Bad Jew? Orthoprax? Apikores? Conservative?

A guest post by JS:

Many people define Orthoprax as someone who practices the tenets of Orthodox Judaism but at the same time is not sure if there is a God and/or that these specific practices are what He mandates.

I would argue this definition destroys any possibility for serious philosophical debate within Orthodoxy, but that's another story.

To me, the more interesting question is whether the practices of those who are more to the left is even in line anymore with what Orthodoxy was, is currently, or is becoming. I don't believe it is, and like those who are Orthoprax, I think the reasons for self-identifying as Orthodox are the same.

Kashrut: There are those who keep their houses kosher but have salads out, relax standards on vacations or at business lunches and dinners. There are those who will have fish or dairy out, but not meat. There are those who don't wait the full time between meat and milk if they're really hungry.

Niddah: There are those who go to mikvah and don't have sex during niddah, but are otherwise intimate. They may not have separate beds and they may not do bedikah, or keep the onot. They may go to mikvah earlier than the full time one is supposed to wait. They may not ever ask a halachic question to a rabbi about one's status.

Shabbat: There are those who are uneducated about the minutae of the laws and don't care to find out. There are those who if an oven/light is left on/off will "fix it" or if they get home late throw things in the oven and let it cook over shabbat.

Davening and Brachot: There are those who never daven except maybe once or twice a week on Shabbat. They hardly ever go to shul. They sleep in. They don't wear teffilin. They never say brachot unless they're at someone's house for a shabbat meal.

Tzniut: There are many women who never cover their hair or only cover it in shul and even when they do cover it they use a hat and have their hair sticking out. Many women wear pants or shirts with short sleeves or no sleeves.

Of course there are more example, but what do you think? Are these people still Orthodox? Are they just living a lie? Does this describe a significant portion of Orthodox Jews? Modern Orthodox Jews? Will this lead to a split in Orthodoxy? A revival of conservadoxy?

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