Da’at Torah, the notion that leading decisors can issue binding opinions on matters outside the scope of halakha, or Jewish law, is a central concept that distinguishes Hareidim from the Modern Orthodox. The former accept da’at Torah as a given; the latter do not.
Racism and Chosenness: What It Means to Be a Light unto the Nations
“Who is wise? One who sees the future outcome.” (Talmud, Tractate Tamid 32a)
It was not until my third year of observing the mitzvoth that I read Rav Soloveitchik’s seminal essay “The Lonely Man of Faith,” and it was not until I read this essay that I had ever articulated why I had become a religious Jew. The Rav writes, in the first few sentences of his piece:
Modern/Open Orthodoxy has emerged as the new, bold, and dynamic trend in the United States and Israel. It synthesizes Orthodoxy’s commitment to Jewish law, memory, and tradition with the social reality it happens to inhabit.
Orthodox Bible-Study: The Reality on the Ground[1]