2008 Woodie Awards
Fourth Annual Edah Conference Held Last Month
Population Survey Produces Unexpected Findings
Commentator Staff
Issue date: 3/8/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
Nearly one thousand New York area Jews flocked to East 66th Street on the Sunday of President's Weekend, and it had nothing to do with getting a peek of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Gates" on display in Central Park. Edah held its fourth annual international conference on February 20 at the Skirball Adult Center of Temple Emmanu-El, bringing together over 80 Modern Orthodox thinkers who lectured on contemporary topics and challenges. Two plenum sessions, one highlighting quantitative and qualitative analysis of New York Modern Orthodoxy, and another on religiously motivated military disobedience as a response to the Gaza Disengagement plann, enveloped the day.
The morning plenum titled "Who are We? Where Are We? Where Are We Headed?" featured Modern Orthodox sociologists Dr. Jacob Ukeles and Dr. Sam Heilman, who presented and analyzed statistical data as it relates to Modern Orthodox life in eight New York counties. Of the 102,300 Orthodox Jewish households surveyed in the New York area, 74,000 can be considered Modern Orthodox based on a number of factors, according to a study commissioned by the New York UJA-Federation in 2002. For instance, Dr. Ukeles argued, of the 222,600 Jewish persons in Orthodox households, 74,000 of those considered college to be "very important." Only 11,700 thought college was "not important," while 16,600 referred to college as "somewhat important." Dr. Ukeles concluded based on his findings that there are more "Modern Orthodox" Jewish adults in the New York area than "Haredi" Jewish adults.
Yet when assessing the qualitative situation of Modern Orthodox Jews, Dr. Heilman, professor of sociology at the City University of New York, referred to the community as "in retreat" and as less confident than their Haredi counterparts.
In an attempt to consolidate the information presented by the two sociologists, Rabbi Saul Berman, the director and founder of Edah, gave an impassioned speech about the new wave of Modern Orthodoxy, as distinct from the casualness that may have characterized it in the 50s and 60s. Rabbi Berman praised the embracing of reason and rationale in confronting the challenges of modern life, and referred both to the newly opened Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshiva's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Seminary, specifically under the leadership of President Richard M. Joel, as bastions of Modern Orthodox rabbinical training and leadership.
The morning plenum titled "Who are We? Where Are We? Where Are We Headed?" featured Modern Orthodox sociologists Dr. Jacob Ukeles and Dr. Sam Heilman, who presented and analyzed statistical data as it relates to Modern Orthodox life in eight New York counties. Of the 102,300 Orthodox Jewish households surveyed in the New York area, 74,000 can be considered Modern Orthodox based on a number of factors, according to a study commissioned by the New York UJA-Federation in 2002. For instance, Dr. Ukeles argued, of the 222,600 Jewish persons in Orthodox households, 74,000 of those considered college to be "very important." Only 11,700 thought college was "not important," while 16,600 referred to college as "somewhat important." Dr. Ukeles concluded based on his findings that there are more "Modern Orthodox" Jewish adults in the New York area than "Haredi" Jewish adults.
Yet when assessing the qualitative situation of Modern Orthodox Jews, Dr. Heilman, professor of sociology at the City University of New York, referred to the community as "in retreat" and as less confident than their Haredi counterparts.
In an attempt to consolidate the information presented by the two sociologists, Rabbi Saul Berman, the director and founder of Edah, gave an impassioned speech about the new wave of Modern Orthodoxy, as distinct from the casualness that may have characterized it in the 50s and 60s. Rabbi Berman praised the embracing of reason and rationale in confronting the challenges of modern life, and referred both to the newly opened Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshiva's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Seminary, specifically under the leadership of President Richard M. Joel, as bastions of Modern Orthodox rabbinical training and leadership.