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141-747: Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is a Reform Jewish synagogue at 30 West 68th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City , New York, U.S. The congregation was the first of multiple "free synagogue" branches in the early 20th century. In 1905, Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise then serving a congregation in Portland, Oregon , was under consideration as Rabbi of Temple Emanu–El in New York City, but withdrew his name after learning that his sermons would be reviewed in advance by

282-480: A Jewish activities club , a means to demonstrate some affinity to one's heritage in which even rabbinical students do not have to believe in any specific theology or engage in any particular practice, rather than a defined belief system. In regard to God, the Reform movement has always officially maintained a theistic stance, affirming the belief in a personal God . Despite this official position, some voices among

423-609: A "free synagogue" holding services at the Hudson Theater on West 44th Street and on the Lower East Side. At a meeting on April 15, 1907, Henry Morgenthau Sr. told the more than hundred assembled at the Hotel Savoy that "The Free Synagogue is to be free and democratic in its organization; it is to be pewless and dueless." In 1910, the congregation's 500 members celebrated Rosh Hashanah at Carnegie Hall , and

564-428: A conceptual framework for reconciling the acceptance of critical research with the maintenance of a belief in some form of divine communication, thus preventing a rupture among those who could no longer accept a literal understanding of revelation. No less importantly, it provided the clergy with a rationale for adapting, changing and excising traditional mores and bypassing the accepted conventions of Jewish Law, rooted in

705-663: A conference of like-minded young rabbis in Wiesbaden . He told the assembled that the " Talmud must go". In 1841, the Hamburg Temple issued a second edition of its prayerbook, the first Reform liturgy since its predecessor of 1818. Orthodox response was weak and quickly defeated. Most rabbinic posts in Germany were now manned by university graduates susceptible to rationalistic ideas, which also permeated liberal Protestantism led by such figures as Leberecht Uhlich . They formed

846-906: A conservative Jewish majority had to be accommodated. Most Liberal communities in Germany maintained dietary standards and the like in the public sphere, both due to the moderation of their congregants and threats of Orthodox secession. A similar pattern characterizes the Movement for Reform Judaism in Britain, which attempted to appeal to newcomers from the United Synagogue , or to the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) in Israel. Its philosophy of continuous revelation made Progressive Judaism, in all its variants, much more able to embrace change and new trends than any of

987-499: A degree that made it hard to formulate a clear definition of it. Early and "Classical" Reform were characterized by a move away from traditional forms of Judaism combined with a coherent theology; "New Reform" sought, to a certain level, the reincorporation of many formerly discarded elements within the framework established during the "Classical" stage, though this very doctrinal basis became increasingly obfuscated. Critics, like Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan , warned that Reform became more of

1128-470: A developer in 1986. The developer was planning to build close to 100 homes that would result in traffic on the roads adjoining Hillside Elementary School. Local residents formed a committee called "Save Hillside Woods" and raised close to $ 800K. As a result of the 1987 stock market crash and the subsequent receivership of the bank that held the mortgage on the property, the Village purchased this parcel from

1269-591: A full understanding of itself and the divine, manifested in moral progress towards perfection. This highly rationalistic view virtually identified human reason and intellect with divine action, leaving little room for direct influence by God. Geiger conceived revelation as occurring via the inherent "genius" of the People Israel, and his close ally Solomon Formstecher described it as the awakening of oneself into full consciousness of one's religious understanding. The American theologian Kaufmann Kohler also spoke of

1410-415: A general hope for salvation . This was later refined when the notion of a personal Messiah who would reign over Israel was officially abolished and replaced by the concept of a Messianic Age of universal harmony and perfection. The considerable loss of faith in human progress around World War II greatly shook this ideal, but it endures as a precept of Reform. Another key example is the reinterpretation of

1551-523: A greater stress on community and tradition. Though by no means declaring that members were bound by a compelling authority of some sort – the notion of an intervening, commanding God remained foreign to denominational thought. The "New Reform" approach to the question is characterized by an attempt to strike a mean between autonomy and some degree of conformity, focusing on a dialectic relationship between both. The movement never entirely abandoned halachic (traditional jurisprudence) argumentation, both due to

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1692-503: A higher and better understanding of divine will, and they can and should unwaveringly change and refashion religious precepts. In the decades around World War II , this rationalistic and optimistic theology was challenged and questioned. It was gradually replaced, mainly by the Jewish existentialism of Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig , centered on a complex, personal relationship with

1833-516: A hub for like-minded intellectuals, interested in the betterment of religious experience. Though the prayerbook used in Berlin did introduce several deviations from the received text, it did so without an organizing principle. In 1818, Jacobson's acquaintance Edward Kley founded the Hamburg Temple . Here, changes in the rite were eclectic no more and had severe dogmatic implications: prayers for

1974-399: A matter of personal choice for the individual and not an authoritative obligation. Circumcision or Letting of Blood for converts and newborn babies became virtually mandated in the 1980s; ablution for menstruating women gained great grassroots popularity at the turn of the century, and some synagogues built mikvehs (ritual baths). A renewed interest in dietary laws (though by no means in

2115-428: A means to engage congregants, abandoning the sanitized forms of the "Classical". Another key aspect of Reform doctrine is the personal autonomy of each adherent, who may formulate their own understanding and expression of their religiosity. Reform is unique among all Jewish denominations in placing the individual as the authorized interpreter of Judaism. This position was originally influenced by Kantian philosophy and

2256-454: A meeting held in London. Originally carrying the provisional title "International Conference of Liberal Jews", after deliberations between "Liberal", "Reform" and "Modern", it was named World Union for Progressive Judaism on 12 July, at the conclusion of a vote. The WUPJ established further branches around the planet, alternatively under the names "Reform", "Liberal" and "Progressive". In 1945,

2397-685: A more participatory service and made himself more accessible to members of the congregation. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch , former Executive Director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America / World Union for Progressive Judaism , North America, became senior rabbi in 2004. The synagogue created the Westchester Hills Cemetery of the Free Synagogue in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York in 1919 when it acquired

2538-571: A number of brownstones were purchased on West 68th Street in 1911 as the site of a permanent home for the synagogue. Branches of the Free Synagogue were started in the Bronx , Washington Heights , Flushing , and Westchester County in New York, and Newark in New Jersey, from 1914 to 1920. Rabbi Wise served as the congregation's religious leader from his founding of the congregation in 1907 as

2679-603: A particularly radical stance, arguing that the halachic Law of the Land is Law principle must be universally applied and subject virtually everything to current norms and needs, far beyond its weight in conventional Jewish Law. While Reform rabbis in 19th-century Germany had to accommodate conservative elements in their communities, at the height of "Classical Reform" in the United States, halakhic considerations could be virtually ignored and Holdheim's approach embraced. In

2820-500: A rabbi is the norm and can take anywhere from several months to several years. The process focuses on participation in congregational activities and observation of holidays and Halakha. Conversions are finalized with a meeting of the Beit Din and usually a Brit Milah and a Tevilah, though the extent to which the practice of Brit Milah is observed varies from country to country. Furthermore, the acceptance of Reform converts by other sects

2961-559: A rabbinical seminary, and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history, after Regina Jonas. Reform also pioneered family seating, an arrangement that spread throughout American Jewry but was only applied in continental Europe after World War II. Egalitarianism in prayer became universally prevalent in the WUPJ by the end of the 20th century. Religious inclusion for LGBT people and ordination of LGBT rabbis were also pioneered by

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3102-482: A renewed stress on Jewish particular identity, regarding it as better suiting popular sentiment and need for preservation. One major expression of that, which is the first clear Reform doctrine to have been formulated, is the idea of universal Messianism . The belief in redemption was unhinged from the traditional elements of return to Zion and restoration of the Temple and the sacrificial cult therein, and turned into

3243-636: A role, but only in deference to tradition, and opposed analysis of the Pentateuch ; and up to Abraham Geiger , who rejected any limitations on objective research or its application. He is considered the founding father of Reform Judaism. Geiger wrote that at seventeen already, he discerned that the late Tannaim and the Amoraim imposed a subjective interpretation on the Oral Torah , attempting to diffuse its revolutionary potential by linking it to

3384-481: A steady belief difficult for some. Nevertheless, we ground our lives, personally and communally, on God's reality." The 1999 Pittsburgh Statement of Principles declared the "reality and oneness of God". British Liberal Judaism affirms the "Jewish conception of God: One and indivisible, transcendent and immanent, Creator and Sustainer". The basic tenet of Reform theology is a belief in a continuous, or progressive, revelation , occurring continuously and not limited to

3525-603: A total of 1.5 million presumed to have affinity, since updated to 2.2 million – both registered synagogue members and non-affiliates who identify with it. Worldwide, the movement is mainly centered in North America. The largest WUPJ constituent by far is the Union for Reform Judaism (until 2003: Union of American Hebrew Congregations) in the United States and Canada. As of 2013, a Pew Research Center survey calculated it represented about 35% of all 5.3 million Jewish adults in

3666-487: Is certainly not Law giving" and that it did not contain any "finished statements about God", but, rather, that human subjectivity shaped the unfathomable content of the Encounter and interpreted it under its own limitations. The senior representative of postwar Reform theology, Eugene Borowitz , regarded theophany in postmodern terms and closely linked it with quotidian human experience and interpersonal contact. He rejected

3807-780: Is in the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free School District . Hastings-on-Hudson has three public schools, in the Hastings Union Free School District: Hillside Elementary School, Farragut Middle School, and Hastings High School . All three have been awarded the National Blue Ribbon Award . Greenburgh-Graham Union Free School District is of a special needs school facility in Hastings. Hastings-on-Hudson

3948-811: Is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km ), or 32.65%, is water. Several small tributaries and headwaters of the Hudson River are located in the village, including Scheckler's Brook which originates in Hillside Woods and Factory Brook which begins in a spring in the southern end of the Burke Estate, these merge behind the Cropsey Studio west of the Aqueduct Trail. Although a suburb of New York City, Hastings-on-Hudson enjoys better mass transit service than many other suburbs in

4089-480: Is one of six incorporated villages that lie within the town of Greenburgh. The village is governed by a mayor, who is elected every two years in odd-numbered years, and four trustees, who also serve two-year terms. Two of the trustees are elected in even-numbered years, with the mayor and the other two in odd-numbered years. A paid village manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the village. In 2018 Brooke Lea Foster of The New York Times stated that it

4230-614: Is political, basically a mirror of the most radically leftist components of the Democratic Party platform, causing many to say that Reform Judaism is simply 'the Democratic Party with Jewish holidays'." In Israel, the Religious Action Center is very active in the judicial field, often using litigation both in cases concerning civil rights in general and the official status of Reform Judaism within

4371-492: Is rare, with many Orthodox and Masorti temples rejecting Reform Converts. The term "Reform" was first applied institutionally – not generically, as in "for reform" – to the Berlin Reformgemeinde (Reform Congregation), established in 1845. Apart from it, most German communities that were oriented in that direction preferred the more ambiguous "Liberal", which was not exclusively associated with Reform Judaism. It

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4512-780: The CIS and Baltic States , with 61 affiliates in Russia , Ukraine and Belarus and several thousands of regular constituents; and many other, smaller ones. With the advent of Jewish emancipation and acculturation in Central Europe during the late 18th century, and the breakdown of traditional Jewish life, the proper response to the changed circumstances became a heated concern. Radical, second-generation Berlin maskilim (Enlightened), like Lazarus Bendavid and David Friedländer , proposed to reduce Judaism to little above Deism , or allow it to dissipate entirely. A more palatable course

4653-646: The Conservative or the Orthodox . Outside North America and Britain, patrilineal descent was not accepted by most. As in other fields, small WUPJ affiliates are less independent and often have to deal with more conservative Jewish denominations in their countries, such as vis-à-vis the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel or continental Europe. Conversion within Reform Judaism has been seen as controversial by

4794-863: The Hudson River opposite the Palisades cliffs, north of the city of Yonkers . The Village is bordered by the Hudson River to the west, and the Saw Mill River to the east. The areas facing the Hudson River have views of the Palisades to the west, Manhattan to the south and the Mario Cuomo Bridge to the north. According to the United States Census Bureau , the Village has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.5 km ), of which 2.0 square miles (5.2 km )

4935-625: The Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) and Liberal Judaism in the United Kingdom, the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) in Israel, and the UJR-AmLat in Latin America; these are united within the international World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ). Founded in 1926, the WUPJ estimates it represents at least 1.8 million people in 50 countries, about 1 million of which are registered adult congregants, and

5076-636: The Saducees who had their own pre- Mishnaic halakha . Having concluded the belief in an unbroken tradition back to Sinai or a divinely dictated Torah could not be maintained, he began to articulate a theology of progressive revelation, presenting the Pharisees as reformers who revolutionized the Saducee-dominated religion. His other model were the Prophets, whose morals and ethics were to him

5217-729: The Union progressiver Juden in Deutschland , which had some 4,500 members in 2010 and incorporates 25 congregations, one in Austria; the Nederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom , with 3,500 affiliates in 10 communities; the 13 Liberal synagogues in France; the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (5,000 members in 2000, 35 communities); the Movement for Progressive Judaism (Движение прогрессивного Иудаизма) in

5358-570: The election of Israel . The movement maintained the idea of the Chosen People of God, but recast it in a more universal fashion: it isolated and accentuated the notion (already present in traditional sources) that the mission of Israel was to spread among all nations and teach them divinely-inspired ethical monotheism, bringing them all closer to the Creator. One extreme "Classical" promulgator of this approach, Rabbi David Einhorn , substituted

5499-453: The immortality of the soul , while the founding thinkers of Reform Judaism, like Montefiore, all shared this belief, the existence of a soul became harder to cling to with the passing of time. In the 1980s, Borowitz could state that the movement had nothing coherent to declare in the matter. The various streams of Reform still largely, though not always or strictly, uphold the idea. The 1999 Pittsburgh Statement of Principles , for example, used

5640-522: The restoration of sacrifices by the Messiah and Return to Zion were quite systematically omitted. The Hamburg edition is considered the first comprehensive Reform liturgy. While Orthodox protests to Jacobson's initiatives had been scant, dozens of rabbis throughout Europe united to ban the Hamburg Temple . The Hamburg reformers, still attempting to play within the limits of rabbinic tradition, cited canonical sources in defence of their actions; they had

5781-636: The theophany at Sinai , the defining event in traditional interpretation. According to this view, all holy scripture of Judaism, including the Torah , were authored by human beings who, although under divine inspiration , inserted their understanding and reflected the spirit of their consecutive ages. All the People of Israel are a further link in the chain of revelation, capable of reaching new insights: religion can be renewed without necessarily being dependent on past conventions. The chief promulgator of this concept

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5922-526: The "Free Synagogue" until his death on April 19, 1949. Wise designated Rabbi Edward E. Klein as his successor. At a meeting of the congregation in May 1949, members voted unanimously to incorporate Rabbi Wise's name into the formal name of the congregation. Rabbi Klein served as the compass for the synaguoge from 1949 until 1981, and as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in July 1985. His work at SWFS first started while he

6063-410: The "special insight" of Israel, almost fully independent from direct divine participation, and English thinker Claude Montefiore , founder of Liberal Judaism , reduced revelation to "inspiration", according intrinsic value only to the worth of its content, while "it is not the place where they are found that makes them inspired". Common to all these notions was the assertion that present generations have

6204-400: The 1810s and 1820s, the circles ( Israel Jacobson , Eduard Kley and others) that gave rise to the movement introduced confirmation ceremonies for boys and girls, in emulation of parallel Christian initiation rite. These soon spread outside the movement, though many of a more traditional leaning rejected the name "confirmation". In the "New Reform", Bar Mitzvah largely replaced it as part of

6345-769: The 1880s, Hastings Pavement was producing hexagonal paving blocks which were used extensively in Central Park and Prospect Park in Brooklyn . Between 1895 and 1900, Hastings Pavement produced 10 million such blocks and shipped them throughout the United States and to cities in Canada , Brazil and England . By 1891, the National Conduit and Cable Company had established an operation on the waterfront producing cables for utility companies here and abroad. In 1912, labor strife between striking workers and their employer,

6486-625: The 1930s and onwards, Rabbi Solomon Freehof and his supporters reintroduced such elements, but they too regarded Jewish Law as too rigid a system. Instead, they recommended that selected features will be readopted and new observances established in a piecemeal fashion, as spontaneous minhag (custom) emerging by trial and error and becoming widespread if it appealed to the masses. The advocates of this approach also stress that their responsa are of non-binding nature, and their recipients may adapt them as they see fit. Freehof's successors, such as Rabbis Walter Jacob and Moshe Zemer , further elaborated

6627-717: The 2020 US Census, it had a population of 8,590. The town lies on U.S. Route 9 , "Broadway" and the Saw Mill River Parkway . The area that is now Hastings-on-Hudson and Dobbs Ferry was the primary settlement of the Weckquaesgeek Algonquian people, who called the community Wysquaqua. In the summer, the Weckquaesgeeks camped at the mouth of the ravine running under the present Warburton Avenue Bridge. There they fished, swam and collected oysters and clamshells used to make wampum . On

6768-487: The Associated British Synagogues (later Movement for Reform Judaism ) joined as well. In 1990, Reconstructionist Judaism entered the WUPJ as an observer. Espousing another religious worldview, it became the only non-Reform member. The WUPJ claims to represent a total of at least 1.8 million people – these figures do not take into account the 2013 PEW survey, and rely on the older URJ estimate of

6909-469: The Barricini, Guggenheim , Tisch, and Millstein families. Reform Judaism The origins of Reform Judaism lie in mid-19th-century Germany , where Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates formulated its early principles, attempting to harmonize Jewish tradition with modern sensibilities in the age of emancipation . Brought to America by German-trained rabbis, the denomination gained prominence in

7050-680: The Bronx. The Saw Mill River Parkway has exits in Hastings-on Hudson - Northbound at Exit 12 at Farragut Parkway and Exit 13 at Farragut Avenue, and Southbound Exit 14 at Clarence Avenue and Exit 15 at Cliff Street. US Route 9 runs through the Village, as Broadway. As of the census of 2020, there were 8,590 people residing in the Village. The population density was 4,020.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,552.2/km ). There were 2875 housing units at an average density of 1,665.7 per square mile (643.1/km ), with 94.63% (3,121) of units occupied, and 5.37% (177) vacant. The racial makeup of

7191-456: The CCAR headed by Rabbi Denise Eger . The next in size, by a wide margin, are the two British WUPJ-affiliates. In 2010, the Movement for Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism respectively had 16,125 and 7,197 member households in 45 and 39 communities, or 19.4% and 8.7% of British Jews registered at a synagogue. Other member organizations are based in forty countries around the world. They include

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7332-574: The English translation (though not in the original), a measure that was condemned by several Reform rabbis as a step toward religious humanism . During its formative era, Reform was oriented toward lesser ceremonial obligations. In 1846, the Breslau rabbinical conference abolished the second day of festivals ; during the same years, the Berlin Reform congregation held prayers without blowing

7473-537: The FDIC with the funds accumulated and a bond floated by the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson to expand and maintain Hillside Woods. The Jasper F. Cropsey House and Studio and Hastings Prototype House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The John William Draper House is listed as a National Historic Landmark Hastings-on-Hudson is located at 40°59′28″N 73°52′27″W  /  40.99111°N 73.87417°W  / 40.99111; -73.87417 (40.991102, -73.874114) in an area of hills on

7614-444: The Jewish people to be its priests. It was grounded on a wholly theistic understanding, although the term "God-idea" was excoriated by outside critics. So was the 1937 Columbus Declaration of Principles, which spoke of "One, living God who rules the world". Even the 1976 San Francisco Centenary Perspective, drafted at a time of great discord among Reform theologians, upheld "the affirmation of God... Challenges of modern culture have made

7755-419: The Jewish public in general, before and during the rise of Reform) in the early stages of the movement. It was a major characteristic during the "Classical" period, when Reform closely resembled Protestant surroundings. Later, it was applied to encourage adherents to seek their own means of engaging Judaism. "New Reform" embraced the criticism levied by Rosenzweig and other thinkers at extreme individualism, laying

7896-430: The MRJ allows its clergy to participate in celebration of civil marriage, though none allow a full Jewish ceremony with chupah and the like. In American Reform, 17% of synagogue-member households have a converted spouse, and 26% an unconverted one. Its policy on conversion and Jewish status led the WUPJ into conflict with more traditional circles, and a growing number of its adherents are not accepted as Jewish by either

8037-448: The National Cable and Conduit Company, left two striking workers and two bystanders dead. Similar labor unrest occurred in 1916, whereby the Village was put under house arrest. During World War I , 200 National Guardsmen were stationed in Hastings-on-Hudson because of the security interests of the National Conduit plant and a chemical plant opened by Frederick G. Zinsser that produced a wood alcohol called Hastings Spirits. The plant

8178-416: The Native Americans for the area that is now Dobbs Ferry and Hastings-on-Hudson. In 1693, the English Crown granted Philipse the Manor of Philipsburg, which included what is now Hastings-on-Hudson. After dividing the area into four nearly equal-sized farms, the Philipses leased them to Dutch, English and French Huguenot settlers. During the American Revolution , what is now Hastings-on-Hudson, lay between

8319-494: The Orthodox and Masorti sects. Due to the Reform movement's progressive views on what it means to be a Jew, the conversion process has been criticized and often unrecognized by more conservative sects, yet conversions through the Reform movement are legally recognized by the Israeli government and thus entitled to citizenship under the Law of Return. Converts through Reform Judaism are accepted based on their sincerity, regardless of their background or previous beliefs. Studying with

8460-458: The Orthodox, they insisted that the People Israel was created by divine election alone, and existed solely as such. The 1999 Pittsburgh Platform and other official statements affirmed that the "Jewish people is bound to God by an eternal B'rit , covenant". As part of its philosophy, Reform Judaism anchored reason in divine influence, accepted scientific criticism of hallowed texts and sought to adapt Judaism to modern notions of rationalism. Judaism

8601-465: The Ram's Horn , phylacteries , mantles or head covering , and held its Sabbath services on Sunday. In the late 19th and early 20th century, American "Classical Reform" often emulated Berlin on a mass scale, with many communities conducting prayers along the same style and having additional services on Sunday. An official rescheduling of Sabbath to Sunday was advocated by Kaufmann Kohler for some time, though he retracted it eventually. Religious divorce

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8742-455: The U.S., making it the single most numerous Jewish religious group in the country. Steven M. Cohen deduced there were 756,000 adult Jewish synagogue members – about a quarter of households had an unconverted spouse (according to 2001 findings), adding some 90,000 non-Jews and making the total constituency roughly 850,000 – and further 1,154,000 "Reform-identified non-members" in the United States. There are also 30,000 in Canada. Based on these,

8883-401: The URJ claims to represent 2.2 million people. It has 845 congregations in the U.S. and 27 in Canada, the vast majority of the 1,170 affiliated with the WUPJ that are not Reconstructionist. Its rabbinical arm is the Central Conference of American Rabbis , with some 2,300 member rabbis, mainly trained in Hebrew Union College . As of 2015, the URJ was led by President Rabbi Richard Jacobs , and

9024-400: The United States , flourishing from the 1860s to the 1930s in an era known as "Classical Reform". Since the 1970s, the movement has adopted a policy of inclusiveness and acceptance, inviting as many as possible to partake in its communities rather than adhering to strict theoretical clarity. It is strongly identified with progressive and liberal agendas in political and social terms, mainly under

9165-424: The United States and in Britain and the rest of the world, is characterized by larger affinity to traditional forms and diminished emphasis on harmonizing them with prevalent beliefs. Concurrently, it is also more inclusive and accommodating, even towards beliefs that are officially rejected by Reform theologians, sometimes allowing alternative differing rites for each congregation to choose from. Thus, prayerbooks from

9306-488: The United States. Commuter rail service is available via the Hastings-on-Hudson railway station, served by the Metro-North Railroad 's Hudson Line to Grand Central Terminal , Croton-on-Hudson and Poughkeepsie ; transfers to Amtrak 's Empire Corridor are available three stops south, at the Yonkers railway station. Additionally, several bus routes operated by the Bee-Line Bus System , connect Hastings-on-Hudson with other places in Westchester and northern sections of

9447-434: The Village was 86.8% (7456) White , 2.9% (249) African American , 5.2% (446) Asian , and 2.50% (215) from two or more races . White alone, no Hispanic or Latino were 81.7% (7018) Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.6% (567) of the population. As of the census of 2020, the median income for a household in the Village was $ 139,879. The per capita income for the Village was $ 79,190. About 2.9% of families and 2.5% of

9588-480: The ages. However, practices were seen as a means to elation and a link to the heritage of the past, and Reform generally argued that rituals should be maintained, discarded or modified based on whether they served these higher purposes. This stance allowed a great variety of practice both in the past and the present. In "Classical" times, personal observance was reduced to little beyond nothing. The postwar "New Reform" lent renewed importance to practical, regular action as

9729-460: The backbone of the nascent Reform rabbinate. Geiger intervened in the Second Hamburg Temple controversy not just to defend the prayerbook against the Orthodox, but also to denounce it, stating the time of mainly aesthetic and unsystematic reforms has passed. In 1842, the power of progressive forces was revealed again: when Geiger's superior Rabbi Solomon Tiktin attempted to dismiss him from the post of preacher in Breslau , 15 of 17 rabbis consulted by

9870-421: The belief that all religions would unite into one, and it later faced the challenges of the Ethical movement and Unitarianism . Parallel to that, it sought to diminish all components of Judaism that it regarded as overly particularist and self-centered: petitions expressing hostility towards gentiles were toned down or excised, and practices were often streamlined to resemble surrounding society. "New Reform" laid

10011-417: The biblical text . Believing that Judaism became stale and had to be radically transformed if it were to survive modernity, he found little use in the legal procedures of halakha , arguing that hardline rabbis often demonstrated they will not accept major innovations anyway. His venture into higher criticism led him to regard the Pentateuch as reflecting power struggles between the Pharisees on one hand, and

10152-406: The board stated his unorthodox views were congruous with his post. He himself differentiated between his principled stance and quotidian conduct. Believing it could be implemented only carefully, he was moderate in practice and remained personally observant. Second only to Geiger, Rabbi Samuel Holdheim distinguished himself as a radical proponent of change. While the former stressed continuity with

10293-414: The census of 2000, the median income for a household in the Village was $ 83,188, and the median income for a family was $ 129,227. Males had a median income of $ 76,789 versus $ 50,702 for females. The per capita income for the Village was $ 48,914. About 1.5% of families and 3.5% of the population were below the poverty line , including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over. In 2013,

10434-407: The central venue for active participation for many affiliates, even leading critics to negatively describe Reform as little more than a means employed by Jewish liberals to claim that commitment to their political convictions was also a religious activity and demonstrates fealty to Judaism. Dana Evan Kaplan stated that " Tikkun Olam has incorporated only leftist, socialist-like elements. In truth, it

10575-507: The ceremonial ones. Reform thinkers often cited the Prophets ' condemnations of ceremonial acts, lacking true intention and performed by the morally corrupt, as testimony that rites have no inherent quality. Geiger centered his philosophy on the Prophets' teachings (he had already named his ideology "Prophetic Judaism" in 1838), regarding morality and ethics as the stable core of a religion in which ritual observance transformed radically through

10716-566: The children of two Jewish parents. This decision was taken by the British Liberal Judaism in the 1950s. The North American Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) accepted it in 1983, and the British Movement for Reform Judaism affirmed it in 2015. The various strands also adopted a policy of embracing the intermarried and their spouses. British Liberals offer "blessing ceremonies" if the child is to be raised Jewish, and

10857-468: The civil ones ( memonot ), where the Law of the Land applied. Another measure he offered, rejected almost unanimously by his colleagues in 1846, was the institution of a "Second Sabbath" on Sunday, modeled on Second Passover , as most people desecrated the day of rest. The pressures of the late Vormärz era were intensifying. In 1842, a group of radical laymen determined to achieve full acceptance into society

10998-424: The creator, and a more sober and disillusioned outlook. The identification of human reason with Godly inspiration was rejected in favour of views such as Rosenzweig's, who emphasized that the only content of revelation is it in itself, while all derivations of it are subjective, limited human understanding. However, while granting higher status to historical and traditional understanding, both insisted that "revelation

11139-509: The focus of controversy. Its proponents vacillated whether and to what degree it should be applied against the contemporary plight. Opinions ranged from the strictly Orthodox Azriel Hildesheimer , who subjugated research to the predetermined sanctity of the texts and refused to allow it practical implication over received methods; via the Positive-Historical Zecharias Frankel , who did not deny Wissenschaft

11280-550: The following year when larger politics prevented her from leading the congregation herself. Rabbi Brickner soon arrived from Washington, DC. Rabbi Balfour Brickner led the congregation from 1980 to 1992. During his leadership Brickner used the pulpit to speak out against US policies in Central America and with the South African Apartheid regime, and spoke out for the rights of Palestinians. He brought

11421-496: The four farms comprising today's Hastings-on-Hudson were bought by James DeClark, Jacobus Dyckman, George Fisher, and tavern keeper Peter Post. Around the same time, Westchester County, which had been established as one of the 10 original counties in New York, was divided into towns, and the area that is now Hastings-on-Hudson became part of the town of Greenburgh. The village was incorporated in 1879 and its name changed from Hastings-Upon-Hudson to Hastings-on-Hudson. Stone quarrying

11562-486: The gentiles. The short-lived community employed fully traditional ("orthodox") argumentation to legitimize its actions, but is often regarded a harbinger by historians. A relatively thoroughgoing program was adopted by Israel Jacobson , a philanthropist from the Kingdom of Westphalia . Faith and observance were eroded for decades both by Enlightenment criticism and apathy, but Jacobson himself did not bother with those. He

11703-433: The great weight it lent to personal judgement and free will. This highly individualistic stance also proved one of the movement's great challenges, for it impeded the creation of clear guidelines and standards for positive participation in religious life and definition of what was expected from members. The notion of autonomy coincided with the gradual abandonment of traditional practice (largely neglected by most members, and

11844-503: The grudging support of one liberal-minded rabbi, Aaron Chorin of Arad , though even he never acceded to the removal of prayers for the sacrifices. The massive Orthodox reaction halted the advance of early Reform, confining it to the port city for the next twenty years. As acculturation and resulting religious apathy spread, many synagogues introduced mild aesthetic changes, such as vernacular sermons or somber conduct, yet these were carefully crafted to assuage conservative elements (though

11985-557: The industrial waterfront. Anaconda closed its Hastings-on-Hudson plant in 1975, bringing to an end the century-long era of heavy industry on the Hastings-on-Hudson waterfront. The 1926-founded Hillside-on-Hastings sanitarium and hospital opened in 1926. They relocated to Glen Oaks, Queens , in 1941. Billie Burke , actress (the "Good Witch" in The Wizard of Oz ), lived in Hastings-on-Hudson and left her property to

12126-434: The infusion of urban professionals from New York City resulted in characterization of the town as an example of "hipsturbia", a neologism coined by The New York Times to describe the hip lifestyle as lived in suburbia by " hipsters ". However, this article has been the subject of much controversy both within and with-out the community, with The New York Observer publishing one particularly scathing commentary. It

12267-469: The lamentation on the Ninth of Av for a celebration, regarding the destruction of Jerusalem as fulfilling God's scheme to bring his word, via his people, to all corners of the earth. Highly self-centered affirmations of Jewish exceptionalism were moderated, although the general notion of "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" retained. On the other hand, while embracing a less strict interpretation compared to

12408-557: The level plain nearby (which is now Maple Avenue), they planted corn and possibly tobacco . The findings of large numbers of artifacts have suggested that there was significant tribal activity in the confluence of Factory Brook and Scheckler's Brook just behind what is now the Cropsey Studio, but the interest in the site failed to generate any archeological inquiry. Around 1650, a Dutch carpenter, named Frederick Philipse , arrived in New Amsterdam . In 1682, Philipse traded with

12549-587: The lines of the warring forces and was declared neutral territory. In reality, the area became a no-man's land and was raided repeatedly by both sides. The minor Revolutionary War skirmish known as the Battle of Edgar's Lane was fought in Hastings. Following the Revolution, the Philipses, who had been loyal to George III , saw their vast lands confiscated and sold by the newly established American state. In 1785,

12690-640: The mid–20th century onwards incorporated more Hebrew, and restored such elements as blessing on phylacteries . More profound changes included restoration of the Gevorot benediction in the 2007 Mishkan T'filah , with the optional "give life to all/revive the dead" formula. The CCAR stated this passage did not reflect a belief in Resurrection, but Jewish heritage. On the other extreme, the 1975 Gates of Prayer substituted "the Eternal One" for "God" in

12831-503: The more contentious issues to the vernacular translation, treating the original text with great care and sometimes having problematic passages in small print and untranslated. When institutionalized and free of such constraints, it was able to pursue a more radical course. In American "Classical" or British Liberal prayerbooks, a far larger vernacular component was added and liturgy was drastically shortened, and petitions in discord with denominational theology eliminated. "New Reform", both in

12972-758: The movement. Intercourse between consenting adults was declared as legitimate by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1977, and openly gay clergy were admitted by the end of the 1980s. Same-sex marriage was sanctioned by the year 2000. In 2015, the URJ adopted a Resolution on the Rights of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People, urging clergy and synagogue attendants to actively promote tolerance and inclusion of such individuals. American Reform, especially, turned action for social and progressive causes into an important part of religious commitment. From

13113-494: The need for precedent to counter external accusations and the continuity of heritage. Instead, the movement had largely made ethical considerations or the spirit of the age the decisive factor in determining its course. The German founding fathers undermined the principles behind the legalistic process, which was based on a belief in an unbroken tradition through the ages merely elaborated and applied to novel circumstances, rather than subject to change. Rabbi Samuel Holdheim advocated

13254-444: The northern portion of the non–sectarian Mount Hope Cemetery, which had been created in the 19th century. There are some 1,500 individual grave sites, a Community Mausoleum with 138 crypts, and other mausoleums for individuals and families. Westchester Hills is the interment site of John Garfield , George Gershwin , Ira Gershwin , Judy Holliday , Billy Rose , Lee Strasberg , David Susskind , Rabbi Stephen S. Wise and of members of

13395-535: The notion of "Progressive Halakha " along the same lines. Reform sought to accentuate and greatly augment the universalist traits in Judaism, turning it into a faith befitting the Enlightenment ideals ubiquitous at the time it emerged. The tension between universalism and the imperative to maintain uniqueness characterized the movement throughout its entire history. Its earliest proponents rejected Deism and

13536-401: The notion of "progressive revelation" in the meaning of comparing human betterment with divine inspiration, stressing that past experiences were "unique" and of everlasting importance. Yet he stated that his ideas by no means negated the concept of ongoing, individually experienced revelation by all. Reform Judaism emphasizes the ethical facets of the faith as its central attribute, superseding

13677-487: The only true, permanent core of Judaism. He was not alone: Solomon Formstecher argued that Revelation was God's influence on human psyche, rather than encapsulated in law; Aaron Bernstein was apparently the first to deny inherent sanctity to any text when he wrote in 1844 that, "The Pentateuch is not a chronicle of God's revelation, it is a testimony to the inspiration His consciousness had on our forebears." Many others shared similar convictions. In 1837, Geiger hosted

13818-401: The orthodox concept of the explicit transmission of both scripture and its oral interpretation . While also subject to change and new understanding, the basic premise of progressive revelation endures in Reform thought. In its early days, this notion was greatly influenced by the philosophy of German idealism , from which its founders drew much inspiration: belief in humanity marching toward

13959-439: The other major denominations. Reform Judaism is considered to be the first major Jewish denomination to adopt gender equality in religious life . As early as 1846, the Breslau conference announced that women must enjoy identical obligations and prerogatives in worship and communal affairs, though this decision had virtually no effect in practice. Lily Montagu , who served as a driving force behind British Liberal Judaism and WUPJ,

14100-400: The past and described Judaism as an entity that gradually adopted and discarded elements along time, Holdheim accorded present conditions the highest status, sharply dividing the universalist core from all other aspects that could be unremittingly disposed of. Declaring that old laws lost their hold on Jews as it were and the rabbi could only act as a guide for voluntary observance, his principle

14241-510: The personal spiritual experience and communal participation. This shift was not accompanied by a distinct new doctrine or by the abandonment of the former, but rather with ambiguity. The leadership allowed and encouraged a wide variety of positions, from selective adoption of halakhic observance to elements approaching religious humanism . The declining importance of the theoretical foundation, in favour of pluralism and equivocalness, drew large crowds of newcomers. It also diversified Reform to

14382-452: The population were below the poverty line . As of the census of 2000, there were 3,093 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

14523-638: The prayerbooks and have them express the movement's theology. Blessings and passages referring to the coming of the Messiah, return to Zion, renewal of sacrificial practices, resurrection of the dead, reward and punishment and overt particularism of the People Israel were replaced, recast or excised altogether. In its early stages, when Reform Judaism was more a tendency within unified communities in Central Europe than an independent movement, its advocates had to practice considerable moderation, lest they provoke conservative animosity. German prayerbooks often relegated

14664-483: The proposals of Aaron Chorin and others for a new Sanhedrin , made already in 1826, that could assess and eliminate various ancient decrees and prohibitions. A total of forty-two people attended the three meetings, including moderates and conservatives, all quite young, usually in their thirties. Hastings-on-Hudson, New York Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in

14805-479: The re-traditionalization, but many young congregants in the United States still perform one, often at Shavuot . Confirmation for girls eventually developed into the Bat Mitzvah , now popular among all except strictly Orthodox Jews. Some branches of Reform, while subscribing to its differentiation between ritual and ethics, chose to maintain a considerable degree of practical observance, especially in areas where

14946-412: The recognition of patrilineal descent : all children born to a couple in which a single member was Jewish, whether mother or father, was accepted as a Jew on condition that they received corresponding education and committed themselves as such. Conversely, offspring of a Jewish mother only are not accepted if they do not demonstrate affinity to the faith. A Jewish status is conferred unconditionally only on

15087-414: The reformers were laymen, operating in a country with little rabbinic presence. In the 1820s and 1830s, philosophers like Solomon Steinheim imported German idealism into the Jewish religious discourse, attempting to draw from the means it employed to reconcile Christian faith and modern sensibilities. But it was the new scholarly, critical Science of Judaism ( Wissenschaft des Judentums ) that became

15228-600: The rest are unaffiliated but identify with the movement. This makes Reform the second-largest Jewish denomination worldwide, after Orthodox Judaism . Its inherent pluralism and the importance it places on individual autonomy impedes any simplistic definition of Reform Judaism; its various strands regard Judaism throughout the ages as a religion that was derived from a process of constant evolution. They warrant and obligate further modifications and reject any fixed, permanent set of beliefs, laws or practices. A clear description of Reform Judaism became particularly challenging since

15369-479: The restoration of the Jerusalem Temple; during his inaugural address on 21 November 1825, Harby stated their native country was their only Zion, not "some stony desert", and described the rabbis of old as "Fabulists and Sophists... Who tortured the plainest precepts of the Law into monstrous and unexpected inferences". The Society was short-lived, and they merged back into Beth Elohim in 1833. As in Germany,

15510-509: The same direction as Hamburg's, was taken across the ocean in 1824. The younger congregants in the Charleston synagogue " Beth Elohim " were disgruntled by present conditions and demanded change. Led by Isaac Harby and other associates, they formed their own prayer group, "The Reformed Society of Israelites". Apart from strictly aesthetic matters, like having sermons and synagogue affairs delivered in English, rather than Middle Spanish (as

15651-466: The same year she was ordained. Her attention to the congregation extended far beyond her speeches. She was very active in the Hebrew School and paid attention to how she would be shaping a new generation of youth while Assistant, and eventually Associate Rabbi. When Rabbi Klein had a stroke in 1978, she led this house through his return to the pulpit in his wheelchair on September 30, 1978. She left

15792-670: The school district, which still owns it, and uses it for various sports. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich , from Ripley , in western New York, used real estate profits to purchase the Hudson River Rubber Company, a small business in Hastings-on-Hudson. The following year, Goodrich relocated the business to Akron, Ohio . Children's Village, a boarding facility for children in difficult circumstances, located in neighboring Dobbs Ferry , sold about 50 acres (200,000 m ) of its property in Hastings-on-Hudson to

15933-399: The second half of the 20th century, it employed the old rabbinic notion of Tikkun Olam , "repairing the world", as a slogan under which constituents were encouraged to partake in various initiatives for the betterment of society. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism became an important lobby in service of progressive causes such as the rights of minorities. Tikkun Olam has become

16074-452: The somewhat ambiguous formula "the spirit within us is eternal". The first and primary field in which Reform convictions were expressed was that of prayer forms. From its beginning, Reform Judaism attempted to harmonize the language of petitions with modern sensibilities and what the constituents actually believed in. Jakob Josef Petuchowski , in his extensive survey of Progressive liturgy, listed several key principles that defined it through

16215-503: The southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York , United States. It is a suburb of New York City , located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of midtown Manhattan , and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line . To the north of Hastings-on-Hudson is the village of Dobbs Ferry , to the south, the city of Yonkers , and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh. As of

16356-403: The spiritual leadership have approached religious and even secular humanism . This tendency has grown since the mid-20th century among both clergy and constituents, leading to broader, dimmer definitions of the concept. Early Reform thinkers in Germany clung to this precept; the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform described the "One God... The God-Idea as taught in our sacred Scripture" as consecrating

16497-413: The state, in particular. While opposed to interfaith marriage in principle, officials of the major Reform rabbinical organisation, the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), estimated in 2012 that about half of their rabbis partake in such ceremonies. The need to cope with this phenomenon – 80% of all Reform-raised Jews in the United States wed between 2000 and 2013 were intermarried – led to

16638-690: The staunchly Orthodox opposed them anyhow; secular education for rabbis, for example, was much resisted). One of the first to adopt such modifications was Hamburg's own Orthodox community, under the newly appointed modern Rabbi Isaac Bernays . The less strict but still traditional Isaac Noah Mannheimer of the Vienna Stadttempel and Michael Sachs in Prague , set the pace for most of Central and Western Europe. They significantly altered custom, but wholly avoided dogmatic issues or overt injury to Jewish Law. An isolated, yet much more radical step in

16779-421: The strict sense) also surfaced at the same decades, as were phylacteries, prayer shawls and head coverings. Reform is still characterized by having the least service attendance on average: for example, of those polled by Pew in 2013, only 34% of registered synagogue members (and only 17% of all those who state affinity) attend services once a month and more. The Proto-Reform movement did pioneer new rituals. In

16920-499: The synagogue's board of trustees. In January 1906, The New York Times published a letter from Rabbi Wise that stated that the demands placed on him raised the "question whether the pulpit shall be free or whether the pulpit shall not be free, and, by reason of its loss of freedom, reft of its power for good." The Times noted that Wise planned to head to New York to "organize and lead an independent Jewish religious movement." Within months of this letter, Rabbi Wise started work toward

17061-465: The traditional Jewish rubric tikkun olam ("repairing of the world"). Tikkun olam is a central motto of Reform Judaism, and acting in its name is one of the main channels for adherents to express their affiliation. The movement's most significant center today is in North America . Various regional branches exist, including the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in the United States and Canada,

17202-440: The traditional one, Reform also held to this tenet against those who sought to deny it. When secularist thinkers like Ahad Ha'am and Mordecai Kaplan forwarded the view of Judaism as a civilization , portraying it as a culture created by the Jewish people, rather than a God-given faith defining them, Reform theologians decidedly rejected their position – although it became popular and even dominant among rank-and-file members. Like

17343-535: The turn toward a policy that favored inclusiveness ("Big Tent" in the United States) over a coherent theology in the 1970s. This transition largely overlapped with what researchers termed the transition from "Classical" to "New" Reform Judaism in America, paralleled in the other, smaller branches of Judaism that exist across the world. The movement ceased stressing principles and core beliefs, focusing more on

17484-575: The years and many transformations it underwent. The prayers were abridged, whether by omitting repetitions, excising passages or reintroducing the ancient triennial cycle for reading the Torah; vernacular segments were added alongside or instead of the Hebrew and Aramaic text, to ensure the congregants understood the petitions they expressed; and some new prayers were composed to reflect the spirit of changing times. But chiefly, liturgists sought to reformulate

17625-400: Was Abraham Geiger , generally considered the founder of the movement. After critical research led him to regard scripture as a human creation, bearing the marks of historical circumstances, he abandoned the belief in the unbroken perpetuity of tradition derived from Sinai and gradually replaced it with the idea of progressive revelation. As in other liberal denominations , this notion offered

17766-407: Was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.05. In the Village, as of the census of 2000, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.9 males. As of

17907-735: Was a better epithet. When the movement was institutionalized in Germany between 1898 and 1908, its leaders chose "Liberal" as self-designation, founding the Vereinigung für das Liberale Judentum. In 1902, Claude Montefiore termed the doctrine espoused by his new Jewish Religious Union as "Liberal Judaism", too, though it belonged to the more radical part of the spectrum in relation to the German one. In 1926, British Liberals, American Reform and German Liberals consolidated their worldwide movement – united in affirming tenets such as progressive revelation, supremacy of ethics above ritual and so forth – at

18048-415: Was adopted by the movement worldwide as its foundation date. The Seesen temple – a designation quite common for prayerhouses at the time; "temple" would later become, somewhat misleadingly (and not exclusively), identified with Reform institutions via association with the elimination of prayers for the Jerusalem Temple – closed in 1813. Jacobson moved to Berlin and established a similar synagogue, which became

18189-464: Was customary among Western Sephardim ), they had almost their entire liturgy solely in the vernacular, in a far greater proportion compared to the Hamburg rite. And chiefly, they felt little attachment to the traditional Messianic doctrine and possessed a clearly heterodox religious understanding. In their new prayerbook, authors Harby, Abram Moïse and David Nunes Carvalho unequivocally excised pleas for

18330-483: Was declared redundant and the civil one recognized as sufficient by American Reform in 1869, and in Germany by 1912; the laws concerning dietary and personal purity, the priestly prerogatives, marital ordinances and so forth were dispensed with, and openly revoked by the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform , which declared all ceremonial acts binding only if they served to enhance religious experience. From 1890, converts were no longer obligated to be circumcised. Similar policy

18471-815: Was founded in Frankfurt, the "Friends of Reform". They abolished circumcision and declared that the Talmud was no longer binding. In response to pleas from Frankfurt, virtually all rabbis in Germany, even Holdheim, declared circumcision obligatory. Similar groups sprang in Breslau and Berlin. These developments, and the need to bring uniformity to practical reforms implemented piecemeal in the various communities, motivated Geiger and his like-minded supporters into action. Between 1844 and 1846, they convened three rabbinical assemblies, in Braunschweig , Frankfurt am Main and Breslau respectively. Those were intended to implement

18612-587: Was important because in 1915 it took orders from the UK to produce .303 ammunition but they could not pump up the production, so the contract were cancelled in late 1916. In 1917 it produced .30-06 ammo for the US Navy and Army. The Anaconda Copper Company took over National Conduit in 1929, and a few years later acquired the Hastings Pavement property. By the end of World War II , Anaconda owned most of

18753-769: Was in Rabbinical training. After his ordination he was invited to serve as Assistant Rabbi under Stephen Wise. Social Activism guided by ethics proved him to be a community minded voice who strongly believed in equality and social inclusion. In 1973 he choose to share his pulpit with the first female Assistant Rabbi in the US, Rabbi Sally Priesand . A portion of his papers (1920–1981) can be found in The Rabbi Edward Klein Memorial Library at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. Rabbi Sally Priesand , America's first ordained female rabbi, began serving in 1972,

18894-494: Was interested in decorum, believing its lack in services was driving the young away. Many of the aesthetic reforms he pioneered, like a regular vernacular sermon on moralistic themes, would be later adopted by the modernist Orthodox . On 17 July 1810, he dedicated a synagogue in Seesen that employed an organ and a choir during prayer and introduced some German liturgy. While Jacobson was far from full-fledged Reform Judaism, this day

19035-437: Was more prevalent as an appellation for the religiously apathetic majority among German Jews, and also to all rabbis who were not clearly Orthodox (including the rival Positive-Historical School ). The title "Reform" became much more common in the United States, where an independent denomination under this name was fully identified with the religious tendency. However, Isaac Meyer Wise suggested in 1871 that "Progressive Judaism"

19176-568: Was pursued by Claude Montefiore 's Jewish Religious Union, established at Britain in 1902. The Vereinigung für das Liberale Judentum in Germany, which was more moderate, declared virtually all personal observance voluntary in its 1912 guidelines. "New Reform" saw the establishment and membership lay greater emphasis on the ceremonial aspects, after the former sterile and minimalist approach was condemned as offering little to engage in religion and encouraging apathy. Numerous rituals became popular again, often after being recast or reinterpreted, though as

19317-486: Was that the concept of " the Law of the Land is the Law " was total. He declared mixed marriage permissible – almost the only Reform rabbi to do so in history; his contemporaries and later generations opposed this – for the Talmudic ban on conducting them on Sabbath, unlike offering sacrifice and other acts, was to him sufficient demonstration that they belonged not to the category of sanctified obligations ( issurim ) but to

19458-403: Was the earliest industry in Hastings-on-Hudson. From 1865 to 1871, hundreds of Scottish and Irish laborers blasted huge quantities of dolomitic marble from a white Westchester marble quarry. An inclined railroad carried the marble down to the quarry wharf where it was dressed by skilled stonecutters and loaded onto ships bound for cities like New York and Charleston, South Carolina . By

19599-456: Was the first woman in recorded history to deliver a sermon at a synagogue in 1918, and set another precedent when she conducted a prayer two years later. Regina Jonas , ordained in 1935 by later chairman of the Vereinigung der liberalen Rabbiner Max Dienemann, was the earliest known female rabbi to officially be granted the title. In 1972, Sally Priesand was ordained by Hebrew Union College , which made her America's first female rabbi ordained by

19740-484: Was the reform of worship in synagogues, making them more attractive to a generation whose aesthetic and moral taste became attuned to that of Christian surroundings. The first considered to have implemented such a course was the Amsterdam Ashkenazi congregation, "Adath Jessurun", In 1796. Emulating the local Sephardic custom, it omitted the " Father of Mercy " prayer, beseeching God to take revenge upon

19881-520: Was viewed by Enlightenment thinkers both as irrational and an import from ancient middle-eastern pagans. The only perceived form of retribution for the wicked, if any, was the anguish of their soul after death, and vice versa, bliss was the single accolade for the spirits of the righteous. Angels and heavenly hosts were also deemed a foreign superstitious influence, especially from early Zoroastrian sources, and denied. Notions of afterlife according to Enlightenment thinkers were given to be reduced merely to

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