Jewish beliefs and practices in the reform movement
Encyclopedia
Jewish beliefs and practices have undergone vast changes in the reform movement of Judaism
, known also as Progressive
, Reform
or Liberal Judaism
. Due to its origins in Enlightenment
-era Germany, the reform movement has eyed traditional Jewish beliefs through the lens of liberal
thought, such as autonomy
, modernity
, universalism
, and the historical-philosophical critique
of religion.
Because the progressive movement believes in the continuous integration of Jewish tradition and non-Jewish insights, the specific beliefs and practices of Progressive Judaism have changed over time. The commitment to personal and congregational autonomy also means that standards of belief and practice can vary widely from region to region, from congregation to congregation, and even from individual to individual. Given this diversity, historian Michael Meyers prefers to characterize reform Judaism by certain dynamic tensions. They include, but are not limited to: continuity versus reform, authority versus autonomy and universalism versus particularism.
This article describes Jewish beliefs and practices from the essentialist, dynamic, and historical approaches to the reform movement.
posed an intellectual challenge to many traditionalist Jewish doctrines, such as the divine authorship of the Torah
, instead stating that it was the inspired writings of man. They questioned laws of the Hebrew Bible
that offended Enlightenment
sensibilities, such as the execution of heretics (for instance, due to violation of Shabbat
) or the revenge genocide
of Amalek
. They also rejected ritual and ceremonial Jewish laws, such as kashrut
, which reformers questioned as unnecessary or outdated for a religion based on reason
.
The Enlightenment
beliefs of the early reformers carried implications for subsequent reform practices. For instance, reform-oriented Jews made controversial efforts to reject circumcision
and alter prayer services. Rabbi
s wore vestments modeled after contemporary clergy and reform worship introduced the pipe organ for instrumental accompaniment (scores arranged by the composers such as Louis Lewandowski
). The traditional Hebrew
prayer book (the Siddur
) was replaced with a vernacular (German)
text.
For example, Eugene Borowitz
's Liberal Judaism (1984) defines the essentials as (1) changing with the times and (2) democracy. However, in "Renewing the Covenant" (1991), he reconsiders that definition and proposes a third alternative between the Judaism he defined in "Liberal Judaism" and Orthodoxy. He calls this alternative "Postmodern Judaism". Here he defines the essentials as (1) a belief that human dignity comes from outside the human system, i.e. from God (2) a relational covenant between God and the Jewish people that invests dignity into human beings by turning them into partners with God and is "structured by Torah as record and mandate" (3) the individual's commitment to "God-oriented, community-guided personal choice".
Borowitz, a leading theologian in U.S. Reform movement, articulates a view attuned to the American situation. Another perspective is gleaned from position statements by other denominations affiliated with the Progressive movement
, each of which in its own way expresses a belief that Jewish tradition and modernity can be blended together:
approach to religion has been deprecated in contemporary scholarship. Regarding the reform movement, Michael Meyer has argued:
As an alternative, Meyer considers a more dynamic reading of the movement's orientation:
Meyer concludes that Reform Jews have "a shared feeling of tension that cannot be fully resolved, even as the contradictory forces and divisive issues which produce it themselves remain beyond final resolution." He states that the movement's "persistent application" of affirmations, which themselves "remain ever in flux," reflects "a situation common to all religious liberalisms." Not surprisingly, in Meyer's well-regarded depiction of reform Judaism, he describes the continuities and fluctuations in the movement through a diachronic account, focusing especially on the history of its communities, beliefs and practices.
Some thinkers, like Martin Buber
have argued for the complete autonomy of the individual in interpreting the Torah and Oral Law, as well as in deciding which observances one is thereby prescribed to follow. Others, like Mordecai Kaplan
have argued for the moral authority of the community.
, Sinaitic revelation, and chosenness.
For example, the landmark Pittsburgh Platform
declared: "We recognize in every religion an attempt to grasp the Infinite, and in every mode, source, or book of revelation held sacred in any religious system the consciousness of the indwelling of God in man. We hold that Judaism presents the highest conception of the God-idea... as the central religious truth of the human race."
In Judaism as Civilization, Mordecai Kaplan
states: "In utilizing the psychological data to re-define our conception of God, we admittedly go as much beyond the province of psychology
as do those who infer that the God-idea is illusion. Why then should be we prefer the inference which validates the God-idea rather than the one which negates it? Because the one indisputable fact which the psychology of religion
reveals is that the God-idea is an expression of man's will-to-live. ... God may not in any way resemble or correspond to the idea we form of him, but he is present in the very will-to-live, the reality of which we experience in every fiber of our being."
In Jewish Theology: Systematically and Historically Considered, Kohler states that God is unique in self-consciousness and a link to human ethics. Judaism "teaches us to recognize God, above all, as revealing Himself in self-conscious activity, as determining all that happens by His absolutely free will, and thus as showing man how to walk as a free moral agent." For Kohler, God is "both immanent and transcendent."
URJ quote: "A God-centered Judaism that combines respect for Jewish law and Jewish tradition with a progressive religious outlook"
WUPJ quote: "Progressive Judaism is rooted in the Bible, especially the teachings of the Hebrew Prophets. It is founded on authentic manifestations of Jewish creativity, ancient and modern, particularly those that stress inwardness and desire to learn what God expects from us: justice and equality, democracy and peace, personal fulfillment and collective obligations."
In general, the Reform movement de-emphasizes eschatological approaches to God.
partly through its turn from traditionalist Jewish law and partly in its turn toward ethics. Thinkers like Moritz Lazarus
sought to divest rabbinic Judaism of certain ceremonial or ritualistic aspects and reframed Judaism as an ethical monotheism.
In some cases, the universalism of early reform crowded out the particularistic character of Jewish law, if not religion in general. As Walter Jacob
states: "Reform Judaism represented the universal side within the Jewish religious world. The liberal representatives, who dominated the Jewish segment of the World Congress of Religion held at the Chicago World Fair in 1898, could describe Judaism entirely in universalistic terms. They firmly believed that a universal religion, deeply influenced by Liberal Judaism, would soon supplant the other world religions. The specifics of the halakhah had become superfluous for them."
With universalistic ethics on one end of the scale, key reform thinkers rejected the halakhah with a radical antinomism. Jacobs traces such radicalism to Samuel Holdheim
, even more than Geiger, and then to the U.S.: "The more radical ideas flourished in North America, to which many of the radicals had emigrated. As religion and the State
were and remain completely separated in the United States, the battle of ideas was precisely that, without the admixture of politics. ...Under the leadership of David Einhorn (1809–1879), Isaac Mayer Wise
(1819–1900), Kaufmann Kohler
(1843–1926), and a host of others, this form of Reform became dominant. How did these rabbis defend their non-halakhic Judaism or, at least, a Judaism in which halakhah was not to be dominant? Emancipation
meant that the free Jew now asked questions previously considered heretical."
In universalizing Jewish ethics, reformers were able to build a bridge to Christian colleagues. As Kohler wrote:
In the mid-20th century, the progressive movement saw efforts to leverage halakhah for greater guidance, albeit non-binding, for moral dilemmas. In the U.S., for instance, the Central Conference of American Rabbis
(CCAR) analyzed such matters as euthanasia
through a halakhic screen. Numerous reform responsa
were prepared from traditional rabbinic sources by the prolific, tradition-oriented Solomon B. Freehof
. Following in his footsteps, other halakhists in the progressive stream included Walter Jacob
in the U.S., John D. Rayner in the Liberal Judaism
of the UK , and Moshe Zemer
in Israel. In book after book of reform responsa, these authors tackled such topics in applied ethics
as abortion
, Jewish medical ethics
, smoking
, marriage and gender, environmental
hazards.
Nevertheless, much liberal, progressive and reform Jewish ethics is not centered on traditional interpretation of the halakhah. Espousing a covenantal ethics, American Rabbi Eugene Borowitz
became a prominent movement thinker in the post-War period. Working from a less religious, more philosophical methodology, German emigre and Heidegger student Hans Jonas
also contributed to the mix of reform Jewish ethics.
Reform ethics also has been touched by the feminist movement
. For example, Rachel Adler paved new ground for the progressive movement with her Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics. Not surprising, the Reform movement in Judaism
and affiliates of Progressive Judaism
spearhead much of the scholarship on Judaism and gender ethics
.
, German reformers were deeply engaged in the historical-critical study of the Bible and rabbinic literature
. They argued that the Mishna and Talmud
often contradicts the literal meaning of the Torah
, and that these Rabbinic texts also contained outdated ritual practices and values that were contrary to Enlightenment
ideals of reason
. Based on these and other arguments, early Reformers felt that Halakhah (traditional Jewish law), which they regarded as merely exegetical interpretation of the Torah
by the Pharisaic rabbis of the Mishna and the later Talmudic Rabbis, as well as the aforementioned parts of the Torah
, were never normative and should not be taken as such.
, with an emphasis on prophetic and ethical teachings.
Relying upon modern critical scholarship, the early reform movement questioned both the literal revelation
and authorship of the Torah
and the authority of its exegesis through the oral law
("Torah shebe'al peh"). However, the Reformers did not believe that God literally wrote the Bible. After the Emancipation, Jews who came into contact with modern methods of studying history and historical books found that they could not accept the idea that the Bible transmits God's own words. The Reformers looked for a modern explanation to show why the Bible was still holy and came to the conclusion that its writers were inspired individuals. The Reform movement thus places a human factor upon sacred writings.
This philosophy was inspired by the investigations into the historical development of Judaism. The idea of progress, historical growth, at the time that the young science of Judaism established the relative as distinguished from the absolute character of Talmudism and tradition, was central in German philosophy, more clearly in the system of Hegel
. History was proclaimed as the self-unfolding, self-revelation of God. Revelation was a continuous process; and the history of Judaism displayed God in the continuous act of self-revelation through inspired individuals. The laws and customs of the Talmudic era were interpreted as appropriate for the Talmudic period alone; however Reform scholars held that these laws are not an inherent or necessary part of Judaism in modern times.
. As a result of these beliefs, the movement has developed a range of practices that reflect both religious and political interest in Israel.
Historically, however, the reform movement did not support Zionism, a nationalist movement which emerged around the same time that German reform and liberal Judaism grew institutionally. In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Reform Judaism rejected the idea that Jews would re-create a Jewish state in their ancestral homeland. They rejected the idea that there would ever be a personal messiah
, and that the Temple in Jerusalem
would ever be rebuilt, or that one day animal sacrifices would be re-established in a rebuilt Temple, in accord with a traditional, literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible
.
Reform Judaism rejected the classical rabbinic teaching that the Jews were in exile ("galut"). For reformers, dispersion of Jews among the nations was a necessary experience in the realization and execution of its Messianic duty. Instead, the people Israel was viewed as the Messianic people, appointed to spread by its fortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth and morality over all the earth, to be an example of rectitude to all others. For Reform Jews, all forms of Jewish law and custom were seen as bound up with the national political conception of Israel's destiny, and thus they were dispensable.
Reform Jews ceased to declare Jews to be in exile; for the modern Jews in America or Europe had no cause to feel that the country in which they lived was a strange land. Many Reform Jews went so far as to agree that prayers for the resumption of a Jewish homeland were incompatible with desiring to be a citizen of a nation. Thus, the Reformers implied that for a German, Frenchman, or American Jew to pray from the original siddur was tantamount to dual loyalty, if not outright treason. In the U.S., Reform intellectuals argued that their commitment to the principles of equal rights and the separation of religion and state precluded them from supporting the 19th century Zionism
movement.
Since the Holocaust
and the establishment of the modern State of Israel, in 1948
, Reform Judaism has largely repudiated Anti-Zionism
, and the official platform of Reform Judaism is Zionist
. There are now many Reform Jews who have chosen to make aliyah (move to Israel), and there are several kibbutzim affiliated with the Israeli Reform movement. The Reform movement also sends hundreds of its youth and college-age students to Israel every year on summer and year-long programs.
Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform: "The Miami Platform" - 1997 http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=42&pge_id=1606 Excerpt: "Medinat Yisrael exists not only for the benefit of its citizens but also to defend the physical security and spiritual integrity of the Jewish people. Realizing that Am Yisrael consists of a coalition of different, sometimes conflicting, religious interpretations, the Jewish people will be best served when Medinat Yisrael is constituted as a pluralistic, democratic society. Therefore we seek a Jewish state in which no religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence over another."
Patrilineal descent. Patrilineal descent is accepted by North American Reform Jews
, UK Liberal Jews and Progressive Jews
in Australia and New Zealand. Some other regional movements may disagree.
Homosexuality. Opinions are also divided on homosexuality. North American Reform Jews
and UK Liberal Jews accept gay marriages and commitment ceremonies. In other regions the issue is very controversial and rabbis can lose their jobs for performing homosexual unions.
Intermarriage. In UK Liberal Judaism, as of 2004, "many communities were happy to carry out a mixed-faith blessing... Rabbi Goldstein emphasised that the principle was to make people feel accepted.". In the USA, North American Reform Jews
the congregational association (URJ
) approved intermarriage and the Reform rabbinical assembly, the CCAR, officially opposes intermarriage. UK Reform's Assembly of Rabbi's say their rabbis cannot officiate in any way at a mixed faith marriage, neither in the shul nor not in the shul. In isolated cases a rabbi will perform a blessing so long as the couple does not expect the rabbi to mention God..
Rabbinical authority. In the USA the congregation has the final word and can override decisions of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
- the US Reform Rabbinical body - by refusing to hire rabbis who disagree with the congregation's viewpoint. In other regions, such as Israel, the rabbinical body sets policy and rabbis can lose their jobs for not following the policy.
. While reform places of worship are both diverse and evolving, home practices are less bound by a centralized authority or the standards of Jewish law.
s began to be called Temples, a term reserved in more traditional Judaism for the Temple in Jerusalem
.
The Reform movement in its earlier stages involved sweeping changes in public worship, in the direction of the vernacular, as it was believed to provide more meaning and substance to modern Jews. With this in mind, the length of the services was reduced by omitting certain parts of the prayer book. In addition, the piyyutim (poetical compositions written by medieval poets or prose-writers) were curtailed.
The Reform movement gradually removed a portion of traditional prayers from the Jewish prayer book
. In their place Reform liturgists created new liturgies that had only a few paragraphs in Hebrew, surrounded by German chorals, and occasional sermons in the vernacular. The rite of confirmation for teenagers also was introduced, first in the duchy of Brunswick, at the Jacobson
Institute. These measures were aimed at the aesthetic regeneration of the liturgy rather than at the traditional interpretation of Jewish faith or modification of Jewish law.
The Reform movement later took on an altogether different aspect in consequence, on the one hand, of the rise of Wissenschaft des Judentums
, or "Science of Judaism," the first-fruits of which were the investigations of Leopold Zunz
, and the advent of young rabbis who, in addition to a thorough training in Talmudic and rabbinical literature, had received an academic education, coming thereby under the umbrella of German philosophic thought.
On the other hand the struggle for the political emancipation of the Jews (Gabriel Riesser
) suggested a revision of the doctrinal enunciations concerning the Messianic nationalism of Judaism. Toward the end of the fourth and at the beginning of the fifth decade of the 19th century the yearnings, which up to that time had been rather undefined, for a readjustment of the teachings and practices of Judaism to the new mental and material conditions took on definiteness in the establishment of congregations and societies such as the Temple
congregation at Hamburg
and the Reform Union in Frankfurt
(Main), and in the convening of the rabbinical conferences at Brunswick
(1844), Frankfurt (1845), and Breslau (1846).
These in turn led to controversies, while the Jüdische Reform-Genossenschaft in Berlin
in its program easily outran the more conservative majority of the rabbinical conferences. The movement may be said to have come to be a shitstorm in Germany with the Breslau conference (1846). The Breslau Seminary under Zecharias Frankel
(1854) was instrumental in turning the tide into conservative or, as the party shibboleth phrased it, into "positive historical
" channels, while the governments did their utmost to hinder a liberalization of Judaism, to a great degree at the urging of the established Orthodoxy.
, early reformers called for revolutionary changes in ritual and ceremonial traditions.
The practice of Kashrut
(keeping kosher) was abandoned as ritualistic and archaic. Reformers such as Kaufmann Kohler
considered many aspects of halakhic Judaism to be dangerous and harmful, reflecting outdated and irrational values, and made a point of actively discouraging such practices. Many of the more radical departures from traditional Jewish practices were later modified by adherents of progressive Judaism, while many principles continue to define the modern movement.
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, known also as Progressive
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Judaism , is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. They embrace pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice as core values and believe that such values are consistent with a committed Jewish life...
, Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
or Liberal Judaism
Liberal Judaism
Liberal Judaism , is one of the two forms of Progressive Judaism found in the United Kingdom, the other being Reform Judaism. Liberal Judaism, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century is less conservative than UK Reform Judaism...
. Due to its origins in Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
-era Germany, the reform movement has eyed traditional Jewish beliefs through the lens of liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
thought, such as autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
, modernity
Modernity
Modernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
, universalism
Universalism
Universalism in its primary meaning refers to religious, theological, and philosophical concepts with universal application or applicability...
, and the historical-philosophical critique
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
of religion.
Because the progressive movement believes in the continuous integration of Jewish tradition and non-Jewish insights, the specific beliefs and practices of Progressive Judaism have changed over time. The commitment to personal and congregational autonomy also means that standards of belief and practice can vary widely from region to region, from congregation to congregation, and even from individual to individual. Given this diversity, historian Michael Meyers prefers to characterize reform Judaism by certain dynamic tensions. They include, but are not limited to: continuity versus reform, authority versus autonomy and universalism versus particularism.
This article describes Jewish beliefs and practices from the essentialist, dynamic, and historical approaches to the reform movement.
Response to tradition
The 19th Century German reform movementGerman Reform movement (Judaism)
The German Reform movement in Judaism identifies a period of disputes and innovation during the first two thirds of the 19th century. The ideas, practices, and debates of this period lead to the current denominational structure of Judaism....
posed an intellectual challenge to many traditionalist Jewish doctrines, such as the divine authorship of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, instead stating that it was the inspired writings of man. They questioned laws of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
that offended Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
sensibilities, such as the execution of heretics (for instance, due to violation of Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
) or the revenge genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
. They also rejected ritual and ceremonial Jewish laws, such as kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
, which reformers questioned as unnecessary or outdated for a religion based on reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
.
The Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
beliefs of the early reformers carried implications for subsequent reform practices. For instance, reform-oriented Jews made controversial efforts to reject circumcision
Brit milah
The brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
and alter prayer services. Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s wore vestments modeled after contemporary clergy and reform worship introduced the pipe organ for instrumental accompaniment (scores arranged by the composers such as Louis Lewandowski
Louis Lewandowski
Louis Lewandowski was a German composer of synagogal music.Lewandowski was born at Wreschen, province of Posen, Prussia . At the age of twelve he went to Berlin to study piano and voice, and became solo soprano in the synagogue. Afterward he studied for three years under A. B...
). The traditional Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
prayer book (the Siddur
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
) was replaced with a vernacular (German)
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
text.
Describing beliefs: Essence, tensions, and process
Attempts have been made to describe non-orthodox Judaism in terms of its essence, its inner tensions, and its process for determining truth and action.Describing the essence
In historiography of the reform movement, scholars have been tempted to describe the movement's principles as a set of enduring values. Prominent leaders, like Leo Baeck, would write about the "Essence of Judaism" from a reform standpoint.For example, Eugene Borowitz
Eugene Borowitz
Eugene B. Borowitz is a leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and teaches at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion....
's Liberal Judaism (1984) defines the essentials as (1) changing with the times and (2) democracy. However, in "Renewing the Covenant" (1991), he reconsiders that definition and proposes a third alternative between the Judaism he defined in "Liberal Judaism" and Orthodoxy. He calls this alternative "Postmodern Judaism". Here he defines the essentials as (1) a belief that human dignity comes from outside the human system, i.e. from God (2) a relational covenant between God and the Jewish people that invests dignity into human beings by turning them into partners with God and is "structured by Torah as record and mandate" (3) the individual's commitment to "God-oriented, community-guided personal choice".
Borowitz, a leading theologian in U.S. Reform movement, articulates a view attuned to the American situation. Another perspective is gleaned from position statements by other denominations affiliated with the Progressive movement
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Judaism , is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. They embrace pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice as core values and believe that such values are consistent with a committed Jewish life...
, each of which in its own way expresses a belief that Jewish tradition and modernity can be blended together:
- WUPJ speaking of the "liberal streams of Judaism": Their core values of pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice appeal to many who seek to incorporate precious Jewish tradition with contemporary lifestyles.http://wupj.org/Resources/ResourcesList.asp
- South Africa Union for Progressive Judaism: Progressive Jews believe that the Torah comes to us from God, but it is our task to apply its teachings to our times. Halachah (Jewish law), is not a static set of decisions made by past rabbis, but a vital process requiring continuing engagement with our core beliefs in the context of our current world. Individuals are responsible for developing a personal understanding of what God wants of them. This means Progressive Judaism emphasises education, requiring each person to engage with Jewish texts and traditions. In line with contemporary understanding, men and women are equal partners. There is no division of seating in our synagogues and women participate equally in services, including serving as rabbis.http://www.saupj.org.za/judaism/intro-reform.html
- Liberal Judaism, UK: To be a Jew is to be the inheritor of a religious and cultural tradition. To be a practising Jew is to accept with love and pride the duty to maintain and transmit that tradition. To be a practising Liberal Jew in the 21st century is to believe that tradition should be transmitted within the framework of modern thinking and morality; it is to live according to the prophetic ideal of doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God.http://www.liberaljudaism.org/pdf/Affirmations_of_Liberal_Judaism_2006.pdf
- Reform Judaism, UK:Reform Judaism is living Judaism. It is a religious philosophy rooted in nearly four millennia of Jewish tradition, whilst actively engaged with modern life and thought. This means both an uncompromising assertion of eternal truths and values and an open, positive attitude to new insights and changing circumstances. It is a living, evolving faith that Jews of today and tomorrow can live by.
- Reform Judaism, USA:Throughout our history, we Jews have remained firmly rooted in Jewish tradition, even as we have learned much from our encounters with other cultures. The great contribution of Reform Judaism is that it has enabled the Jewish people to introduce innovation while preserving tradition, to embrace diversity while asserting commonality, to affirm beliefs without rejecting those who doubt, and to bring faith to sacred texts without sacrificing critical scholarship.http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=44&pge_id=1606
Describing inner tensions
However, an essentializingEssentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
approach to religion has been deprecated in contemporary scholarship. Regarding the reform movement, Michael Meyer has argued:
It is not possible to isolate a doctrinal essence of the Reform movement. While certain teachings, such as the historical nature of Judaism, progressive revelation, and universalized messianismMessianismMessianism is the belief in a messiah, a savior or redeemer. Many religions have a messiah concept, including the Jewish Messiah, the Christian Christ, the Muslim Mahdi and Isa , the Buddhist Maitreya, the Hindu Kalki and the Zoroastrian Saoshyant...
, take firm hold once they appear, only the last is present from the start. Some tenets prominent at an early stage lose their significance or are even rejected in the course of time. The negative attitude toward the national component of Jewish identity is the best example.
As an alternative, Meyer considers a more dynamic reading of the movement's orientation:
... it is perhaps more helpful to understand the movement in terms of dynamic tensions created by specific sets of polarities. Any list of such polarities is necessarily arbitrary and incomplete. ... Is the movement wholly continuous with Jewish tradition, a mere variant of earlier forms, or does it constitute a sharp break with the past, a radically new configuration? ... A second set of polarities counterpoises authority... with freedom of individual conscience. ... There have also been tensions between universalism and particularism. ... It is characteristic of the Reform movement that it has shifted its ground repeatedly and dialectically along the axes represented by these and other polarities, seldom settling for long into any fixed position.
Meyer concludes that Reform Jews have "a shared feeling of tension that cannot be fully resolved, even as the contradictory forces and divisive issues which produce it themselves remain beyond final resolution." He states that the movement's "persistent application" of affirmations, which themselves "remain ever in flux," reflects "a situation common to all religious liberalisms." Not surprisingly, in Meyer's well-regarded depiction of reform Judaism, he describes the continuities and fluctuations in the movement through a diachronic account, focusing especially on the history of its communities, beliefs and practices.
Continuity and reform
- theologies of change - change viewed as:
- faith in humankind
- partnership between humankind and God / covenant
- keeping Judaism meaningful and spiritually enriching
- process theology
Universalism and Particularism
- role of Kantian philosophyKANTKANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
, HaskalahHaskalahHaskalah , the Jewish Enlightenment, was a movement among European Jews in the 18th–19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history...
and assimilationJewish assimilationJewish assimilation refers to the cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture. Assimilation became legally possible in Europe during the Age of Enlightenment.-Background:Judaism forbids the worship of other gods...
pressure - Solomon FormstecherSolomon FormstecherSalomon Formstecher, in English also Solomon, was a German rabbi and student of Jewish theology.Formstecher was born in Offenbach am Main on July 28, 1808. After graduating Salomon Formstecher, in English also Solomon, (1808-1889) was a German rabbi and student of Jewish theology.Formstecher was...
- Hermann CohenHermann CohenHermann Cohen was a German-Jewish philosopher, one of the founders of the Marburg School of Neo-Kantianism, and he is often held to be "probably the most important Jewish philosopher of the nineteenth century".-Life:...
(neo-Kantian) - David Einhorn, KohlerKaufmann KohlerKaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...
, Kaplan - BorowitzEugene BorowitzEugene B. Borowitz is a leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and teaches at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion....
: postmodern return to particularity
Authority and autonomy
- relative role of individual, community, rabbinate
- freedom-not-to-do vs. freedom-to-do
- autonomy in relation of human to God and divine command
- Cohen and other reform reactions to Kant's heteronomy critique
- autonomy of the individual vs the state; Enlightenment secularism as influence
Process and values
Others have attempted to define non-orthodox Judaism in terms of its process and values. Here is one example:- Applicability of textual analysis (including higher criticism), as well as traditional rabbinic modes of study, to the Hebrew BibleTanakhThe Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
and rabbinic literatureRabbinic literatureRabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
, - Learning Jewish principles of faithJewish principles of faithThe concept of an explicit, paramount definition of faith does not exist in Judaism as it does in other monotheistic religions such as Christianity. Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles, and there are many fundamental principles quoted in the Talmud to define...
through non-religious methods, as well as religious ones, - Embracing modern culture in customs, dress, and common practices, and
- Complete gender equality in religious study, ritual, and observance.
- Emphasis on tikkun olamTikkun olamTikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period...
("repairing the world") as the dominant means of service to God.
Some thinkers, like Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
have argued for the complete autonomy of the individual in interpreting the Torah and Oral Law, as well as in deciding which observances one is thereby prescribed to follow. Others, like Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Menahem Kaplan , was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.-Life and work:...
have argued for the moral authority of the community.
Jewish beliefs and thought
As might be expected from a community of intellectuals and religious entrepreneurs, the reform movement has had neither a stable nor a uniform religious doctrine. Nonetheless, reform beliefs tend to coalesce in several central theological categories, while a few longstanding aspects of Jewish thought have been neglected or downplayed. For example, contemporary progressive Judaism articulates beliefs in God, Torah and the people of Israel, while de-emphasizing or rejecting eschatologyEschatology
Eschatology is a part of theology, philosophy, and futurology concerned with what are believed to be the final events in history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity, commonly referred to as the end of the world or the World to Come...
, Sinaitic revelation, and chosenness.
God in Jewish reform theology
Though central to its theology, the reform (progressive) Jewish movement has expressed a wide spectrum of views of God. One finds within the movement both an agnostic humanism and a traditional devotion to God.For example, the landmark Pittsburgh Platform
Pittsburgh Platform
The Pittsburgh Platform is a pivotal 19th century document in the history of the American Reform Movement in Judaism that called for Jews to adopt a modern approach to the practice of their faith...
declared: "We recognize in every religion an attempt to grasp the Infinite, and in every mode, source, or book of revelation held sacred in any religious system the consciousness of the indwelling of God in man. We hold that Judaism presents the highest conception of the God-idea... as the central religious truth of the human race."
In Judaism as Civilization, Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Kaplan
Mordecai Menahem Kaplan , was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.-Life and work:...
states: "In utilizing the psychological data to re-define our conception of God, we admittedly go as much beyond the province of psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
as do those who infer that the God-idea is illusion. Why then should be we prefer the inference which validates the God-idea rather than the one which negates it? Because the one indisputable fact which the psychology of religion
Psychology of religion
Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to religious traditions, as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The science attempts to accurately describe the details, origins, and uses of religious beliefs and behaviours...
reveals is that the God-idea is an expression of man's will-to-live. ... God may not in any way resemble or correspond to the idea we form of him, but he is present in the very will-to-live, the reality of which we experience in every fiber of our being."
In Jewish Theology: Systematically and Historically Considered, Kohler states that God is unique in self-consciousness and a link to human ethics. Judaism "teaches us to recognize God, above all, as revealing Himself in self-conscious activity, as determining all that happens by His absolutely free will, and thus as showing man how to walk as a free moral agent." For Kohler, God is "both immanent and transcendent."
URJ quote: "A God-centered Judaism that combines respect for Jewish law and Jewish tradition with a progressive religious outlook"
WUPJ quote: "Progressive Judaism is rooted in the Bible, especially the teachings of the Hebrew Prophets. It is founded on authentic manifestations of Jewish creativity, ancient and modern, particularly those that stress inwardness and desire to learn what God expects from us: justice and equality, democracy and peace, personal fulfillment and collective obligations."
In general, the Reform movement de-emphasizes eschatological approaches to God.
Ethics and law
In its 1st century, the reform movement called for a universalistic Jewish ethic, consistent with a religious approach to reason. In this manner, the movement differentiated itself from Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
partly through its turn from traditionalist Jewish law and partly in its turn toward ethics. Thinkers like Moritz Lazarus
Moritz Lazarus
Moritz Lazarus , born at Filehne, in the Prussian province of Posen, was a German philosopher, psychologist, and a vocal opponent of the anti-Semitism of his time.- Life and education :...
sought to divest rabbinic Judaism of certain ceremonial or ritualistic aspects and reframed Judaism as an ethical monotheism.
In some cases, the universalism of early reform crowded out the particularistic character of Jewish law, if not religion in general. As Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob is a leading Reform rabbi and an expert in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law . A protege of Solomon Freehof, Jacob served at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh as an assistant rabbi and as successor to Freehof as congregational rabbi...
states: "Reform Judaism represented the universal side within the Jewish religious world. The liberal representatives, who dominated the Jewish segment of the World Congress of Religion held at the Chicago World Fair in 1898, could describe Judaism entirely in universalistic terms. They firmly believed that a universal religion, deeply influenced by Liberal Judaism, would soon supplant the other world religions. The specifics of the halakhah had become superfluous for them."
With universalistic ethics on one end of the scale, key reform thinkers rejected the halakhah with a radical antinomism. Jacobs traces such radicalism to Samuel Holdheim
Samuel Holdheim
Samuel Holdheim was a German rabbi and author, and one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. A pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics, he was often at odds with the Orthodox community.- Early life :...
, even more than Geiger, and then to the U.S.: "The more radical ideas flourished in North America, to which many of the radicals had emigrated. As religion and the State
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
were and remain completely separated in the United States, the battle of ideas was precisely that, without the admixture of politics. ...Under the leadership of David Einhorn (1809–1879), Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise
Isaac Mayer Wise , was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author.-Early life:...
(1819–1900), Kaufmann Kohler
Kaufmann Kohler
Kaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...
(1843–1926), and a host of others, this form of Reform became dominant. How did these rabbis defend their non-halakhic Judaism or, at least, a Judaism in which halakhah was not to be dominant? Emancipation
Emancipation
Emancipation means the act of setting an individual or social group free or making equal to citizens in a political society.Emancipation may also refer to:* Emancipation , a champion Australian thoroughbred racehorse foaled in 1979...
meant that the free Jew now asked questions previously considered heretical."
In universalizing Jewish ethics, reformers were able to build a bridge to Christian colleagues. As Kohler wrote:
It is the Jewish genius working in an Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah, and again in a Hillel and Philo, Jesus and Paul, that gave to ethics its vital essence, its compelling force, by revealing the God within.... Neither Moses and Isaiah nor Jesus, to mention only these three, have a word for either virtue or duty, and yet they and their compeers in the realm of prophetic vision have laid bare the very core of all ethics in showing us that the glory of the Divinity is mirrored in the virtues of justice, mercy, purity and holiness, which man is to strive for. In other words, Ethical Theism, or the insistence on the purely ethical qualities of God as the Ruler or life, gave humanity its vigorous idealism.
In the mid-20th century, the progressive movement saw efforts to leverage halakhah for greater guidance, albeit non-binding, for moral dilemmas. In the U.S., for instance, the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
(CCAR) analyzed such matters as euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
through a halakhic screen. Numerous reform responsa
Responsa
Responsa comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them.-In the Roman Empire:Roman law recognised responsa prudentium, i.e...
were prepared from traditional rabbinic sources by the prolific, tradition-oriented Solomon B. Freehof
Solomon Freehof
Solomon Bennett Freehof was a prominent Reform rabbi, posek, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee...
. Following in his footsteps, other halakhists in the progressive stream included Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob
Walter Jacob is a leading Reform rabbi and an expert in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law . A protege of Solomon Freehof, Jacob served at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh as an assistant rabbi and as successor to Freehof as congregational rabbi...
in the U.S., John D. Rayner in the Liberal Judaism
Liberal Judaism
Liberal Judaism , is one of the two forms of Progressive Judaism found in the United Kingdom, the other being Reform Judaism. Liberal Judaism, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century is less conservative than UK Reform Judaism...
of the UK , and Moshe Zemer
Moshe Zemer
Rabbi Moshe Zemer is a leader in Progressive Judaism who specializes in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law .Zemer publishes both scholarly essays and responsa...
in Israel. In book after book of reform responsa, these authors tackled such topics in applied ethics
Applied ethics
Applied ethics is, in the words of Brenda Almond, co-founder of the Society for Applied Philosophy, "the philosophical examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life that are matters of moral judgment"...
as abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics
Jewish medical ethics is a modern scholarly and clinical approach to medical ethics that draws upon Jewish thought and teachings. Pioneered by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits in the 1950s, Jewish medical ethics centers mainly around an applied ethics drawing upon traditional rabbinic law...
, smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
, marriage and gender, environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
hazards.
Nevertheless, much liberal, progressive and reform Jewish ethics is not centered on traditional interpretation of the halakhah. Espousing a covenantal ethics, American Rabbi Eugene Borowitz
Eugene Borowitz
Eugene B. Borowitz is a leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and teaches at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion....
became a prominent movement thinker in the post-War period. Working from a less religious, more philosophical methodology, German emigre and Heidegger student Hans Jonas
Hans Jonas
Hans Jonas was a German-born philosopher who was, from 1955 to 1976, Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.Jonas's writings were very influential in different spheres...
also contributed to the mix of reform Jewish ethics.
Reform ethics also has been touched by the feminist movement
Feminist movement
The feminist movement refers to a series of campaigns for reforms on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, women's suffrage, sexual harassment and sexual violence...
. For example, Rachel Adler paved new ground for the progressive movement with her Engendering Judaism: An Inclusive Theology and Ethics. Not surprising, the Reform movement in Judaism
Reform movement in Judaism
The Reform movement in Judaism, originally named Reformed Society of Israelites, for Promoting true Principles of Judaism, according to its Purity and Spirit, is a historic and on-going religious and social movement that originated simultaneously in the early nineteenth century in the United States...
and affiliates of Progressive Judaism
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Judaism , is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. They embrace pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice as core values and believe that such values are consistent with a committed Jewish life...
spearhead much of the scholarship on Judaism and gender ethics
Gender and Judaism
Gender and Judaism is an emerging subfield at the intersection of gender studies and Jewish studies. Gender studies centers on interdisciplinary research on the phenomenon of gender. It focuses on cultural representations of gender and people's lived experience...
.
Torah and the interpretation of rabbinic literature
Working through the Wissenschaft des JudentumsWissenschaft des Judentums
Wissenschaft des Judentums , refers to a nineteenth-century movement premised on the critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture, including rabbinic literature, using scientific methods to analyze the origins of Jewish traditions.-The Verein für Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden:The ...
, German reformers were deeply engaged in the historical-critical study of the Bible and rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
. They argued that the Mishna and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
often contradicts the literal meaning of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, and that these Rabbinic texts also contained outdated ritual practices and values that were contrary to Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
ideals of reason
Reason
Reason is a term that refers to the capacity human beings have to make sense of things, to establish and verify facts, and to change or justify practices, institutions, and beliefs. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, language, ...
. Based on these and other arguments, early Reformers felt that Halakhah (traditional Jewish law), which they regarded as merely exegetical interpretation of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
by the Pharisaic rabbis of the Mishna and the later Talmudic Rabbis, as well as the aforementioned parts of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, were never normative and should not be taken as such.
Scriptural teachings
In progressive Judaism, Jewish theology valorizes the TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, with an emphasis on prophetic and ethical teachings.
Relying upon modern critical scholarship, the early reform movement questioned both the literal revelation
Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing, through active or passive communication with a supernatural or a divine entity...
and authorship of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and the authority of its exegesis through the oral law
Oral law
An oral law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community application, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, or the single rule that is orally transmitted....
("Torah shebe'al peh"). However, the Reformers did not believe that God literally wrote the Bible. After the Emancipation, Jews who came into contact with modern methods of studying history and historical books found that they could not accept the idea that the Bible transmits God's own words. The Reformers looked for a modern explanation to show why the Bible was still holy and came to the conclusion that its writers were inspired individuals. The Reform movement thus places a human factor upon sacred writings.
This philosophy was inspired by the investigations into the historical development of Judaism. The idea of progress, historical growth, at the time that the young science of Judaism established the relative as distinguished from the absolute character of Talmudism and tradition, was central in German philosophy, more clearly in the system of Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
. History was proclaimed as the self-unfolding, self-revelation of God. Revelation was a continuous process; and the history of Judaism displayed God in the continuous act of self-revelation through inspired individuals. The laws and customs of the Talmudic era were interpreted as appropriate for the Talmudic period alone; however Reform scholars held that these laws are not an inherent or necessary part of Judaism in modern times.
Israel and Zionism
Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism hold strong beliefs in Israel and much of its Zionist ideologyZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. As a result of these beliefs, the movement has developed a range of practices that reflect both religious and political interest in Israel.
Historically, however, the reform movement did not support Zionism, a nationalist movement which emerged around the same time that German reform and liberal Judaism grew institutionally. In the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, Reform Judaism rejected the idea that Jews would re-create a Jewish state in their ancestral homeland. They rejected the idea that there would ever be a personal messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, and that the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
would ever be rebuilt, or that one day animal sacrifices would be re-established in a rebuilt Temple, in accord with a traditional, literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
.
Reform Judaism rejected the classical rabbinic teaching that the Jews were in exile ("galut"). For reformers, dispersion of Jews among the nations was a necessary experience in the realization and execution of its Messianic duty. Instead, the people Israel was viewed as the Messianic people, appointed to spread by its fortitude and loyalty the monotheistic truth and morality over all the earth, to be an example of rectitude to all others. For Reform Jews, all forms of Jewish law and custom were seen as bound up with the national political conception of Israel's destiny, and thus they were dispensable.
Reform Jews ceased to declare Jews to be in exile; for the modern Jews in America or Europe had no cause to feel that the country in which they lived was a strange land. Many Reform Jews went so far as to agree that prayers for the resumption of a Jewish homeland were incompatible with desiring to be a citizen of a nation. Thus, the Reformers implied that for a German, Frenchman, or American Jew to pray from the original siddur was tantamount to dual loyalty, if not outright treason. In the U.S., Reform intellectuals argued that their commitment to the principles of equal rights and the separation of religion and state precluded them from supporting the 19th century Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
movement.
Since the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
and the establishment of the modern State of Israel, in 1948
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Reform Judaism has largely repudiated Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
, and the official platform of Reform Judaism is Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
. There are now many Reform Jews who have chosen to make aliyah (move to Israel), and there are several kibbutzim affiliated with the Israeli Reform movement. The Reform movement also sends hundreds of its youth and college-age students to Israel every year on summer and year-long programs.
Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform: "The Miami Platform" - 1997 http://ccarnet.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=42&pge_id=1606 Excerpt: "Medinat Yisrael exists not only for the benefit of its citizens but also to defend the physical security and spiritual integrity of the Jewish people. Realizing that Am Yisrael consists of a coalition of different, sometimes conflicting, religious interpretations, the Jewish people will be best served when Medinat Yisrael is constituted as a pluralistic, democratic society. Therefore we seek a Jewish state in which no religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence over another."
View of Jewish Nationhood
The early Reformers, believing that assimilation of Jews into European culture was not a negative phenomenon, held that Judaism was not a people but was a religion. This was because holding Judaism as a culture and people prevented Reform Jews from being modern citizens in their home nation. Focusing on Judaism as a religion allowed them to fully participate in the culture around them without the trappings of isolation familiar to the ghetto mentality. Zionism was denounced to quash accusations of dual loyalty against Reform Jews and was considered an unnecessary movement. This is no longer part of Reform Judaism, and today, Jewish culture and Zionism is a primary component of Reform Judaism.Regional differences
While progressive Jews share many beliefs in common, they often differ in their practices. Significant disagreements exist on the issues of patrilineal descent, homosexuality, intermarriage, and the role of rabbinical associations in setting congregational policy.Patrilineal descent. Patrilineal descent is accepted by North American Reform Jews
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
, UK Liberal Jews and Progressive Jews
Progressive Judaism
Progressive Judaism , is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. They embrace pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice as core values and believe that such values are consistent with a committed Jewish life...
in Australia and New Zealand. Some other regional movements may disagree.
Homosexuality. Opinions are also divided on homosexuality. North American Reform Jews
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
and UK Liberal Jews accept gay marriages and commitment ceremonies. In other regions the issue is very controversial and rabbis can lose their jobs for performing homosexual unions.
Intermarriage. In UK Liberal Judaism, as of 2004, "many communities were happy to carry out a mixed-faith blessing... Rabbi Goldstein emphasised that the principle was to make people feel accepted.". In the USA, North American Reform Jews
Reform Judaism (North America)
Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
the congregational association (URJ
Union for Reform Judaism
The Union for Reform Judaism , formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations , is an organization which supports Reform Jewish congregations in North America. The current President is Rabbi Eric H...
) approved intermarriage and the Reform rabbinical assembly, the CCAR, officially opposes intermarriage. UK Reform's Assembly of Rabbi's say their rabbis cannot officiate in any way at a mixed faith marriage, neither in the shul nor not in the shul. In isolated cases a rabbi will perform a blessing so long as the couple does not expect the rabbi to mention God..
Rabbinical authority. In the USA the congregation has the final word and can override decisions of the Central Conference of American Rabbis
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis , founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada, the CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world....
- the US Reform Rabbinical body - by refusing to hire rabbis who disagree with the congregation's viewpoint. In other regions, such as Israel, the rabbinical body sets policy and rabbis can lose their jobs for not following the policy.
Practices and places
As a matter of religious practice, progressive Judaism center its activities around either the home or the synagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
. While reform places of worship are both diverse and evolving, home practices are less bound by a centralized authority or the standards of Jewish law.
Places of worship
Reform SynagogueSynagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s began to be called Temples, a term reserved in more traditional Judaism for the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
.
Prayer and liturgy
- motivations for prayer book reform
- influence of historical-critical school - Ismar ElbogenIsmar ElbogenIsmar Elbogen was a Jewish-German rabbi, scholar and historian....
, Abraham Zevi IdelsohnAbraham Zevi IdelsohnAbraham Zevi Idelsohn was a prominent Jewish ethnologist and musicologist, who conducted several comprehensive studies of Jewish music around the world.... - impact of particularism/universalism debate
- lay participation in communal services
- impact of existentialism
- attitudes towards personal prayer
- creative rituals
The Reform movement in its earlier stages involved sweeping changes in public worship, in the direction of the vernacular, as it was believed to provide more meaning and substance to modern Jews. With this in mind, the length of the services was reduced by omitting certain parts of the prayer book. In addition, the piyyutim (poetical compositions written by medieval poets or prose-writers) were curtailed.
The Reform movement gradually removed a portion of traditional prayers from the Jewish prayer book
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
. In their place Reform liturgists created new liturgies that had only a few paragraphs in Hebrew, surrounded by German chorals, and occasional sermons in the vernacular. The rite of confirmation for teenagers also was introduced, first in the duchy of Brunswick, at the Jacobson
Israel Jacobson
Israel Jacobson was a German philanthropist and, according to Borowitz and Patz in Explaining Reform Judaism , is considered the "father" of the Reform movement in Judaism.-Origins:...
Institute. These measures were aimed at the aesthetic regeneration of the liturgy rather than at the traditional interpretation of Jewish faith or modification of Jewish law.
The Reform movement later took on an altogether different aspect in consequence, on the one hand, of the rise of Wissenschaft des Judentums
Wissenschaft des Judentums
Wissenschaft des Judentums , refers to a nineteenth-century movement premised on the critical investigation of Jewish literature and culture, including rabbinic literature, using scientific methods to analyze the origins of Jewish traditions.-The Verein für Cultur und Wissenschaft der Juden:The ...
, or "Science of Judaism," the first-fruits of which were the investigations of Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz was a German Reform rabbi and writer, the founder of what has been termed "Jewish Studies" or "Judaic Studies" , the critical investigation of Jewish literature, hymnology and ritual...
, and the advent of young rabbis who, in addition to a thorough training in Talmudic and rabbinical literature, had received an academic education, coming thereby under the umbrella of German philosophic thought.
On the other hand the struggle for the political emancipation of the Jews (Gabriel Riesser
Gabriel Riesser
Gabriel Riesser was a German politician and lawyer.-Life:Both of Riesser's grandfathers were rabbis; yet his father chose to work as a secretary at the Jewish law court of Altona before he finally became a merchant in Hamburg...
) suggested a revision of the doctrinal enunciations concerning the Messianic nationalism of Judaism. Toward the end of the fourth and at the beginning of the fifth decade of the 19th century the yearnings, which up to that time had been rather undefined, for a readjustment of the teachings and practices of Judaism to the new mental and material conditions took on definiteness in the establishment of congregations and societies such as the Temple
Hamburg Temple
The Hamburg Temple was the synagogue of the Jewish reform movement in Hamburg from 1818 to 1938. It was the first reform synagogue in Germany....
congregation at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and the Reform Union in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
(Main), and in the convening of the rabbinical conferences at Brunswick
Rabbinical Conference of Brunswick
The Rabbinical Conference of Brunswick was a conference held in 1844 in Brunswick, convoked by Levi Herzfeld and Ludwig Philippson. Other attendees included Solomon Formstecher, Samuel Hirsch, Mendel Hess, Samuel Holdheim...
(1844), Frankfurt (1845), and Breslau (1846).
These in turn led to controversies, while the Jüdische Reform-Genossenschaft in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in its program easily outran the more conservative majority of the rabbinical conferences. The movement may be said to have come to be a shitstorm in Germany with the Breslau conference (1846). The Breslau Seminary under Zecharias Frankel
Zecharias Frankel
Zecharias Frankel was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau...
(1854) was instrumental in turning the tide into conservative or, as the party shibboleth phrased it, into "positive historical
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
" channels, while the governments did their utmost to hinder a liberalization of Judaism, to a great degree at the urging of the established Orthodoxy.
Ritual traditions
Given the view of Judaism as ethical monotheismEthical Monotheism
Ethical monotheism is a term used to describe the belief in a God who guides humanity through ethical principles. This can be seen as distinct from monotheistic beliefs which may be based on dogma or doctrines....
, early reformers called for revolutionary changes in ritual and ceremonial traditions.
The practice of Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
(keeping kosher) was abandoned as ritualistic and archaic. Reformers such as Kaufmann Kohler
Kaufmann Kohler
Kaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...
considered many aspects of halakhic Judaism to be dangerous and harmful, reflecting outdated and irrational values, and made a point of actively discouraging such practices. Many of the more radical departures from traditional Jewish practices were later modified by adherents of progressive Judaism, while many principles continue to define the modern movement.
See also
To learn more about regional variations in the current beliefs and practices of progressive Jews, it may be helpful to examine and compare some of the regional statements of belief. A number of these are listed in the footnotes below (see 2-7). Overviews of each regions distinctive beliefs and practices can also be found in the following articles:- Reform Judaism (North America)Reform Judaism (North America)Reform Judaism is the largest denomination of American Jews today. With an estimated 1.5 million members, it also accounts for the largest number of Jews affiliated with Progressive Judaism worldwide.- Reform Jewish theology :Rabbi W...
- Reform Judaism (United Kingdom)Reform Judaism (United Kingdom)Reform Judaism in the United Kingdom in one of the two forms of Progressive Judaism found in the United Kingdom, the other being Liberal Judaism. Reform Judaism is both historically earlier and more traditionalist than Liberal Judaism....
- Liberal Judaism (United Kingdom)
- Progressive Judaism (Germany)Progressive Judaism (Germany)Progressive Judaism in Germany is a community reborn from the ashes of the Shoah. It currently has over 20 communities across Germany, belonging to the Union of Progressive Jews in Germany and endorsing the beliefs and practices of Progressive Judaism....
- Liberal Judaism (Netherlands)
Ethics and Halakhah
- Tony Bayfield. Sinai, law and responsible autonomy : Reform Judaism and the Halakhic Tradition. London: Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1993. ISBN 0947884092.
- Eugene B. BorowitzEugene BorowitzEugene B. Borowitz is a leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism, known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal, Sh'ma, and teaches at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion....
. Reform Jewish ethics and the halakhah : an experiment in decision making. W. Orange, NJ: Behrman House, 1994. ISBN 0874415721. - Exploring Jewish Ethics: Papers on Covenant Responsibility. Wayne State University PressWayne State University PressWayne State University Press , founded in 1941, is a university press that is part of Wayne State University. It publishes under its own name and also the imprints Painted Turtle and Great Lakes Books....
, 1990 - Responsa writings of Solomon FreehofSolomon FreehofSolomon Bennett Freehof was a prominent Reform rabbi, posek, and scholar. Rabbi Freehof served as president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. Beginning in 1955, he led the CCAR's work on Jewish law through its responsa committee...
- Jacob, WalterWalter JacobWalter Jacob is a leading Reform rabbi and an expert in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law . A protege of Solomon Freehof, Jacob served at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh as an assistant rabbi and as successor to Freehof as congregational rabbi...
; Freehof, Solomon B. Liberal Judaism and Halakhah 1988, Rodef Shalom Press, Pittsburgh, Pa. - Jonas, HansHans JonasHans Jonas was a German-born philosopher who was, from 1955 to 1976, Alvin Johnson Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City.Jonas's writings were very influential in different spheres...
. "The Concept of God after Auschwitz: A Jewish Voice." The Journal of Religion 67, no.1 (January 1987): 1-13. - Lubarsky, Sandra B. "Judaism and Process Thought: Between Naturalism and Supernaturalism" in Jewish Theology and Process Thought, eds. Sandra B. Lubarsky and David R. Griffin (Albany: State University of New York PressState University of New York PressThe State University of New York Press , is a university press and a Center for Scholarly Communication. The Press is part of the State University of New York system and is located in Albany, New York.- History :...
, 1996), 47-58. - Moritz LazarusMoritz LazarusMoritz Lazarus , born at Filehne, in the Prussian province of Posen, was a German philosopher, psychologist, and a vocal opponent of the anti-Semitism of his time.- Life and education :...
. The Ethics of Judaism. Translated by Henrietta SzoldHenrietta SzoldHenrietta Szold was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of the Hadassah Women's Organization. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandate Palestine dedicated to a binational solution.-Biography:...
Jewish Publication Society of AmericaJewish Publication Society of AmericaThe Jewish Publication Society , originally known as the Jewish Publication Society of America, is the oldest nonprofit, nondenominational publisher of Jewish works in English...
, 1901 - David NovakDavid NovakDavid Novak is a Jewish theologian, ethicist, and scholar of Jewish philosophy and law . He is an ordained Conservative rabbi and has also trained with Catholic moral theologians...
. "Universal Moral Law in the Theology of Hermann Cohen" in Modern Judaism, Vol. 1, No. 1. (May, 1981), pp. 101–117. JSTOR version - Moshe Ish-Horowicz. Halakhah—Orthodoxy and Reform. London: Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1992.
- Walter JacobWalter JacobWalter Jacob is a leading Reform rabbi and an expert in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law . A protege of Solomon Freehof, Jacob served at Rodef Shalom in Pittsburgh as an assistant rabbi and as successor to Freehof as congregational rabbi...
and Moshe ZemerMoshe ZemerRabbi Moshe Zemer is a leader in Progressive Judaism who specializes in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law .Zemer publishes both scholarly essays and responsa...
. The environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
in Jewish law: essays and responsa. Studies in progressive halakhah. New York: Berghahn Books, 2003. ISBN 1571814310. - Re-examining progressive Halakhah. Studies in progressive halakhah. New York: Berghahn Books, 2002. ISBN 1571814043.
- Rabbinic-lay relations in Jewish law. Studies in progressive halakhah. 2, Tel Aviv; Pittsburgh: Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah; Rodef Shalom Press, 1993. ISBN 0929699041.
- Progressive halakhah: essence and application. Studies in progressive halakhah. 1, Tel Aviv; Pittsburgh: Freehof Institute of Progressive Halakhah; Rodef Shalom Press, 1991. ISBN 0929699033.
- Walter Jacob and Solomon B. Freehof. Liberal Judaism and Halakhah. Pittsburgh, Pa.: Rodef Shalom Press, 1988. ISBN 0929699009.
- John D. Rayner. Jewish religious law: a progressive perspective. Progressive Judaism today. 3, New York: Berghahn Books, 1998. ISBN 1571819754; ISBN 1571819762.
- Elliot Stevens. Rabbinic authority: papers presented before the Ninety-first Annual Convention of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Yearbook. 90, pt. 2, New York: The Conference, 1982. ISBN 0916694887.
- Moshe ZemerMoshe ZemerRabbi Moshe Zemer is a leader in Progressive Judaism who specializes in the Reform movement's approach to Jewish law .Zemer publishes both scholarly essays and responsa...
. Evolving halakhah: a progressive approach to traditional Jewish law. Woodstock, Vt.: Jewish Lights Pub., 1999. ISBN 1580230024. - Jüdisches Religionsgesetz heute: progressive Halacha. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1999. ISBN 3788717378.
- Moshe Zemer and Haim Hermann Cohn. Halakhah shefuyah. Tel-Aviv: Devir, 1993.
Practices
- Morrison David Bial. Liberal Judaism at home; the practices of modern reform Judaism. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1971.
- Barnett A. Elzas. The organ in the synagogue. An interesting chapter in the history of reform Judaism in America. Charleston: 1903.
- Dana Evan Kaplan. Platforms and prayer books : theological and liturgical perspectives on Reform Judaism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2002. ISBN 0742515478; ISBN 0742515486.
- Theodore I. Lenn and Central Conference of American Rabbis. Rabbi and synagogue in Reform Judaism. New York: 1972.
- Jakob Josef PetuchowskiJakob Josef PetuchowskiJakob Josef Petuchowski was an American research professor of Jewish Theology and Liturgy and professor of Judeo-Christian Studies at the Jewish Institute of Religion at Hebrew Union College Cincinnati, Ohio...
and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Prayerbook reform in Europe; the liturgy of European liberal and reform Judaism. New York: World Union for Progressive Judaism, 1968. - Union for Reform Judaism. The life-cycle of synagogue membership : a guide to recruiting the unaffiliated and integrating and retaining our diverse Jewish community. New York: URJ Press, 2005. ISBN 0807409693.
- Mark Washofsky. Jewish living : a guide to contemporary reform practice. New York: UAHC Press, 2000. ISBN 080740702X.
- Women of Reform Judaism. Covenant of the soul : new prayers, poems and meditations from the Women of Reform Judaism. New York, NY: Women of Reform Judaism, 2000.
History and beliefs
- Leo Baeck, Essence of Judaism
- Joseph L. Blau and Central Conference of American Rabbis. Reform Judaism: a historical perspective; essays from the Yearbook of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1973. ISBN 0870681915.
- Eugene B. Borowitz and Naomi Patz. Explaining Reform Judaism. New York: Behrman House, 1985. ISBN 087441394X.
- Eugene B. Borowitz. Reform Judaism today. New York: Behrman House, 1977. ISBN 0874412714.
- Elaine De Lange. Women in Reform Judaism. Judaism in our time. London: Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, 1975.
- Abraham Jehiel Feldman. Reform Judaism; a guide for Reform Jews. New York: Behrman House, 1956.
- Reform Judaism; a guide for Reform Jews. Hartford: Temple Beth Israel, 1953.
- Howard R. Greenstein. Turning point, Zionism and reform Judaism. Brown Judaic studies. 12, Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981. ISBN 0891305114; ISBN 0891305122.
- Walter Jacob. The Changing world of Reform Judaism : the Pittsburgh Platform in retrospect : papers presented on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Platform, February, 1985 and The proceedings of 1885. Pittsburgh: Rodef Shalom Congregation, 1985. ISBN 0915138794.
- Dana Evan Kaplan. American Reform Judaism: an introduction. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2003. ISBN 0813532183; ISBN 0813532191.
- Contemporary debates in American reform Judaism : conflicting visions. New York: Routledge, 2001. ISBN 0415926289; 0415926297.
- Mordecai KaplanMordecai KaplanMordecai Menahem Kaplan , was a rabbi, essayist and Jewish educator and the co-founder of Reconstructionist Judaism along with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.-Life and work:...
. The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion - Anne J. Kershen and Jonathan A. Romain. Tradition and change : a history of Reform Judaism in Britain, 1840-1995. London ; Portland, Or.: Vallentine Mitchell, 1995. ISBN 0853033161; ISBN 085303298X.
- Kaufmann KohlerKaufmann KohlerKaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...
. Jewish Theology: Systematically and Historically Considered - Benny Kraut. From Reform Judaism to ethical culture : the religious evolution of Felix Adler. Monographs of the Hebrew Union College ; no. 5. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1979. ISBN 0878204040.
- Charles A. Kroloff. Reform Judaism: a Jewish way of life. Jersey City: Ktav, 2005. ISBN 0881259004.
- Beryl Harold Levy. Reform Judaism in America; a study in religious adaptation. New York: 1933.
- Richard N. Levy and Central Conference of American Rabbis. A vision of holiness : the future of Reform Judaism. New York: URJ Press, 2005. ISBN 0807409413; ISBN 9780807409411.
- Michael A. Meyer and W. Gunther Plaut. The Reform Judaism reader : North American documents. New York, N.Y.: UAHC Press, 2001. ISBN 0807407321.
- Alan Mittleman, Robert A. Licht and Jonathan D. Sarna. Jewish polity and American civil society : communal agencies and religious movements in the American public sphere. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002. ISBN 0742521214; 0742521222.
- Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
. The Reformation of Reform Judaism. Judaism in Cold War America, 1945-1990. 6, New York: Garland Pub., 1993. ISBN 081530076X. - Levi Arthur Olan and Jack Bemporad. A Rational faith : essays in honor of Levi A. Olan. New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1977. ISBN 0870684485.
- W. Gunther Plaut. The rise of Reform Judaism. New York: World Union for Progressive Judaism, 1963.
- David Polish. Renew our days : the Zionist issue in Reform Judaism. Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization, 1976.
- Riv-Ellen Prell. Women remaking American Judaism. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2007. ISBN 9780814332801; 0814332803.
- Jacob S. Raisin. Reform Judaism prior to Abraham Geiger. Charlevoix, Mich.: 1910.
- Alvin Jay Reines. Elements in a philosophy of Reform Judaism. Cincinnati, Ohio: Institute of Creative Judaism, 1976.
- Albert Rose. A people and its faith; essays on Jews and reform Judaism in a changing Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1959.
- David B. Ruderman and Teaching Company. Jewish intellectual history. The great courses. Chantilly, VA: Teaching Co., 2002.
- Sylvan D. Schwartzman. Reform Judaism then and now. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1971.
- William B. Silverman. Basic reform Judaism. New York: Philosophical Library, 1970.
- Alan Silverstein. Alternatives to assimilation : the response of Reform Judaism to American culture, 1840-1930. Brandeis series in American Jewish history, culture, and life. Hanover, NH: Published for Brandeis University Press by University Press of New England, 1994. ISBN 0874516943.
- Joshua B. Stein. Claude Goldsmid Montefiore on the ancient Rabbis : the second generation of reform Judaism in Britain. Brown Judaic studies. 4, Missoula, Mont.: Published by Scholars Press for Brown University, 1977. ISBN 0891301909.
- David Strassler. The changing definitions of the "Jewish people" concept in the religious-social thought of American Reform Judaism during the period of the mass immigration from East Europe, 1880-1914. Israel: 1980.
- Ephraim Tabory. Reform Judaism in Israel : progress and prospects. New York, N.Y.; Ramat-Gan, Israel: Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations of the American Jewish Committee; Argov Center of Bar-Ilan University, 1998.
- Sefton D. Temkin. Creating American Reform Judaism : the life and times of Isaac Mayer Wise. Portland, Or.: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1998. ISBN 1874774455.