\nDaniels is writing a two-part series of blog posts on the intellectual foundations
\nof Reform Judaism. See his first post here<\/a>.
<\/i><\/p>\n
Once Reform \u201c\u2026the marked Like in <\/p>\n Portrait of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1899) by James Landy (1888). Cincinnati, 19th Century. Collection of Yeshiva University Museum, New York, Gift of Dr. Hyman Bogomolyn Grinstein.<\/i><\/p>\n Isaac Mayer Wise was born in 1819 in David Einhorn, c. 1860, artist unknown, Jewish Museum of Maryland, L1987.018.001. http:\/\/jewishmuseummd.org\/2013\/07\/museum-insights-july-19-2013\/<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n As Wise became one of the main supporters of Geiger in From the website of Central Synagogue. http:\/\/www.centralsynagogue.org\/about_us\/archives\/our-senior-rabbis-through-the-years<\/a> <\/i><\/p>\n Last, there is one more reformer to mention who became a All of this just scratches the surface of the actions of these [1]<\/a> (Isaacs 1899)<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> (Petuchowski 1976)<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> (Petuchowski 1976)<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/i><\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid.<\/i><\/p>\n [6]<\/a> (Reuben 1997)<\/p>\n
\nJudaism began to spread to America, it encountered a very different environment
\nthan the one it came from back in Germany.
\nPolitically, the American Constitution promised rights to religious
\nfreedom, preventing the government from sanctioning the liturgy, practices, and
\nlimitations of religious reform as was the case in Germany. \u00a0From a theological standpoint, there was no
\ncentral orthodoxy established in America in the middle of the 19th<\/sup>
\ncentury which could curtail reform, certain small Jewish communities in places
\nlike South Carolina notwithstanding.
\nDespite the open-ended possibilities for reform, the directions the
\nmovement took in America roughly followed along the paths set down in Germany
\nby Holdheim, Zunz, and Geiger. \u00a0The
\natmosphere of religious freedom and optimism in America is summarized by an
\narticle by Abram S. Isaacs in the 1899 edition of the American Jewish Year Book<\/i>:<\/p>\n\n
\nchanges that have followed successive landslides of immigrants to American
\nshores have demanded broader and more effective agencies, and given, to a
\ncertain degree, shape and direction to our community. \u00a0While in many countries the medieval spirit
\nstill prevails, making the Jew a wanderer and an outcast, on American soil he seems
\nto be preparing a distinctly new era, and, composed of representatives of every
\nclime and nationality, American Israel meets with full confidence the currents
\nof the time.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nGermany, reform in America manifested in areas of liturgy, religious education,
\npositions on intermarriage, and many others.
\nAs early as 1824, \u201cThe Reform Society of Israelites\u201d founded in
\nCharleston, South Carolina adopted the reform Hamburg Temple prayerbook. \u00a0As immigrants continued to bring Reform
\nJudaism to America, the positions of Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim would
\nboth find proponents on our side of the Atlantic.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/50ae0b6cf8968fedb568c8780c30dd86\/tumblr_inline_oyfpj7wL211r0yq0k_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nGermany, and came to America in 1846. \u00a0He
\nchampioned the views of Abraham Geiger, such as the position that reform was a
\nproject which should take place within the whole of the Jewish community, and
\nnot on the periphery.[2]<\/a> \u00a0Wise and Geiger can be considered the more
\nconservative strain of reform in the 19th<\/sup> century. \u00a0While not necessarily associated with what we
\nnow know as the Conservative movement, these two thinkers retained the
\nimportance of such ideas as the unity of world Jewry, the preservation of
\nHebrew as the language of prayer, and the aversion to intermarriage.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/e5a8c7fa19efc9593f7330b300a89ac2\/tumblr_inline_oy0vlx91e81r0yq0k_540.png\")
<\/figure>\n
\nAmerica, David Einhorn promulgated Samuel Holdheim\u2019s ideas. Einhorn, at first, was a severe critic of
\nWise. \u00a0Einhorn attacked Wise\u2019s project of
\n\u201cthe unification of all American Jews\u201d and \u201cthe creation of a distinctly
\nAmerican Judaism.\u201d[3]<\/a> \u00a0English was to take the place of German,
\nprimarily in the realm of education.
\nEinhorn was appalled by this, believing that the distinctive European
\nbrand of Reform Judaism should be \u201cconfined to a cultural elite \u2013 a
\nGerman-speaking cultural elite to be specific.\u201d[4]<\/a> \u00a0Wise and Einhorn were both heavily involved
\nin the many conferences held in the mid-19th<\/sup> century, all aimed at
\nimplementing reform. \u00a0The two would trade
\ncolorful insults in their respective periodicals, but ultimately, both were
\nable to solidify their visions of reform into institutions of American Judaism
\n\u2013 Wise with his Union of American Hebrew Congregations and Einhorn with his
\ncontribution to the official ideology of American Reform Judaism.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/894861b209a16c505c6969744719bf62\/tumblr_inline_oy0viy7IKq1r0yq0k_540.png\")
<\/figure>\n
\ndominant figure in the Jewish Reform community of New York: Dr. Max Lilienthal.
\nLilienthal\u2019s role more clearly paints a picture of what the details of American
\nreform looked like. \u00a0This reformer was
\nDr. Max Lilienthal. \u00a0Born in Munich in
\n1814, Lilienthal came from a wealthy family which recognized the benefits of
\nboth a religious and a secular education.
\nHe studied both at a yeshiva<\/i>
\n\u201cand became one of the first rabbinical candidates to earn a Ph.D. at the
\nUniversity of Munich, where he became imbued with the discipline and values of Wissenschaft,<\/i> the
\nhistorical-philological study of texts.\u201d[6]<\/a> \u00a0He emigrated to New York in 1845, where he
\nbecame the rabbi of three German Jewish congregations. \u00a0His contributions to The Occidental<\/i>, the first Jewish periodical in the United States,
\ntells us what the project of American reform looked like. \u00a0An article about Lilienthal\u2019s activities as
\nrabbi from 1847 describes the institutionalization of a process of
\nconfirmation, which entailed that \u201cevery boy at twelve years of age, and every
\ngirl at eleven, is to receive preparatory religious instructions from the chief
\nRabbi himself\u2026 These instructions are to consist of the knowledge of religion
\nin general, but particularly the principles of the Jewish creed and its
\nrevelations.\u201d[7]<\/a> \u00a0The article also details the order and
\nconduct in the synagogue during prayer services, the establishment of a
\nrabbinical court, specific marriage laws, and<\/a> the
\nprovision of reliable kosher butchers.
\nThroughout the article, the author continuously mentions that his
\nformulations of all of these elements of the Jewish community are \u201cin
\naccordance with the strictest rules of orthodoxy, as laid down in the Talmud
\nand the Shulchan-Aruch.\u201d[8]<\/a> \u00a0The types of contributions made by Lilienthal
\nthat I think are most interesting are the interpretations of texts with an eye
\nfor historical contexts. \u00a0For example,
\none of his articles in the Jewish publication known as the Asmonean<\/i> contained an article denying \u201cthat the Talmud had the
\nstatus of divine revelation, arguing that historical research concerning its
\nauthors would remove their \u2018halos\u2019\u201d.[9]<\/a><\/p>\n
\nthree great reformers. They took the spirit of reform which was ignited in the
\nsynagogues of Germany and not only made them relevant for Jews in an American
\ncontext, but much of the work they had to do involved building all of the
\ninfrastructure required for such a community to exist. \u00a0Even more importantly, these thinkers and
\ntheir disciples created long traditions of thought which enabled Jews to engage
\nmeaningfully with many other elements of society, such as Enlightenment and
\nsecularist values, while maintaining a robust and honest connection to the
\nspiritual heritage of Judaism.<\/p>\n