What Torah U'Madda or Modern Orthodxy (Take your pick) Means To Me

Despite the title, not a college application essay

A couple of months ago there was a symposium at one of those websites I’m too nervous to publish my work at about what Torah U’Madda means. There were some good essays, but very few of them seemed to hit on what the Modern Orthodoxy I aspire to looks like. I wrote at the time that I’d love to write a piece, but I only had one sentence:

“Torah U’Madda means I never take off my Torah colored glasses”

So I’d like to expand on that a little bit with an explanation of what I mean by that. The following description should be taken as aspiration, not as a brag about how goshdarn holy and advanced I am: