Historically, there was
no such thing as Orthodoxy; in fact, you
find the particular term is used primarily
in North America (elsewhere the distinction
is primarily between
“more observant” and “less
observant”). The specific term “Orthodox
Judaism” is of rather recent origin
and is used more as a generic term to differentiate
the movements following traditional practices
from the Liberal Jewish movements.
Orthodox Judaism views
itself as the continuation of the beliefs
and practices of normative Judaism, as accepted
by the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai and codified
in successive generations in an ongoing process
that continues to this day.
Orthodox Judaism believes
that both the Written and Oral Torah are
of divine origin, and represent the word
of G-d. This is similar to the view of
the Conservative movement, but the Orthodox
movement holds that such information (except
for scribal errors) is the exact word of
God and does not represent any human creativity
or influence. For the Orthodox, the term “Torah”
refers to the “Written Law” as
interpreted by the
“Oral Law,” interpreted in turn
by the Rishonim (Medieval commentators),
and eventually codified in the Codices: R.
Joseph Karo's Shulhan
Arukh and/or R.
Moshe Isserlis's Mapah (printed
as parenthetical text in the Shulhan Arukh).
As practical questions arise, Orthodox authorities
apply the Halachic process
(the system of legal reasoning and interpretation
described in the Oral Torah) using the Torah
(both Oral and Written) to determine how
best to live in accordance with G-d's
will. In this way, Orthodoxy evolves to meet
the demands of the times. An excellent summary
of the core beliefs of Orthodox Judaism may
be found in the Rambam's 13
Principles of Faith.
One of the hallmarks of
Orthodox Jews is an openness (and encouragement)
to question what it is that G-d requires
of us, and then to answer those questions
within the system that G-d gave us.
In addition, among the major
movements only Orthodoxy has preserved the “mystical” foundations
of Jewish theology, most obviously in the Chasidic movements
though no less so in many yeshiva movements,
both Ashkenazi and Sephardi.