Orthodoxy,+Neo-Orthodoxy


 * Orthodoxy **

Orthodox Judaism views itself as the continuation of the beliefs and practices of normative Judaism, as accepted by the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai and codified in successive generations in an ongoing process that continues to this day.

Orthodox Judaism believes that both the Written and Oral Torah are of divine origin, and represent the word of G-d. As practical questions arise, Orthodox authorities apply the Halakhic using the Torah to determine how best to live in accordance with G-d's will. In this way, Orthodoxy evolves to meet the demands of the times. A summary of the core beliefs of Orthodox Judaism may be found in the Rambam 13 Principles of Faith.

**Neo Orthodoxy** was Hirsch’s Samson Raphael approach to Judaism.

Hirsch believed that the Torah given at Sinai is true “which must serve as the starting point of all our other knowledge with the same certainty as our own existence and the existence of the material world we see about us”. Throughout his works, Hirsch affirmed that the Jew has no right to select those tenets of the Torah that s/he believes to be suitable for a particular time. Rather, the Jew must strive to raise the level of the time to that of the Torah. According to Hirsch Judaism mission is to improve the moral state of humankind. The Jew, as a Jew, had a mission vital to the society of which s/he was an integral part. He supported general education alongside Jewish learning, urging a synthesis of strict religious practice and engagement with modern society. He fiercely opposed reforms in matters he considered to be fixed //halakhic// (Jewish legal) norms.