The Movement for Reform Judaism

The Torah, the five books of Moses, contains the beginning of the Jewish story, our story. There is nothing that is more precious to us than our story, a story that is history touched by God. That does not mean that other people do not have their stories or that ours is better or truer than theirs. But it is ours, has sustained us through many generations and given so much of lasting value to the world at large.

Torah is also used to cover the whole of Jewish teaching. Jewish teaching is a vast sea of learning and insights. Many religious traditions include prayer, meditation and learning. Judaism is no exception but one could say that study of Torah is the specialite de la maison. That is why the Reform Movement lays so much emphasis on the development of institutions of learning and why it encourages every member to study and learn as much as possible. It is very important to us that Jewish adults take responsibility for their own Jewish lives. They cannot do so responsibly unless they have Jewish knowledge and understanding to guide the decisions that they make.

It is also very important to add that one of the great insights of Judaism, of Torah, is that we worship God at least as much in the way that we behave towards our fellow human beings as in the rituals of prayer. Many of the fundamental ethical values which underpin Western society come from our Torah. That Torah demands justice and compassion, honesty and faithfulness. It regards all human beings as created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God and equal in God’s sight. Such values are the very essence of Judaism, and of the Jewish path through life.

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binding?
written by a guest , January 26, 2008

Do Reform believe the Torah is binding? If not how do they choose what to and what not to follow?
Thanks

One of our rabbis responds:
written by matand , January 28, 2008

"If I understand what lies behind the question, the simple answer is that Judaism has never regarded the Torah as binding in the sense of to be responded to and observed literally. The whole thrust of rabbinic Judaism was that it was born in an age very different from that depicted by the Torah. The mission of the rabbis was to understand God's will as enunciated in the Torah and translate it into a code of behaviour for their times. So they developed a very sophisticated set of principles for interpreting Torah which led them to reversing the death penalty pronounced for a number of crimes in the Torah (for instance putting to death stubborn and rebellious sons) and developing new institutions not obviously referred to in the Torah (for instance mamzerut). Reform Judaism is equally motivated to discover the will of God in the Torah and equally concerned to continue the tradition of interpretation which is one of Judaism's glories. As you might expect from people in the 21st century, our process of interpretation is more historically conscious and self-conscious. On that basis, Reform Judaism regards the Torah just as binding/just as open to interpretation as classical rabbinic Judaism."