The Pittsburgh Platform is a pivotal 19th century document in the history of the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Reform Movement in
JudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
that called for Jews to adopt a modern approach to the practice of their faith. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) adopted it in 1885.
This founding document of what has come to be called "Classical Reform" ideology was the culmination of a meeting of
ReformReform 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...
rabbis from November 16–19, 1885 at the
Concordia ClubThe O'Hara Student Center, formerly the Concordia Club, is a three-story, building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh on O'Hara Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District and the City of...
in Pittsburgh,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. It explicitly calls for a rejection of those laws which have a ritual, rather than moral, basis. An example of a ritual rejected by the Pittsburgh Platform is
kashrutKashrut 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...
, or the observance of Jewish dietary laws. These ritual laws were seen as detracting from Jewish life in the modern era by placing undue emphasis on ritual, rather than ethical considerations.
The platform affirms
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
's existence, and recognized a universal desire in all religions to experience "the indwelling of God in man." In this vein, the Pittsburgh Platform also calls for a recognition of the inherent worth of
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and
IslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, although it still holds that Judaism was the "highest conception of the God-idea."
Instead of a
nation, the Pittsburgh Platform envisions Jews as a
religious community within a nation. For this reason, there was an explicit rejection of
ZionismZionism 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...
, which was viewed as unnecessary because American Jews were at home in America. The platform seems to acknowledge the concept of
Jewish chosennessThroughout history and even today various groups of people have considered themselves as chosen by a deity for some purpose such as to act as the deity's agent on earth. In monotheistic faiths, like Abrahamic religions, references to God are used in constructs such as "God's Chosen People"...
accepting in the
BibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
"the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God."
The Pittsburgh Platform helped shape the future of American Reform Judaism by calling for American Jews to engage in acts of
social justiceSocial justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
. Today this principle is adopted by the Reform Movement among others through their commitment to
Tikkun OlamTikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means "repairing the world." In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period...
(the repair of the world).
There were many early leaders of the "Classical Reform" ideology, including Rabbi
Kaufmann KohlerKaufmann Kohler was a German-born U.S. reform rabbi and theologian.-Life and work:Kaufmann Kohler was born into a family of rabbis...
,
Isaac Mayer WiseIsaac Mayer Wise , was an American Reform rabbi, editor, and author.-Early life:...
, and David Marx.
Legacy
Rather than resolving the issues of religion and Jewish nationalism it addressed, the adoption of the Pittsburgh Platform only intensified the debate within American Judaism about how Halacha,
Jewish peoplehoodJewish peoplehood is the awareness of the underlying unity that makes an individual Jew a part of the Jewish people....
and Zionism should be viewed. By openly disavowing those concepts, the radical Reformers alienated more moderate reformers like
Sabato MoraisSabato Morais was an Italian-American rabbi, leader of Mikveh Israel Synagogue, pioneer of Italian Jewish Studies in America, and founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.- Early years :...
who believed in a liberal approach to Halacha that maintained Jewish continuity. Morais and his supporters (including Rabbis
Alexander KohutAlexander Kohut was a rabbi and orientalist. He belonged to a family of rabbis, the most noted among them being Rabbi Israel Palota, his great-grandfather, Rabbi Amram , and Rabbi Chayyim Kitssee,...
and
Bernard DrachmanRabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman was a leader of Orthodox Judaism in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century....
) joined moderates within the traditional community such as Rabbi Solomon Schecter, in establishing the
Jewish Theological SeminaryThe Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
which would grow into the
Conservative JewishConservative 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,...
movement in the late 1880s.
The non-Zionist ideas of the Pittsburgh Platform remained (and remain) controversial within the Reform movement, particularly for those who supported the movement. Every successive major platform of the UAHC (now the
Union for Reform JudaismThe 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...
) backed off further from the ideas contained in the Pittsburgh platform. The Union's 1937 Columbus Platform included a more nuanced endorsement of Zionism, noting "In all lands where our people live, they assume and seek to share loyally the full duties and responsibilities of citizenship and to create seats of Jewish knowledge and religion. In the rehabilitation of Palestine, the land hallowed by memories and hopes, we behold the promise of renewed life for many of our brethren. We affirm the obligation of all Jewry to aid in its upbuilding as a Jewish homeland by endeavoring to make it not only a haven of refuge for the oppressed but also a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life." This major re-statement of the "Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism" was an acceptance of the massive demographic shift caused by previous waves of Eastern European Jewish immigrants attracted to Zionism, as well as influential pro-Zionist Reform rabbis like Stephen S. Wise,
Abba Hillel SilverAbba Hillel Silver was a U.S. Rabbi and Zionist leader. He was a key figure in the mobilization of American support for the founding of the State of Israel.-Biography:...
, and Max Raisin, the formation of the competing and 'ardently Zionist'
American Jewish CongressThe American Jewish Congress describes itself as an association of Jewish Americans organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts....
, and the recent sharp increase in European
anti-SemitismAntisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
brought on by the rise of
FascismFascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
In 1976, nearly thirty years after the establishment of Israel, the recognition of Jewish 'peoplehood' was noted by the
Central Conference of American RabbisThe 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) in their “Centenary Perspective”, adopted in San Francisco, and marking the centenaries of the founding of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Marking the 100th anniversary of political Zionism in 1997, the CCAR dealt specifically for the first time with issues related to Reform Judaism and Zionism in its “Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform”, also known as the “Miami Platform". The perspective noted the trends that had occurred within Reform Jewish thought with respect to the religion, its people and religious practice, their movement from degradation to sovereignty, their relationship and obligations to Israel, as well as Israel's obligations to Jews of the Diaspora, and redemption. The Union's new 1999 “Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism”, also called the
Pittsburgh PlatformThe 1999 Pittsburgh Platform, formally entitled A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism, is a statement of defining principles for Reform Judaism in North America adopted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Pittsburgh in 1999....
, again noted the trends that had occurred within Reform Jewish and codified these with respect to religious practice and Israel. The 1999 platform called for "renewed attention" to "sacred obligations," of which it mentioned the observance of holidays and
ShabbatShabbat 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...
, study of
TorahTorah- 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 prayer, and the Hebrew language. The statement endorsed
aliyah for the first time, and notes differences within Israel and Reform Judaism, concerning competing concepts of
Medinat YisraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and
Eretz Yisrael, included in on-going debates regarding conceptions of Zionism. Reform still holds that Halacha is not binding and has since embraced other concepts like patrilineal descent that keep it in tension with the more traditional movements of Judaism, and in control of religious law in Israel.