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Reform
Judaism
(Click Here for the A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism)
Reform 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.]
What do Reform Jews
believe?
What do Reform Jews do?
If anyone were to
attempt to answer these two questions authoritatively for all Reform
Jews, that person's answers would have to be false. Why? Because one
of the guiding principles of Reform Judaism is the autonomy of the
individual. A Reform Jew has the right to decide whether to
subscribe to this particular belief or to that particular practice.
But there is a
historic body of beliefs and practices that is recognized as Jewish.
We Jews have survived centuries of exile and persecution as well as
centuries of unparalleled spiritual and intellectual creativity
because we have always thought of ourselves as a people created "in
the image of God," dedicated to tikkun olam -- the improvement of
the world. And the particular beliefs and practices that have
traditionally identified us as Jews have enabled us not only to
survive creatively but to connect with the God "who has kept us
alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this moment."
We Reform Jews are
heirs to a vast body of beliefs and practices embodied in TORAH and
the other Jewish sacred writings. We differ from more ritually
observant Jews because we recognize that our sacred heritage has
evolved and adapted over the centuries and that it must continue to
do so. And we also recognize that if Judaism were not capable of
evolution, of REFORM, it could not survive.
Reform Judaism
accepts and encourages pluralism. Judaism has never demanded
uniformity of belief or practice. But we must never forget that
whether we are Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, or Orthodox,
we are all an essential part of K'lal Yisrael -- the worldwide
community of Jewry.
All Jews have an
obligation to study the traditions that have been entrusted to us
and to observe those mitzvot -- those sacred and time-hallowed acts
-- that have meaning for us today and that can ennoble our lives, as
well as those of our families and communities. It is our mitzvot
that put us in touch with Abraham and Sarah; with Moses, Hillel, and
the Jews of fifth-century Babylonia, twelfth-century Spain, and
eighteenth-century Poland; and with the Jews of twentieth-century
Auschwitz, Israel, the former Soviet Union, and our neighboring
town.
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This statement was adapted from
the pamphlet entitled "What We Believe... What We Do..." prepared in
1993 by CCAR President Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin.
Read more
about the different denominations by clicking below.
-Reform Platform
-Orthodox Overview
-Conservative Platform
-More to come
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article please write to:
judaism@mazornet.com
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