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:

Origin

In response to Haskalah and Jewish emancipation, elements within German Jewry sought to reform Jewish belief and practice. In light of modern scholarship, they denied divine authorship of the Torah, declared only those biblical laws that are easily understood to be binding, and stated that the rest of Halakhah (Jewish law) need no longer be viewed as normative. Circumcision was abandoned, rabbis wore vestments modeled after Protestant ministers, and instrumental accompaniment --- banned by Halakhah in Jewish Sabbath worship --- reappeared in Reform synagogues, most often in the form of a pipe organ, to model what appeared in churches. 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. The early Reform movement renounced Zionism and declared Germany to be its new Zion. This anti-Zionist view is no longer held; see below.

Related Topics:
Haskalah - Jewish emancipation - Torah - Biblical laws - Halakhah - Circumcision - Rabbi - Hebrew - Siddur - German - Synagogue - Temple in Jerusalem - Kashrut - Zionism - Germany

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Early Reform Judaism, in order to assimilate more into European culture, held that Judaism was no more a peoplehood, but was only a religion. This was because holding Judaism as a culture and peoplehood prevented Reform Jews from being ordinary citizens in their host nation. Making Judaism only a religion allowed them to announce that their host nation was their fatherland and its non-Jewish citizens their brethren. This also meant that other Jews elsewhere were no longer considered brethren, and that Zionism was denounced for it could raise accusations of dual loyalty against Reform Jews. This is no longer part of Reform Judaism, and today, peoplehood and Zionism is a primary component of Reform Judaism.

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

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