“Scholarship and the arts are thus neglected as leisure activities” for the Modern Orthodox nowadays

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While many pay lip service to intellectual activities or the arts, they do not want their children to devote themselves to the life of the mind. Scholarship and the arts are thus neglected as leisure activities. I suspect that fewer in the Modern Orthodox community under the age of 50 go to museums, lectures on science or classical music concerts these days. Those passionate few who remain in the arts or the academy are more likely to choose to send their kids to public school, or move to Israel (where the balancing act is more of a possibility) or opt out of the Modern Orthodox community altogether. Those who pursue Torah will either veer to the right, where education is more affordable, or struggle silently.

Sharon Flatto, “The Modern Orthodox Brain Drain: Part II”, The Jewish Week (1 May 2015), 24.

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