Walking With God: Realism, Fanaticism, and the Future of Jewish Law Jonathan L. Friedmann Judentum modern orthodoxy realism moderne Orthodoxy Fanatismus fanaticism Gesetz Relalismus law judaism Since the mid-twentieth century, converging factors have enabled haredi (“ultra-orthodox”) Jews to exert considerable influence on more moderate forms of observant Judaism. In the area of Jewish law, this has led to a shift from rabbinic realism, characterized by contextual and lenient rulings, to fanaticism, which views stringency as the only authentic mode of Jewish legal interpretation. This paper examines two historically moderate communities particularly affected by haredization: modern Orthodoxy in America and Sephardic Judaism in Israel. From these case studies, it will become clear that without significant efforts to revive and promote a middle-of-the-road approach, observant Judaism will continue to be dominated by fundamentalist views. Philipps-Universität Marburg Marburg Deutschhausstraße 9, 35037 Marburg 2009 2015-04-28 2017-12-14 Text article urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-0004-2009-111-34669 eng 1418722-x 14 1 (2009) 1 https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/article/download/3466/3396 10.17192/mjr.2009.14.3466 https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/2009/111/3466