Open Orthodoxy

Open Orthodox Judaism is a Jewish religious movement committed to following halakha (Jewish law), emphasizing intellectual openness in Jewish scholarship and practice, and expanding the role of women in Jewish life. The term was coined in 1997 by Rabbi Avi Weiss, who views halakha as permitting more flexibility than normative Orthodox Judaism had traditionally allowed for.

Weiss opened Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT), a men’s rabbinical school, in 1999 and later founded Maharat for training women clergy. In 2007, Weiss co-founded the International Rabbinic Fellowship for Open Orthodox rabbis, and, in 2015, he and Rabbi Asher Lopatin, YCT's president, resigned from the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). The movement's ordination of women is a source of friction within Orthodox Judaism.