Reply To: Perspective From OTD

Kneedeep, you pointed out that children from less restrictive communities go OTD at higher rates. That is true, largely because culturally many left wing Modern Orthodox communities have a lot in common with the non Jewish world – not just superficially but in terms of what they value and focus on in their lives. I can certainly think of a few Modern Orthodox communities where the focus is on the “modern” rather than on the “orthodox”.

I don’t think that allowing teenagers a little bit of understanding and flexibility pushes them into that category, especially when we’re talking about things that don’t actually break halacha.