Page "Relationships between Jewish religious movements" Paragraph 8

In his 1954 responsum on relations with non-Orthodox Judaism, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik developed the intellectual foundations for the way Modern Orthodox Judaism was to approach the issue in subsequent decades.

Rabbi Soloveitchik developed the idea that Jews have historically been linked together by two distinct covenants.

One is the brit yi ' ud, " covenant of destiny ", which is the covenant by which Jews are bound together through their adherence to halakha.

The second is the brit goral, " covenant of fate ", the desire and willingness to be part of a people chosen by God to live a sacred mission in the world, and the fact that all those who live in this covenant share the same fate of persecution and oppression, even if they do not live by halakha.

Soloveitchik held that non-Orthodox Jews were in violation of the covenant of destiny, yet they are still bound together with Orthodox Jews in the covenant of fate.

This approach permitted cooperation in matters effecting the covenant of fate while recognizing differences, and limits, based on the covenant of destiny.