Relationships between Jewish religious movements
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article discusses the relationship between the various denominations of Judaism.
Contents |
[edit] Orthodox Judaism
[edit] Haredi Judaism views
Orthodox Judaism holds that both Conservative and Reform Judaism have made major and unjustifiable breaks with historic Judaism, both by their dubiety of the verbal revelation of Written and Oral Torah, and by Reform Judaism's rejection of Halakhic (Jewish legal) precedent as binding.
When dealing with others of their own faith who have different philosophies, Haredi Jews attempt to differentiate between the individual practitioners and the movement/philosophy.
When dealing with the individual, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein is famously quoted as describing all current-day non-Orthodox Jews as "Tinok Shenishba", meaning without wrong intent or motives (Iggeroth Moshe).
However, when dealing with the movement/philosophy, they perceive the generation of other denominations to have historically been engendered by heretical intent and the 1800's widespread denigration of religion. They view Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism and Conservative Judaism as heretical non-Jewish movements. Some Haredi leaders have stated that Reform is philosophically further from authentic Judaism than Christianity and Islam. As such, Haredi authorities have strongly fought attempts by the Reform and Conservative movements to gain official recognition and denominational legitimacy in Israel. Haredi groups and authorities will not work with non-Orthodox religious movements in any way, as they view this as lending legitimacy to those movements. The members of those movements who have been born of a Jewish mother are, however, still regarded as Jews.
The relationship between Haredi and Modern Orthodox Judaism is more complex; most Haredi Jews see Modern Orthodox Jews as allies, but they disagree with their accommodations of modernity, and view them as lax in their observance.
[edit] Modern Orthodox views
When dealing with others denominations who have different philosophies, the Modern Orthodox outlook is that differences have not been generated by heretical or iniquitous intent, but by an attempt to reconcile Judaism with modernity. Thus, although Modern Orthodox Jews find all non-Orthodox forms of Judaism to be wrong, the non-Orthodox movements are not considered to be inherent antagonists; rather they are perceived to be competitors offering an inferior product, so to speak, and that the masses of these movements need to be enlightened as to the superiority of the Orthodox stance.
Until the 1970s the Modern Orthodox and the non-Orthodox movements worked together in the now-defunct Synagogue Council of America. However, the relationship between Modern Orthodoxy and the non-Orthodox movements has worsened over the last few decades. The movements have seen a polarization of views. Haredi Judaism has seen a great resurgence in its popularity, and many formerly Modern Orthodox rabbis have been swayed to some degree by their views. As well, non-Orthodox movements have progressively moved to the "left". Starkly so, Reform Judaism rejected the traditional definition of a Jew via matrilineal descent, effectively severing the united peoplehood that had linked Reform and non-Reform movements. For practically all Orthodox Jews (and many Conservative Jews) this was seen as splitting the Jewish people into two mutually incompatible groups. The confluence of these two phenomena helped drive most of Modern Orthodoxy further to the right, and effectively ended all official cooperation between Modern Orthodoxy and all of the non-Orthodox denominations.
Some within the Orthodox world advocate that while non-Orthodox forms of Judaism are incorrect, they nonetheless have functional validity and spiritual dignity. Rabbi Norman Lamm writes:
- ...Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist communities are not only more numerous in their official memberships than the Orthodox community, but they are also vital, powerful and dynamic; they are committed to Jewish survival, each according to its own lights; they are a part of Klal Yisrael; and they consider their rabbis their leaders. From a functional point of view, therefore, non-Orthodox rabbis are valid leaders of Jewish religious communities, and it is both fatuous and self-defeating not to acknowledge this openly and draw the necessary consequences--for example, establishing friendly and harmonious and respectful relationships and working together, all of us, towards those Jewish communal and global goals that we share and that unite us inextricably and indissolubly....
- ...non-Orthodox rabbis and laypeople may possess spiritual dignity. If they are sincere, if they believe in God, if they are motivated by principle and not by convenience or trendiness, if they endeavor to carry out the consequences of their faith in a consistent manner--then they are religious people.... But neither functional validity nor spiritual dignity are identical with Jewish legitimacy. "Validity" derives from the Latin validus, strong. It is a factual, descriptive term. "Legitimacy" derives from the Latin lex, law. It is a normative and evaluative term.[1]
A number of modern Orthodox rabbis advocate good relations with their non-Orthodox peers. In 1982 Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought published a symposium on the state of Orthodox Judaism, with contributions by many leading Orthodox rabbis. The first question the editor asked the rabbis was "Do you believe that recent developments warrant the triumphalism exhibited by segments of Orthodoxy which predict the total disappearance of non-Orthodox movements?" Rabbi Marc D. Angel replied that "we should be frightened by the possibility. With all our theological differences, yet we part of one Jewish people and work together in so many ways for the benefit of the Jewish community....It is not a happy prospect that the overwhelming majority of American Jews will lose their Jewishness. It is also unlikely that the vast numbers of the non-Orthodox community will move into Orthodoxy in the relatively near future." Rabbi David Berger replied "I confess that I would not look forward to such a disappearance....The Jewish loyalties and observances of non-Orthodox Jews are decidedly better than nothing....The only weakening of Conservatism and Reform for which Orthodoxy can legitimately hope would come through conversion to Orthodoxy. No such development appears imminent in statistically significant numbers." The message of other rabbis rings a similar note; no rabbis profiled in the symposium believed that most non-Orthodox Jews would ever convert to Orthodoxy. Thus Orthodoxy should work together on some issues with non-Orthodox Judaism, and it is far better for Jews to be members of non-Orthodox Judaism than to assimilate and not be religious Jews at all.
A small number of modern Orthodox rabbis cooperate with non-Orthodox rabbis on a regular basis through smaller organizations such as CLAL (The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership) and the New York Board of Rabbis.
Some American Modern Orthodox rabbis have recently created a new modern Orthodox advocacy group, Edah, which includes members of the Rabbinical Council of America. Edah's mission statement says: "The Vision of Edah is an Orthodox Jewish community in which we, as members, leaders, and institutions....reach out to and interact with Jews of all the movements as well as non -affiliated Jews as an expression of the wholeness of, and in an effort to strengthen, the entire Jewish people."
[edit] Conservative views
Conservative Judaism holds that Orthodox Judaism is a valid and legitimate form of normative rabbinic Judaism; it respects the validity of its rabbis. Conservative Judaism holds that both Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism have made major and unjustifiable breaks with historic Judaism, both by their rejection of Jewish law and tradition as normative, and by their unilateral acts in creating a separate definition of Jewishness (i.e. the latter movement's acceptance of patrilineal descent as an additional way of defining Jewishness.) Depite this disagreement, Conservative Judaism respects the right of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews to interpret Judaism in their own way. Thus the Conservative movement recognizes the right of Jews to form such denominations, and recognizes their clergy as rabbis, but does not generally accept their decisions as valid. Thus, for example, the Conservative movement typically does not accept Reform converts to Judaism whose conversions did not meet the requirements of Jewish law as being Jews.
The Conservative movement, while respecting the validity of Orthodox Rabbis, believes that Orthodoxy has deviated from historical Judaism through an insistence on the halachic principle of binding legal precedent, in particular with respect to relatively recent codifications of Jewish law. A prominent Conservative spokesman has written:
- Reform has asserted the right of interpretation but it rejected the authority of legal tradition. Orthodoxy has clung fast to the principle of authority, but has in our own and recent generations rejected the right to any but minor interpretations. The Conservative view is that both are necessary for a living Judaism. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism holds itself bound by the Jewish legal tradition, but asserts the right of its rabbinical body, acting as a whole, to interpret and to apply Jewish law.
- (Mordecai Waxman Tradition and Change: The Development of Conservative Judaism)
The Conservative movement, however, has clashed with Orthodoxy over its refusal to recognize the Conservative and Reform movements as legitimate, and in February 1997 Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, claimed that Orthodox organizations in Israel politically discriminate against non-Orthodox Jews, and called on Reform and Conservative Jews, as well as the Jewish Federations throughout the United States, to stop funding Orthodox organizations and institutions that disagree with the Conservative view of pluralism. Several weeks later, at the movement's annual Rabbinical Assembly conference in Boston, he called for the disintegration of Israel's chief rabbinate and its network of courts. [2]
[edit] Reform views
Reform Judaism currently espouses the notion of religious pluralism; it believes that most Jewish denominations (including Orthodox groups and the Conservative movement) are valid expressions of Judaism. Historically the Reform view of Orthodox Judaism has been highly negative. Reform began as a rejection of Orthodox Judaism, and early battles between Reform and Orthodox groups in Germany for control of communal leadership were fierce. Reform viewed Orthodoxy as overly focused on tradition and literal interpretation of scripture that conflicted with modern science. Relations with the Conservative movement are much more cordial, and Conservative and Reform leaders co-operate on many areas of mutual concern.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Seth Farber, Reproach, recognition and respect: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Orthodoxy's mid-century attitude toward non-Orthodox denominations, American Jewish History, June 2001 v89 i2 p193(23)
- Samuel G. Freedman Jew vs. Jew: The struggle for the soul of American Jewry New York, Simon & Schuster, 2000
- Ammiel Hirsch and Yosef Reinman One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them Schocken, 2003
- David Landau Piety & Power: The World of Jewish Fundamentalism, Hill and Wang, 1993. Written from an Israeli modern Orthodox perspective.
- Di Tog Morgen Journal, November 19, 1954. Letter by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik warning Jews not to attend services in non-Orthodox synagogues.
- Jack Wertheimer A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America, BAsic Books, 1993
- Israel Religious Action Center, November 23, 1999 IDF suspense officer who compared the conservative and reform movements to the Nazis
[edit] External references
[edit] Misc. topics
- Reproach, recognition and respect: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Orthodoxy's mid-century attitude toward non-Orthodox denominations
- Prologue to "Jew vs. Jew"
- Conservative Jewish view that Conservative Judaism is authentic Judaism
- What's the difference between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform? chabad.org
[edit] Articles relevant to Haredi views
- HEMDAT The Council for Freedom of Science, Religion and Culture in Israel
- Reform Jewish leader criticizes Orthodox views
