Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism, as the term is understood in North America, refers to the first modern branch of Judaism that originated in Germany in the 1800s. This liberalizing movement sought to reform and modernize Jewish belief and practice in light of contemporary scholarship and views, and followed German Jewish emigration to countries including The United States of America, where it is currently the largest branch of Judaism. Its principles include:

Related Topics:
North America - Judaism - Germany - 1800 - The United States of America

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• valuing individual autonomy over traditional Jewish law and custom, allowing individual decisions about which Jewish practices, if any, to adopt as binding,
• employing both traditional rabbinic modes of study and less traditional textual analysis to learn about the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature,
• learning the Jewish principles of faith through non-religious methods, and
• embracing modern culture in customs, dress, and common practices.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland the movement called Liberal Judaism corresponds more closely with German-type Reform Judaism, and the term "Reform Judaism" is associated with a more traditional type of Judaism with different origins, roughly corresponding with American Conservative Judaism. Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism in the U. K. may be collectively referred to as "Progressive Judaism".

Related Topics:
United Kingdom and Ireland - Liberal Judaism - Conservative Judaism - Progressive Judaism

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In this article, Reform Judaism refers to German-type Reform Judaism, and British Reform is used to denote British-type Reform Judaism.

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Reform Judaism: Origin ►