(ג) לְאָהֳבוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר: "וְאָהַבְתָּ, אֵת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (דברים ו ה, יא א).
(3) To love Him. Deut. 6.4.
(ט) לְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר: "וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" (ויקרא כב, לב).
(9) To sanctify His name. Lev. 22.32.
The 2017 Nishma Research Profile of American Modern Orthodox Jews
Among all Modern Orthodox Jews:
- 73% assigned a rating of 9 or 10 (Orthodoxy is an extremely important part of their life).
- 18% assigned a rating of 7 or 8 (Orthodoxy is a somewhat important part of their life).
- 9% assigned a rating of 6 or less (Orthodoxy is not an important part of their life).
First, there is anecdotal evidence that OTD is higher among the young. I saw a Facebook post asking young Modern Orthodox millennials what percentage of their MO high school classmates are still observant, and the median response was 70%, indicating that 30% are no longer observant (not a scientific finding, but telling nonetheless). Additionally, we found the median age at which Modern Orthodox people go OTD to be 28. Since our survey excluded those under 18, the survey finding may be underreporting the level of detractors due to its exclusion of adolescents.
(ויקרא יח, ה) וחי בהם ולא שימות
“You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), and not that he should die by them.
שפת אמת בראשית פרשת ויגש שנה תרלח
ובמדרש מים עמוקים עצה בלב איש כו' ידלנה כו'. כבר פרשנו שהוא בכל איש ישראל שע"י היגיעה מוצא האדם בלבו נטמן עצות וכמה דרכים לעבודת הבורא ית'. וע"ז נאמר יגעתי ומצאתי. ואמת הדבר שכפי היגיעה למצוא נקודה טמונה בלב. כמו כן משפיעין לו התחדשות מן השמים…
Sfat Emet Vayigash 1876
The Midrash explains the verse “Deep waters are the counsel in the heart of man, but a man of understanding can draw it up.” Already we explained that every person has counsel hidden in their heart and there are many ways to serve the Creator. This is what the Talmud is referring to when it was said “I searched and I found.” Truthfully it is according to the how much he searches that he will find the spark that is buried in his heart. Similarly, he will draw down a renewal from heaven…