The Chochmat Nashim Podcast: Women Talk Judaism · Jewish Coffee House

The OU Researches OTD (We Bring a Few Grains of Salt) (Season 8 Episode 8)

·23 min·1 clip

The report’s feminism section is paired with LGBTQ issues, and that pairing is challenged directly.

Anne Gordon and Shoshana Kutz-Jaskol begin with an Orthodox Union study called Attrition and Connection in American Orthodox Judaism. They note that the subtitle, Journeys Within and Out of Orthodox Judaism, frames the topic as movement, identity, and belonging rather than a neat story of success or failure. A friend of Chokhmat Nashim suggested they read it. After going through it, they decide it deserves a closer look. They say the project sits in their wheelhouse because it deals with American Orthodoxy, even though their work often also reaches into Israeli Orthodox life. From there, they move from the study's framing into the research itself. The sample size quickly becomes a sticking point. They point out that the pool includes 29 interviewees, and that 10 of them came from Modern Orthodoxy. That split can make Modern Orthodoxy look like the main arena of attrition even when the wider picture is more layered. They also wonder how much the study can really say about Haredi or Chassidic life when those voices are so sparse. The sampling issue is not treated gently. Shoshana jokes that if the researchers needed more people who left Haredi or Chassidic communities, she could probably connect them with a few. From there, they turn to the language used in the study. The word feminism bothers them in particular because it is left undefined. They want to know whether respondents were given a definition or whether the term was simply allowed to mean whatever each person wanted it to mean. That opens into a broader point about how different words carry different moral weight, and why justice may be the cleaner term in some settings. At the same time, they do see real nuance in the study. Some people who leave an identified Orthodox world still keep faith in God or remain tied to their families. That detail matters because it pushes back against any simple story of total rupture or complete loss. They end by encouraging listeners to read the full study, think about what communities can do better, and ask how people can stay while still feeling welcome in the community.

As heard by us

A sharp look at how the study counts people, frames categories, and handles identity.

The episode follows Anne Gordon and Shoshana Kutz-Jaskol as they pick apart the Orthodox Union study, Attrition and Connection in American Orthodox Judaism, with unusual care for framing and method.

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Why you'd press play

You want a frank read on who leaves, who stays, and why, through an Orthodox Union study on attrition and connection.

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