Who’s In and Who’s Out in Orthodoxy

Roughed Up: Asher Lopatin has been given a hard time for espousing ?open Orthodoxy.? Image by Courtesy of YCT

At a time when most Jewish leaders are eagerly embracing anyone who claims a shred of Jewish identity or heritage, some Orthodox leaders are doing just the opposite: dramatically restricting the acceptable behaviors and belief systems of even their own.

So we have the embarrassing spectacle of Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the new president of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, who espouses a form of “open Orthodoxy” and finds that his former colleagues won’t even return his phone calls. And Ephraim Mirvis, the newly installed chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, who announces he will attend Limmud — perhaps the most successful expression of pluralistic, exuberant Jewish learning in the world — only to be denounced by some of the very Haredi leaders he was chosen to represent.

“The endless focus on who is in and who is out,” Lopatin wrote recently in Haaretz, “only serves to sow discord and a notion that there is indeed an objective judging authority who can open windows in men’s souls.” Women’s souls, too.

Despite its growing numbers, Orthodoxy in the U.S., Israel and elsewhere is facing serious challenges, especially with increasing poverty tied to high unemployment and high rates of secular illiteracy. The Pew Research Center study found that massive Orthodox outreach efforts have brought in only tiny numbers of Jews to the movement. Perhaps the tiresome dictates of “who’s in, who’s out” are why.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO