Reform Judaism Haskalah: Age of Jewish Enlightenment Moses Mendelssohan (1729 -1786) Influenced a group of German Jews who

were rethinking the relationship between Judaism and modernity.

  End of judicial power of local rabbis Liturgy in the local vernacular (German) Introduction of musical instruments Adoption of Christian traditions Nominal adherence to Sabbath

regulations Diminished Nationalistic ideals Emphasis on social action 

Judaism as evolving change Is there then nothing but change? Is change the

end of all our history and all our striving? No. there is something else, the desire to be free…In the end the Jew has always understood that changelessness is spiritual death. The Jew who would live must never completely surrender himself to one truth, but …must reach out for the farther and faith horizons of an ever Great God…This is the meaning of Reform. Jacob Rader Marcus (Reform advocate)

Institutions and literature

Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) 1873

Hebrew Union College in 1875 Union Prayer Book in 1895 Gates of Prayer 1975 Gates of Repentance 1978

 Current Trends

 More Hebrew Gender Neutral God language Continued emphasis on social action Renewed interest on Spirituality Between 1940 and 1080 the number of

congregation sdoubled in the United States

Conservative Judaism Dissatisfaction with orthodoxy's rejection of scientific

method, and the Reforms rejection of Jewish nationalism and its willingness to ignore mitzvoth when it pleased them

Zacharias Frankel thought there were important traditions to keep

He offered Positive Historical Judaism Jewish Theological Seminary. JTS in New York City Solomon Schecter becomes president Largest branch of American Judaism 1955 women are allowed to come to the bimah to read Torah In 1973 women are counted toward a minyan and in 1983 the

first female students attend JTS  

Reconstructionsim Unknown outside of US Founder Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan (1881) Judaism as a religious civilization Sacred texts are not divine but the creation of the

Jewish people Democratic Kaplan created the first bat mitzvah for 12 yr old

girls Conservative in practice, but their prayer book Kol

Haneshama rejects the concept of the Jews as the Chosen people and the idea of a personal messiah 

Political Challenges Today Does Israeli identity serve to define Jewish

identity? Should Judaism be the established religion of the

state, and what should be the status of the religious minorities?

Should the state be governed by Jewish law? Or if there is a conflict between Jewish law and

the law of the state, how should it be resolved? Do Jews in the diaspora owe a loyalty to Israel? Is there an obligation on all Jews to settle in

Israel?

Social Challenges Today

What are the limits of permissible assimilation?

A question of observance? Relationship with other faith

traditions