Early last month, Rabbi Hershel Schachter, 72, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva University, issued a responsum regarding women and the wearing of tfillin. In his letter, Rabbi Schachter, a prominent authority figure in the Orthodox world, especially in North America, declared in no uncertain terms that women may not wear tfillin. He also compared those who follow the egalitarian stream of Orthodoxy to the disciples of Korach, who rebelled against the Jewish leadership of the desert-wandering years and were eventually swallowed up by the earth.

Rabbi Schachter’s words were clearly aimed at the two New York-area Orthodox high schools that had previously announced they would encourage female students who want to wear tfillin to do so, but in the grand scheme of things, the letter was a shot across the bow of so-called “open Orthodoxy,” the new(ish) brand of Judaism that campaigns, among other things, for more female inclusion in Orthodoxy, and claims there is precedent for doing so according to Jewish law.

In response to Rabbi Schachter, Rabbi Josh Yuter, 36, the open Orthodox leader of Manhattan’s Stanton Street Synagogue (and one of Jewrotica’s “Sexiest Rabbis of 2013”), tweeted: “The shorter version of R. Herschel Schachter’s missive… is that the greatest sin a Jew can do is disagree with him.” Two days later, Rabbi Yuter followed up with a post on his popular YUtopia blog in which he questioned Rabbi Schachter’s classification as a “rav” – i.e., an authority on Jewish law – and suggested Judaism probably doesn’t need that type of authority figure anymore anyways, concluding: “The democratization of knowledge is thus a significant threat to those who wish to control it, and by extension, the people who depend on it. R. Schachter must create and rely on his myth that he and his cadre are the true arbiters and representatives of Judaism, and by extension, God’s will.”

Rabbi Yuter’s tweet and blog set off a storm online (I first caught wind of the story on the Facebook page of Rabbi Schachter’s son, who posted the tweet along with the hashtag “#idiot”). Some say Rabbi Yuter had no right to challenge the older, wiser Rabbi Schachter – and especially not in such a public way. Others argue Rabbi Schachter’s original responsum was an insult to Jewish women, and full of legal holes. Both points of view raise the question: how much longer can the Orthodox and open Orthodox share a religious umbrella?

The answer, I think, is not much – these two groups probably need to go their separate ways, for everyone’s benefit. The truth is Orthodox Judaism has never been particularly “open,” and open Orthodoxy will never have the sort of numbers necessary to outflank the ultra- and modern Orthodox. And if that means open Orthodoxy needs a new name, so be it (though the “neo-Conservative” moniker some have suggested sounds clunky to me).

Open Orthodoxy is gaining popularity because it celebrates complexity – the halachic imperative remains, but it is simultaneously countered by a refusal to accept the status quo and rabbinic hierarchy. It’s a complicated religious response to our complicated age, and it’s time to see whether the movement can stand on its own.

yoni