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 :::Do not be distressed, no one has misunderstood you. Indeed, your argument is so clearly transparent, that although hard to understand in the sense that you are splitting hairs, it is easy to understand the clear POV inherent in it. You, without citation, redefine Orthodoxy to mean something else than it does. Here is a definition from the Oxford dictionary - ""A major branch within Judaism that teaches strict adherence to rabbinical interpretation of Jewish law and its traditional observances."" What you are really describing when you say that some Jews became more restrictive, is Haredi Judaism, not Orthodoxy. Do you mean to imply that the Modern Orthodox of today, or of the 1950's. had stricter observances than the Judaism of before the 1800's? The bottom line is that if someone accepts the Halacha (including the Oral Torah) as of divine origin, they are considered Orthodox, regardless of laxness of observance or usage of every ""Kulah"" in the responsa.  shykee"