This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to author and historian Dr. Marc B. Shapiro about the blurry borders that distinguish Reform, Conservative, yeshivish, Modern Orthodox, and the many other Jewish sects from one another.

We take today’s Jewish denominational and cultural differences for granted, but they were not inevitable. Moments in history formed our sects, and Dr. Shapiro helps us unpack them. In this episode we discuss:

• How did the Conservative movement diverge from Orthodoxy?
• Where did the “yeshiva world” come from?
• How have Jews historically maintained friendship despite denominational divisions?

Tune in to hear a conversation about Jews’ tangled relationship between ideology and lived experience. 

Interview begins at 13:36

Dr. Marc B. Shapiro holds the Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. Marc received his PhD from Harvard, and he is the author of numerous books, articles, and reviews, including Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy, The Limits of Orthodox Theology, and Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History. 

References:

Halacha Headlines

Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy by Marc B. Shapiro

Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox by Marc B. Shapiro

Changing the Immutable by Marc B. Shapiro

Marc B. Shapiro on The Seforim Blog

Judith Berlin Lieberman: Autobiography and Reflections edited by Menachem Butler and Abraham Lieberman

A Few Good Men

Toras HaNazir by Rav Hutner

Iggerot Malkhei Rabanan by Marc B. Shapiro

Orthodox Jews in America by Jeffrey S. Gurock

Reading Jewish History in the Parsha with David Bashevkin

All Parsha

The Book And The Sword by David Weiss Halivni