Jewish denominations

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Several groups, sometimes called denominations, "branches," or "movements," have developed among Jews of the modern era, especially Ashkenazi Jews living in anglophone countries. Despite the efforts of several of these movements to expand their membership in Israel and achieve official recognition by the Israeli government, non-Orthodox movements have remained largely a feature of Judaism in the diaspora.

Historically, the division of Jews in many Western countries into denominations, which in the United States in particular took the form of three large groups known as Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform, can be traced to Jewish reaction to the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) and its aftermath, and to a certain extent the philosophies of these movements were shaped in reaction to one another. Several smaller movements have emerged in the years since. In more recent years, all of these movements have been shaped by the challenge of assimilation.

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v • d • e
  • Common values. The movements share common values such as tikkun olam (a sense of Jewish responsibility to heal or repair the world) and klal Yisrael (a sense of being part of, and responsible for, the universal Jewish community). These Jewish values are the basis for cooperation and interplay among the various movements.
  • Sacred texts. The movements share a recognition that the Torah and other Jewish spiritual writings such as Tanakh and Talmud are central to Jewish experience. However they differ in their approach to such texts.

The movements differ in their views on various religious issues. These issues include the level of observance, the methodology for interpreting and understanding Jewish Law, biblical authorship, textual criticism, and the nature or role of the the Messiah (or Messianic age). Across these movements, there are marked differences in liturgy, especially in the language in which services are conducted, with the more traditional movements emphasizing Hebrew. The sharpest theological division occurs between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews who adhere to other denominations, such that the non-Orthodox movements are sometimes referred to collectively as the "liberal denominations" or "progressive streams."

Contents

[edit] Terminology

Some people reject the term denomination as a label for different groups and ideologies within Judaism, arguing that the notion of denomination has a specifically Christian resonance that does not translate easily into the Jewish context. Other commonly used terms are movements, branches, trends, streams, or even flavors of Judaism. This article uses the terms interchangeably, without purporting to affirm the validity of one term over another.

The Jewish denominations themselves reject characterization as sects. Sects are traditionally defined as religious subgroups that have broken off from the main body, and this separation usually becomes irreparable over time. Within Judaism, individuals and families often switch affiliation, and individuals are free to marry one another, although the major denominations disagree on who is a Jew. It is not unusual for clergy and Jewish educators trained in one of the liberal denominations to serve in another, and left with no choice, many small Jewish communities combine elements of several movements to achieve a viable level of membership.

Relationships between Jewish religious movements are varied; they are sometimes marked by interdenominational cooperation outside of the realm of halakha (Jewish Law), and sometimes not. Some of the movements sometimes cooperate by uniting with one another in community federations and in campus organizations such as the Hillel Foundation. Jewish religious denominations are distinct from but often linked to Jewish ethnic divisions and Jewish political movements.

[edit] Judaism and Samaritans

The Samaritans regard themselves as direct descendants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in the northern Kingdom of Israel, which was conquered by Assyria in 722 BCE. The first historical references to the Samaritans date from the Babylonian Exile. The attitude of the Talmud to the Samaritans is that they are to be treated as Jews in matters where their practice agrees with the mainstream but are otherwise to be treated as non-Jews. Modern DNA evidence supports the Samaritan's claim that they are descended patrilineally from ancient Israelites.[1] Samaritan scripture preserves a version of the Pentateuch and some writings from Tanakh in slightly variant forms. The Samaritans have dwindled to two communities numbering about 700 individuals. One is located in the Israeli city of Holon, while the other is located near Nablus on Mount Gerizim, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

[edit] Jewish sect in the Second Temple days

In the decades before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Jewish people in Palestine were divided into several movements, sometimes warring among themselves: Saducees, Pharisees, Essenes, and Zealots. Many historic sources, from Flavius Josephus to the Christian New Testament to the recovered fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, attest to the divisions among Jews at this time. Rabbinical writings from later periods, including the Talmud, attest further to these ancient schisms.

[edit] Karaite Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism

Most of the Modern Judaism streams developed from the Pharisee movement, which became known as Rabbinic Judaism (in Hebrew "Yahadut Rabanit" - יהדות רבנית) with the compilation of oral law into Mishna. After the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt, the other movements disappear from historical records.

Those who did not agree with the Rabbinic oral law were later called by the name "Karaites" (in Hebrew "Karaim" - קראים) - followers of the scriptures.

Historically, Karaite Judaism appeared as an organized movement that rejected the innovations of rabbinical Judaism and the authority of the Exilarch after the Islamic conquest of the Middle East. In some of their older writings, the Karaites claim descent from the Sadducees. Karaism accepts only the Tanakh, rejecting the Talmud and other rabbinical writings. In the 10th century, the Karaites are believed to have comprised about 50% of the world's Jewish population. At the time of the traveler Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century, Karaites were widely dispersed around the eastern Mediterranean, both in Islamic areas and the Byzantine Empire. Benjamin describes Karaite communities in many of the places he visited.

In the early 20th century, small Karaite communities remained in Egypt, Turkey, the Crimea, and Lithuania. Today, there are about 14,000 Karaite Jews in the world, most of whom live in Israel. Traditionally, Rabbinic Judaism has regarded the Karaites as Jewish, but heretical.

[edit] Background: Jewish ethnic and cultural divisions

Main article: Jewish ethnic divisions

Traditionally, Judaism is not divided into religious traditions based on theological difference. However, a wide array of Jewish communities have developed independently, distinguishable by their varying practices in matters that are not considered central ideas within Judaism, such as Maimonides' list of the Jewish principles of faith.

Although there are numerous Jewish ethnic communities, there are several that are large enough to be considered "predominant." Ashkenazi communities compose about 42% of the world's Jewish population, and Sephardic communities compose about 37%. Of the remainder, the Mizrahi Jewish communities—the "Arab" and "Persian" Jews—compose the greatest part, with about 16% of the world's Jewish population. Together these ethnic groups compose 95% of the world's Jewish population.

The remaining 5% of Jews are divided among a wide array of small groups (perhaps the Beta Israel group of Ethopian Jews is the most important), some of which are nearing extinction as a result of assimilation and intermarriage into surrounding non-Jewish cultures or surrounding Jewish cultures.

Religiously speaking, most Jewish communities have historically held that there is no relevant role for "dogma"; rather, there is halakha (Jewish law) only. The extent to which every Jew as an individual adheres to Jewish law has long been regarded as a matter of personal preference, although the idea has always been prominent that every Jew should be as observant of the laws as they are able. The Enlightenment had a tremendous effect on Jewish identity and on ideas about the importance and role of Jewish observance. Due to the geographical distribution and the geopolitical entities affected by the Enlightenment, this philosophical revolution essentially affected only the Ashkenazi community; however, because of the predominance of the Ashkenazi community in Israeli politics and in Jewish leadership worldwide, the effects have been significant for all Jews.

[edit] Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism was founded by Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), also known as the Baal Shem Tov or the Besht (the Hebrew and Yiddish acronym of Baal Shem Tov). His disciples attracted many followers among Ashkenazi Jews, and established numerous Hasidic groups across Europe. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Europe. It first came to the United States during the large waves of Jewish emigration beginning in the 1880s.

In the late 18th century, there was a serious schism between Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement were dubbed Mitnagdim ("opponents") by the followers of the Baal Shem Tov, who had previously called themselves Freylechn ("happy ones") and now began to call themselves[citation needed] Hasidim ("pious ones"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship, their untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Since then all the sects of Hasidic Judaism have been subsumed theologically into mainstream Orthodox Judaism, particularly Haredi Judaism, although cultural differences persist. See the articles on Hasidic Judaism and Mitnagdim for more detailed information.

[edit] Modern divisions or "denominations"

Perhaps the greatest divisions since the time of the division between the Sadducees and Pharisees two millennia ago are the divisions within the Ashkenazic community that have arisen in the past two centuries, ever since the Enlightenment and the Renaissance influenced Jews from northern and eastern Europe.

The first evidence of this great dogmatic schism was the development of the Reform Judaism movement, rejected "ethnic Judaism" and preferred to regard Judaism as a religion rather than an ethnicity or a culture. Over time several movements emerged:

  • Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Jews generally see themselves as practicing normative Judaism, rather than belonging to a particular movement. Within Orthodox Judaism there is a spectrum of communities and practices, including Modern Orthodox Judaism, Haredi Judaism, and a variety of movements that have their origins in Hasidic Judaism.
  • Conservative Judaism or Masorti Judaism. Founded in the United States after the division between Reform and Orthodox Judaism, to provide Jews seeking liberalization of Orthodox theology and practice with a more traditional and halakhically based alternative to Reform Judaism. It has spread to Ashkenazi communities in Anglophone countries and Israel.
  • Reconstructionist Judaism. A small, liberal Jewish movement, found primarily in the United States. It began as a liberal movement within Conservative Judaism and formally separated in the 1980s.
  • Reform Judaism or Progressive Judaism. Originally formed in Germany as a reaction to traditional Judaism, stresses integration with society and a personal interpretation of the Torah.
  • Jewish Renewal. Founded in the counter-cultural movements of the 1960s and 1970s, it tends to embrace the ecstatic worship style and mysticism of hasidism, while rejecting the halakhic rigor of Orthodox Judaism. Jewish renewal congregations tend to be inclusive on the subject of who is a Jew. The Jewish Renewal movement lacks the formal institutional structure of the other liberal movements.
  • Humanistic Judaism. A nontheistic movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity. Founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, it is centered in North America but has spread to Europe, Latin America, and Israel.

[edit] Table illustrating the range of Jewish denominations

This table illustrates the range of Jewish denominations. Those denominations that are more conservative in their theology and understanding of Jewish law are shown on the right, while those on the left are progressively more liberal in their theology and understanding of Jewish law. However, caution must be used in reading this table. There are many Jews who have a liberal view of theology and Jewish principles of faith while having a strict understanding of halakha, and vice-versa.

Approximate Jewish denominational movements around the world
Country ← Progressive/Liberal to Conservative/Traditional →
USA Reconstructionist Judaism Union for Reform Judaism United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism Orthodox Union (Modern Orthodox) and others Haredi Orthodox
Israel Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism Masorti Movement in Israel Orthodox, traditional Mizrahi Jews, and others Haredi Orthodox
United Kingdom Liberal Judaism Movement for Reform Judaism Assembly of Masorti Synagogues The United Synagogue (Orthodox) Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations and others

[edit] Development of modern "denominations"

Development of denominations or movements has been primarily a phenomenon among Ashkenazi Jews who have immigrated to Anglophone countries. Much of the literature of these denominations is in English, not Hebrew. Their development can be seen as both a response to the western Enlightenment and to emancipation and immigration.

[edit] Response to Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment

In the late 18th century Europe, and then the rest of the world, was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements that taken together were referred to as the Enlightenment. These movements promoted scientific thinking, free thought, and allowed people to question previously unshaken religious dogmas. The emancipation of the Jews in many European communities, and the Haskalah movement started by Moses Mendelssohn, brought the Enlightnment to the Jewish community.

In response to the challenges of integrating Jewish life with Enlightenment values, German Jews in the early 1800s began to develop the concept of Reform Judaism, adapting Jewish practice to the new conditions of an increasingly urbanized and secular community.[2]

[edit] Response to immigration

The particular forms which the denominations have taken on have been shaped by immigration of the Ashkenazi Jewish communities, once concentrated in eastern and central Europe, to western and mostly Anglophone countries (in particular, in North America). In the middle of the 20th Century, the institutional division of North American Jewry between Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox movements still reflected immigrant origins. Reform Jews at that time were predominantly of German or western European origin, while both Conservative and Orthodox Judaism came primarily from eastern European countries.[3]

[edit] Response to antisemitism and the Holocaust

[edit] Response to Israel and Zionism

The issue of Zionism was once very divisive in the Jewish community. Non-Zionists believed that Jews should integrate into the countries in which they lived, rather than moving to the Land of Israel. The original founders of Reform Judaism in Germany rejected traditional prayers for the restoration of Jerusalem. Also, the view among Reform Jews that Judaism was strictly a religion and that Jews should be loyal citizens of their host nations led to a non-Zionist, and sometimes anti-Zionist, stance. Orthodox non-Zionists believed that the return to Israel could only happen with the coming of the Messiah, and that a political attempt to re-establish a Jewish state was contrary to God's plan.

After events of the twentieth century, most importantly the Holocaust and the establishment of the modern State of Israel, opposition to Zionism largely disappeared within Reform Judaism. Secular opposition to Zionism has continued among some Jewish political groups, and among some Jews active in leftist political movements. Among most religious non-Zionists, there is a de-facto recognition of Israel, but as a secular state. The Edah Chareidis in Jerusalem does not recognize the legitimacy of the state, and one small group, Neturei Karta, actively opposes the existence of Israel. (See Haredim and Zionism.)

[edit] Response to pressures of assimilation

Among of the most striking differences between the Jewish movements in the 21st century is their response to pressures of assimilation, such as intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews.[4] Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis have been most accepting of intermarried couples, with some rabbis willing to officiate in mixed religious ceremonies, although most insist that children in such families be raised strictly Jewish. Conservative rabbis are not permitted to officiate in such marriages, but are supportive of couples when the non-Jewish partner wishes to convert to Judaism and raise children as Jewish.[5]

Main article: Jewish intermarriage

[edit] Emergence of trans- and post-denominational Judaism

While this article seeks to describe the various contemporary Jewish "denominations," the very idea of Jewish denominationalism is contested by some Jews and Jewish organizations. Some consider themselves to be "trans-denominational" or "post-denominational."[6] A variety of new Jewish organizations are emerging that lack such affiliations:

  • Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, a seminary. [7]
  • Jewish day schools are opening in the United States, both primary and secondary, that lack affiliation with one of the movements. [8]

They believe that the formal divisions that have arisen among the "denominations" in contemporary Jewish history are unnecessarily divisive, as well as religiously and intellectually simplistic. According to Rachel Rosenthal, "The post-denominational Jew refuses to be labeled or categorized in a religion that thrives on stereotypes. He has seen what the institutional branches of Judaism have to offer and believes that a better Judaism can be created."[9] Such Jews might, out of necessity, affiliate with a synagogue associated with a particular movement, but their own personal Jewish ideology is often shaped by a variety of influences from more than one denomination.

[edit] The Sometimes Complicated Relationship between Affiliation and Personal Practice or Belief

 This article does not cite any references or sources. (June 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Finally, even among Jews who do not self-consciously think of themselves as "trans-" or "post-denominational," the link between personal belief and practice, on the one hand, and formal affiliation, on the other, is sometimes tenuous. For example, some Jews will affiliate with a synagogue belonging to a particular denomination or grouping for practical, emotional, aesthetic, or sentimental reasons, even though their personal practice or belief diverge sharply from the stated norms of that denomination. In some situations, in fact, a synagogue movement will attract a mass of members whose belief and practices are very much at variance with the beliefs and practices of the movement's core. This is particularly true, for example, for both Orthodox Judaism in the United Kingdom and Conservative Judaism in the United States. In both these cases, for different but overlapping reasons, the mass of members are less religiously observant than the official position, and the position of the movements' cores, might suggest.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Oefner, Peter et al (2004). "Reconstruction of Patrilineages and Matrilineages of Samaritans and Other Israeli Populations From Y-Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA Sequence Variation". Human Mutation 24: 248-260. 
  2. ^ Plaut, W. Gunther (1963). The Rise of Reform Judaism: A Sourcebook of its European Origins. World Union for Progressive Judaism. 
  3. ^ Herberg, Will (1983). Protestant, Catholic, Jew: An Essay in American Religious Sociology. University Of Chicago Press (Reprint edition). 
  4. ^ Tobin, Gary A. and Katherine G. Simon (1999). Rabbis Talk About Intermarriage. Institute for Jewish and Community Research. 
  5. ^ Bloom, Mark et al. (2004). A Place In The Tent: Intermarriage And Conservative Judaism. Eks Publishing. 
  6. ^ Heilman, Uriel (2005, Feb 11). "Beyond Dogma". Jerusalem Post. 
  7. ^ Meskin, Jacob (2002). Answers Divide Us, Questions Unite Us.
  8. ^ Mendelsohn, Martha (2002, Aug 22). "High School Without Labels". Jewish Week. 
  9. ^ Rosenthal, Rachel (2006). "What's in a name?". Kedma (Winter 2006). 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_denominations"
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