Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud ("The Oral Law") and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh ("Code of Jewish Law"). It is governed by these works and all the Rabbinical commentary and further codification of them written throughout the last millennium. The role of Rabbi in Orthodox Judaism is to interpret and apply classical Rabbinical rulings and logic to any given question or situation.

Origin and definition of the name "Orthodox"

While many Orthodox Jews accept the label "Orthodox", others reject and criticize it because it was never traditionally applied to Jews in ancient times or the Middle Ages. Many Orthodox Jews prefer to call their faith Torah Judaism. The word "orthodox" itself is derived from the Greek orthos meaning "straight" and doxa meaning "opinion".

Related Topics:
Torah Judaism - Greek

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Use of the "Orthodox" label seems to have begun towards the beginning of the 19th century. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch wrote in 1854 that:

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:...it was not "Orthodox" Jews who introduced the word "orthodox" into Jewish discussion. It was the modern "progressive" Jews who first applied the name to "old, " "backward" Jews as a derogatory term. This name was... resented by "old" Jews. And rightfully so...

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Others, however, say that Rabbi Isaac Leeser was the first to use the term in the US in his journal "The Occident," whose target audience was the more "traditional" or Orthodox Jew.

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