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MAIN TRENDS IN JEWISH

Orthodox Jews

There are Orthodox Jews in Israel  today 20 percent of the population. It is the predominant religion of Israel and is led by two chief rabbis.

  They are identified by men’s black outfits, temporal curls and beards. In their synagogue, men and women sit separately: Women on the balcony, men down in the hall. The wall of weeping in Jerusalem is divided by a fence between men and women.  They do not accept female rabbis.

Orthodox Jews interpret the Torah most strictly. They literally believe that God passed the Torah to Moses, who recorded it in memory, and man has no right to change anything about it. They believe in the inviolable covenant of God and the people of Israel, which requires unconditional obedience to the laws. The rabbinical tradition is the only correct way to interpret the laws. For this reason, rabbinical schools play an important role in the teaching of the Talmud. Moses Maimoniden (1135-1205)  13 points of faith  at the heart of the doctrine of religion remains central.

There is an even stricter line within Orthodox Judaism: Extreme Orthodox, Hared.

Hasidit

Hasidian group  founded in the 18th century by Baal Shem Tow  among poor Aspen Jews in Eastern Europe. They protested against Orthodox Judaism  emphasizing the scholarship of the rabbinical tradition. The message of the movement appealed especially to out-of-school peasants.  For them, religion had to be more emotions  appealing ,  simple jewelry, but also joyful  piety.

For many Jewish groups who suffered persecution, this form of faith gave more comfort  in harsh living conditions.

They believe their leaders are more special than rabbis  spiritual gifts.

Today, the business is popular in the United States and Israel.

Reform Judaism

 

The oppression of the Jews had weakened according to the ideas of the Enlightenment, and the Jews were able to live more freely. 1791 France was the first country in Europe to grant Jews full civil rights. France was followed by the Netherlands in 1798.

Image: Wikimedia  GNU Free Documentation license

Reform Judaism was born in Germany in the early 19th century. Its earliest advocates were Abraham Geiger of Frankfurt.

The Jews gradually became able to merge into the European intellectual and cultural mainstream. These new currents contributed to the renewal of Judaism. However, many wanted to  retains its Judaism, but at the same time  be  involved in the culture of the majority population. Now one’s own Jewish tradition and religion had to be viewed in a new way.

What was new was the teaching that every Jew had a responsibility to the country in which he lived and not just to his own faith. They realize that the Torah had brought together several different levels of tradition, it was no longer an absolute law to be taken literally. Traditions had to be interpreted in the light of what is acceptable today. It was more desirable to seek guidance from the Torah for a good life, for a morally good life is the best service to God.

In Reform Jewish synagogues, women and men sit together, the sermon is vernacular, organs are used in worship, and women can also be rabbis. For girls, a batmitsva party similar to the boys' bar mitsva party is organized.

Conservative Judaism

 

Conservative Judaism was born in the United States in the late 19th century.  According to other sources, in Germany in the 1840s.  The trend emerged as a middle ground between Orthodox Judaism and Reform Judaism. It was developed by Solomon Schechter. 

In this trend, the rabbinic tradition has been preserved.

Torah instructions are desired  adapt to the particular society.  Respect for the Torah and Jewish tradition is seen as the foundation of national self-esteem.

Organ services are used in the synagogue services  and  the sermons are   vernacular.

The form of conservative Judaism is very common in the United States  the trend of Judaism.

Salomon Schechter Photo: Wikimedia  GNU Free Documentation License

Reconstructionism

 

Rabbi Mordechai Kaplanin (1881-1983)  the background was in Orthodox Judaism. He wanted to reshape Judaism to better reflect modern thinking.

He renounced the rabbinical conception of God: He could not regard God as a supernatural being who changed the laws of nature. In his view, God was a being who gives people salvation and creates a cosmos out of chaos. God is not omniscient .

He accepted the views of biblical scholars that the Torah was written by several different people. Reconstructivists do not consider Jewish law sacred or unchanging. The laws of the Torah are not eternal.

Jewish religious customs for reconstructionists: public holidays and  artefacts are  folklore that enriches the Jewish people and its spiritual life. Unusual ways to date should be abandoned and left to everyone’s choice in their own environment.

Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan. Image: Wikipedia Commons GNU Free Documentation License.

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