Another addition to the "Orthodox Forum Series," this book is a collection of papers from the Second Orthodox Forum in New York and provides compelling insight into the minds of highly respected scholars in the Orthodox Rabbinate. Two of the papers include a brief account of non-observance and the Rabbinic view throughout Jewish history. The Orthodox Forum, convened by Dr. Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and secular fields, rabbis, rashei yeshivah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to discuss and critique each other's original papers, examining different aspects of a central theme. The purpose of the Forum is to create and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today.

The issue of Judaism's relationship to secular learning and wisdom is one of the most basic concerns of Jewish intellectual history. The authors collected in this study discuss both sides of the issue and collectively offer an eloquent and convincing case for the perpetuation of Judaism's dialogue with the 'outside' world.

The eleven thought-provoking papers in this volume touch upon core issues facing Jewish educators today: identity development, Jewish identification, the impact of media and Internet use on Orthodox Jewish youth, challenges in teaching universalism in a particularistic culture, teaching Judaism in a post-modern world, educational implications of the 2001 Jewish Population survey, Zionist attitudes among yeshiva students in Israel, and more.

Modern Orthodox Judaism offers an extensive selection of primary texts documenting the Orthodox encounter with American Judaism that led to the emergence of the Modern Orthodox movement. Many texts in this volume are drawn from episodes of conflict that helped form Modern Orthodox Judaism. These include the traditionalists' response to the early expressions of Reform Judaism, as well as incidents that helped define the widening differences between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism in the early twentieth century. Other texts explore the internal struggles to maintain order and balance once Orthodox Judaism had separated itself from other religious movements. Zev Eleff combines published documents with seldom-seen archival sources in tracing Modern Orthodoxy as it developed into a structured movement, established its own institutions, and encountered critical events and issues-some that helped shape the movement and others that caused tension within it. A general introduction explains the rise of the movement and puts the texts in historical context. Brief introductions to each section guide readers through the documents of this new, dynamic Jewish expression.