Principles in Reconstructionist Judaism

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Reconstructionist Judaism is an American denomination that has a naturalist theology; this theology is a variant of the naturalism of John Dewey. Dewey's naturalism combined atheist beliefs with religious terminology in order to construct a religiously satisfying philosophy for those who had lost faith in traditional religion. Reconstructionism denies that God is either personal or supernatural. Rather, God is said to be the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled. Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan wrote that "to believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society."

Most Reconstructionist Jews reject theism, and instead define themselves as religious naturalists. These views have been criticized on the grounds that they are actually atheism, which has only been made palatable to Jews by rewriting the dictionary. A significant minority of Reconstructionists have refused to accept Kaplan's theology, and instead affirm a theistic view of God.

As in Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism holds that personal autonomy has precedence over Jewish law and theology. It does not ask that its adherents hold to any particular beliefs, nor does it ask that halakha be accepted as normative. In 1986, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) and the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations (FRC) passed the official "Platform on Reconstructionism" (2 pages). It is not a mandatory statement of principles, but rather a consensus of current beliefs. [FRC Newsletter, Sept. 1986, pages D, E.] Major points of the platform state that:

• Judaism is the result of natural human development. There is no such thing as divine intervention.
• Judaism is an evolving religious civilization.
• Zionism and aliyah (immigration to Israel) are encouraged.
• The laity can make decisions, not just rabbis.
• The Torah was not inspired by God; it only comes from the social and historical development of Jewish people.
• All classical views of God are rejected. God is redefined as the sum of natural powers or processes that allows mankind to gain self-fulfillment and moral improvement.
• The idea that God chose the Jewish people for any purpose, in any way, is "morally untenable", because anyone who has such beliefs "implies the superiority of the elect community and the rejection of others". This puts Reconstructionist Jews at odds with all other Jews, as it seems to accuse all other Jews of being racist. Jews outside of the Reconstructionist movement strenuously reject this charge.

Dogma in North American Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism (North America) has had a number of official platforms, but in contrast to rabbinic Judaism, rejects the view that Jews must have any specific beliefs. The first Reform Jewish platform was the 1885 Declaration of Principles, the Pittsburgh Platform. The next platform was in 1937, "The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism". The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) rewrote its principles in 1976 with its "Centenary Perspective" and rewrote them again in the 1999 "A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism" (3 pages). While original drafts of the 1999 statement called for Reform Jews to consider re-adopting some traditional practices on a voluntary basis, later drafts removed most of these suggestions. The final version is thus similar to the 1976 statement.
According to CCAR, personal autonomy still has precedence over these platforms; lay people need not accept all, or even any, of the beliefs stated in these platforms. Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) President Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin wrote a pamphlet about Reform Judaism, entitled "What We Believe...What We Do...". It states that "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." 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.]

Dogma in Conservative Judaism

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Conservative Judaism developed in Europe and the United States in the late 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the enlightenment and emancipation. In many ways it was a reaction to what were seen as the excesses of the Reform movement. For much of the movement's history, Conservative Judaism deliberately avoided publishing systematic explications of theology and belief; this was a conscious attempt to hold together a wide coalition. This concern became a non-issue after the left-wing of the movement seceded in 1968 to form the Reconstructionist movement, and after the right-wing seceded in 1985 to form the Union for Traditional Judaism.

In 1988, the Leadership Council of Conservative Judaism finally issued an official statement of belief, "Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism". It noted that a Jew must hold certain beliefs. However, the Conservative rabbinate also notes that the Jewish community never developed any one binding catechism. Thus, Emet Ve-Emunah affirms belief in God and in God's revelation of Torah to the Jews; however it also affirms the legitimacy of multiple interpretations of these issues. Atheism, Trinitarian views of God, and polytheism are all ruled out. All forms of relativism, and also of literalism and fundamentalism are also rejected. It teaches that Jewish law is both still valid and indispensable, but also holds to a more open and flexible view of how law has and should develop than the Orthodox view.

Principles of faith in Modern Judaism

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Dogma in Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism considers itself to be in direct continuity with historical rabbinic Judaism. Therefore, as above, it accepts philosophic speculation and statements of dogma only to the extent that they exist within, and are compatible with, the system of written and oral Torah. As a matter of practice Orthodox Judaism lays stress on the performance of the actual commandments. Dogma is considered to be the self-understood underpinning of the practice of the Mitzvot.

Owing to this, there is no one official statement of principles. Rather, all formulations by accepted early Torah leaders are considered to have possible validity. Nevertheless, the thirteen principles of Maimonides have a certain priority over other formulations: they are often printed in prayer books, and in many congregations a hymn (Yigdal) incorporating them is sung on Friday nights.

Jewish religious movements

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In the late Middle Ages, when Europe and western Asia were divided into Christian and Islamic countries, the Jewish people also found themselves divided into two main groups. Jews in Central and Eastern Europe, namely in Germany and Poland, were called Ashkenazi. Sephardic Jews can trace their tradition back to the Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain and Portugal under Muslim rule. When they were expelled in 1492, they settled in North Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, the Far East, and northern Europe. The two traditions differ in a number of ritual and cultural details, but their theology and basic Jewish practice are the same.

Over the past two centuries the Ashkenazi Jewish community has divided into a number of Jewish religious movements; each has a different understanding of what principles of belief a Jew should hold, (although belief plays a lesser role than practice and observance in Judaism) and how one should live as a Jew. To some degree, these doctrinal differences have created schisms between the Jewish movements. Nonetheless, there is some level of Jewish unity. For example, it would not be unusual for a Conservative Jew to attend either an Orthodox or Reform synagogue. The article on Relationships between Jewish religious movements discusses how different Jewish movements view each other. Many non-Ashkenazi Jews, especially in the United States, are members of congregations affiliated with the various movements, although they may not specifically identify themselves as members of that movement. They frequently do so out of convenience, and are likely to describe their religious practice as "traditional" or "observant", as opposed to "Orthodox" or "Conservative".

• Orthodox Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch (a condensed codification of halakha that largely favored Sephardic traditions) such as the Moses Isserlis's HaMappah and the Mishnah Berurah, to be the definitive codification of Jewish law, and assert a continuity between the Judaism of the Temple in Jerusalem, pre-Enlightenment Rabbinic Judaism, and modern-day Orthodox Judaism. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds to one particular form of Jewish theology, based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Jewish faith. Orthodox Judaism broadly (and informally) shades into two main styles, Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. The philosophical distinction is generally around accommodation to modernity and weight placed on non-Jewish disciplines, though in practical terms the differences are often reflected in styles of dress and rigor in practice. According to most Orthodox Jews, Jewish people who do not keep the laws of Shabbat and Yom Tov (the holidays), kashrut, and family purity are considered non-religious. Any Jew who keeps at least those laws would be considered observant and religious.
  • Modern Orthodox Judaism emphasizes strict observance of religious laws and commandments but with a broad, liberal approach to modernity and living in a non-Jewish or secular environment. Modern Orthodox women are gradually assuming a greater role in Jewish ritual practice, which is not acceptable in the Haredi community.
  • Haredi Judaism (also known as "ultra-Orthodox Judaism", although some find this term offensive) is a very conservative form of Judaism. The Haredi world revolves around study, prayer and meticulous religious observance. Some Haredi Jews are more open to the modern world, perhaps most notably the Lubavitch Hasidim, but their acceptance of modernity is more a tool for enhancing Jewish faith than an end in itself.
    • Hasidic Judaism is a stream of Haredi Judaism based on the teachings of Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer (The Ba'al Shem Tov). Hasidic philosophy is rooted in the Kabbalah, and Hasidic Jews accept the Kabbalah as sacred scripture. They are distinguished both by a variety of special customs and practices including reliance on a Rebbe or supreme religious leader, and a special dress code particular to each Hasidic group.
    
    
  
  
• Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside of the United States and Canada, was founded in Europe and the United States in the 1800s by rabbis and scholars who were disaffected from either Reform or Orthodox Judaism as adequate responses to the Enlightenment. It is characterized by a commitment to following traditional Jewish laws and customs, including observance of Shabbat and kashrut, a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, a positive attitude toward modern culture, and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic modes of study along with modern scholarship and critical text study when considering Jewish religious texts. Conservative Judaism teaches that Jewish law is not static, but has always developed in response to changing conditions. It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God and reflecting his will, but rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses.Similarly, Conservative Judaism holds that Judaism's Oral Law is divine and normative, but rejects some Orthodox interpretations of the Oral Law. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions, although great caution should be exercised in doing so. There is no absolute uniformity within Conservative Judaism and the communities that retain more traditional practices are sometimes called Conservadox.
• Reform Judaism, called Liberal or Progressive in many countries, originally formed in Germany in response to the Enlightenment. (Note that in the United Kingdom, there are two distinct congregational unions, Reform and Liberal. The former is significantly more traditional than the latter, but both hold to similar theoretical positions.) Its defining characteristic with respect to the other movements is its rejection of the binding nature of Jewish ceremonial law as such and belief instead that individual Jews should exercise an informed autonomy about what to observe. Reform Judaism initially defined Judaism as a religion, rather than as a race or culture, rejected most of the ritual ceremonial laws of the Torah while observing moral laws, and emphasized the ethical call of the Prophets. Reform Judaism developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along with Hebrew in many cases) and emphasized personal connection to Jewish tradition over specific forms of observance. Today, many Reform congregations encourage the study of Hebrew and traditional observances, while a smaller number continue to espouse the liberal ethos of the classical reformers of the nineteenth century.

• Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan, originally an Orthodox rabbi who had come to teach at the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and later became an independent movement emphasizing reinterpreting Judaism for modern times. Like Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism does not hold that Jewish law, as such, requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow.
• Jewish Renewal, a recent North American movement, was begun by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Hassidic rabbi, in the 1960s. Jewish Renewal focuses on spirituality and social justice, but does not address issues of Jewish law. Men and women participate equally in prayer.
• Humanistic Judaism. A small 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 and Israel but also has affiliated groups in Europe and Latin America.

Languages Hebrew Scriptures and Apocrypha

this post is created by farah Hebrew Scriptures: The text was originally written in Hebrew, except for a few verses which were composed in Aramaic (Ezra 4:8 to 6:18; Ezra 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:4b to 7:28). While exiled in Babylon, the people of Israel learned to speak Aramaic, a language related to Hebrew. They eventually adopted it as their native tongue. By the time of the birth of Jesus, Hebrew had been abandoned by the Jews except for use in religious services, and in literary and scholarly usage. Many people also spoke Greek.

The books of the Apocrypha appear to have been originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic. However, the original texts have not survived. Today, we only have translations in Greek and a few other languages, including Latin. Translations of the Hebrew Scriptures and Apocrypha Relatively few Christians have actually read the Bible in its original form. Essentially all base their Biblical knowledge upon one or more translations of the Bible. There have been dozens of such translations, of varying degree of accuracy: The traditional belief is that during the 3rd century BCE, 72 translators were locked up in separate rooms on the island of Pharos. Each spent precisely 72 days to translate the Hebrew text into "koine dialektos" a popular version of Greek. When the translations were compared, they were found to be identical. Few people believe this story today. Most theologians believe that the translation was completed in many stages between the 3rd century BCE and 1st century CE. By this time, few Jews were able to read Hebrew. There was concern that they would stray from the faith because they could no longer read the Torah. The number 72 was rounded off to 70, which in Latin is Septuagint, and in Roman numerals is LXX. This translation has since been referred to both as the Septuagint and as LXX. It was the most commonly used translation among Jews at the time of Christ, and generally used by the writers of the New Testament. LXX contained many translation errors. Because of this, although Jerome (342-420 CE) and two women assistants started to use the Septuagint as a source for the Latin Vulgate, they quickly changed to the Hebrew texts. The Vulgate was used for many centuries by the Roman Catholic Church. (Later writers substituted the phrase "venerable brothers" for his helpers' names in order to suppress the knowledge that Jerome was aided by women.)  References G.SA. Mather & L.A. Nichols, Dictionary of Cults, Sects, Religions and the Occult, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, (1993), P. 38 The Revised English Bible, with the Apocrypha, Oxford University Press (1989), P. iii E. Boulding, "The Underside of History", Westview Press, Boulder CO, (1976), P. 356 & 372

Structure of the Hebrew Scriptures

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The Biblical Canon

The English words "Bible" and "bibliography" come from the Greek word "biblion" which means book or scroll. One source indicates that the root origin of the word is found in the name of an ancient city Byblos. That was the site of a famous temple to the Goddess Astarte and the location of a large library of papyrus scrolls.

The Christian Holy Bible (sometimes called the Scriptures, Holy Scriptures or Word of God) is composed of 66 or more books, grouped into two or three sections. These sections are:

1. The Hebrew Scriptures (sometimes referred to as the Old Testament): In the Christian canon, the 39 books are divided into 5 groupings:

	The Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
	History: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
	Stories, Poetry and Wisdom: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
	Major Prophets: Isiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
	Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Michah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

2. The Apocrypha: The word "Apocrypha" means "hidden". Its books are often referred to as intertestamental writings. One source [1] lists 7 books in the Apocrypha: Tobit, Judith, 1 & 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch. Another source [2] lists 14 books or parts of books: 1 & 2 Esdras; Tobit; Judith; the rest of the chapters of the Book of Esther; The Wisdom of Solomon; Ecclesiasticus; Baruch; A Letter of Jeremiah; The Prayer of Azariah & the Song of the Tree; Daniel & Susanna; Daniel, Bel & the Snake; Prayer of Manasseh, 1 & 2 Maccabees. Not all religious traditions accept the Apocrypha as a valid part of Scripture.
3. The Christian Scriptures, aka the New Testament. This is a series of 27 gospels, epistles (letters), and other books written by members of the early Christian movement.

How Were the Books Chosen?

The Hebrew Scriptures: Following the Roman-Jewish war circa 65 CE, Jews were expelled from Palestine and were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. The focal point of their religion, the temple at Jerusalem, was destroyed. Their religious leaders felt a need to precisely define the Hebrew Scriptures so that they would form a new "anchor" for Judaism. About 20 years after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE, Jewish scholars assembled in Jamnia, a Judean town west of Jerusalem. Their task was to decide which books should form part of the Hebrew Scriptures. The Pentateuch, the first 5 books, formed the core. To this, they added 34 other books. However, they rejected most of the commonly used religious texts which had been written after about 150 BCE. Later, the mainline Christian church made the Jewish Bible part of their own sacred texts. They rearranged the order of the books slightly.

The Apocrypha: This consist of many books that were used for spiritual guidance by the Jews. The collection was included in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that was in general use during Jesus' lifetime. But some 60 years after Christ's death, they were rejected by Jewish scholars as scripture. The books of the Apocrypha were incorporated into the Roman Catholic Latin Vulgate translation, but were later rejected or demoted to the status of an appendix in most Protestant translations.

The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)

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Modern-day Christianity and Judaism both share the same foundation - the religion of ancient Judaism as described in the Hebrew Scriptures.

By the time of Jesus execution, there were about two dozen Jewish religious movements in ancient Israel. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE, -- a culture-destroying event -- two main movements survived:

	Rabbinic Judaism, centered in local synagogues.
	Three main forms of Christianity: Jewish Christianity, Pauline Christianity and Gnostic Christianity. These groups met informally in local house churches.

Both modern-day Judaism and Christianity use the Hebrew Scriptures, although in different ways.

God is One

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The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical – it is considered akin to polytheism. "[God], the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity." This is referred to in the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one." (Maimonides, 13 principles of faith Second Principle).

While Jews hold that dualistic and trinitarian conceptions of God are incorrect, they generally are of the opinion that non-Jews that hold such beliefs are not held culpable.

See also Divine simplicity.

God is all-powerful

Orthodox Jews believe in the omnipotent, omniscient God of the Bible – “Attribute to the Lord all glory and power” (Psalms 29). Thus, most rabbinic works present God as having the properties of omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence (being all good). This is still the primary way that most Orthodox and many non-Orthodox Jews view God.

The issue of theodicy was raised again, especially after the extreme horrors of the Holocaust and several theological responses surfaced. These are discussed in a separate entry on Holocaust theology. The central questions they address are whether and how God is all-powerful and all-good, given the existence of evil in the world, particularly the Holocaust.

God is personal

Most of classical Judaism views God as personal. We have a relationship with God, God has a relationship with us. Much of the midrash, and many prayers in the siddur portray God as caring about humanity in much the same way that we care about God.

Harold Kushner, a Conservative rabbi, writes that "God shows His love for us by reaching down to bridge the immense gap between Him and us. God shows His love for us by inviting us to enter into a Covenant (brit) with Him, and by sharing with us His Torah".^{[citation needed]} Hasidism seems to endorse this view to some degree.^{[citation needed]}

On the other hand, Maimonides and many other medieval Jewish philosophers rejected the idea of a personal God as incorrect. This may, however, simply be an emphatic form of the common Jewish view that God is unchanging, not describable and not anthropomorphic: see next section, and negative theology.

The nature of God

God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. A corollary belief is that God is utterly unlike man, and can in no way be considered anthropomorphic. All statements in the Hebrew Bible and in rabbinic literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God at all. See Divine simplicity; Negative theology; Tzimtzum.

To God alone may one offer prayer

Any belief that an intermediary between man and God could be used, whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered heretical. Maimonides writes that "God is the only one we may serve and praise....We may not act in this way toward anything beneath God, whether it be an angel, a star, or one of the elements.....There are no intermediaries between us and God. All our prayers should be directed towards God; nothing else should even be considered."

Some rabbinic authorities disagreed with this view^{[citation needed]}. Notably, Nachmanides was of the opinion that it is permitted to ask the angels to beseech God on our behalf. This argument manifests notably in the Selichot prayer called "Machnisay Rachamim", a request to the angels to intercede with God. Modern printed editions of the Selichot include this prayer.

Jewish principles of faith

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Monotheism

Judaism is based on a strict unitarian monotheism. This doctrine expresses the belief in one indivisible God. The concepts of multiple gods (polytheism) or of a God taking multiple forms (for example Trinity) are heretical in Judaism. The prayer par excellence in terms of defining God is the Shema Yisrael: "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One", also translated as "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is unique/alone" (Deuteronomy 6:4).

God is conceived of as eternal, the creator of the universe, and the source of morality. God has the power to intervene in the world. The term God thus corresponds to an actual ontological reality, and is not merely a projection of the human psyche. Maimonides describes God in this fashion: "There is a Being, perfect in every possible way, who is the ultimate cause of all existence. All existence depends on God and is derived from God."

The Hebrew Bible and classical rabbinic literature affirm theism and reject deism. However, in the writings of medieval Jewish philosophers, perhaps influenced by neo-Aristotelian philosophy, one finds what can be termed limited omniscience. [See Gersonides "Views on omniscience"]

God is creator of the universe

According to the Biblical account, the world was created by God in six days. While many Haredi Jews take this literally, many Modern Orthodox, Conservative and Reform authorities feel that the six days should be interpreted as "stages" in the creation of the universe and the earth, and that Judaism would not be in contradiction to the scientific model that states that the universe is about 13.7 billion years old.

Religious doctrine and principles of faith

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Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles, Judaism has no formal statement of principles of faith such as a creed that is recognized or accepted by all.

Judaism has no central religious authority that could formulate or issue a unified creed. The various "principles of faith" that have been enumerated over the intervening centuries carry no greater weight than that imparted to them by the fame and scholarship of their respective authors. Central authority in Judaism is not vested in any person or group but rather in Judaism's sacred writings, laws, and traditions. In nearly all its variations, Judaism affirms the existence and uniqueness of God. Judaism stresses performance of deeds or commandments rather than adherence to a belief system.

Orthodox Judaism has stressed a number of core principles in its educational programs, most importantly a belief that there is a single, omniscient and transcendent God, who created the universe, and continues to be concerned with its governance. Traditional Judaism maintains that God established a covenant with the Jewish people at Mount Sinai, and revealed his laws and commandments to them in the form of the Torah. In Rabbinic Judaism, the Torah comprises both the written Torah (Pentateuch) and a tradition of oral law, much of it codified in later sacred writings.

Traditionally, the practice of Judaism has been devoted to the study of Torah and observance of these laws and commandments. In normative Judaism, the Torah and hence Jewish law itself is unchanging, but interpretation of law is more open. It is considered a mitzvah (commandment) to study and understand the law.