’ and ‘modern American’ Orthodoxy was the use of the English language in sermons and publications by the latter. After World War II, a ‘new Modern Orthodoxy,’ in many ways similar to its Israeli counterpart, emerged in the United States. (cf. Brown, 2003: 331; Robinson, 2011: 343). Modern Orthodoxy, however, was overwhelmed and challenged by an inundation of mostly Ultra-Orthodox rabbis who, having watched the devastation of European Jewish life during World War II, were determined to rebuild it in America. As Jonathan Sarna puts it, “[w];ith the destruction of European centers of Jewry, some felt that they could take no chances with modernity; the specter of further losses to the Jewish faith brought on by assimilation overwhelmed them” (2004: 306).23 Jack Wertheimer claims in his influential work A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America (1993) that the movement lost some of its dominance in the latter part of the twentieth century, as many mainstream Orthodox Jews became more traditional. Generally; what has been observed within Orthodox Judaism since the 1970s is a move towards greater exactitude in Halakhic observance, often ←49 | 50→characterized as a ‘shift to the right.’ Many Modern Orthodox Jews today prefer the term ‘Centrist Orthodoxy,’ introduced by Rabbi Norman Lamm, to show that they have become stricter in their observance, moving towards the right on the spectrum of Jewish groups and farther away from liberal forms of Judaism.
A major difference between the Modern Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews lies in their attitude towards secular education and engagement with contemporary society as a whole. Whereas Ultra-Orthodox Jews seek to restrict secular education to the minimum possible under the law, even at the cost of reducing their children’s economic prospects, Modern Orthodox Jews perceive secular studies in general, and higher education in particular to be highly beneficial with regard to making a living in contemporary society, as well as to some extent, broadening and enriching the Torah study. As far as secular culture is concerned, Ultra-Orthodox Jews seek to minimize formal contact with non-Orthodox and secular Jews; they are also reluctant to grant non-Orthodox religious leaders or organizations any legal recognition. Modern Orthodox Jews disagree on this issue, namely some espouse organizational separation from non-Orthodox Jews, while others see positive results in Orthodox engagement with non-Orthodox organizations (cf. Robinson, 2011: 343; Sarna, 2004: 304–306).
1.2.4.3 Problematic Position of Women in Orthodox Judaism
The strict approach to Halakhah differentiates Orthodoxy sharply from more liberal strands of Judaism when it comes to the place and role of women in the synagogue and the Jewish community. Orthodox Judaism is the only denomination that continues to uphold the norms of separate seating for men and women with the presence of a mechitzah (a formal partition between the sexes) during services in the synagogues, and rabbinic ordination for Orthodox Jewish women is unlikely to be approved by the Orthodox authorities in the foreseeable future. Both Modern and Ultra-Orthodox Judaism seem to share the same attitude towards the Jewish woman’s status in family and society. The stance of Modern Orthodoxy on the position of Jewish women, despite its advocacy of a full engagement with modern western culture, is in accordance with the Halakhah, similarly to Ultra-Orthodoxy’s viewpoint. The changes that Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the forefather of Modern Orthodoxy, actively promoted, that