Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of American Jews and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch of Judaism in the United Kingdom, and (3) the historical predecessor of the American movement that originated in 19th-century Germany. Contemporary Reform Judaism movements share most of the following principles:

• The autonomy of the individual in interpreting the Torah and Oral Law, as well as in deciding which observances one is thereby prescribed to follow,
• Applicability of textual analysis (including higher criticism), as well as traditional rabbinic modes of study, to the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature,
• Learning Jewish principles of faith 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 olam ("repairing the world") as the dominant means of service to God.

In this article, Reform Judaism refers to American and Canadian Reform Judaism or its German predecessor, whereas the British movement is explicitly indicated by British Reform.

19th-century Reform Judaism in Germany

Former Temple of Reform Judaism in Hamburg, built 1844.

Origins

In response to Haskalah, Enlightenment, and Jewish Emancipation, elements within German Jewry, such as Israel Jacobson, Abraham Geiger, and Leopold Zunz, sought to reform Jewish belief and practice. They challenged 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 the Sabbath) or the revenge genocide of Amalek. They also rejected biblical laws such as kashrut which they argued reflected ancient ritual taboos, instead of reason. They therefore classified these laws as outdated and non-binding. They further argued that the Mishna and Talmud often contradict the literal meaning of the Torah, and that these Rabbinic texts also contained outdated ritual practices and values that were contrary to Enlightenment ideals of reason.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.

These beliefs quickly translated into action. Reform chose to think for itself and reinterpret Judaism, holding nothing as above scrutiny. Reform began educating girls on an equal level to boys, and families could worship together. Circumcision was abandoned, considered a ritual taboo that was cruel and as unnecessary as sacrifices. In reinterpreting Judaism, Reformers believed they could learn from other religions. In an attempt to make prayer services more emotionally resonant, rabbis wore vestments modeled after contemporary Protestant ministers, and instrumental accompaniment --- banned by current Orthodox and most Conservative and Masorti interpretations of Halakhah (and by traditionalists of the time) in Jewish Sabbath worship --- appeared in Reform synagogues, most often in the form of a pipe organ (with most scores arranged by the composer Louis Lewandowski). The traditional Hebrew prayer book (the Siddur) was replaced with a German text which truncated or altogether excised some parts of the traditional service. Reform Synagogues began to be called Temples, a term reserved in more traditional Judaism for the Temple in Jerusalem. The practice of Kashrut (keeping kosher) was abandoned as ritualistic and archaic. The early Reform movement renounced Zionism as unnecessary. If such actions sound revolutionary, they were intentionally so. 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 repudiated or modified by adherents of Reform Judaism, while many principles continue to define the modern denomination.

The New Hamburg Temple inside 1844

View of Jewish Nationhood

See also: Who is a Jew

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.

One of the most important figures in the history of Reform Judaism is the radical reformer Samuel Holdheim.

Changes in prayer services

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 nineteenth 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 a standstill 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.

A Reform service

View of Zionism

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 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 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 are dispensable.

Reform Jews ceased to declare Jews to be in exile; for the modern Jews in America, Poland, England, France, Germany, or Italy 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 Zionism. In a Jewish state, they contended, the Arabs would be second-class citizens and Judaism would be the official religion.

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.

Teachings about the written and oral law

According to traditional Judaism, God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai law in two forms, (1) the written law ("Torah shebichtav"), and (2) the oral law ("Torah shebe'al peh"). Traditional Jews believe that the Five Books of Moses, the entire Bible, and the oral law, such as the Talmud and Midrash, are all sacred writings whose teachings come from God and must be obeyed.

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.

Confirmation ceremonies

Many Reform congregations perform confirmation ceremonies as a way of marking the festival of Shavuot and the decision of young adults to embrace the way of Torah in their lives. As with all branches of Judaism, Reform celebrate a child's spiritual coming of age with becoming a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah.

Development of American Reform Judaism

Arrested in Germany, the Reform movement was carried forward in the United States. The German immigrants from 1840 to 1850 happened to be to a certain extent composed of pupils of Leopold Stein and Joseph Aub. These were among the first in New York (Temple Emanu-El), in Baltimore (Har Sinai), and in Cincinnati (B'ne Yeshurun) to insist upon the change of the services. The coming of David Einhorn, Samuel Adler, and, later, the philosopher Samuel Hirsch gave to the Reform cause additional impetus, while even men of more conservative temperament, like Hübsch, Jastrow, and Szold, adopted in the main Reform principles, though in practice they continued along somewhat less radical lines. Isaac M. Wise and Lilienthal, too, cast their influence in favor of Reform. Bernhard Felsenthal and Kaufmann Kohler, and among American-bred rabbis Emil Hirsch, Sale, David Philipson, and Shulman may be mentioned among its exponents. The Philadelphia Conference (1869) and that at Pittsburgh (1885) promulgated the principles which to a certain extent are still basic to the practice and teachings of American Reform congregations.

Principles of Reform Judaism

At the Pittsburgh conference in 1885, considered a continuation of the work of the Philadelphia Conference of 1869 and the German Conference of 1841-1846 (supra), Reform Rabbis convened under the leadership of Isaac Mayer Wise and adopted an eight-point platform.[1] While affirming their commitment to monotheism, the rabbis explicitly rejected Jewish dietary laws, "all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state,"[2] disavowed a hope or goal of returning to Zion, and declared their belief in following "only [the] moral laws, and...only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization."

According to Ami Isseroff, Kaufmann Kohler and Rabbi Emil Hirsch were among the initiators of the Pittsburgh conference, which followed a similar conference in Philadelphia in 1869. The Pittsburgh Platform was revised in 1937, then again in 1976, and most recently in 1999. The 1999 statement is entitled A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism: "This 'Statement of Principles' affirms the central tenets of Judaism - God, Torah and Israel - even as it acknowledges the diversity of Reform Jewish beliefs and practices. It also invites all Reform Jews to engage in a dialogue with the sources of our tradition, responding out of our knowledge, our experience and our faith. Thus we hope to transform our lives through (kedushah), holiness." The following is the full text of the 1999 Statement:

God
We affirm the reality and oneness of God, even as we may differ in our understanding of the Divine presence.

We affirm that the Jewish people is bound to God by an eternal (b'rit), covenant, as reflected in our varied understandings of Creation, Revelation and Redemption.

We affirm that every human being is created (b'tzelem Elohim), in the image of God, and that therefore every human life is sacred.

We regard with reverence all of God's creation and recognize our human responsibility for its preservation and protection.

We encounter God's presence in moments of awe and wonder, in acts of justice and compassion, in loving relationships and in the experiences of everyday life.

We respond to God daily: through public and private prayer, through study and through the performance of other (mitzvot), sacred obligations -- (bein adam la Makom), to God, and (bein adam la-chaveiro), to other human beings.

We strive for a faith that fortifies us through the vicissitudes of our lives -- illness and healing, transgression and repentance, bereavement and consolation, despair and hope.

We continue to have faith that, in spite of the unspeakable evils committed against our people and the sufferings endured by others, the partnership of God and humanity will ultimately prevail.

We trust in our tradition's promise that, although God created us as finite beings, the spirit within us is eternal.

In all these ways and more, God gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

Torah
We affirm that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life.

We cherish the truths revealed in Torah, God's ongoing revelation to our people and the record of our people's ongoing relationship with God.

We affirm that Torah is a manifestation of (ahavat olam), God's eternal love for the Jewish people and for all humanity.

We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of Torah and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred texts.

We are called by Torah to lifelong study in the home, in the synagogue and in every place where Jews gather to learn and teach. Through Torah study we are called to (mitzvot), the means by which we make our lives holy.

We are committed to the ongoing study of the whole array of (mitzvot) and to the fulfillment of those that address us as individuals and as a community. Some of these (mitzvot), sacred obligations, have long been observed by Reform Jews; others, both ancient and modern, demand renewed attention as the result of the unique context of our own times.

We bring Torah into the world when we seek to sanctify the times and places of our lives through regular home and congregational observance. Shabbat calls us to bring the highest moral values to our daily labor and to culminate the workweek with (kedushah), holiness, (menuchah), rest and (oneg), joy. The High Holy Days call us to account for our deeds. The Festivals enable us to celebrate with joy our people's religious journey in the context of the changing seasons. The days of remembrance remind us of the tragedies and the triumphs that have shaped our people's historical experience both in ancient and modern times. And we mark the milestones of our personal journeys with traditional and creative rites that reveal the holiness in each stage of life.

We bring Torah into the world when we strive to fulfill the highest ethical mandates in our relationships with others and with all of God's creation. Partners with God in ( tikkun olam), repairing the world, we are called to help bring nearer the messianic age. We seek dialogue and joint action with people of other faiths in the hope that together we can bring peace, freedom and justice to our world. We are obligated to pursue (tzedek), justice and righteousness, and to narrow the gap between the affluent and the poor, to act against discrimination and oppression, to pursue peace, to welcome the stranger, to protect the earth's biodiversity and natural resources, and to redeem those in physical, economic and spiritual bondage. In so doing, we reaffirm social action and social justice as a central prophetic focus of traditional Reform Jewish belief and practice. We affirm the (mitzvah) of (tzedakah), setting aside portions of our earnings and our time to provide for those in need. These acts bring us closer to fulfilling the prophetic call to translate the words of Torah into the works of our hands.

In all these ways and more, Torah gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

Israel
We are Israel, a people aspiring to holiness, singled out through our ancient covenant and our unique history among the nations to be witnesses to God's presence. We are linked by that covenant and that history to all Jews in every age and place.

We are committed to the (mitzvah) of (ahavat Yisrael), love for the Jewish people, and to (k'lal Yisrael), the entirety of the community of Israel. Recognizing that (kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba-zeh), all Jews are responsible for one another, we reach out to all Jews across ideological and geographical boundaries.

We embrace religious and cultural pluralism as an expression of the vitality of Jewish communal life in Israel and the Diaspora.

We pledge to fulfill Reform Judaism's historic commitment to the complete equality of women and men in Jewish life.

We are an inclusive community, opening doors to Jewish life to people of all ages, to varied kinds of families, to all regardless of their sexual orientation, to (gerim), those who have converted to Judaism, and to all individuals and families, including the intermarried, who strive to create a Jewish home.

We believe that we must not only open doors for those ready to enter our faith, but also to actively encourage those who are seeking a spiritual home to find it in Judaism.

We are committed to strengthening the people Israel by supporting individuals and families in the creation of homes rich in Jewish learning and observance.

We are committed to strengthening the people Israel by making the synagogue central to Jewish communal life, so that it may elevate the spiritual, intellectual and cultural quality of our lives.

We are committed to (Medinat Yisrael), the State of Israel, and rejoice in its accomplishments. We affirm the unique qualities of living in (Eretz Yisrael), the land of Israel, and encourage (aliyah), immigration to Israel.

We are committed to a vision of the State of Israel that promotes full civil, human and religious rights for all its inhabitants and that strives for a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.

We are committed to promoting and strengthening Progressive Judaism in Israel, which will enrich the spiritual life of the Jewish state and its people.

We affirm that both Israeli and Diaspora Jewry should remain vibrant and interdependent communities. As we urge Jews who reside outside Israel to learn Hebrew as a living language and to make periodic visits to Israel in order to study and to deepen their relationship to the Land and its people, so do we affirm that Israeli Jews have much to learn from the religious life of Diaspora Jewish communities.

We are committed to furthering Progressive Judaism throughout the world as a meaningful religious way of life for the Jewish people.

In all these ways and more, Israel gives meaning and purpose to our lives.

Reform Jewish theology today

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut writes "there is no such thing as a Jewish theological principle, policy, or doctrine." This is because Reform Judaism affirms "the fundamental principle of Liberalism: that the individual will approach this body of mitzvot and minhagim in the spirit of freedom and choice. Traditionally Israel started with harut, the commandment engraved upon the Tablets, which then became freedom. The Reform Jew starts with herut, the freedom to decide what will be harut - engraved upon the personal Tablets of his life." [Bernard Martin, Ed., "Contemporary Reform Jewish Thought", Quadrangle Books 1968.]

Reform Judaism has always promoted monotheism in particular. This belief is reaffirmed in its new statement of principles. In recent decades, however, Reform rabbis and laity have come to affirm various beliefs including theism, deism, and Reconstructionist naturalism. At least one edition of the former official American Reform prayerbook, "Gates of Prayer: The New Union Prayerbook", is predominantly theistic, but also includes a service that omits all references to God in English while retaining them in Hebrew (pp.204-218).

The Reform movement has had a number of official platforms. The first was the 1885 Declaration of Principles, the Pittsburgh Platform. The next platform was written in 1937 by the Reform movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR). The CCAR rewrote its principles in 1976 with its "Centenary Perspective" and rewrote them again in the 1999 "A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism". While original drafts of the 1999 statement called for Reform Jews to consider re-adopting some traditional practices on a voluntary basis, later drafts removed most of these suggestions. The final version is thus similar to the 1976 statement. According to the CCAR, personal autonomy still has precedence over these platforms.

Reform Judaism's position on Jewish law today

The classical approach of Reform Judaism towards halakha was based on the views of Rabbi Samuel Holdheim (1806-1860), leader of Reform Judaism in Germany. He believed that Reform Judaism should be based solely upon monotheism and morality. Almost everything connected with Jewish ritual law and custom was of the ancient past, and thus no longer appropriate for Jews to follow in the modern era. This approach was the dominant form of Reform Judaism from its creation until the 1940s. Since the 1940s the American Reform movement has continued to change, sometimes evolving in what appears to be a traditional direction. Many Reform congregations have more Hebrew in their religious services and are incorporating aspects of laws and customs, in a selective fashion, into their lives. This is a departure from the classical Reform position in favor of more traditional Judaism.

Even those in the traditionalist wing of Reform Judaism still accept the primary principle of classical Reform: personal autonomy has precedence over Jewish tradition; halakha has no binding authority for Reform rabbis. The difference between the classical Reformers and the Reform traditionalists is that the traditionalists feel that the default position towards choosing to follow any particular practice should be one of acceptance, rather than rejection. While only representing a minority of the movement, this group has influenced the new Reform statement of principles, which states that "We are committed to the ongoing study of the whole array of mitzvot and to the fulfillment of those that address us as individuals and as a community."

Currently, some Reform rabbis promote following elements of halakha, and even developed the idea of Progressive Halakhah. For instance the American Rabbi Walter Jacob, the Israeli Rabbi Moshe Zemer, and the British Rabbi John D. Rayner. They believe in many parts of classical Jewish theology, but take present developments and valuations of ethics and law in consideration. Others actively discourage adopting Orthodox practices or beliefs, because they feel that this is not in the tradition of the Reform movement. Both encouraging or discouraging practices stipulated by halakha are considered acceptable positions within Reform. (See also, the various positions within contemporary Judaism as regards Halakha.)

Jewish identity and inter-religious marriages

Despite a 1973 Central Conference of American Rabbis resolution opposing the performance of interfaith weddings by its members, the CCAR does not formally forbid its members from officiating at interreligious marriages, which appears consistent with Reform's autonomy for members and clergy.[3][4][5] Recent surveys by the Rabbinic Center for Research and Counseling show that 40% of CCAR Reform rabbis now perform some form of intermarriages, though 60% will not officiate at intermarriages at all. This is an important consideration for many Reform Jews, since a number of Reform Jews are intermarried. However, the great majority of Reform rabbis who perform intermarriages will only officiate at weddings where the non-Jewish spouse is undertaking conversion to Judaism, and where both parents agree to maintain a Jewish home and to raise their children with a Jewish identity.

American Reform Judaism and British Liberal Judaism accept the child of one Jewish parent (father or mother) as Jewish if the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity. In the Reform movement's 1983 proclamation The Status of Children of Mixed Marriages, it states that the reasoning in allowing patrilineal Jewish descent is based on Biblical and Rabbinic Judaism, claiming that purely matrilineal Jewish descent was only first taught during Talmudic times (Kiddushin 68b). In any event, children with one Jewish parent are only considered to be Jewish if they have been raised having that identity. Since the concept of inclusion is vital to the Reform movement, Reform rabbis encourage participation of Gentiles while at the same time actively pursuing the conversion process. Conversion of non-Jews to Reform Judaism is therefore higher than in other Jewish denominations where the practice is either discouraged or essentially non-existent.

The Reform movement fully accepts gay and lesbian members, and some Reform clergy perform wedding or commitment ceremonies for Jewish gay and lesbian couples when allowed by law in that jurisdiction.

Union for Reform Judaism

The Union for Reform Judaism, the central body of the Reform Movement in North America, was founded in Cincinnati in 1873 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. It is the largest Jewish movement in North America and represents an estimated 1.5 million Jews. The name change happened at the Biennial Convention in Minneapolis, MN in 2003.

As the congregational arm of the Reform Movement, the Union's primary mission is to create and sustain vibrant Jewish congregations wherever Reform Jews live. The Union provides leadership and vision to Reform Jews on spiritual, ethical, and political issues as well as materials and consultation for programs in the congregation. The Union also provides opportunities for individual growth and identity that congregations and individuals cannot provide by themselves, including camps and Israel programs, study kallot, youth groups (See: NFTY), and North American and regional biennials.

Timeline of Reform Judaism in the United States

1824 Isaac Harby leads forty-seven Jews in Charleston, South Carolina to petition for major changes in the Shabbat service at Congregation Beth Elohim, including that each Hebrew prayer in the service be immediately followed by an English translation, that new prayers reflecting contemporary American life be added, that the rabbi offer a weekly sermon in English to explain the Scriptures and apply them to everyday life, and that services be shortened.[6]

1842 Congregation Har Sinai in Baltimore, Maryland, adopts Reform services

1845 Temple Emanu-El becomes New York City's first Reform congregation

1846 Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise came to the US in from Bohemia.

1857 Wise writes the first American siddur, "Minhag American."

1873 Wise founds the Union of American Hebrew Congregations.

1875 Reform Judaism's Hebrew Union College is founded in Cincinnati by Isaac Mayer Wise.

1885 A group of Reform rabbis adopts the Pittsburgh Platform.

1889 The Central Conference of American Rabbis is established.

1922 Reform Rabbi Stephen S. Wise establishes the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. It merged with Hebrew Union College in 1950. A third center was opened in Los Angeles in 1954, and a fourth branch was established in Jerusalem in 1963.

1937 The Central Conference of American Rabbis adopts "The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism", known as the Columbus Platform.

1976 On the occasion of the centennials of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Central Conference of American Rabbis adopts "Reform Judaism: A Centenary Perspective".

1983 The Central Conference of American Rabbis formally states that a Jewish identity can be passed down through either the mother or the father, thereby making official what had been the state of affairs in many Reform communities since the early twentieth century. Despite its rejection by Conservative Judaism and Orthodox Judaism, and the state of Israel, descent through the mother or the father becomes the standard for North American Reform and unaffiliated Jews. This leads to the disintegration of the inter-denominational Synagogue Council of America.

1997 On the occasion of the centenary of the first World Zionist Congress, the Central Conference of American Rabbis adopts the Miami Platform, dedicated to the relationship between Reform Judaism and Zionism.

1999 The Central Conference of American Rabbis adopts "A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism" in Pittsburgh.

2003 The congregational arm of the Reform Movement in North America adopts the new name "Union for Reform Judaism" (URJ), replacing its previous name "Union of American Hebrew Congregations" (UAHC) at its Biennial Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2007 Mishkan T'fillah, a new North American Reform Siddur is published.

• - The Role of Women in Reform Judaism

• Whatever happened to Reform Judaism? Changes in the last 50 years

Reform Judaism in Britain

History

In 1836 several members of the Synagogue of Bevis Marks in London requested the introduction of such alterations and modifications as were in the line of the changes introduced in the Reform synagogue in Hamburg and other places. The congregation conceded and took steps to insure greater decorum at the services. In 1839 they made a second request, advocating a diminution in the length and number of prayers, a more convenient hour of service on Sabbaths and holy days, sermons in English, a choir, and the abolition of the second days of the holy days. This request was ignored. The reformers then requested permission to open a branch Synagogue in the West End, near their homes. The leadership of Bevis Marks refused on the ground of an "askama" (rule) of the congregation, forbidding within a radius of four miles of the synagogue the erection of any house of prayer or the holding of any service not of a domestic nature. The reformers however went ahead with their plans, in which they were joined by some Ashkenazi Jews, and established an independent congregation, the West London Synagogue of British Jews, on 15 April 1840. The new Synagogue's leadership then took steps to make the reforms in the ritual which were refused by the leadership of Bevis Marks. The West London Synagogue reformers are the ancestors of the modern British Reform movement, the Movement for Reform Judaism; more indirectly, they also influenced Progressive and Liberal movements in Britain.

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1856, which empowered the minister of the West London Synagogue of British Jews to register marriage ceremonies. This act established the full autonomy of the congregation and ensured its equality before the law with the Orthodox congregations.

British Reform Judaism today

The Movement for Reform Judaism is more traditional in its practices than the Reform Judaism of the United States. Known until recently as "Reform Synagogues of Great Britain", it has 41 congregations and about 42,000 registered members. All of their synagogues are autonomous, which means that they are owned and financed by their members, who also hire their own local rabbi. All Rabbis for these congregations are members of the "Assembly of Rabbis", which publishes Reform siddurs and maintains a "Reform Beth Din", which is located at the Sternberg Centre in London. The Reform Beth Din's decisions are recognised worldwide by Reform and Liberal movements as valid.

Reform Jews in the UK have a wide variety of traditions and practices, although most synagogues share some basic similarities, including these:

• As described above, Reform Jews do not officially celebrate holy days two days in a row, although some families may choose to do so out of their own traditions.
• To pronounce the prayers, the Sephardic pronunciation is generally used, and that is the pronunciation used in the Siddur.
• Simchat Torah is celebrated on a different day than when the Orthodox observe it.
• Men and women sit together in the synagogue, and a minyan includes women and men.
• It generally takes a shorter time to convert to Reform Judaism than to Orthodox Judaism, although the willingness of reform rabbis to accept converts varies.
• The Reform movement has a tendency to be more socially liberal than many Orthodox congregations, with a more relaxed attitude being taken towards homosexuality and other controversial issues, as well as strongly encouraging interfaith dialogue.
• A supportive stance is generally taken towards Israel and Zionism, although many individuals may disagree with some of Israel's policies.

British Reform is often said to correspond to American Conservative Judaism in beliefs and practices. Strictly speaking, however, the British equivalent of Conservatism is the Masorti movement (though that in turn is slightly more traditional than the American version). Unlike the Conservative/Masorti approach, which affirms the authority of Halakha (Jewish law) but interprets it liberally, British Reform affirms the primacy of individual autonomy and gives the tradition "a vote but not a veto".

Liberal Judaism

Main article: Liberal Judaism

Liberal Judaism is the other half of Progressive Judaism in the UK, dating from 1902. Officially organised as the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues until 2003, in that year the ULPS officially renamed itself Liberal Judaism, which has always been the main term used for the movement it represents.

Although the Liberal movement does not identify itself as Reform (which has a specific meaning in British vocabulary), its beliefs and practices are sufficiently similar to American Reform that Americans habitually refer to British Liberal Judaism as a Reform movement. British Liberal Judaism is in practice much closer to American Reform than British Reform is.

Reform and Progressive Rabbis in Britain

In Britain, most Reform and Liberal Rabbis train and receive their Rabbinical ordination from Leo Baeck College in London, which is funded by both movements. Until recently, Masorti students also studied there, but this arrangement has come to an end. Rabbinical ordinations from Leo Baeck are recognised worldwide by Reform, Masorti and Liberal congregations.

Well-known British Reform Rabbis include:

• Rabbi Lionel Blue (b. 1930)
• Rabbi Hugo Gryn (1928-1996)
• Rabbi Jonathan Magonet (b. 1942)

Progressive Judaism in Israel

History

Some of the earliest Reform rabbis to settle in Israel included Rabbi Judah Leon Magnes, who was the first Chancellor of the Hebrew University and in 1938, became its President. Rabbi Meir Elk, who graduated from the liberal Breslau Rabbinical Seminary in Germany, founded the Leo Baeck School in Haifa, which today is one of the most renowned educational establishments in the country. The first Reform synagogue in Israel is the "Har El Congregation" in Jerusalem, which was founded in 1985.

The headquarters of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (Reform Judaism is generally referred to as Progressive Judaism in Israel) were moved to Jerusalem in 1973, establishing Progressive Judaism's international presence in Zion and reflecting its intention to form a strong indigenous movement.

The first Reform kibbutz, Kibbutz Yahel, was founded in 1976 in Arava and Kibbutz Lotan was founded in 1983. Har Halutz, a Progressive settlement, was established in Galilee in 1985.

With the mass-immigration of Jews from the CIS to Israel the Reform movement in Israel grew bigger.

Transnational Differences in the Reform Movement

The Enlightenment ideology that drove German Reform led its adherents to sweeping changes in Jewish practices, many of which have persisted in the American Reform movement of today. By contrast, British Reform had its origins in a non-ideological dispute over the expansion of a particular synagogue and some minor points of ritual, and it has therefore retained more traditional practices of Jewish observance, roughly corresponding with those of American Conservative Judaism. In the United Kingdom, the movement known as Liberal Judaism corresponds most closely with the views of American Reform Judaism. Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism in the UK may be collectively referred to as "Progressive Judaism". In Israel, Reform Judaism is referred to as "the Reform Movement" due to its small size and is more conservative in its approach than American Reform.

National Bodies

The organizational bodies for Reform Judaism globally are:

• the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in North America
• the Movement for Reform Judaism in Great Britain
• the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism in Israel

The political and legislative outreach arm of Reform Judaism in the United States is the Religious Action Center (RAC). The RAC is operated under the auspices of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, a joint instrumentality of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the URJ.

In Israel, public and legal advocacy for Progressive Judaism is performed by the Israel Religious Action Center.

Orthodox criticism

Since its origins in the 19th century, Reform Judaism has been criticized by more traditional streams of Judaism, particularly by Orthodox Judaism.

While Orthodox Judaism regards Reform Jews who are descendeded by matrilineal descent as Jewish under Orthodox law, it does not recognize Reform conversions or Reform's acceptance of patrilineal dissent. Accordingly, there are a growing number of Reform Jews who are not actually Jewish in the eyes of Orthodoxy due to conversion or patrilineal descent, both of which are not recognized by Orthodox Judaism."

Nineteenth century German Orthodox Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, one of the early notable critics of Reform Judaism, illustrates some themes:

"It is foolish to believe that it is the wording of a prayer, the notes of a synagogue tune, or the order of a special service, which form the abyss between [Reform and Orthodoxy]... It is not the so-called Divine Service which separates us, [rather it] is the theory - the principle [of faithfulness to Jewish law]... if the Torah is to you the Law of God how dare you place another law above it and go along with God and His Law only as long as you thereby "progress" in other respects at the same time?"

References

• Chaim Stern, ed., Central Conference of American Rabbis. Gates of Prayer - for Shabbat and Weekdays. A Gender-Sensitive Prayerbook 1994 ISBN 0-88123-063-4 LoC: BM674.34.C46 DDC: 296.4-dc20

• Borowitz, Eugene & Patz, Naomi (1985) Explaining Reform Judaism. New York: Behrman House. ISBN 0-87441-394X

• Central Conference of American Rabbis, New York, and Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, London. Gates of Prayer - The New Union Prayerbook for Shabbat, Weekdays and Festivals. Services and Prayers for Synagogue and Home. 1975 ISBN 0-916694-01-1 LC: 75-13752

• Meyer, Michael A. Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995.

• Kaplan, Dana Evan, American Reform Judaism: An Introduction. New Brunswick, New Jersey:Rutgers University Press, 2005.

• Rayner, John D., Jewish Religious Law: A Progressive Perspective. New York: Berghahn Books, 1998. ISBN 1-57181-976-2

• Robinson, George. Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs and Rituals. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000. ISBN 0-671-03480-4

• Jacob, Walter / Zemer, Moshe, ed., Re-Examining Progressive Halakhah. New York: Berghahn Books, 2002. ISBN 1-57181-404-3

External links

• Official website of Reform Judaism
• American Council for Judaism
• Reform Judaism FAQ
• Reform Judaism readinglist
• http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/02-05.html
• Platforms of Reform Judaism
• Official website of Reform Judaism in the UK (Part of UK Progressive Judaism)
  • Synagogues
  • News
• Official website of Liberal Judaism in the UK (Part of UK Progressive Judaism)
• World Union for Progressive Judaism
• Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, IMPJ
• North American Federation of Temple Youth, NFTY