The Movement for Reform Judaism

 We do not believe that the Torah, the Scroll, the Five Books of Moses were literally dictated by God to Moses on Mount Sinai – that the Torah is ‘inerrant’, ‘extra-historical’ or ‘other’ or any of the other more sophisticated terms that are now used for the same belief. The Torah contains stories and other material that were first told and then written down by our ancestors. It is therefore their experience of God – and, in that sense, Torah min haShamayim, Torah from Heaven – but not something that simply materialised from another reality without any human involvement.

The Torah is, therefore, still our ‘tree of life’. We read from it in synagogue every Shabbat, elevate it in front of the congregation and parade it round the shul. It brings us closer to God and God’s will for us. It provides us with a glimpse of eternity. From it we learn that human beings are able to go beyond considering our own individual needs. We are able to turn outward to recognise the needs of others, that is, to behave ethically. It is our link with the divine and the values of holiness. We are not forced, however, to believe that God wanted the Caananites exterminated, stubborn and rebellious children stoned, or slavery accepted. God is much more subtle and elusive. The Torah records the experience of God of fallible human beings like us. We find this view of Torah, as containing both timeless insights and time-bound conclusions, liberating.

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written by a guest , February 12, 2008

What do Reform Jews believe happened at Sinai?

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written by a guest , February 12, 2008

Do Reform Jews believe that Jews and Gentiles have different souls?
Do you believe Jews have G-dly souls and gentiles animal souls?

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written by a guest , February 14, 2008

There is no distinction in Reform Judaism between the souls of Jews or non-Jews.

Sinai
written by a guest , February 14, 2008

As I am sure the answer to many questions here begin - there is no Reform party line on this which answers this question and no one answer that everyone believes in. However Sinai is a significant moment in Judaism either physically or metaphorically. Reform Jews do believe in revelation at Sinai although that phrase means a huge range of different things to different people. I personally do believe in a shared moment in our history, a moment which solidified our collective belief in God. I do not believe that Moses took dictation of the entire Torah at the top of Sinai but I do believe that Sinai is a metaphor for the Divine inspiration which brought the telling of our history together in the form of the Torah. The metaphors are crucial to a history which can be both understood and passed on.

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written by a guest , February 14, 2008

If Reform Jews don't believe that at Sinai G-d literally spoke to the Jewish people how do you account for generations of poeple believeing He did.
I jsut read "Permission to Receive " By Lawrence Kelemen. Of four arguments that he makes, the most compelling is that if Torah was not revealed and if the Torah states within it that there were over 600,000 adult males who witnessed it, then later generations would ask previous generations about the event. If the revelation did not take place, when the Torah was "foisted" on us by those claiming it was revealed, those receiving it would ask why they had not heard about it from earlier generations. In other words, Kelemen argues that the divine revelation must have taken place because the Torah states that everyone gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai and if this were untrue, then later descendants of those who were there would have asked, "if the description of the revelation was untrue, wouldn't Grandpa have told us?" Kelemen is stating that if the Torah was later foisted upon us, earlier generations would have revealed its falsity by stating that they were not aware of Torah being revealed and if it had been, they would have been told by their fathers and grandfathers who were there.
So what does Reform Judaism think about this, surely this proves that the Torah, or atleast some commandments and that G-d most have spoke at Sinai?

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written by a guest , February 15, 2008

If you don't believe Torah is the word of G-d, how do you know what to believe and what not to.
What do you believe about the afterlife/ressurection, and all the verses implying that the Moshiach will be a man?

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written by a guest , February 18, 2008

Reform Jews would never deny the events of Sinai and encourage a belief in it. However it is important for those people who are unable to believe to still have a context in which to understand the Torah.

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written by a guest , February 19, 2008

Ahh ok so you could be a Reform Jew even if you believed that G-d spoke to Jews at Sinai and gave them something ( laws or part of the commandements) so long as you dont hink the whole torah is the word of g-d?