sign in sign up
<<
Home , Pittsburgh Platform, Reform Judaism

The University of Manchester Research

Progressive

Link to publication record in Manchester Research Explorer

Citation for published version (APA): Langton, D., Azari, N. P. (Ed.), Runehov, A. (Ed.), & Oviedo, L. (Ed.) (2013). Progressive Judaism. In Encyclopedia of Sciences and (pp. 1858-1866). Springer Nature.

Published in: Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions

Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on Manchester Research Explorer is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Proof version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version.

General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Explorer are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.

Takedown policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please refer to the University of Manchester’s Takedown Procedures [http://man.ac.uk/04Y6Bo] or contact [email protected] providing relevant details, so we can investigate your claim.

Download date:01. Oct. 2021 P 1858 Progressive Judaism

mores of in order to justify the hopes for Progressive Judaism political and social emancipation. One towering figure stood out on this stage, the Orthodox Daniel R. Langton Jewish philosopher Mendelssohn Department of Religions and , (1729–1786), who redefined Judaism in its tribal University of Manchester, Manchester, UK particularities as “revealed legislation” but who emphasized that Judaism’s essential teachings, including its in a creator-, its ethics, Related Terms and its hope of eternal life, were universal truths available to all mankind through the proper appli- Liberal Judaism; Reconstructionist Judaism; cation of reason. In a Romantic-era reaction to the Enlightenment in the nineteenth century, a number of Jewish scholars, including (1794–1886) and Description (1817–1991), established a more historically ori- entated approach to Judaism known as the Progressive Judaism is a term given to describe Wissenschaft des Judentums (or scientific study a variety of Jewish religious groups and move- of Judaism), which came to regard Jewish iden- ments which, since the nineteenth century, have tity as the sum of . Such an sought to reconcile their with modernity in approach dispensed with the ideas of divine leg- a deliberate, programmatic way, usually in islation and a , and effectively explicit contradistinction to traditional under- adopted a materialist methodology that refrained standings of Judaism. They include, among from bringing in a dimension for others, Reform Jews, Liberal Jews, and Recon- explaining historical developments. structionist Jews, who, having disassociated From these intellectual beginnings emerged themselves from the authority of Jewish tradition the Reform movement, which had taken institu- to a lesser or greater extent, have come to repre- tional form in Germany, the USA, England, and sent a wide spectrum of views with regard to France by the 1840s, although the earliest stir- theology and practice. It is worth noting that the rings occurred in Germany in the 1810s. By the labels can have different meanings in different 1880s, Reform would dominate North American places; for example, Liberal Judaism in Britain synagogal life, while it would only ever be roughly corresponds to Reform in the USA, while a denominational minority elsewhere. There is Anglo-Reform is closer to US Conservative Juda- a debate among scholars as to the precise moti- ism. Today, according to the statistics reported by vations and driving forces behind these progres- the World Union of Progressive Judaism, there sive developments in each country, with greater are more than 45 countries with Progressive con- or lesser weight being given to the political ambi- gregations, around 1,200 Progressive, Liberal, tions of assimilationist lay Jews, the influence of Reform, and Reconstructionist congregations religious leaders and intellectual pioneers of around the world, and approximately 1.8 m peo- Reform, and the critique and emulation of the ple affiliated with the World Union’s constituent surrounding Christian societies. In any case, movements globally. with few exceptions the reforms adopted tended The Reform movement had its origin in the to be a mixture of theological and innova- eighteenth century European Enlightenment, tions that divided wider Jewish opinion. By with its emphasis upon rationality and humanism. deliberately contrasting themselves with the tra- The Jewish Enlightenment, the , was ditionalists, the reformers provoked the rise of characterized by an interest in secular studies, what would now be described as ultra-orthodoxy such as , literature, and languages, and neo-, the first of which and an obsession with raising the intellectual seeks to turn inward and away from the profane Progressive Judaism 1859 P world and its secular knowledge, and the second It would be these theological developments, and of which seeks to engage cautiously with it, the sense of intellectual and religious freedom, adopting and adapting those aspects of modernity that would prove so important in the long run, that, it is believed, can be reconciled with Jewish since many of the new practices, especially those tradition without causing violence to it. relating to decorum, would be adopted by the What were the reforms? At first, the changes traditionalists. were focused on manners and decorum in syna- In Germany, which took the lead in the move- gogue services, and on conforming to wider soci- ment, two distinctive positions emerged in the etal (i.e., Christian) norms of behavior. The use of classic Reform period, usually associated with the vernacular in the liturgy was encouraged at the Wissenschaft scholar-, Abraham the expense of Hebrew, the services themselves Geiger (1810–1974) and Samuel Holdheim were shortened, music was frequently included, (1806–1860), both of whom understood Judaism and it became possible in some places for men primarily in terms of moral law and monotheism. and women to sit together. Reform “ministers” Whereas Geiger viewed Reform Judaism as the dressed like Christian and the balance of latest expression of an evolutionary develop- their role shifted away from Talmudic learning ment, Holdheim was more revolutionary in his and halakhic (legal) expertise toward sermoniz- justification for change. For Geiger, history ing and pastoral care. Many reformers became revealed how each generation of Jews had given ideologically relaxed when it came to observing fresh meaning to the traditional liturgy and (food laws) or the festivals and practices that had sought to express the core eth- in accordance with rabbinic tradition. Some ical-monotheistic aspects of Judaism, leading to adopted the practice of bringing newborn babies a perpetual state of organic change as the Jewish to for a blessing (like a christening), adapted itself to local circumstances and and of praying bare-headed (as was the Christian cultures. In this account of “progressive revela- practice), and many replaced the bar tion,” modern Jews, who had evolved from ceremony, that is, the at which a tribal nation to become the proponents of a boy reads publically from the scroll for a religious system, had engaged with and devel- the first time, with the confirmation service at oped the rabbinic traditions of medieval Jewry, which a boy’s knowledge of the religious teach- just as their ancestors had engaged with and ings and duties of Judaism were tested (like developed the traditions of Biblical Judaism. P a catechism). In the USA, in particular, the idea Thus Geiger reinterpreted the traditional expec- of celebrating the Sabbath on a Sunday was tation of a Messiah to liberate the Jews as a future actively advocated. Of course, many of these of spiritual enlightenment. For reforms in behavior implied subtle (and not so Holdheim, history suggested that the destruction subtle) shifts in thought, and it was not long of the Second and of in antiq- before these were made explicit, leading to uity had brought to an end the need for the civil more abstract theological innovations being and ritual laws of Biblical Judaism. It followed introduced and debated, such as challenging the that Rabbinic or Talmudic Judaism, which had divine origins of the ▶ Torah or Law, or remained mired in the ceremonial laws transforming the future hope of a Messiah into originating with the Temple and the Jewish that of a messianic age, or propounding the uni- State, had lost its way. What was called for now versalist message of Judaism (“the Mission of was a radical break with the past, and ”) in contrast to its commonly perceived a recognition that only the moral teachings of particularity, or emphasizing the idea of Judaism the Torah were worth preserving. Holdheim felt as a religion against the view of the Jews as he could justify the abolition of the ceremonial a nation in reluctant exile, with the dangerous laws with the coming of the messianic age, which implication that they could not be trusted as patri- had been made manifest in modern Jewish polit- otic citizens of England, France, or Germany. ical emancipation. P 1860 Progressive Judaism

Sources of Authority Jerusalem , the reformers adopted a range of different views, from those following Arguably, the Reform movement organized itself Geiger, who regarded such literature as histori- according to two principles that define all mod- cally, culturally, and religious significant feature ernizing variants of Judaism: progress and auton- of Jewish tradition, still of value for Jews today, omy. From the Haskalah came the prioritization to those more in sympathy with Holdheim, who of human reason and autonomy, and from the was impatient and dismissive of what he saw as Wissenschaft came the historicist view of the a primitive, misguided conception of Jewish reli- Jewish past, including its traditions and its sacred gion, best forgotten. Generally speaking, the texts, as developments brought about by - Halakhah, that is, the religious law, has not pos- dane historical-cultural forces. The recognition sessed the binding force or authoritative status for that the human intellect and its conception of progressive Jews that it has for the Orthodox. At religion had progressed over time persuaded the same time, progressive Jews have tended to reforming Jews, as individuals and as congrega- display an active interest in non-Jewish thought tions, that they possessed all the authority they as (potentially, at least) authoritative sources of needed to define Judaism for themselves in their knowledge that can be synthesized with or under- own day. Thus, reformers came to view the tra- stood to complement Jewish thought, especially ditional sources of Jewish authority, that is, the in the realms of morality, ethics and science. Torah or the , in a very different way from traditionalists. It came to be seen as encapsulating a variety of distinct, often contradictory, stages in Key Values Jewish history, thought and ethics, rather than as an integrated, unified body of religious Here, as elsewhere, the autonomy and commit- that was the foundation of Orthodox thought. ment to change so prized by reformers has led to Many modernists adopted the findings of a range of views. In the US, Reform was split biblical-criticism with relish, delighting in their between moderate leaders such as Isaac Mayer newfound freedom to dismiss the morally and Wise (1819–1900) and the followers of scientifically challenging aspects of the scriptures Holdheim’s radicalism, such as as manifestations of the unenlightened chauvin- (1809–1879). Over the course of the nineteenth ism and ignorance of earlier ages. The divine Law and twentieth centuries there were a series of revealed at Sinai might be said to have originated rabbinic conferences or platforms which codified in Heaven (Torah min Ha-Shamayim), but this in an authoritative way the key values of the should not be interpreted in a simplistic or naive reformers. The of 1885, con- fashion; even if inspired by God, the Law had vened under (1843–1926), been mediated by flawed human agents. Modern showed the radicals to be in the ascendant at biblical scholarship with its concerns for the iden- that time, declaring that “we accept as binding tification of multiple authors, contextual history, only its moral laws, and maintain only such cer- and linguistic mastery of the sources was a tool emonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but by which one might uncover the ethical princi- reject all such as are not adapted to the views ples that represented the authentic understanding and habits of modern civilization.” Mosaic and or essence of Judaism. Such an approach would rabbinic laws had “originated in ages and under free it from the biases and errors that had, in the the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our pre- past, necessitated extensive theological gymnas- sent mental and spiritual state” and these were tics by traditional defenders of the truth and denounced in that “their observance in our days is moral authority of God’s divinely revealed apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spir- Torah. With regard to their attitude toward the itual elevation.” They declared themselves to be enormous body of rabbinic laws and traditions, a religion, rather than a nation, and thus distanced including the and the Babylonian and themselves from and the political hope Progressive Judaism 1861 P for a Jewish State. Judaism was presented as “a Until the recent past our obligations to the Jewish progressive religion, ever striving to be in accord people and to all humanity seemed congruent. At times now these two imperatives appear to conflict. with the postulates of reason,” and, along with We know of no simple way to resolve such ten- and , was concerned to promote sions. We must, however, confront them without “monotheistic and moral truth.” By 1937 and the abandoning either of our commitments. A univer- Columbus Platform, however, there had been sal concern for humanity unaccompanied by a devotion to our particular people is self- a retreat from some of these positions, such that destructive; a passion for our people without the was now embraced as involvement in humankind contradicts what the a profound expression of Jewish identity prophets have meant to us...Previous generations (“Judaism is the of which Israel is the of Reform Jews had unbound confidence in humanity’s potential for good. We have lived body... a center of and spiritual through terrible tragedy and been compelled to life”). The text, drafted by Samuel S. Cohen reappropriate our tradition’s realism about the (1888–1959), also willingly admitted that many human capacity for evil. traditions had been too easily set aside in the past: And while there was frustration that, in the Judaism as a way of life requires in addition to its face of Orthodox opposition, Reform Judaism moral and spiritual demands, the preservation of had not yet been recognized as a legitimate the Sabbath, festivals and Holy Days, the retention expression of Judaism within Israel, such politi- and development of such customs, symbols and cal frustrations could not weaken the loyalty ceremonies as possess inspirational value, the cul- tivation of distinctive forms of religious art and Reform Jews felt towards the “newly reborn” music and the use of Hebrew, together with the Jewish State to which they were bound “by innu- vernacular, in our and instruction. merable religious and ethnic ties,” nor would it prevent them from encouraging individual Jews This trend can continue to be traced in the to make (that is, to emigrate to the land of 1976 statement “Reform Judaism: A Centenary Israel). Likewise, the 1999 “Statement of Princi- Perspective,” in which the authors, led by Eugene ples of Reform Judaism” (drafted by Richard Borowitz (1924-), identified a number of histori- Levy) with its tri-part focus on God, the Torah cal experiences (including threats to political and the land of Israel, sought to reassert tradi- freedom, the explosion of new knowledge and tional and Zionist values alongside the classic technologies, and the spiritual emptiness of reformist ones. In contrast to official declarations much of Western culture) that “taught us to be P before it, no mention is made of modern biblical- less dependent on the values of our society and critical understandings of the Torah, preferring to to reassert what remains perennially valid in highlight its role as the foundation of Jewish life; Judaism’s teaching.” At the same time, the Holo- to “cherish the truths revealed in Torah” about caust was seen to have “shattered our easy God’s ongoing revelation to the Jews and the optimism about humanity and its inevitable pro- record of their ongoing relationship with God; gress” so that even while Jews remain committed and to view it rather as a manifestation of ahavat to the hope for the messianic fulfillment of olam, God’s eternal love for the Jewish people humanity yet “we have learned that the survival and for humanity. With regard to traditional rit- of the Jewish people is of highest priority.” ual, the Statement noted that while “some of these The emphasis on the universalist values mitzvot, sacred obligations, have long been enshrined in the “mission of Israel” to humanity observed by Reform Jews, others, both ancient was also tempered somewhat by the realization and modern, demand renewed attention as the that Jews continued to be regarded as a people result of the unique context of our own times.” apart and viewed with hostility by so many. In Britain, the Reform movement developed in Early Reform Jews, newly admitted to general a quite different direction. David Wolf-Marks society and seeing in this the evidence of (1811–1909), the first minister of the first a growing , regularly spoke of Jewish purpose in terms of Jewry’s service to humanity... Anglo-Reform synagogue, had internalized the P 1862 Progressive Judaism criticism of traditional Judaism voiced by many a result of modern developments in philosophy, evangelical Christians. He sought to bring science and history, the theology of Jewish tradi- Judaism back to what he saw as its core beliefs tion was largely redundant. He established the of the Bible, and dismissed the rabbinic traditions Society for the Advancement of Judaism in as a kind of corruption. Unlike in the US and 1922 and published Judaism as a Civilization in Germany, Anglo-Reform Judaism’s emphasis 1934. Essentially, Kaplan’s vision of Judaism upon reason did not result in the adoption of rejected supernaturalism while remaining com- biblical criticism, which would have undermined mitted to the Jewish community, such that Jewish the authority of the Word of God, and it was left religious life was to be maintained without any to Claude Montefiore (1858–1938), co-founder belief in a personal, supernatural deity or in His with (1873–1963) of Anglo- revealed Law. “God” was to be understood to be Liberal Judaism, to reform Reform around the a metaphor, the sum of all natural processes that turn of the century by injecting it with a more allow man to become self-fulfilled. Other recon- historical-critical character. Montefiore was also structionist teachings included the ideas that one of the pioneers of , an activ- Judaism should be regarded as a continuously ity that has enthused progressive Jews much more evolving religious civilization, an all-embracing than it has Orthodox Jews. As Montefiore saw it, way of life incorporating languages, literature, not all the light has shone through Jewish win- customs, civil and criminal law, art, music, and dows, and this led him not only to dialogue with food; that the authority of religious observance religious thinkers of other , but also to comes from its status as the historical manifesta- become one of the first critically-acclaimed Jewish tion of the will of the Jewish people; and that the experts in New Testament studies and one of the synagogue is regarded as a centre for communal earliest proponents of the Jewish reclamation of activity. While it has not been successful in terms as a good . Britain was also important in of affiliated numbers, in terms of its teachings it terms of drawing together from across the world has undoubtedly influenced many other progres- those who shared a common set of progressive sive Jews. values, for it was Montagu who established the There has always existed a tension within pro- World Union of Progressive Judaism in 1926. gressive Jewish communities between the com- Both Anglo-Liberal Judaism and the WUPJ con- peting values of traditional religious authority tinue to this day to champion the progressive and what might be described as the humanistic, Jewish interest in those truths that can be found liberalizing agenda. It seems fair to say that the in teachings outside of Jewish tradition, together Reform platforms considered above record with a profound commitment to the development a return to tradition that would have left some of of Jewish-Christian relations. Ironically, when it the more radical founding fathers dismayed. In comes to official institutional interfaith represen- particular, there has been an acceptance of the tation, progressive Judaism is often sidelined by significance of the Land to Judaism and an Christian partners in dialogue in an attempt to acknowledgement of the State of Israel as avoid offending the sensibilities of Orthodox a legitimate element of modern Jewish identity, Judaism, with whom the majority of British Jews an increasing use of Hebrew in the liturgy, and are affiliated. renewal movements that emphasize traditional It is also worth noting Reconstructionism, a approaches to religious observance and Talmudic denomination that emerged in the US in the early study. But as has been made clear by the principal twentieth-century and which is often viewed as organization of Reform in the US and Canada, the a kind of compromise between Jewish religion Central Conference of American Rabbis, per- and . Its founding figure, sonal autonomy still has precedence over author- Mordechai Kaplan (1881–1983), a Conserva- ity of these platforms. And this principle holds tive-trained , came to believe that, as true of other progressive groups, too. Progressive Judaism 1863 P

Ethical Principles “our duty to participate in the great task of mod- ern times, to solve, on the basis of justice and From the beginning, Reform-minded Jews saw righteousness, the problems presented by the con- themselves as the guardians of ethical monothe- trasts and evils of the present organization of ism, a belief in one God who cares for humans society.” The Columbus Platform (1937) gave and who expects them to care about each other, in an even higher priority to defining Reform’s eth- contrast with the ceremonial law which was ical worldview. Judaism was described as blend- understood to lie at the heart of traditional Juda- ing religion and morality into “an indissoluble ism. While none of the progressive Jewish unity,” with the love of God defined in terms of denominations have been comfortable with one’s love of fellow men. Social justice was or mandatory lists of principles from sought by applying the teachings of Judaism to which they can be said to derive their ethical economic order, industry, and to national and worldview, a number of common beliefs do international affairs. Jewish religion was appear in their writings and statements of pur- presented as working towards a social order pose. There is the idea of the “Mission of Israel,” which protects men from material disabilities of that is, the responsibility to promulgate to the old age, sickness, and unemployment and, and it nations of the world the teaching of the unity of cited the prophets’ ideal of universal peace, as God as described in the Shema (“Hear O Israel, committed to the moral education, love and sym- the Lord is our God, the Lord is one”). Along with pathy necessary “to secure human progress.” The a view of the Torah as the co-product of divine 1976 statement “Reform Judaism: A Centenary inspiration and human agency in the distant past, Perspective” reflected upon the successes of the there is an optimism in the rationality of human- Reform movement in the century since the estab- ity that makes it an obligation to interpret and lishment of the Union of American Hebrew re-interpret this source of moral guidance appro- Congregations and the rabbinical training centre priately for each generation. And there is Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of a commitment to the social justice taught by the Religion. According to this account, one of its Hebrew prophets and embodied in the concept of proudest achievements was that its teaching “that (that is, mending or rebuilding the the ethics of universalism implicit in traditional world), which is itself closely associated to the Judaism must be an explicit part of our Jewish ancient hope for a future messianic age of peace duty, [and] that women have full rights to practice P for all humankind. It is worth remembering that Judaism” now appeared “self-evident to most Kaplan, the father of Reconstructionist Judaism, Jews.” defined God as “the power that makes for human In relation to wider cultural debates, progres- ” and by this he meant, among other sive Jews have tended to adopt a socially liberal things, that “to believe in God means to take for approach towards gender-equality (women granted that it is man’s destiny to rise above the Reform rabbis were ordained in the US in 1972 brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and and in Britain in 1976), to abortion, to civil exploitation from human society.” (Judaism , and to homosexuality (with many groups without Supernaturalism, 1958). fully supportive of gay marriage and accepting of Historically, progressive Jews have celebrated gay rabbis and ). Large numbers were the Bible and as enshrining the involved in the US civil rights movement and basic ethical framework for the Jew, although the peace movement, and many have approached they have always reserved the right to censor the Israeli-Palestinian problem by asserting their the moralistic teachings of the Jewish traditions commitment to justice for what they see as the and to modify them in the light of modern ethical wrongs perpetrated against Palestinians as an sensibilities. The Pittsburgh Platform (1885) expression of their commitment to prophetic focused on the disparity of wealth, deeming it and religious Zionist ideals. P 1864 Progressive Judaism

Characteristics Intermarriage with non-Jews might be frowned upon or accepted. A Jew might be defined While the idea of “the Judeo-Christian tradition” according to matrilineal descent (that is, of the is often exaggerated, in many ways Judaism and mother), or it may be acceptable to have one Christianity are the most similar of the world Jewish parent and to have been raised as a Jew. religions, in large part because they emerged from a common ancestor in the first century. They share much of their scriptures (although Science and Religion they read the very differently, and they have each generated the later sacred writings A defining characteristic of the project of Reform of the Talmuds and the New Testament respec- was the claim to reconcile Judaism with the best tively) and they also share much of their ethical scientific and philosophic knowledge of the day. codes (despite the fact that many critics of Its proponents saw themselves as the rightful Judaism contrast the so-called New Testament heirs of the Haskalah and embraced the positivist God of Love with the Old Testament God of scientific worldview of the Enlightenment. Just Judgment). Of course they do differ on core as Jews had been doing for hundreds of years, issues such what is meant by the unity of God, progressive Jews stressed the rationality of who or what is the Messiah, who are the true Judaism in contrast to the allegedly irrational people of Israel, and whether the Torah or Law teachings of Christianity, such as the incarnation has been abrogated. Other important differences or the trinity, and also, as we have seen, they include the complicated reality that Judaism denigrated many of the teachings of Orthodox tends to be defined as both a religion and in Judaism. The Pittsburgh Platform (1885) relation to the Jews as a people, rather than as declared a religion per se, and the importance of Eretz We hold that the modern discoveries of scientific Yisrael, that is, the Land of Israel, to the majority researches in the domain of nature and history are of Jews, which strikes many Christians as an not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the unspiritual obsession. When it comes to tradi- Bible reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age, tional teachings such as the role of women, the and at times clothing its conception of divine Prov- idence and Justice dealing with men in miraculous belief in the afterlife, or the divine nature of narratives. scripture, progressive forms of Judaism can often appear to share more in common with pro- Likewise, the Columbus Platform (1937) gressive forms of Christianity than with their affirmed that more conservative co-religionists. Judaism welcomes all truth, whether written in the Progressive Jews differ amongst themselves pages of scripture or deciphered from the records of regarding their professed beliefs, but this is rarely nature. The new discoveries of science, while replacing the older scientific views underlying our regarded as a problem since diversity is under- sacred literature, do not conflict with the essential stood to be the inevitable result of the long-held spirit of religion as manifested in the consecration commitment to personal autonomy. God can be of man’s will, heart and mind to the service of God viewed anywhere along a continuum from the and of humanity... God reveals Himself not only in the majesty, beauty and orderliness of nature. biblical deity who intervenes in history to the power-that-makes-for-human-salvation. The At least until after the second world war, the Torah might be God’s revelation refracted story was very much one of a positive “response though human culture or it might be simply to modernity,” as the title of Michael Meyer’s a collection of ancient wisdom writings. The (1988) seminal history of the Reform movement halakhah or religious law issued by rabbis has it. The emphasis upon humanistic rationalism might be regarded as binding or, more often, as led to the adoption of biblical criticism, with general guidance. Kashrut or food laws may all the implications that this had for be observed, or encouraged, or ignored. a demythologized understanding of the history Progressive Judaism 1865 P and nature of Judaism. And many progressives But Wise did not reject the idea of evolution were at pains to stress their acceptance of the per se, only the Darwinian version. And in fact findings of contemporary scientific thought, espe- a theistic, teleological conception of evolution, cially social sciences like sociology and psychol- which viewed organic evolution as a natural law ogy, a preeminent example being Kaplan’s and the means by which God achieved His Judaism as Civilization. But later official pro- purposes, became commonly accepted among nouncements did not enthuse about science to progressives. Emil Hirsch (1851–1923) was quite the same degree. The Centenary Perspec- probably typical in arguing in The Doctrine of tive (1976) was somewhat ambivalent about “the Evolution and Judaism (1906) that evolutionary explosion of new knowledge and of ever more theory was not yet scientifically proven as an powerful technologies,” and the Statement of adequate account of life for it failed to account Principles (1999) did not mention scientific pro- for life’s origins, had not yet overcome the gaps gress at all. Arguably, the impact of science has in the fossil record, and could not explain the shift been somewhat superficial and has never really from the unconscious to conscious. Yet, he gone much further than a rejection of crude suggested, in its assumptions about the order supernatural beliefs and an integration of - and lawful nature of the universe, and in its sophical and historical analysis with Jewish the- recognition of the interdependence of human ology. It did not result in a particularly strong and non-human forms of life, a non-atheistic interest in the natural sciences, for example. version could be easily reconciled with Juda- Exceptions to this rule included geological esti- ism, which provided the meaning and purpose mates of the age of the earth and biological evo- that were lacking. Kaplan would later go further lutionary theory, which, among US progressive by stating “We may acceptwithoutreservation Jews, came to take on an iconic status in the the Darwinian conception of evolution, so long science-religion controversy. as we consider the divine impulsion or initiative The theory of evolution possessed certain as the origin of the process.” (Judaism as Civi- obvious attractions to Jewish reformers, not lization, 1934,98).Inthe1950sand1960s, least as a parallel to the idea that the religious there was less interest in attempting to reconcile understanding of humankind in general, and of Judaism with scientific theories, although Gun- Jews in particular, had evolved over time and ther Plaut (1912–2012) wrote about a divine would continue to do so. But Darwinism, with goal of greater awareness corresponding with P its core tenets of competition, cruelty, and chance increasing complexity in Judaism and the proved problematic. At first, Reform Jews such as Scientific Spirit (1962). By the 1980s Reform David Einhorn and rejected Judaism could be found opposing (Christian) Darwinism because, like so many other religious Scientific , albeit this public activ- thinkers in their day, they could not accept the ism was motivated primarily by the potential idea of humans as descendents of lower animals. violation of the boundaries between Church Wise denounced such view as “homo brutalism,” and State in general, and science and Judaism and went on: in particular. Without espousing the pre-War confidence that evolutionary theory and Juda- In a moral point of view the Darwinian hypothesis ism could be readily integrated, and without on the descent of man is the most pernicious that making any comments on the type of evolution could be possibly advanced, not only because it robs man of his dignity and the consciousness of envisaged (whether Darwinism or theistic), the his pre-eminence, which is the coffin of all virtue, Central Conference of American Rabbis had no but chiefly because it presents all nature as difficulty taking a stance and asserting that “the a battleground, a perpetual warfare of each against principles and concepts of biological evolution all in the combat for existence, and represents the victors as those praiseworthy of existence, and the are basic to understanding science” (On Crea- vanquished ripe for destruction... (The Cosmic tionism in School Textbooks, 1984). The case of God, 1876, 51). evolution, then, demonstrates the historically P 1866 Protestant Education strong desire among progressives to align with Official Statements the scientific worldview whenever possible, A statement of principles for reform Judaism. Pittsburgh: even while privileging, ultimately, a theological Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1999. Columbus platform: Guiding principles of reform Juda- or political perspective. ism. Columbus: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1937. Reform Judaism: A centenary perspective. San Francisco: Cross-References Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1976. On creationism in school textbooks. New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1984. ▶ Bible as Literature Pittsburgh platform. Pittsburgh: Union of American ▶ Biblical Studies Hebrew Congregations, 1885. ▶ Creation in Judaism ▶ Creationism ▶ Evolution ▶ Feminism in Judaism Protestant Education ▶ Judaic Studies ▶ Language and Literature, Hebrew ▶ , Protestant ▶ Messiah ▶ Monotheism ▶ Natural Selection Protestant Epistemology ▶ Philosophy in Judaism ▶ Redemption in Judaism ▶ Epistemology, Reformed ▶ Revelation in Judaism ▶ Science and Religion ▶ Theology in Judaism Protestant Reformation

Carl Raschke References Department of , University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA , G. N., & Swetlitz, M. (2006). Jewish tradition and the challenge of Darwinism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hilton, M. (1994). The Christian effect on Jewish life. The general terminology conventionally employed London: S.C.M. Press. to characterize a complex and far-reaching Hirsch, E. G. (1906). The doctrine of evolution and Juda- ism. New York: Bloch. series of events in Europe during much of the Kaplan, M. (1934). Judaism as a civilization: Toward sixteenth century that hadsignificantlong-term a reconstruction of American-Jewish life. New York: effects on religion, politics, and even forms of The Macmillan Company. commerce and economic organization. The Kaplan, M. (1958). Judaism without supernaturalism. New York: Reconstructionist Press. original “Protestants,” led by the German monk Kershen, A. J., & Romain, J. A. (1995). Tradition and Martin Luther, challenged the absolute authority change: A history of reform Judaism in Britain, of the Pope over both spiritual and secular mat- 1840–1995. London: Vallentine Mitchell. ters and sought a return to the simplicity of the Langton, D. (2002). Claude Montefiore: His life and thought. London: Vallentine Mitchell. Christian churches of the first centuries. They Meyer, M. (1988). Response to modernity: A history of the also focused on the right and obligation of indi- reform movement in Judaism, studies in Jewish his- vidual Christian believers to read the Bible and tory. New York: Oxford University Press. to interpret its meaning for themselves as well as Wise, I. M. (1876). The cosmic god. A fundamental philosophy in popular lectures. : Office to organize congregations without central con- American Israelite and . trol from Rome.