Discussion Guide – Haredi Judaism

Does modernity collide with an ultra-religious life? How do we integrate tradition with freedom?
How does the concept of “Divine sparks” explain the outreach efforts of Chabad?
Does religious-state separation preclude the wearing of religious garb in the military?

Succession Planning

Hal M. Lewis
Jewish organizations wishing to develop new leaders face a number of systemic challenges. Among them:

Incumbents are hard-pressed to focus their energies on the next generation when current exigencies demand the experience of veterans.
It is uncomfortable to raise issues of transition with organizational founders, philanthropists, or tenured executives.
Past leaders who remain involved often serve [...]

Talk About the Passion

Yehudah Mirsky: What do we call all these people and groups who choose not to act according to the script laid out by modernization theory, pluralism, and the liberal narrative of secularism’s march through civilization?

A Conversation on Haredi Life, Israel, Learning, and Divine Providence

Nosson Scherman and Shmuel Goldin: Rabbi Shmuel Goldin, spiritual leader of the Orthodox congregation, Ahavath Torah in Englewood, New Jersey, speaks with Rabbi Nosson Scherman, general editor of ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, about Haredi life in Israel and the US, serving in Israel’s defense force, learning, poverty, and the richness of a religious life.

The Changing Face of Orthodoxy

Samuel Heilman: Over the past 35 years, there has been a gradual shift in the center of gravity of the most traditionalist of American Jewish religious denominations. That shift is constituted by a consistent “slide to the religious right,” during which elements of what has come to be called “Haredi” Orthodoxy have grown increasingly assertive and public, in many instances becoming the dominant voice and face of Orthodoxy.

The Many Shades of Black: The variety of voices in the ultra-Orthodox community

Sima Zalcberg: There is a tendency to see the ultra-Orthodox society as a solid mass of “black hats.” In actuality, however, this society includes a variety of groups that differ from one another in their worldview, way of life, and degree of commitedness to the tradition and halakhah. Moreover, even these subgroups, contain voices which are not only different but sometimes even opposite, on various areas of life.

Online Diaries: Blogging and the Hasidic Life*

Online Diaries: an anonymous blogger on Haredi Life.