The Greening of American Orthodox Judaism

The Greening of American Orthodox Judaism tells a story within a story. Its primary aim is to reconstruct the history of a relatively unknown and short-lived Jewish collegiate organization, Yavneh: The National Jewish Religious Students Association, particularly during its heyday in the sixties. But the historical narrative of Yavneh—its surprising appearance in 1960, its mission and organizational efflorescence, its stunning educational innovations, its problematic engagement with inter-Jewish pluralism, and its lamentable but understandable demise in 1980-81—is framed within the context of an evolving American Orthodox Judaism, which during these precise decades began to undergo a remarkable religious revival but also a deep-seated religious polarization. The history of Yavneh exposes both these trends in bold relief.

On the one hand, in so many intellectual, religious, and cultural ways, Yavneh and its members and supporters contributed significantly to the (modern) Orthodox revitalization. On the other hand, the organization and its students also experienced the gamut of internal Orthodox divisions over religious ideology, educational priorities, and openness to the secular culture and non-Orthodox movements and individuals that punctuated Orthodox Judaism at that time. Yavneh, therefore, serves as an illuminating historical marker by which to probe the broader Orthodox vicissitudes of the day—vicissitudes which it both reflected and to which it was subject; and its historical account not only brings this singular organization to public consciousness, but also offers a revealing glimpse into the unfolding drama of American Orthodox Judaism at a critical juncture in its recent growth.

Benny Kraut (1947–2008), a native of Montreal, received his B.A. from Yeshiva University and his Ph.D. from Brandeis University. He taught at the University of Cincinnati and at Queen’s College of the City of New York and headed the Judaic Studies Program/Department at both institutions. He was the author of From Reform Judaism to Ethical Culture: The Religious Evolution of Felix Adler and German-Jewish Orthodoxy in an Immigrant Synagogue: Cincinnati’s New Hope Congregation and the Ambiguities of Ethnic Religion. Professor Kraut was the recipient of numerous awards for teaching excellence.