5 Facts You Need to Know About: Reform Judaism 1. Reform Judaism

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5 Facts You Need to Know About: Reform Judaism 1. Reform Judaism is a denomination of Judaism that was born out of disruption of traditional Jewish society due to the enfranchisement of Jews into Central European society. The ideas were nurtured in 19th century Germany. They were imported into the United States where today there are approximately 2.6 million Reform Jews. 2. The Reform movement seeks to promote the ethics and values of Judaism over the traditions and rituals. It is up to the individuals to determine which ceremonies and rituals hold meaning and should be kept. 3. Reform theology claims that divine inspiration did not end with Moses at Mt. Sinai but that there is constant revelation in the Jewish community and this revelation brings the religion into modernity. 4. Examples of changes to Jewish traditions made by the Reform movement include updating the language found in the liturgy by revisiting Hebrew translations and removing passages and prayers that are derogatory toward other communities or were made out-of-date by new scientific knowledge. 5. Reform Judaism believes the concept of Tikkun Olam–repairing the world– is a mandate to engage in community service and pursue social justice. Learn more at: http://reformjudaism.org/practice/what-reform-judaism http://urj.org/what-we-believe/what-reform-judaism These five points are not meant to be comprehensive or authoritative. We hope they will encourage you to explore this tradition more deeply and seek out members of this community to learn about their beliefs in action. It is our firm belief that in understanding our differences we will better understand our common humanity. 11/2017 2101 L St NW, STE:400 Washington, DC 20037-1542 TEL: 202-466-0567 FAX:202-466-0502 WEB: interfaithalliance.org .

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The Debate Over Mixed Seating in the American Synagogue
Jack Wertheimer (ed.) The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed. New York: Cambridge 13 University Press, 1987 The Debate over Mixed Seating in the American Synagogue JONATHAN D. SARNA "Pues have never yet found an historian," John M. Neale com plained, when he undertook to survey the subject of church seating for the Cambridge Camden Society in 1842. 1 To a large extent, the same situation prevails today in connection with "pues" in the American syn agogue. Although it is common knowledge that American synagogue seating patterns have changed greatly over time - sometimes following acrimonious, even violent disputes - the subject as a whole remains unstudied, seemingly too arcane for historians to bother with. 2 Seating patterns, however, actually reflect down-to-earth social realities, and are richly deserving of study. Behind wearisome debates over how sanctuary seats should be arranged and allocated lie fundamental disagreements over the kinds of social and religious values that the synagogue should project and the relationship between the synagogue and the larger society that surrounds it. As we shall see, where people sit reveals much about what they believe. The necessarily limited study of seating patterns that follows focuses only on the most important and controversial seating innovation in the American synagogue: mixed (family) seating. Other innovations - seats that no longer face east, 3 pulpits moved from center to front, 4 free (un assigned) seating, closed-off pew ends, and the like - require separate treatment. As we shall see, mixed seating is a ramified and multifaceted issue that clearly reflects the impact of American values on synagogue life, for it pits family unity, sexual equality, and modernity against the accepted Jewish legal (halachic) practice of sexual separatiop in prayer.
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