The actual philosophy underlying the combination of Torah and secular wisdom at Yeshiva University was variously articulated, first by Bernard Revel, by his successors Samuel Belkin and Joseph Soloveitchik, and most recently, and formally, by Norman Lamm.
The first book in Maimonides' compendium of Halakha, the Mishneh Torah, is entitled "Madda" מדע - there, though, the term refers to knowledge of the fundamentals of Judaism.
"In the first book I will include all the commandments that are principles of the law of Moses and that a man should know before all else, such as the Unity of God and the prohibitions related to idolatry.
"Torah, faith, religious learning on one side and Madda, science, worldly knowledge on the other, together offer us a more over-arching and truer vision than either one set alone.
"[6]Although Torah Umadda regards science and religion as separate, where the "wisdom of the world" maintains its own significance, it nevertheless conceives of a synthesis between the two realms.
Here, the "individual has absorbed the attitudes characteristic of science, democracy and Jewish life and responds appropriately in diverse relations and contexts.
If we seek the blending of science and religion and the integration of secular knowledge with sacred wisdom, then it is not in the subject matter of these fields but rather within the personality of the individual that we hope to achieve the synthesis.
"[9] In his book Lamm explores six separate models of Torah Umadda, including those presented by Maimonides, Samson Raphael Hirsch, and Abraham Isaac Kook.
"[11][12][13] It is noted that "Torah Umadda can only be viable if it imposes strict limits on freedom of thought in areas that may challenge fundamental Jewish beliefs.
God's blessing to Adam and Eve "Fill the land and conquer it" (Genesis 1:28) is interpreted by Rav Soloveitchik (as well as Samson Raphael Hirsch and Isaac Breuer) as a positive mitzvah calling man to develop and improve God's world; this mitzvah of creative activity expresses the divine image in all branches of human culture.
Firstly, along with the Haredi community, the ideology demands adherence to the halakha; however it is not insistent that strictures (chumras) are normative, rather, these are a matter of personal choice[22] (see 3.1 and 4.1 under Modern Orthodox Judaism).
[25] Thirdly, the movement will engage with the broader Jewish community, as discussed below, and with the secular world, as opposed to the Haredi approach of minimizing such contact.
All Orthodox ideologies place a high value on ahavat yisrael (love of ones fellow Jews) and all regard the Land of Israel as holy - and residence there as a mitzvah.
Centrist Orthodox institutions and individuals are therefore Zionist in orientation, and rates of Aliyah (immigration to Israel) from this community are high relative to others;[26] study in Israeli Hesder Yeshivot is also common.
[33] Note further, that given both of the above, some have proposed that today, followers of Torah Umadda in fact assume a "non-Hirschian position", resembling more closely that of Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer.
[38] The distinction between the two approaches, though subtle, manifests in markedly divergent religious attitudes and perspectives; as above, Shimon Schwab, second Rabbi of this community in the United States, is described as being "spiritually very distant"[34] from Yeshiva University.
The contention here is that the "Torah u-Madda suburbanite" does not in reality engage in secular studies in order to achieve the intellectual synthesis described above, but rather "view[s] a college degree as the gateway toward professional advancement."
Thus, although Torah Umadda may allow students at Yeshiva University "to navigate the use of their college years", it may not provide a directly applicable theology for the contemporary Modern Orthodox family.