Branches of Contemporary Judaism
ORTHODOX:
Most conservative branch of contemporary Judaism
Considers the Hebrew Bible as the revealed Word
of God, and the Talmud as the legitimate and binding oral law
Emphasizes the importance of maintaining a distinct
Jewish identity
REFORM:
Begin in the 18th Century as an attempt to reconcile/accommodate
Judaism with Modernity
Sabbath services performed in the vernacular
Liturgy removed references to ancient practice
of animal sacrifice and to the hope of a return to Zion
Judaism is understood as an evolving, open-ended
religion rather than as one that is already fixed and/or determined by
the revealed Torah
Cultivates a sense of Universalism
CONSERVATIVE:
Largest Jewish movement in the United States
Manifests a total dedication to traditional
rabbinical Judaism, and at the same time, remains open to interpretation
and restructuring so that Judaism is not misinterpreted as a dead religion
Supportive of the historical-critical method
of studying authoritative Jewish texts
RECONSTRUCTIST:
Branched off from Conservative
Convinced that strong measures needed to be
taken in order to preserve Judaism in the face of modern Rationalism
Believes that the notion that the Torah was
supernaturally revealed is difficult to reconcile with modernity
Judaism is defined as an “evolving religious
civilization”
Jewish people and culture believed to be the
heart/essence of Judaism, not texts and tradition (i.e., tradition exists
for people, not vice versa)
Created a new Prayer Book that is more open
to women and Gentiles, that eliminates references to the physical resurrection
of the body, and that reinterprets Biblical passages that describe God
as actively rewarding and punishing Israel, and manipulating natural phenomenon