Orthodox Union - History

History

The OU was founded in 1898, and serves about 1,000 synagogues and congregations of varying sizes. The need for a national Jewish Orthodox rabbinical organization in the early twentieth century was recognized by a number of groups. The Union of Orthodox Rabbis was the most powerful rabbinical body at that time and many of its members saw great value in establishing the early Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.

Originally, the OU was formed by the same rabbis who created JTS, the Jewish Theological Seminary. JTS started as an Orthodox institution to combat the hegemony of the Reform movement. Cracks between the OU and JTS first formed in 1902, shortly after Solomon Schechter arrived from Great Britain to head JTS. Schechter "liberalized" the institution and its approach to Torah study. JTS's original founders, backers, and staff disavowed the changes, seeing it as headed toward the very philosophy JTS had been intended to hedge against. Exactly 100 days after Schechter's arrival, they formed a new Orthodox group, Agudath Harabonim, which refused to recognize the rabbinical credentials (Semicha) of those ordained at JTS. Without their support, Schechter broke away from Orthodoxy to create the Conservative movement, with JTS as its predominant agency. However,the OU still had some ties to JTS until the 1950s. Conservative Judaism, while not holding as strictly to traditional Jewish law as Orthodoxy, still maintained a halachic orientation somewhat compatible in appearance with the Orthodox. The break between Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism became complete with the "Sabbath decision of 1949". This unprecedented decision by the Conservative court, allowing Jews to drive to synagogue (shul) on the sabbath if they lived too far to walk, made untenable any claim that both camps were on the same path of halacha. Even after the formal organizational division, many Jews in the 1950s and beyond continued to identify themselves as Orthodox even while driving on the Sabbath, and many Jews were members of synagogues of both Conservative and Orthodox persuasions, sometimes out of family loyalty, convenience, nostalgia, or politics.

Some Orthodox rabbis viewed the nascent OU as insufficiently Orthodox, and thus did not participate in it, instead setting up their own more stringent rabbinical organizations. However, the idea for a national Orthodox congregational body took hold, and soon developed into the OU that exists today. The OU grew slowly until the 1950s, when it then began increasing the number of affiliated congregations including both small and large memberships.

In the 1920s the OU started its Kashrut division. In 1923, the H. J. Heinz Company′s Vegetarian Beans became the first product to be kosher certified by the OU.

Starting in the mid- to late-20th century, most synagogues affiliated with the Orthodox Union were under the leadership of rabbis trained by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and alumni from Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. These rabbis were ideologically Modern Orthodox. By the 1990s and early 21st century, the OU's general philosophy and levels of observance may be seen to have shifted towards stricter interpretations and halachic practices. This change has not necessarily affected individual member congregations, but has impacted many Orthodox Jewish communities across America. The general trend toward stricter practices among Orthodox Union congregations reflects the Orthodox world's trending toward Haredi Judaism.

In 2009, Rabbi Steven Weil of Beverly Hills, succeeded Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb as the OU's Executive Vice President. IN 2011 Rabbi Simcha Katz became president.