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126-455: There is substantial theological diversity within the movement. Halakha (Jewish law) is not considered normative and binding but is instead seen as the basis for the ongoing evolution of meaningful Jewish practice. In contrast with the Reform movement's stance during the time he was writing, Kaplan believed that "Jewish life [is] meaningless without Jewish law" and one of the planks he wrote for

252-519: A "revaluation... in terms of present-day thought." Reconstructionism was able to spread with several other forms of literature—most notably, the New Haggadah (1941), which for the first time blended Kaplan's ideologies in Jewish ceremonial literature. Although Kaplan did not want Reconstructionism to branch into another Jewish denomination, it became apparent that such an outcome was inevitable. At

378-593: A Civilization are de facto statements of principles. In 1986, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) and the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot (FRCH) passed the official "Platform on Reconstructionism". It is not a mandatory statement of principles, but rather a consensus of current beliefs. Major points of the platform state that: Judaism is the result of natural human development. There

504-624: A December 2006 opinion lifting all rabbinic prohibitions on homosexual conduct (the opinion held that only male-male anal sex was forbidden by the Bible and that this remained prohibited). Conservative Judaism also made a number of changes to the role of women in Judaism including counting women in a minyan , permitting women to chant from the Torah, and ordaining women as rabbis . The Conservative approach to halakhic interpretation can be seen in

630-422: A code of conduct that is meaningful for, and acceptable to, the vast majority of contemporary Jews, and thus must be reinterpreted in each new time period. Unlike classical Reform Judaism , Reconstructionism holds that a person's default position should be to incorporate Jewish laws and tradition into their lives, unless they have a specific reason to do otherwise. However some Reconstructionists believe that halakha

756-487: A community recognizes a certain judicial system to resolve its disputes and interpret its laws." Given this covenantal relationship, rabbis are charged with connecting their contemporary community with the traditions and precedents of the past. When presented with contemporary issues, rabbis go through a halakhic process to find an answer. The classical approach has permitted new rulings regarding modern technology. For example, some of these rulings guide Jewish observers about

882-469: A complete enumeration of the rules of interpretation current in his day, but that they omitted from their collections many rules which were then followed." Akiva devoted his attention particularly to the grammatical and exegetical rules, while Ishmael developed the logical. The rules laid down by one school were frequently rejected by another because the principles that guided them in their respective formulations were essentially different. According to Akiva,

1008-559: A non-binding statement attempting to delineate the process by which congregations set policy on these issues, and sets forth sample recommendations. These issues are ultimately decided by local lay leadership. In 2015 the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College voted to accept rabbinical students in interfaith relationships, making Reconstructionist Judaism the first type of Judaism to officially allow rabbis in relationships with non-Jewish partners. In making

1134-491: A personal god because those notions include the belief that God dispenses rewards and punishments both in this life and after it. This is not something which would be done by an impersonal force. However, a personal relationship with God is not contemplated, since living a virtuous and pious life is seen as the primary means of worshiping God. Humanist deists accept the core principles of deism but incorporate humanist beliefs into their faith. Thus, humanistic deists believe in

1260-472: A personal god who created the universe. The key element that separates humanistic deists from other deists is the emphasis on the importance of human development over religious development and on the relationships among human beings over the relationships between humans and God. Those who self-identify as humanistic deists may take an approach based upon what is found in classical deism and allow their worship of God to manifest itself primarily (or exclusively) in

1386-471: A personal god, but they do not necessarily believe in a personal relationship with God. However, some Christian deists may practice a different (non-classical) form of deism while viewing Jesus as a non-divine moral teacher. The views of these Christian deists on the existence of a personal god and whether a relationship with such god is possible would be based on their core deist beliefs. Classical deists who adhere to Herbert's common notion certainly believe in

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1512-443: A personal god. Jewish theology states that God is not a person. This was also determined several times in the Torah, which is considered by Jews to be an indisputable authority for their faith (Hosea 11 9: "I am God, and not a man". Numbers 23 19: "God is not a man, that He should lie". 1 Samuel 15 29: "He is not a person, that He should repent"). However, there exist frequent references to anthropomorphic characteristics of God in

1638-439: A process of education and distillation of values from traditional Jewish sources. The movement's 2011 A Guide to Jewish Practice describes a Reconstructionist approach to Jewish practice as "post- halakhic " because the modern world is one in which Jewish law cannot be enforced. Obligation and spiritual discipline exist without the enforcement of a functioning legal system. Thus, Reconstructionist Jews take Jewish law seriously as

1764-533: A prohibition in order to maintain the Jewish system as a whole. This was part of the basis for Esther 's relationship with Ahasuerus (Xeres). For general usage of takkanaot in Jewish history see the article Takkanah . For examples of this being used in Conservative Judaism, see Conservative halakha . The antiquity of the rules can be determined only by the dates of the authorities who quote them; in general, they cannot safely be declared older than

1890-408: A rabbinic posek ("he who makes a statement", "decisor") proposes an additional interpretation of a law, that interpretation may be considered binding for the posek's questioner or immediate community. Depending on the stature of the posek and the quality of the decision, an interpretation may also be gradually accepted by other rabbis and members of other Jewish communities. Under this system there

2016-426: A self-evident trust that their pattern of life and belief now conformed to the sacred patterns and beliefs presented by scripture and tradition". According to an analysis by Jewish scholar Jeffrey Rubenstein of Michael Berger's book Rabbinic Authority , the authority that rabbis hold "derives not from the institutional or personal authority of the sages but from a communal decision to recognize that authority, much as

2142-541: A source and resource that can shape expectations while not necessarily seeing themselves as bound by inherited claims of obligation. Therefore, the practices in the guide are not monolithic, and commentators provide further insights, arguments, and alternative approaches that span the broad range of views that Reconstructionist rabbis and scholars advocate. The guide states that it "assumes that thoughtful individuals and committed communities can handle diversity and will of necessity reach their own conclusions." Reconstructionism

2268-915: A strong network in the religious leadership of Reconstructionism. The founding of these institutions were great strides in its becoming the fourth movement in North American Judaism ( Orthodox , Conservative , and Reform being the other three). Reconstructionist Judaism is the first major movement of Judaism to originate in North America; the second is the Humanistic Judaism movement founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine . Kaplan believed that, in light of advances in philosophy, science, and history, it would be impossible for modern Jews to continue to adhere to many of Judaism's traditional theological claims. Kaplan affirmed that God

2394-588: A water tap (which is permissible by halakha ) than lighting a fire (which is not permissible), and therefore permitted on Shabbat. The reformative Judaism in some cases explicitly interprets halakha to take into account its view of contemporary society. For instance, most Conservative rabbis extend the application of certain Jewish obligations and permissible activities to women (see below ). Within certain Jewish communities, formal organized bodies do exist. Within Modern Orthodox Judaism , there

2520-636: Is Ahad (the Unique One of Absolute Oneness, who is indivisible in nature, who is unique in His essence, attributes, names and acts, the One who has no second, no associate, no parents, no offspring, no peers, free from the concept of multiplicity , and far from conceptualization and limitation, and there is nothing like Him in any respect). 2. Allah is al-Samad (the Ultimate Source of all existence,

2646-486: Is He begotten (He is Unborn and Uncreated, has no parents, spouse, or offspring). 4. And there is none comparable (equal, equivalent or similar) to Him. In this context, the masculinity of huwa (he) with respect to Allah is unmistakably a purely grammatical masculinity without even a hint of anthropomorphism . The Maliki scholar Ibrahim al-Laqqani (d. 1041/1631) said in his book, Jawharat al-Tawhid (The Gem of Monotheism), that: "Any text that leads one to imagine

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2772-504: Is He subject to time, because both time and space are amongst His creations. He the Exalted was present in pre-existence and there was nothing of the creation with Him". Al-Tahawi also stated that: Whoever describes Allah even with a single human quality/attribute, has disbelieved/ blasphemed . So whoever understands this, will take heed and refrain from such statements as those of disbelievers, and knows that Allah in His attributes

2898-528: Is a member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism , in which it gained an observer status in 1990. Halakha Halakha ( / h ɑː ˈ l ɔː x ə / hah- LAW -khə ; Hebrew : הֲלָכָה , romanized :  hălāḵā , Sephardic : [halaˈχa] ), also transliterated as halacha , halakhah , and halocho ( Ashkenazic : [haˈlɔχɔ] ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from

3024-405: Is a tension between the relevance of earlier and later authorities in constraining Halakhic interpretation and innovation. On the one hand, there is a principle in halakha not to overrule a specific law from an earlier era, after it is accepted by the community as a law or vow , unless supported by another, relevant earlier precedent; see list below. On the other hand, another principle recognizes

3150-526: Is absolutely nothing like Him in any way whatsoever. However, due to grammatical limitation in the Arabic language , masculinity is the default grammatical gender if the noun is not specifically feminine. But this does not apply to the word "Allah," because according to Islamic theology Allah has no gender. Allah is also a singular noun and cannot have a plural form. The "We" used in the Qur'an in numerous places in

3276-455: Is actually counter-productive. They propose that Judaism has entered a phase of ethical monotheism, and that the laws of Judaism are only remnants of an earlier stage of religious evolution, and need not be followed. This is considered wrong, and even heretical , by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism. Humanistic Jews value the Torah as a historical, political, and sociological text written by their ancestors. They do not believe "that every word of

3402-547: Is an evolving concept and that the traditional halakhic system is incapable of producing a code of conduct that is meaningful for, and acceptable to, the vast majority of contemporary Jews. Reconstructionist founder Mordecai Kaplan believed that "Jewish life [is] meaningless without Jewish law.", and one of the planks of the Society for the Jewish Renascence, of which Kaplan was one of the founders, stated: "We accept

3528-680: Is between the Written Law, laws written in the Hebrew Bible , and the Oral Law, laws which are believed to have been transmitted orally prior to their later compilation in texts such as the Mishnah, Talmud, and rabbinic codes. Commandments are divided into positive and negative commands, which are treated differently in terms of divine and human punishment. Positive commandments require an action to be performed and are considered to bring

3654-577: Is considered to be a true teaching, even if it is not the true teaching in according to the heavens. For instance, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik believes that the job of a halakhic decisor is to apply halakha − which exists in an ideal realm−to people's lived experiences. Moshe Shmuel Glasner , the chief rabbi of Cluj ( Klausenberg in German or קלויזנבורג in Yiddish) stated that the Oral Torah

3780-759: Is derived from the Hebrew root halakh – "to walk" or "to go". Taken literally, therefore, halakha translates as "the way to walk", rather than "law". The word halakha refers to the corpus of rabbinic legal texts, or to the overall system of religious law. The term may also be related to Akkadian ilku , a property tax, rendered in Aramaic as halakh , designating one or several obligations. It may be descended from hypothetical reconstructed Proto-Semitic root *halak- meaning "to go", which also has descendants in Akkadian, Arabic, Aramaic, and Ugaritic. Halakha

3906-434: Is dismissed as supernaturalism . Kaplan posits that revelation "consists in disengaging from the traditional context those elements in it which answer permanent postulates of human nature, and in integrating them into our own ideology...the rest may be relegated to archaeology". Many writers have criticized the movement's most widely held theology, religious naturalism . David Ray Griffin and Louis Jacobs have objected to

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4032-483: Is neither normative, nor binding, but are general guidelines. Reconstructionism promotes many traditional Jewish practices. Thus, the commandments have been replaced with "folkways", non-binding customs that can be democratically accepted or rejected by the congregations. Folkways that are promoted include keeping Hebrew in the prayer service , studying Torah , daily prayer, wearing kippot ( yarmulkes ), tallitot and tefillin during prayer, and observance of

4158-684: Is no one committee or leader, but Modern US-based Orthodox rabbis generally agree with the views set by consensus by the leaders of the Rabbinical Council of America . Within Conservative Judaism , the Rabbinical Assembly has an official Committee on Jewish Law and Standards . Note that takkanot (plural of takkanah ) in general do not affect or restrict observance of Torah mitzvot . (Sometimes takkanah refers to either gezeirot or takkanot .) However,

4284-405: Is no proof of a purpose for creation. The lack of a purpose for creation gives God no incentive to engage in such relationships with human beings. Spiritual deism is a belief in the core principles of deism with an emphasis on spirituality including the connections among people and between humans, nature and God. Within spiritual deism, there is an absolute belief in a personal god as the creator of

4410-400: Is no such thing as divine intervention; Judaism is an evolving religious civilization; Zionism and aliyah (immigration to Israel) are encouraged; Reconstructionist Judaism is based on a democratic community where the laity can make decisions, not just rabbis; The Torah was not inspired by God; it only comes from the social and historical development of Jewish people; The classical view of God

4536-439: Is normative and binding, and is developed as a partnership between people and God based on Sinaitic Torah. While there are a wide variety of Conservative views, a common belief is that halakha is, and has always been, an evolving process subject to interpretation by rabbis in every time period. See Conservative Judaism, Beliefs . Reconstructionist Judaism holds that halakha is normative and binding, while also believing that it

4662-435: Is not anthropomorphic in any way, a position articulated by prominent medieval Jewish thinkers like Maimonides and in agreement with the rest of Rabbinic Judaism . All anthropomorphic descriptions of God are understood to be metaphorical. Kaplan's theology went further to claim that God is neither a personal nor conscious being; God cannot relate to or communicate with humanity in any way. Kaplan's theology defines God as

4788-475: Is often contrasted with aggadah ("the telling"), the diverse corpus of rabbinic exegetical , narrative, philosophical, mystical, and other "non-legal" texts. At the same time, since writers of halakha may draw upon the aggadic and even mystical literature, a dynamic interchange occurs between the genres. Halakha also does not include the parts of the Torah not related to commandments. Halakha constitutes

4914-402: Is possible. Christian deism is a term applied both to Christians who incorporate deistic principles into their beliefs and to deists who follow the moral teachings of Jesus without believing in his divinity. With regard to those who are essentially deists who incorporate the teachings of Jesus into their beliefs, these are usually a subset of classical deists. Consequently, they believe in

5040-463: Is rejected. God is redefined as the sum of natural powers or processes that allows mankind to gain self-fulfillment and moral improvement; The idea that God chose the Jewish people for any purpose, in any way, is "morally untenable", because anyone who has such beliefs "implies the superiority of the elect community and the rejection of others." Most Reconstructionists do not believe in revelation (the idea that God reveals his will to human beings). This

5166-553: Is so loose that not attending synagogue may lead them to drop it altogether, their rabbi may give them a dispensation to drive there and back; and more recently in its decision prohibiting the taking of evidence on mamzer status on the grounds that implementing such a status is immoral. The CJLS has also held that the Talmudic concept of Kavod HaBriyot permits lifting rabbinic decrees (as distinct from carving narrow exceptions) on grounds of human dignity, and used this principle in

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5292-422: Is still seen as binding. Conservative Jews use modern methods of historical study to learn how Jewish law has changed over time, and are, in some cases, willing to change Jewish law in the present. A key practical difference between Conservative and Orthodox approaches is that Conservative Judaism holds that its rabbinical body's powers are not limited to reconsidering later precedents based on earlier sources, but

5418-472: Is the ground of everything personal and that he carries within himself the ontological power of personality... Anglican theologian Graham Ward (theologian) distinguished between seeing God as a "Person" and God as a "Subject". He wrote that the "attempt to reconcile or, at least render, theologically coherent, the man-God" of God the Son in ' nineteenth-century biblical criticism ' will always make Christ

5544-553: Is the Power in the cosmos that gives human life the direction that enables the human being to reflect the image of God. Most "classical" Reconstructionist Jews (i.e., those agreeing with Kaplan) reject traditional forms of theism , though this is by no means universal. Many Reconstructionist Jews are deists , but the movement also includes Jews who hold Kabbalistic , pantheistic , personal, and/or panentheistic views of God. Kaplan's theology, as he explicitly stated, does not represent

5670-547: Is the Reconstructionist movement's summer sleep away camp. In April 2016, a new Reconstructionist rabbinical organization was formed: Beit Kaplan: The Rabbinic Partnership for Jewish Peoplehood. Originally, Beit Kaplan was focused upon opposing both the decision to allow Reconstructionist rabbis to have non-Jewish partners, and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement within Reconstructionist circles. Following

5796-565: Is utterly unlike human beings. In the Baháʼí Faith God is described as "a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation , eternal, omniscient , omnipresent and almighty ". Although transcendent and inaccessible directly, his image is reflected in his creation. The purpose of creation is for the created to have the capacity to know and love its creator. God communicates his will and purpose to humanity through intermediaries, known as Manifestations of God , who are

5922-466: The shofar on Shabbat, or taking the lulav and etrog on Shabbat. These examples of takkanot which may be executed out of caution lest some might otherwise carry the mentioned items between home and the synagogue, thus inadvertently violating a Sabbath melakha . Another rare and limited form of takkanah involved overriding Torah prohibitions. In some cases, the Sages allowed the temporary violation of

6048-439: The 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel , Beit Kaplan's membership increased to 72 rabbis and rabbinical students in six countries. Presently, Beit Kaplan focuses on a "course correction" to reestablish the Reconstructionist movement's support for Israel and emphasis on the centrality of Jewish peoplehood. According to the 2010 US Religion Census, there were 41,436 members of Reconstructionist Judaism within 95 synagogues. As of 2020,

6174-624: The Absolute . In the context of Christianity and other Abrahamic religions , the term "personal god" also refers to the incarnation of God as a person. In the context of Hinduism , "personal god/goddess" also refers to Ishtadevata , a worshipper's personal favorite deity. In the scriptures of the Abrahamic religions , God is described as being a personal creator, speaking in the first person and showing emotion such as anger and pride, and sometimes appearing in anthropomorphic shape. In

6300-531: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) is empowered to override Biblical and Taanitic prohibitions by takkanah (decree) when perceived to be inconsistent with modern requirements or views of ethics. The CJLS has used this power on a number of occasions, most famously in the "driving teshuva", which says that if someone is unable to walk to any synagogue on the Sabbath, and their commitment to observance

6426-504: The Hebrew Bible such as the " Hand of God ." Judaism holds that these are to be taken only as figures of speech. Their purpose is to make God more comprehensible to the human reader. In mainstream Christianity , Jesus (or God the Son ) and God the Father are believed to be two persons or aspects of the same God . Jesus is of the same ousia or substance as God the Father, manifested in three hypostases or persons (the Father,

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6552-566: The Jewish diaspora , Jews lacked a single judicial hierarchy or appellate review process for halakha . According to some scholars, the words halakha and sharia both mean literally "the path to follow". The fiqh literature parallels rabbinical law developed in the Talmud , with fatwas being analogous to rabbinic responsa . According to the Talmud ( Tractate Makot ), 613 mitzvot are in

6678-688: The Jewish holidays . Reconstructionists may use distinct prayer books, such as the Kol haneshamah Hebrew/English Reconstructionist prayer book. Marc Shapiro called attention to the Reconstructionist Kol haneshamah taking liberties with the text, sometimes with an English translation "so blatantly inaccurate that we have no choice but to regard it as a conscious alteration." In practice, Kaplan's books, especially The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion and Judaism as

6804-591: The Paramatma (supreme soul) and Parameshvara (supreme God) while the Rudram describes the same about Shiva. In Krishna -centered theology (Krishna is seen as a form of Vishnu by most, except Gaudiya Vaishnavism) the title Svayam Bhagavan is used exclusively to designate Krishna in his personal feature, it refers to Gaudiya Vaishnava , the Nimbarka Sampradaya and followers of Vallabha , while

6930-584: The Pentateuch , for example, God talks with and instructs his prophets and is conceived as possessing volition , emotions (such as anger, grief and happiness), intention , and other attributes characteristic of a human person. Personal relationships with God may be described in the same ways as human relationships, such as a Father , as in Christianity , or a Friend as in Sufism . A 2008 survey by

7056-649: The Pew Research Center estimated that Reconstructionist Judaism, along with Humanistic Judaism and other smaller denominations, constituted 4% of the United States's 7.5 million Jews. Originally an offshoot of Conservative Judaism , Reconstructionism retains warm relations with Reform Judaism; however, Orthodox Judaism considers Reconstructionism, and every other non-Orthodox denomination, to be in violation of proper observance of interpretation of Jewish law. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

7182-487: The Pew Research Center reported that, of U.S. adults, 60% view that "God is a person with whom people can have a relationship", while 25% believe that "God is an impersonal force". A 2019 survey by the National Opinion Research Center reported that 77.5% of U.S. adults believe in a personal god. The 2014 Religious Landscape survey conducted by Pew reported that 57% of U.S. adults believe in

7308-545: The Shabbat and holidays). Through the ages, various rabbinical authorities have classified some of the 613 commandments in many ways. A different approach divides the laws into a different set of categories: The development of halakha in the period before the Maccabees , which has been described as the formative period in the history of its development, is shrouded in obscurity. Historian Yitzhak Baer argued that there

7434-727: The Written and Oral Torah . Halakha is based on biblical commandments ( mitzvot ), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws , and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the Shulchan Aruch . Halakha is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root which means "to behave" (also "to go" or "to walk"). Halakha not only guides religious practices and beliefs; it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, widespread observance of

7560-609: The sangha , the fourfold order consisting of male saints ( sādhus ), female saints ( sādhvi s), male householders ( śrāvaka ) and female householders ( Śrāvika ). The first Tirthankara of the current time cycle was Ṛṣabhanātha , and the twenty-fourth and last Tirthankara was Mahavira , who lived from 599 BCE to 527 BCE . Jain texts mention forty-six attributes of arihants or tirthankaras . These attributes comprise four infinitudes ( ananta chatushtaya ), thirty-four miraculous happenings ( atiśaya ), and eight splendours ( prātihārya ). The eight splendours ( prātihārya ) are: At

7686-554: The tanna ("repeater") to whom they are first ascribed. It is certain, however, that the seven middot ("measurements", and referring to [good] behavior) of Hillel and the thirteen of Ishmael are earlier than the time of Hillel himself, who was the first to transmit them. The Talmud gives no information concerning the origin of the middot, although the Geonim ("Sages") regarded them as Sinaitic ( Law given to Moses at Sinai ). The middot seem to have been first laid down as abstract rules by

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7812-469: The "divine" authority of halakha , traditional Jews have greater reluctance to change, not only the laws themselves but also other customs and habits, than traditional Rabbinical Judaism did prior to the advent of Reform in the 19th century. Orthodox Jews believe that halakha is a religious system whose core represents the revealed will of God. Although Orthodox Judaism acknowledges that rabbis have made many decisions and decrees regarding Jewish Law where

7938-456: The "traditionalist" wing believe that the halakha represents a personal starting-point, holding that each Jew is obligated to interpret the Torah, Talmud and other Jewish works for themselves, and this interpretation will create separate commandments for each person. Those in the liberal and classical wings of Reform believe that in this day and era, most Jewish religious rituals are no longer necessary, and many hold that following most Jewish laws

8064-496: The CJLS's acceptance of Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz's responsum decreeing the biblical category of mamzer as "inoperative." The CJLS adopted the responsum's view that the "morality which we learn through the larger, unfolding narrative of our tradition" informs the application of Mosaic law. The responsum cited several examples of how the rabbinic sages declined to enforce punishments explicitly mandated by Torah law. The examples include

8190-402: The Father of English Deism, which stated that there is one Supreme God, and he ought to be worshipped. A god that is not a personal god cannot be worshipped. Nevertheless, the notion of God as a personal god cannot be ascribed to all deists. Further, some deists who believe in a personal god may either not prioritize a relationship with such god or not believe a personal relationship with such god

8316-625: The Halakhic process, a religious-ethical system of legal reasoning. Rabbis generally base their opinions on the primary sources of halakha as well as on precedent set by previous rabbinic opinions. The major sources and genre of halakha consulted include: In antiquity, the Sanhedrin functioned essentially as the Supreme Court and legislature (in the US judicial system) for Judaism, and had

8442-618: The Montreal conference in 1967, Reconstructionist leaders called for a rabbinical school in which rabbis could be ordained under the Reconstructionist ideology and lead Reconstructionist congregations. By the fall of 1968, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College was opened in Philadelphia. Along with the establishment of the college, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association formed, which gave rabbis

8568-496: The Noahide Laws. They are a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God to the "children of Noah" – that is, all of humanity. Despite its internal rigidity, halakha has a degree of flexibility in finding solutions to modern problems that are not explicitly mentioned in the Torah. From the very beginnings of Rabbinic Judaism, halakhic inquiry allowed for a "sense of continuity between past and present,

8694-465: The Orthodox views that halakha was given at Sinai, Orthodox thought (and especially modern Orthodox thought) encourages debate, allows for disagreement, and encourages rabbis to enact decisions based on contemporary needs. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein says in his introduction to his collection of responsa that a rabbi who studies the texts carefully is required to provide a halakhic decision. That decision

8820-466: The Qur'an at various places, such as the following: "He knows (all) that is before them and (all) that is behind them (their past and future, and whatever of intentions, speech, or actions they have left behind), whereas they cannot comprehend Him with their knowledge." [Qur'an 20:110 ] In one of the most comprehensive descriptions – as revealed in Surat al-Ikhlas – the Qur'an says: 1. Say: He, Allah,

8946-424: The Qur'an says: "Do you know any similar (or anyone else having the same Name or attributes/qualities, which belong) to Him?" [Qur'an 19:65 ]. According to mainstream theological accounts, Allah is the creator of everything that exists and transcends spatial and temporal bounds. He has neither any beginnings nor any end and remains beyond the bounds of human comprehension and perceptions. This has been described in

9072-619: The Son, and the Holy Spirit). Nontrinitarian Christians dispute that Jesus is a "hypostasis" or person of God. Whether the Holy Spirit is impersonal or personal, is the subject of dispute, with experts in pneumatology debating the matter. Islam rejects the doctrine of the Incarnation and the notion of a personal god as anthropomorphic , because it is seen as demeaning to the transcendence of God . The Qur'an prescribes

9198-565: The Subject par excellence, the Monad defining all monads, the man-without-relation, the self-grounding one. Let me suggest a difference here between Subject and Person, subjectivity and personhood. Subjectivity, though not necessarily tied to a concept of the transcendental ego, is fundamentally concerned with discrete individuals . Personhood, on the other hand, is that sense of self that continually comes from being in relation ...Being made ‘in

9324-419: The Talmud states that in exceptional cases, the Sages had the authority to "uproot matters from the Torah". In Talmudic and classical Halakhic literature, this authority refers to the authority to prohibit some things that would otherwise be Biblically sanctioned ( shev v'al ta'aseh , "thou shall stay seated and not do"). Rabbis may rule that a specific mitzvah from the Torah should not be performed, e. g., blowing

9450-439: The Torah as immoral, and came to the conclusion that no court should agree to hear testimony on mamzerut . The most important codifications of Jewish law include the following; for complementary discussion, see also History of responsa in Judaism . Personal god A personal god , or personal goddess , is a deity who can be related to as a person ( anthropomorphic ), instead of as an impersonal force, such as

9576-460: The Torah is true, or even morally correct, just because the Torah is old". The Torah is both disagreed with and questioned. Humanistic Jews believe that the entire Jewish experience, and not only the Torah, should be studied as a source for Jewish behavior and ethical values. Some Jews believe that gentiles are bound by a subset of halakha called the Seven Laws of Noah , also referred to as

9702-815: The Torah, 248 positive ("thou shalt") mitzvot and 365 negative ("thou shalt not") mitzvot , supplemented by seven mitzvot legislated by the rabbis of antiquity. Currently, many of the 613 commandments cannot be performed until the building of the Temple in Jerusalem and the universal resettlement of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel by the Messiah. According to one count, only 369 can be kept, meaning that 40% of mitzvot are not possible to perform. Rabbinic Judaism divides laws into categories: This division between revealed and rabbinic commandments may influence

9828-503: The Uncaused Cause who created all things out of nothing, who is eternal, absolute, immutable, perfect, complete, essential, independent, and self-sufficient; Who does not need to eat or drink, sleep or rest; Who needs nothing while all of creation is in absolute need of Him; the one eternally and constantly required and sought, depended upon by all existence and to whom all matters will ultimately return). 3. He begets not, nor

9954-409: The application of a law to new situations, but do not consider such applications as constituting a "change" in halakha . For example, many Orthodox rulings concerning electricity are derived from rulings concerning fire, as closing an electrical circuit may cause a spark. In contrast, Conservative poskim consider that switching on electrical equipment is physically and chemically more like turning on

10080-483: The authoritative, canonical text which is recorded in the Hebrew Bible . Under contemporary Israeli law , certain areas of Israeli family and personal status law are, for Jews, under the authority of the rabbinic courts, so they are treated according to halakha . Some minor differences in halakha are found among Ashkenazi Jews , Mizrahi Jews , Sephardi Jews , Yemenite , Ethiopian and other Jewish communities which historically lived in isolation. The word halakha

10206-399: The concept of " chosenness ", a belief in some form of resurrection or continued existence of the dead, and the existence of an obligatory form of halakha . In the latter, in particular, there has developed a broader concept of halakha wherein concepts such as " Eco-Kashrut " are incorporated. Reconstructionist Judaism holds that the traditional halakhic system is incapable of producing

10332-457: The context of God is used only as the " Royal We " as has been a tradition in most of other languages. It is a feature of literary style in Arabic that a person may refer to himself by the pronoun nahnu (we) for respect or glorification. There is nothing that can be used as a similitude or for the purpose of comparison to Allah even in allegorical terms because nothing can be compared with Him. Thus,

10458-468: The days of the Sanhedrin, however, no body or authority has been generally regarded as having the authority to create universally recognized precedents. As a result, halakha has developed in a somewhat different fashion from Anglo-American legal systems with a Supreme Court able to provide universally accepted precedents. Generally, Halakhic arguments are effectively, yet unofficially, peer-reviewed. When

10584-491: The decision to allow rabbis to have non-Jewish partners. Over 100 synagogues and havurot , mostly in the United States and Canada, were affiliated with the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation . As of June 3, 2012, the Reconstructionist movement has been restructured. A joint institution consisting of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) and the congregational organization is now

10710-443: The decision, the movement considered that "many younger progressive Jews, including many rabbis and rabbinical students, now perceive restrictions placed on those who are intermarried as reinforcing a tribalism that feels personally alienating and morally troubling in the 21st century." In April 2016 nineteen Reconstructionist rabbis announced the formation of Beit Kaplan: The Rabbinic Partnership for Jewish Peoplehood, in part to protest

10836-417: The divine language of the Torah is distinguished from the speech of men by the fact that in the former no word or sound is superfluous. Some scholars have observed a similarity between these rabbinic rules of interpretation and the hermeneutics of ancient Hellenistic culture. For example, Saul Lieberman argues that the names of rabbi Ishmael's middot (e. g., kal vahomer , a combination of the archaic form of

10962-458: The eternity of Torah be understood [properly], for the changes in the generations and their opinions, situation and material and moral condition requires changes in their laws, decrees and improvements. The view held by Conservative Judaism is that the Torah is not the word of God in a literal sense. However, the Torah is still held as mankind's record of its understanding of God's revelation, and thus still has divine authority. Therefore, halakha

11088-521: The first lesbian to lead a Jewish seminary; the RRC is both a congregational union and a seminary. Waxman is a 1999 graduate of RRC. The RRC educates rabbis. The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association is the professional organization of Reconstructionist rabbis. The Jewish Reconstructionist youth organization is named No'ar Hadash . Camp Havaya (formerly Camp JRF) in South Sterling, Pennsylvania ,

11214-621: The fundamental transcendental criterion in the following verse: "There is nothing whatever like Him" [Qur'an 42:11 ]. Therefore, Islam strictly rejects all forms of anthropomorphism and anthropopathism of the concept of God , and thus categorically rejects the Christian concept of the Trinity or division of persons in the Godhead . Islamic theology confirms that Allah (God) has no body, no gender (neither male nor female), and there

11340-478: The gods who created the universe are completely uninvolved in the world and pose no threat and offer no hope to humanity. Polydeists see living virtuous and pious lives as the primary components of worshiping God, firmly adhering to one of the common notions set forth by Herbert. Thus, polydeists believe that there are several personal gods. Yet, they do not believe they can have a relationship with any of them. Scientific deists believe, based on an analysis utilizing

11466-462: The halakha, which is rooted in the Talmud, as the norm of Jewish life, availing ourselves, at the same time, of the method implicit therein to interpret and develop the body of Jewish Law in accordance with the actual conditions and spiritual needs of modern life." Reform Judaism holds that modern views of how the Torah and rabbinic law developed imply that the body of rabbinic Jewish law is no longer normative (seen as binding) on Jews today. Those in

11592-418: The image of God ’ and, therefore, living imitatio Christi , Christian Persons are not replicas, but embodiments of Christ as Person. Persons, as such, are analogically related to each through Christ. Subjects, on the other hand, are atomised . They are monads. And theologies of Christ as Subject conceive other Christian Subjects as monadic replicas of the same . Ward quotes John S. Dunne 's The City of

11718-475: The importance of a rule, its enforcement and the nature of its ongoing interpretation. Halakhic authorities may disagree on which laws fall into which categories or the circumstances (if any) under which prior rabbinic rulings can be re-examined by contemporary rabbis, but all Halakhic Jews hold that both categories exist and that the first category is immutable, with exceptions only for life-saving and similar emergency circumstances. A second classical distinction

11844-551: The laws of the Torah is first in evidence beginning in the second century BCE. In the Jewish diaspora , halakha served many Jewish communities as an enforceable avenue of law – both civil and religious , since no differentiation of them exists in classical Judaism. Since the Jewish Enlightenment ( Haskalah ) and Jewish emancipation , some have come to view the halakha as less binding in day-to-day life, because it relies on rabbinic interpretation, as opposed to

11970-482: The manner in which they treat others. Other humanistic deists may prioritize their relationships with other human beings over their relationship with God, yet still maintain a personal relationship with the Supreme Being. Pandeists believe that in the process of creating the universe, God underwent a metamorphosis from a conscious and sentient being or force to an unconscious and unresponsive entity by becoming

12096-486: The only Reconstructionist understanding of theology and theology is not the cornerstone of the Reconstructionist movement. Much more central is the idea that Judaism is a civilization , and that the Jewish people must take an active role in ensuring its future by participating in its ongoing evolution. Consequently, a strain of Reconstructionism exists which is distinctly non-Kaplanian. In this view, Kaplan's assertions concerning belief and practice are largely rejected, while

12222-476: The opportunity to form new outlooks on Judaism in a more progressive manner. Kaplan was the leader of the SAJ until Eisenstein succeeded him in 1945. In 1935, Kaplan published his book, Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American Jewish Life . It was this book that Kaplan claimed was the beginning of the Reconstructionist movement. Judaism as a Civilization suggested that historical Judaism be given

12348-463: The performer closer to God. Negative commandments (traditionally 365 in number) forbid a specific action, and violations create a distance from God. A further division is made between chukim ("decrees" – laws without obvious explanation, such as shatnez , the law prohibiting wearing clothing made of mixtures of linen and wool), mishpatim ("judgements" – laws with obvious social implications) and eduyot ("testimonies" or "commemorations", such as

12474-544: The person of Vishnu and Narayana is sometimes referred to as the ultimate personal god of other Vaishnava traditions. Jainism explicitly denies existence of non-personal transcendent god and explicitly affirms existence of personal gods. All gods in Jainism are personal. One of the major point of dispute between Digambara and Shwetambara is the gender of the gods. Digambara gods can only be men, and any man of at least eight years of age can become god if he follows

12600-551: The power to administer binding law, including both received law and its own rabbinic decrees, on all Jews—rulings of the Sanhedrin became halakha ; see Oral law . That court ceased to function in its full mode in 40 CE. Today, the authoritative application of Jewish law is left to the local rabbi, and the local rabbinical courts, with only local applicability. In branches of Judaism that follow halakha , lay individuals make numerous ad-hoc decisions but are regarded as not having authority to decide certain issues definitively. Since

12726-713: The practical application of the 613 mitzvot ("commandments") in the Torah, as developed through discussion and debate in the classical rabbinic literature , especially the Mishnah and the Talmud (the " Oral Torah "), and as codified in the Mishneh Torah and Shulchan Aruch . Because halakha is developed and applied by various halakhic authorities rather than one sole "official voice", different individuals and communities may well have different answers to halakhic questions. With few exceptions, controversies are not settled through authoritative structures because during

12852-427: The primary organization of the movement. The movement's new designation was first "Jewish Reconstructionist Communities," and in 2018 became Reconstructing Judaism . Rabbi Deborah Waxman was inaugurated as the president of the RRC and Jewish Reconstructionist Communities on October 26, 2014. As the president of the RRC, she is believed to be the first woman and first lesbian to lead a Jewish congregational union, and

12978-515: The proper use of electricity on the Sabbath and holidays. Often, as to the applicability of the law in any given situation, the proviso is to "consult your local rabbi or posek ". This notion lends rabbis a certain degree of local authority; however, for more complex questions the issue is passed on to higher rabbis who will then issue a teshuva , which is a responsa that is binding. Indeed, rabbis will continuously issue different opinions and will constantly review each other's work so as to maintain

13104-421: The prophets and messengers that have founded religions from prehistoric times up to the present day. While many deists view God as a personal god, deism is a broad term encompassing people with varying specific beliefs, some of which reject the notion of a personal god. The foundational idea of a personal god in deism is illustrated by the 17th-century assertions of Lord Edward Herbert , universally regarded as

13230-554: The proto-Reconstructionist Society for the Jewish Renaissance stated, "We accept the halakha , which is rooted in the Talmud , as the norm of Jewish life, availing ourselves, at the same time, of the method implicit therein to interpret and develop the body of Jewish Law by the actual conditions and spiritual needs of modern life." The movement also emphasizes positive views toward modernity and has an approach to Jewish customs that aims toward communal decision-making through

13356-850: The redefinitions of the terms "revelation" and "God" as being intellectually dishonest, and as being a form of "conversion by definition"; in their critique, these redefinitions take non-theistic beliefs and attach theistic terms to them. Similar critiques have been put forth by Rabbis Neil Gillman , Milton Steinberg , and Michael Samuels. Reconstructionist Judaism is egalitarian with respect to gender roles . All positions are open to all genders; they are open to lesbians, gay men, and transgender individuals as well. Reconstructionist Judaism allows its rabbis to determine their own policy regarding officiating at intermarriages . Some congregations accept patrilineal as well as matrilineal descent, and children of one Jewish parent, of any gender, are considered Jewish by birth if raised as Jews. This contrasts with

13482-409: The responsibility and authority of later authorities, and especially the posek handling a then-current question. In addition, the halakha embodies a wide range of principles that permit judicial discretion and deviation (Ben-Menahem). Notwithstanding the potential for innovation, rabbis and Jewish communities differ greatly on how they make changes in halakha . Notably, poskim frequently extend

13608-402: The rest of created things. The six directions are: above, below, right, left, front and back. The above statement of al-Tahawi refutes the anthropomorphist's dogmas that imagine Allah has a physical body and human form, and being occupied in a place, direction or trajectory. 'Ali al-Qari (d. 1014/1606) in his Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar states: "Allah the Exalted is not in any place or space, nor

13734-502: The right procedure. Jain gods are eternal, but they are not beginningless. Also, Jain gods are all omniscient , but not omnipotent . They are sometimes called quasi-gods due to this reason. Gods are said to be free from the following eighteen imperfections: The four infinitudes of god are ( ananta cātuṣṭaya ) are: Those who re-establish the Jain faith are called Tirthankaras. They have additional attributes. Tirthankara s revitalize

13860-551: The scientific method, that a personal god created the universe. This analysis finds no evidence of a purpose God may have had for creation of the universe or evidence that God attempted to communicate such purpose to humanity. It therefore concludes that there is no purpose to creation other than that which human beings choose to make for themselves. Thus, scientific deists believe in a personal god, but generally do not believe relationships between God and human beings are important (or perhaps even possible), because they believe that there

13986-561: The similitude of Allah to His created beings, should be treated either through ta'wil or tafwid and exalt Allah the Almighty above His creation." The Hanafi jurist and theologian al-Tahawi (d. 321/933), wrote in his treatise on theology, commonly known as al-'Aqida al-Tahawiyya : He is exalted/transcendent beyond having limits, ends, organs, limbs and parts (literally: tools). The six directions do not encompass/contain Him like

14112-491: The sum of all natural processes that allow people to become self-fulfilled. To believe in God means to accept life on the assumption that it harbors conditions in the outer world and drives in the human spirit which together impel man to transcend himself. To believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society. In brief, God

14238-456: The teachers of Hillel, though they were not immediately recognized by all as valid and binding. Different schools interpreted and modified them, restricted or expanded them, in various ways. Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael and their scholars especially contributed to the development or establishment of these rules. "It must be borne in mind, however, that neither Hillel, Ishmael, nor [a contemporary of theirs named] Eliezer ben Jose sought to give

14364-417: The tenets of an "evolving religious civilization" are supported. The basis for this approach is that Kaplan spoke for his generation; he also wrote that every generation would need to define itself and its civilization for itself. In the thinking of these Reconstructionists, what Kaplan said concerning belief and practice is not applicable today. This approach may include a belief in a personal God, acceptance of

14490-416: The time of nirvana (final release), the arihant sheds off the remaining four aghati karmas : And float at the top of the universe without losing their individuality and with the same shape and size as the body at the time of release. Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich in his German-language Systematic Theology writings wrote that 'Personal God' does not mean that God is a person. It means that God

14616-505: The traditional interpretations of Jewish law of both Rabbinical Judaism , in which a child is Jewish by birth if its mother was Jewish; and of Karaite Judaism , in which a child is Jewish by birth if its father was Jewish. The role of non-Jews in Reconstructionist congregations is a matter of ongoing debate. Practices vary between synagogues. Most congregations strive to strike a balance between inclusivity and integrity of boundaries. The Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF) has issued

14742-401: The trial of the accused adulteress ( sotah ), the "law of breaking the neck of the heifer," and the application of the death penalty for the "rebellious child." Kaplan Spitz argues that the punishment of the mamzer has been effectively inoperative for nearly two thousand years due to deliberate rabbinic inaction. Further he suggested that the rabbis have long regarded the punishment declared by

14868-409: The truest sense of halakha . Overall, this process allows rabbis to maintain connection of traditional Jewish law to modern life. Of course, the degree of flexibility depends on the sect of Judaism, with Reform being the most flexible, Conservative somewhat in the middle, and Orthodox being much more stringent and rigid. Modern critics, however, have charged that with the rise of movements that challenge

14994-399: The universe along with the ability to build a spiritual relationship with God. While spiritual deism is nondogmatic, its followers generally believe that there can be no progress for mankind without a belief in a personal god. Vaishnavism and Shaivism , traditions of Hinduism, subscribe to an ultimate personal nature of God. The Vishnu Sahasranama declares the person of Vishnu as both

15120-413: The universe. Consequently, pandeists do not believe that a personal god currently exists. Polydeists reject the notion that one Supreme Being would have created the universe and then left it to its own devices, a common belief shared by many deists. Rather, they conclude that several gods who are superhuman but not omnipotent each created parts of the universe. Polydeists hold an affirmative belief that

15246-500: The utmost accuracy and care. The most widely accepted codes of Jewish law are known as Mishneh Torah and the Shulchan Aruch . Orthodox Judaism has a range of opinions on the circumstances and extent to which change is permissible. Haredi Jews generally hold that even minhagim (customs) must be retained, and existing precedents cannot be reconsidered. Modern Orthodox authorities are more inclined to permit limited changes in customs and some reconsideration of precedent. Despite

15372-715: The word for "straw" and the word for "clay" – "straw and clay", referring to the obvious [means of making a mud brick]) are Hebrew translations of Greek terms, although the methods of those middot are not Greek in origin. Orthodox Judaism holds that halakha is the divine law as laid out in the Torah (five books of Moses), rabbinical laws, rabbinical decrees, and customs combined. The rabbis, who made many additions and interpretations of Jewish Law, did so only in accordance with regulations they believe were given for this purpose to Moses on Mount Sinai , see Deuteronomy 17:11 . See Orthodox Judaism, Beliefs about Jewish law and tradition . Conservative Judaism holds that halakha

15498-528: The written Torah itself is nonspecific, they did so only in accordance with regulations received by Moses on Mount Sinai (see Deuteronomy 5:8–13 ). These regulations were transmitted orally until shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple . They were then recorded in the Mishnah, and explained in the Talmud and commentaries throughout history up until the present day. Orthodox Judaism believes that subsequent interpretations have been derived with

15624-555: Was an oral tradition by design, to allow for the creative application of halakha to each time period, and even enabling halakha to evolve. He writes: Thus, whoever has due regard for the truth will conclude that the reason the [proper] interpretation of the Torah was transmitted orally and forbidden to be written down was not to make [the Torah] unchanging and not to tie the hands of the sages of every generation from interpreting Scripture according to their understanding. Only in this way can

15750-525: Was developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983) and his son-in-law, Rabbi Ira Eisenstein (1906–2001), over a period of time from the late 1920s to the 1940s. After being rejected by Orthodox rabbis for his focus on issues in the community and the sociopolitical environment, Kaplan and a group of followers founded the Society for the Advancement of Judaism (SAJ) in 1922. Its goal was to give rabbis

15876-409: Was little pure academic legal activity at this period and that many of the laws originating at this time were produced by a means of neighbourly good conduct rules in a similar way as carried out by Greeks in the age of Solon . For example, the first chapter of Bava Kamma , contains a formulation of the law of torts worded in the first person. The boundaries of Jewish law are determined through

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