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160-649: The Bialystoker Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 7–11 Bialystoker Place (also known as Willett Street) in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City , New York, United States. The building was constructed in 1826 as the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church ; the synagogue purchased the building in 1905. The synagogue was designated a New York City Landmark in 1966. It

320-645: A personal God in his opening six articles. The six concern God's status as the sole creator, his oneness, his impalpability, that he is first and last, that God alone, and no other being, may be worshipped, and that he is omniscient. The supremacy of the God of Israel is even applied to non-Jews. According to most rabbinic opinions, non-Jews are banned from the worship of other deities. However, they are allowed to " associate " lower divine beings with their faith in God (mostly to allow contact with Christians , accepting that they were not idolaters with whom business dealings and

480-529: A reform of Jewish education , abolition of coercion in matters of conscience , and other modernizing measures. They bypassed rabbinic approval and set themselves, at least implicitly, as a rival intellectual elite. A bitter struggle ensued. Reacting to Mendelssohn's assertion that freedom of conscience must replace communal censure, Rabbi Cohen of Hamburg commented: The very foundation of the Law and commandments rests on coercion, enabling to force obedience and punish

640-479: A Shabbat scooter. It is intended only for individuals whose limited mobility is dependent on a scooter or automobile consistently throughout the week. Seemingly "forbidden" acts may be performed by modifying technology such that no law is actually violated. In Sabbath mode , a " Sabbath elevator " will stop automatically at every floor, allowing people to step on and off without anyone having to press any buttons, which would normally be needed to work. ( Dynamic braking

800-428: A consensus on the adaptation of halakha . Their initiative was thwarted by a combination of radical, secularist maskilim and leading conservative rabbis. This was highlighted during the battle that erupted after Moshe Leib Lilienblum 's 1868 call for a reconsideration of Talmudic strictures. Reines, Pines and their associates gradually formed the nucleus of Religious Zionism , while their conservative opponents adopted

960-552: A convenience. German Orthodox leader Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch referred to "the conviction commonly designated as Orthodox Judaism"; in 1882, when Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer became convinced that the public understood that his philosophy and Liberal Judaism were radically different, he removed the word Orthodox from the name of his Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary . By the 1920s, the term had become common and accepted even in Eastern Europe. Orthodoxy perceives itself as

1120-519: A creed, although the 13 principles expounded by Maimonides in his 1160s Commentary on the Mishna , remained the most widely accepted. Various points were contested by many of Maimonides' contemporaries and later sages, such as the exact formulation and the status of disbelievers (either misinformed or expelled heretics). Similarly, Albo listed only three fundamentals, and did not regard the Messiah as

1280-491: A decade; the lifting of formal discrimination also strongly affected the Jews of independent Poland , Lithuania and other states. In the 1930s, it was estimated that no more than 20%–33% of Poland's Jews, the last stronghold of traditionalism where many were still living in rural and culturally-secluded communities, could be considered strictly observant. Only upon having become an embattled (though still quite large) minority, did

1440-455: A fire (category 37). If the appliance is purposed for light or heat (such as an incandescent bulb or electric oven), then the lighting or heating elements may be considered as a type of fire that falls under both lighting a fire (category 37) and cooking (i.e., baking, category 11). Turning lights off would be extinguishing a fire (category 36). Another view is that completing an electrical circuit constitutes building (category 35) and turning off

1600-557: A haircut and cleaning and beautifying the home (with flowers, for example). Days in the Jewish calendar start at nightfall, therefore many Jewish holidays begin at such time . According to Jewish law, Shabbat starts a few minutes before sunset. Candles are lit at this time. It is customary in many communities to light the candles 18 minutes before sundown ( tosefet Shabbat , although sometimes 36 minutes), and most printed Jewish calendars adhere to this custom. The Kabbalat Shabbat service

1760-482: A human life is in danger (pikuach nefesh), then a Jew is not only allowed, but required, to violate any halakhic law that stands in the way of saving that person (excluding murder, idolatry, and forbidden sexual acts). The concept of life being in danger is interpreted broadly: for example, it is mandated that one violate Shabbat to bring a woman in active labor to a hospital. Lesser rabbinic restrictions are often violated under much less urgent circumstances (a patient who

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1920-592: A key tenet. Many who objected argued that the entire corpus of the Torah and the sayings of ancient sages were of canonical stature, rather than a few selected points. In later centuries, the 13 Principles became considered universally binding and cardinal by Orthodox authorities. During the Middle Ages, two systems of thought competed for primacy. The rationalist-philosophic school endeavored to present all commandments as serving higher moral and ethical purposes, while

2080-505: A ladder going up to an attic, lit by two windows. When the building was first opened, it was a rest stop for the Underground Railroad movement; runaway slaves found sanctuary in this attic. When the air conditioning was updated in the 1990s, an issue arose concerning the possible construction of rooftop units because of the building's historical landmark status. Because of these concerns, the cooling units were installed on

2240-463: A large fortune, rose to the wardens' board. Breisach died soon after, and the Pressburg community became dominated by the conservatives. Sofer also possessed a strong base in the form of his yeshiva , the world's largest at the time, with hundreds of students. And crucially, the large and privileged Hungarian nobility blocked most imperial reforms in the backward country, including those relevant to

2400-617: A less stark one emerged in Eastern Europe during the Interwar period . Among the Jews of the Muslim lands , similar processes on a large scale began only around the 1970s, after they immigrated to Israel. Orthodoxy is often described as extremely conservative, ossifying a once-dynamic tradition due to the fear of legitimizing change. While this was sometimes true, its defining feature was not forbidding change and "freezing" Jewish heritage, but rather

2560-494: A light in a room to be turned on or off at will while the electricity remains on. A special mechanism blocks out the light when the off position is desired without violating Shabbat. The Shabbos App is a proposed Android app claimed by its creators to enable Orthodox Jews , and all Jewish Sabbath-observers, to use a smartphone to text on the Jewish Sabbath. It has met with resistance from some authorities. If

2720-473: A low flight of brownstone steps, a low pitched pediment roof with a lunette window and a wooden cornice. The elaborate Torah Ark is believed to have been carved in Bialystok and shipped to New York. As the synagogue is home to an Orthodox Jewish congregation, a balcony section was constructed to accommodate female congregants. In the corner of the women's gallery a small hidden door in the wall leads to

2880-584: A more equal and secularized society. The Jews were one of the groups affected: excommunication was banned, and rabbinic courts lost almost all their jurisdiction. The state, especially following the French Revolution , was more and more inclined to tolerate Jews as a religious sect, but not as an autonomous entity, and sought to reform and integrate them as "useful subjects". Jewish emancipation and equal rights were discussed. The Christian (and especially Protestant ) separation of "religious" and "secular"

3040-581: A notable change, for the Orthodox had to adapt to modern society no less than anyone else; they developed novel, sometimes radical, means of action and modes of thought. "Orthodoxization" was a contingent process, drawing from local circumstances and dependent on the threat sensed by its proponents: a sharply-delineated Orthodox identity appeared in Central Europe, in Germany and Hungary, by the 1860s;

3200-504: A partition. By 2005, that number went down to one, and ceased to exist when that synagogue resigned from the OU in 2015 after understanding that the OU was planning to expel it. In the postwar era, the vague traditional coalition came to a definite end. During and after the Holocaust , a new wave of strictly observant refugees arrived from Eastern and Central Europe. They typically regarded

3360-512: A polemic instigated by Hirsch. Lesser became a rallying point for conservative elements, concerned mainly with public standards of observance in critical fields such as marriage. A broad non-Reform, relatively traditional camp slowly coalesced as the minority within American Jewry, serving the nonobservant. Their synagogues liberalized their approach: omission of piyyutim from the liturgy; English-language sermons; secular education for

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3520-525: A rabbinic ordination and limited knowledge would have marked him as a heretic by European standards . In 1845 he introduced the words "Orthodox" and "Orthodoxy" into the American Jewish discourse, explicitly to oppose Reform. Leeser was a staunch proponent of Zecharias Frankel , whom he considered the "leader of the Orthodox party". at a time when Positive-Historical and Orthodox positions were hardly distinguishable. In 1861, Leeser defended Frankel in

3680-627: A rabbinical seminary including secular studies. The progressives viewed him as too conservative. After four years of constant strife, he lost faith in the possibility of reuniting the Jewish public. In 1851, a group in Frankfurt am Main that opposed the Reform character of the Jewish community turned to Hirsch. He led them for the remainder of his life, finding Frankfurt a hospitable site for his unique ideology, which amalgamated acculturation, dogmatic theology, thorough observance, and strict secession from

3840-506: A ritual called Havdalah, during which blessings are said over wine (or grape juice), aromatic spices, and light, separating Shabbat from the rest of the week. The word Shabbat derives from the Hebrew root ש־ב־ת . Although frequently translated as "rest" (noun or verb), another accurate translation is "ceasing [from work]." The notion of active cessation from labour is also regarded as more consistent with an omnipotent God 's activity on

4000-637: A step taken by dozens of congregations in the United States in late 19th century. More rabbinically traditional Reform and Reconstructionist Jews believe that these halakhoth in general may be valid, but that it is up to each individual to decide how and when to apply them. A small fraction of Jews in the Progressive Jewish community accept these laws in much the same way as Orthodox Jews. The Talmud, especially in tractate Shabbat, defines rituals and activities to both "remember" and "keep"

4160-449: A strict observance of Jewish Law, or halakha , which is to be interpreted and determined only according to traditional methods and in adherence to the continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire halakhic system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, essentially beyond external and historical influence. More than any theoretical issue, obeying the dietary , purity , ethical and other laws of halakha

4320-485: A symbol of Reform in Germany since 1818, so much that Hildesheimer seminarians had to sign a declaration that they would never serve in a synagogue that introduced one – was accepted with little qualm by the French Consistoire in 1856, as part of a series of synagogue regulations passed by Chief Rabbi Salomon Ulmann . Even Rabbi Solomon Klein of Colmar , the leader of Alsatian conservatives who partook in

4480-496: A united observant pro-Zionist front would be formed, were dashed between 1897 and 1899, as both the Eastern European nationalist intellectuals and Theodor Herzl himself revealed an uncompromising secularist agenda, forcing traditionalist leaders to pick sides. In 1900, the anti-Zionist pamphlet Or la-Yesharim , endorsed by many Russian and Polish rabbis, largely demarcated the lines between the proto- Haredi majority and

4640-605: A weekly day of worship on Sunday , which is often called the " Lord's Day ". Several Christian denominations, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church , the Church of God (7th Day) , the Seventh Day Baptists , and others , observe seventh-day Sabbath . This observance is celebrated from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Samaritans also observe Shabbat. Some hold the biblical sabbath

4800-487: A wish", and at least the 28th was known as a "rest-day". The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia advanced a theory of Assyriologists like Friedrich Delitzsch (and of Marcello Craveri ) that Shabbat originally arose from the lunar cycle in the Babylonian calendar containing four weeks ending in a Sabbath, plus one or two additional unreckoned days per month. The difficulties of this theory include reconciling

4960-421: A year. German Neo-Orthodoxy, in the meantime, developed a keen interest in the traditional Jewish masses of Russia and Poland; if at the past they were considered primitive, a disillusionment with emancipation and enlightenment made many young assimilated German Orthodox youth embark on journeys to East European yeshivot , in search of authenticity. The German secessionists already possessed a platform of their own,

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5120-525: Is Judaism 's day of rest on the seventh day of the week —i.e., Saturday . On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age . Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on

5280-470: Is "creative", or that exercises control or dominion over one's environment . In addition to the 39 melakhot , additional activities were prohibited by the rabbis for various reasons. The term shomer Shabbat is used for a person (or organization) who adheres to Shabbat laws consistently. The (strict) observance of the Sabbath is often seen as a benchmark for orthodoxy and indeed has legal bearing on

5440-471: Is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat, and ushers in the new week. At the conclusion of Shabbat at nightfall, after the appearance of three stars in the sky, the havdalah blessings are recited over a cup of wine, and with the use of fragrant spices and a candle, usually braided. Some communities delay havdalah later into the night in order to prolong Shabbat. There are different customs regarding how much time one should wait after

5600-407: Is a prayer service welcoming the arrival of Shabbat. Before Friday night dinner, it is customary to sing two songs, one "greeting" two Shabbat angels into the house ( " Shalom Aleichem " -"Peace Be Upon You") and the other praising the woman of the house for all the work she has done over the past week ( " Eshet Ḥayil " -"Women Of Valour"). After blessings over the wine and challah , a festive meal

5760-407: Is also disabled if it is normally used, i.e., shunting energy collected from downward travel, and thus the gravitational potential energy of passengers, into a resistor network.) However, many rabbinical authorities consider the use of such elevators by those who are otherwise capable as a violation of Shabbat, with such workarounds being for the benefit of the frail and handicapped and not being in

5920-431: Is held on Friday evening, the second is traditionally a lunch meal on Saturday, and the third is held later Saturday afternoon. The evening meal and the early afternoon meal typically begin with a blessing called kiddush ( sanctification ), said over a cup of wine. At the third meal a kiddush is not performed, but the hamotzi blessing is recited and challah (braided bread) is eaten. In many communities, this meal

6080-437: Is ill but not critically so). We did everything to save lives, despite Shabbat. People asked: "Why are you here? There are no Jews here," but we are here because the Torah orders us to save lives .... We are desecrating Shabbat with pride. Various other legal principles closely delineate which activities constitute desecration of Shabbat . Examples of these include the principle of shinui ("change" or "deviation"): A violation

6240-498: Is in an ostracon found in excavations at Mesad Hashavyahu , which has been dated to approximately 630 BCE. The Tanakh and siddur describe Shabbat as having three purposes: Judaism accords Shabbat the status of a joyous holy day. In many ways, Jewish law gives Shabbat the status of being the most important holy day in the Hebrew calendar : Honoring Shabbat ( kavod Shabbat ) on Preparation Day (Friday) includes bathing, having

6400-445: Is not regarded as severe if the prohibited act was performed in a way that would be considered abnormal on a weekday. Examples include writing with one's nondominant hand, according to many rabbinic authorities. This legal principle operates bedi'avad ( ex post facto ) and does not cause a forbidden activity to be permitted barring extenuating circumstances. Generally, adherents of Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism believe that

6560-405: Is often eaten in the period after the afternoon prayers ( Minchah ) are recited and shortly before Shabbat is formally ended with a Havdalah ritual. Shabbat is a festive day when Jews exercise their freedom from the regular labours of everyday life. It offers an opportunity to contemplate the spiritual aspects of life and to spend time with family. The end of Shabbat is traditionally marked by

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6720-613: Is one of only four early-19th century fieldstone religious buildings surviving from the late Federal period in Lower Manhattan, and is the oldest building used as a synagogue in New York City. The Bialystoker Synagogue was first organized in 1865 on Manhattan's Lower East Side as the Chevra Anshei Chesed of Bialystok , founded by a group of Jews who came from the town of Białystok , at that time located in

6880-494: Is served. Singing is traditional at Sabbath meals. In modern times, many composers have written sacred music for use during the Kabbalat Shabbat observance, including Robert Strassburg and Samuel Adler . According to rabbinic literature , God via the Torah commands Jews to observe (refrain from forbidden activity) and remember (with words, thoughts, and actions) Shabbat, and these two actions are symbolized by

7040-486: Is the biggest synagogue in the Lower East Side with several daily minyanim . Rabbi Menachem Tuchman serves as the rabbi . The fieldstone Methodist Episcopal Church building was built in 1826 with a simple pedimented roof and round arched windows. The building is made of Manhattan schist from a quarry on nearby Pitt Street . The exterior is marked by three windows over three doors framed with round arches,

7200-473: Is the hallmark of Orthodoxy. Practicing members are easily distinguishable by their lifestyle, refraining from doing numerous routine actions on the Sabbath and holidays, consuming only kosher food, praying thrice a day, studying the Torah often, donning head covering and tassels for men and modest clothing for women, and so forth. Other key doctrines include belief in a future bodily resurrection of

7360-468: The Abrahamic and many other religions . According to halakha (Jewish religious law), Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before the sun sets on Friday evening until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night, or an hour after sundown. Shabbat is ushered in by lighting candles and reciting blessings over wine and bread. Traditionally, three festive meals are eaten: The first one

7520-656: The Beit Ha-Knesset Anshei Bialystok (The Bialystoker Synagogue). The newly formed congregation then purchased (and moved into) the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church at 7 Willet Street, which was later renamed Bialystoker Place. During the Great Depression a decision was made to beautify the main sanctuary, to provide a sense of hope and inspiration to the community. The community today

7680-578: The Czar 's government all had little influence. School modernization under Max Lilienthal , the growth of rabbinical seminaries and the mandating to appoint clerks known as "official rabbis" all had little impact. Communal autonomy and the rabbinic courts' jurisdiction were abolished in 1844, but economic and social seclusion remained, ensuring the de facto authority of Jewish institutions and traditions. In 1880, only 21,308 Jewish pupils attended government schools, out of some 5 million Jews; In 1897, 97% of

7840-643: The Freie Vereinigung für die Interessen des Orthodoxen Judentums , founded by Samson Raphael Hirsch in 1885. In 1912, two German FVIOJ leaders, Isaac Breuer and Jacob Rosenheim , managed to organize a meeting of 300 seceding Mizrahi, proto- Haredi and secessionist Neo-Orthodox delegate in Katowice , creating the Agudath Israel party. While the Germans were a tiny minority in comparison to

8000-545: The Graf-Wellhausen hypothesis formed the classical Orthodox response to Higher Criticism. Hoffman declared that for him, the unity of the Pentateuch was a given, regardless of research. Hirsch often lambasted Hoffman for contextualizing rabbinic literature. All of them stressed the importance of dogmatic adherence to Torah min ha-Shamayim , which led them to conflict with Rabbi Zecharias Frankel , Chancellor of

8160-493: The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau . Unlike the Reform camp, Frankel insisted on strict observance and displayed great reverence towards tradition. But though appreciated by conservatives, his practice of Wissenschaft left him suspect to Hirsch and Hildesheimer. They demanded again and again that he state his beliefs concerning the nature of revelation. In 1859, Frankel published a critical study of

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8320-490: The Mishnah , and added that all commandments classified as " Law given to Moses at Sinai " were merely customs (he broadened Asher ben Jehiel 's opinion). Hirsch and Hildesheimer seized the opportunity and launched a public campaign against him, accusing him of heresy. Concerned that public opinion regarded both neo-Orthodoxy and Frankel's "Positive-Historical School" centered at Breslau as similarly observant and traditionalist,

8480-518: The Russian Empire , but now in Poland . The congregation was begun in a building on Hester Street , it later moved to Orchard Street , and ultimately to its present location 7–11 Bialystoker Place on the Lower East Side. In order to accommodate the influx of new immigrants from that area of Poland, in 1905 the congregation merged with congregation Adas Yeshurun, also from Bialystok, and formed

8640-587: The Sages . The more radical among the Wissenschaft rabbis, unwilling to limit critical analysis or its practical application, coalesced around Rabbi Abraham Geiger to establish Reform Judaism . Between 1844 and 1846, Geiger organized three rabbinical synods in Braunschweig , Frankfurt and Breslau , to determine how to refashion Judaism for present times. The Reform conferences were met with uproar by

8800-521: The Tabernacle ( Exodus 35:4 etc. ) – that they are the kinds of work that were necessary for the construction of the Tabernacle . They are not explicitly listed in the Torah; the Mishnah observes that "the laws of Shabbat ... are like mountains hanging by a hair, for they are little Scripture but many laws". Many rabbinic scholars have pointed out that these labors have in common activity that

8960-665: The Torah in Genesis 2:1-3. It is first commanded after The Exodus from Egypt, in Exodus 16:26 (relating to the cessation of manna ) and in Exodus 16:29 (relating to the distance one may travel by foot on the Sabbath), as also in Exodus 20:8-11 (as one of the Ten Commandments ). Sabbath is commanded and commended many more times in the Torah and Tanakh ; double the normal number of animal sacrifices are to be offered on

9120-467: The civil calendar is Friday . Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities , often with great rigor , and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout

9280-491: The historical-critical study of scripture and the dominant philosophies of the day, especially Kant and Hegel . Influenced by the critical " Science of Judaism " ( Wissenschaft des Judentums ) pioneered by Leopold Zunz , and often in emulation of the Liberal Protestant milieu, they reexamined and undermined beliefs held as sacred in traditional circles, especially the notion of an unbroken chain from Sinai to

9440-509: The synagogue wished to appeal to acculturated Jews with a modernized ritual. They openly defied not just the local rabbinic court that ordered them to desist, but published learned tracts that castigated the entire rabbinical elite as hypocritical and obscurant . The moral threat they posed to rabbinic authority, as well as halakhic issues such as having a gentile play an organ on the Sabbath, were combined with theological issues. The Temple's revised prayer book omitted or rephrased petitions for

9600-455: The "zealots" were shocked by the demise of the traditional world into which they had been born. Like Moses Sofer a generation before them, these Orthodox émigrés moved east, to a pre-modern environment that they were determined to safeguard. Lichtenstein ruled out any compromise with modernity, insisting on maintaining Yiddish and traditional dress. They considered the Neologs as already beyond

9760-530: The "zealots"' cause, dismissed their legal arguments. In 1865, the ultra-Orthodox convened in Nagymihály and issued a ban on various synagogue reforms, intended not against the Neologs but against developments in the Orthodox camp, especially after Samuel Sofer violated his father's expressed ban and instituted vernacular sermons in Pressburg. Schick, the country's most prominent decisor, and other leading rabbis refused to sign, though they did not publicly oppose

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9920-409: The 1818–1821 Hamburg Temple dispute , with its concerted backlash against Reform and the emergence of a self-aware conservative ideology, marks the beginning of Orthodox Judaism. The leader and organizer of the Orthodox camp during the dispute, and the most influential figure in early Orthodoxy, was Rabbi Moses Sofer of Pressburg , Hungary . Historian Jacob Katz regarded him as the first to grasp

10080-577: The 1840s, secularization and acculturation turned Neo-Orthodoxy into the strict right-wing of German Jewry. It was fully articulated by Bernays' mid-century disciples Samson Raphael Hirsch and Azriel Hildesheimer . Hirsch, a Hamburg native who was ten during the Temple dispute, combined Orthodox dogmatism and militancy against rival interpretations of Judaism, granting leniency on many cultural issues and embraced German culture. The novel mixture termed Neo-Orthodoxy spread. While insisting on strict observance,

10240-707: The 5.2 million Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland spoke Yiddish their mother tongue, and only 26% were literate in Russian. Though the Eastern European Haskalah challenged the traditional establishment, it flourished from the 1820s until the 1890s. Unlike its western counterpart, it thrived despite ongoing acculturation. The leading rabbis maintained the concept of communal unity: in 1882, when an Orthodox party in Galicia appealed for

10400-502: The Breslau School, who don silk gloves at their work, and Geiger who wields a sledgehammer . During the 1840s in Germany, as traditionalists became a clear minority, some Orthodox rabbis, such as Salomo Eger of Posen , urged the adoption of Moses Sofer 's position and to anathemize the principally nonobservant. Eating, worshipping or marrying with them were to be banned. Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , whose journal Treue Zionswächter

10560-489: The Conservative movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards permits driving to a synagogue on Shabbat, as an emergency measure, on the grounds that if Jews lost contact with synagogue life, they would become lost to the Jewish people. A halakhically authorized Shabbat mode added to a power-operated mobility scooter may be used on the observance of Shabbat for those with walking limitations, often referred to as

10720-538: The Eastern Europeans, their modern education made them a prominent elite in the new organization, which strove to provide a comprehensive response to world Jewry's challenges in a strictly observant spirit. The Agudah immediately formed its Council of Torah Sages as supreme rabbinic leadership body. Many ultra-traditionalist elements in Eastern Europe, like the Belz and Lubavitch Hasidim, refused to join, viewing

10880-464: The Frankfurt community, and decreed that all Orthodox should do the same. However, unlike the heterogeneous congregations of Hungary, which often consisted of recent immigrants, Frankfurt and most German communities were close-knit. The majority of Hirsch's congregants enlisted Rabbi Seligman Baer Bamberger , who was older and more conservative. Bamberger was concerned with the principal of unity among

11040-538: The Hamburg community by accommodating their aesthetic demands (but not theological ones, raised by only a learned few). The combination of religious conservatism and modernity in everything else was emulated elsewhere, earning the label " Neo-Orthodoxy ". Bernays and his like-minded followers, such as Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger , fully accepted the platform of the moderate Haskalah , taking away its progressive edge. While old-style traditional life continued in Germany until

11200-603: The Hungarian ultra-Orthodox struggled to provide strong halakhic arguments. Michael Silber wrote: "These issues, even most of the religious reforms, fell into gray areas not easily treated within Halakha. It was often too flexible or ambiguous, at times silent, or worse yet, embarrassingly lenient." Schlesinger was forced to venture outside of normative law, into mystical writings and other fringe sources, to buttress his ideology. Most Hungarian Orthodox rabbis, while sympathetic to

11360-400: The Jews. Hungarian Jewry retained its pre-modern character well into the 19th century, allowing Sofer's disciples to establish a score of new yeshivas , at a time when these institutions were rapidly closing in the west, and a strong rabbinate to appoint them. A generation later, a self-aware Orthodoxy was well entrenched in the country. Hungarian Jewry gave rise both to Orthodoxy in general, in

11520-536: The Middle Ages, Maimonides and his contemporaries reported that anthropomorphic conceptions of God were quite common in their time. Jewish sabbath Shabbat ( UK : / ʃ ə ˈ b æ t / , US : / ʃ ə ˈ b ɑː t / , or / ʃ ə ˈ b ʌ t / ; Hebrew : שַׁבָּת ‎ , [ʃa'bat] , lit.   ' rest' or 'cessation ' ) or the Sabbath ( / ˈ s æ b ə θ / ), also called Shabbos ( UK : / ˈ ʃ æ b ə s / , US : / ˈ ʃ ɑː b ə s / ) by Ashkenazim ,

11680-553: The Mizrahi minority, and terminated dialogue; in 1911, when the 10th World Zionist Congress voted in favour of propagating non-religious cultural work and education, a large segment of the Mizrahi seceded and joined the anti-Zionists. In 1907, Eastern European proto- Haredi elements formed the Knesseth Israel party, a modern framework created in recognition of the deficiencies of existing institutions. It dissipated within

11840-529: The Orthodox need to tolerate the nonobservant majority: Many of their own congregants were far removed from strict practice. For example, he allowed congregants to drink wine poured by Sabbath desecrators, and to ignore other halakhic sanctions. Yet German neo-Orthodoxy could not legitimize nonobservance, and adopted a hierarchical approach, softer than traditional sanctions, but no less intent on differentiating sinners and righteous. Reform rabbis or lay leaders, considered ideological opponents, were castigated, while

12000-592: The Orthodox seceded from the Congress and appealed to Parliament in the name of religious freedom. This demonstrated the internalization of the new circumstances: Twenty years before, in 1851, Orthodox leader Meir Eisenstaedter petitioned the authorities to restore the old coercive powers of the communities. In 1871 the government recognized a separate Orthodox national committee. Communities that refused to join either side, labeled "Status Quo", were subject to Orthodox condemnation even when impeccably conservative. However,

12160-437: The Orthodox tolerated nonobservant Jews as long as they affiliated with the national committee: Adam Ferziger claimed that membership and loyalty, rather than beliefs and ritual behavior, emerged as the definitive manifestation of Jewish identity. The Hungarian schism was the most radical internal separation among the Jews of Europe. Hildesheimer returned to Germany soon after, disillusioned though not as pessimistic as Hirsch. He

12320-595: The Orthodox. Warden Hirsch Lehren of Amsterdam and Rabbi Jacob Ettlinger of Altona both organized anti-Reform manifestos, denouncing the new initiatives, signed by scores of rabbis from Europe and the Middle East. The tone of the signatories varied considerably along geographic lines: letters from traditional societies in Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire implored local leaders to petition

12480-502: The People Israel and dismissive of Hirsch, whom he regarded as unlearned and overly assimilated. He decreed that since the mother community was willing to finance Orthodox services and allow them religious freedom, secession was unwarranted. Eventually, less than 80 families from Hirsch's 300-strong congregation followed their rabbi. The vast majority of the 15%–20% of German Jews affiliated with Orthodox institutions cared little for

12640-535: The People of Israel like earlier heretical sects. Unlike most, if not all, rabbis in Central Europe, who had little choice but to compromise, Sofer enjoyed unique circumstances. He, too, had to tread carefully during the 1810s, tolerating a modernized synagogue in Pressburg and other innovations, and his yeshiva was nearly closed by warden Wolf Breisach. But in 1822, three poor (and therefore traditional) community members, whose deceased apostate brother bequeathed them

12800-446: The Sabbath and to sanctify it at home and in the synagogue. In addition to refraining from creative work, the sanctification of the day through blessings over wine , the preparation of special Sabbath meals , and engaging in prayer and Torah study were required as an active part of Shabbat observance to promote intellectual activity and spiritual regeneration on the day of rest from physical creation. According to many scribes, half of

12960-608: The Talmudic exegesis , which derived laws from the Torah 's text by employing hermeneutics , was binding d'Oraita . Geiger and others presented exegesis as an arbitrary, illogical process, and consequently defenders of tradition embraced Maimonides ' claim that the Sages merely buttressed already received laws with biblical citations, rather than actually deriving them. Jay Harris commented, "An insulated orthodox, or, rather, traditional rabbinate, feeling no pressing need to defend

13120-732: The UOR as overly Americanized. Typical of these was Rabbi Aaron Kotler , who established Lakewood Yeshiva in New Jersey in 1943. Alarmed by the American innovations, Kotler turned his institution into an enclave, around which a community slowly evolved. It was unlike his prewar yeshiva at Kletsk , Poland , whose students mingled with the rest of the population. Lakewood pioneered the homogeneous, voluntary and enclavist model of postwar Haredi communities, which were independent entities developing their own subculture. The new arrivals soon dominated

13280-422: The arguments for prohibiting the use of electricity. Some Orthodox also hire a " Shabbos goy ", a non Jew to perform prohibited tasks (like operating light switches) on Shabbat. Orthodox and many Conservative authorities completely prohibit the use of automobiles on Shabbat as a violation of multiple categories, including lighting a fire, extinguishing a fire, and transferring between domains (category 39). However,

13440-491: The attributes of God in Judaism : one and indivisible, preceding all creation, which God alone brought into being, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, absolutely incorporeal, and beyond human reason. This basis is evoked in many foundational texts, and is repeated often in daily prayers, such as in Judaism's creed-like Shema Yisrael : "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." Maimonides delineated this understanding of

13600-494: The authorities and have them ban the movement. Signers from Central and Western Europe used terms commensurate with the liberal age. All were implored by the petitioners to be brief and accessible; complex halakhic arguments, intended to convince the rabbinic elite in past generations, were replaced by an appeal to the secularized masses. The struggle with Wissenschaft criticism shaped the Orthodox. For centuries, Ashkenazi rabbinic authorities espoused Nahmanides ' position that

13760-700: The castigation of Zecharias Frankel, allowed the instrument in his community. In England, Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler 's United Synagogue shared a similar approach: It was vehemently conservative in principle and combated ideological reformers , yet served a nonobservant public – as Todd Endelman noted, "While respectful of tradition, most English-born Jews were not orthodox in terms of personal practice. Nonetheless they were content to remain within an orthodox congregational framework" – and introduced considerable synagogue reforms. The slow pace of modernization in Russia, Congress Poland and Romanian principalities delayed

13920-429: The circuit would be demolishing (category 34). Some schools of thought consider the use of electricity to be forbidden only by rabbinic injunction , rather than a melakhah . A common solution to the problem of electricity involves preset timers ( Shabbat clocks ) for electric appliances, to turn them on and off automatically, with no human intervention on Shabbat itself. Some Conservative authorities reject altogether

14080-507: The civil authorities, which eventually justified Cohen. However, the unprecedented meddling in his jurisdiction profoundly shocked him and dealt a blow to the prestige of the rabbinate. An ideological challenge to rabbinic authority, in contrast to prosaic secularization, appeared in the form of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement which came to the fore in 1782. Hartwig Wessely , Moses Mendelssohn , and other maskilim called for

14240-407: The clergy; and many did not partition men and women. In 1885, the antinomian Pittsburgh Platform moved conservative religious leaders to found the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). Orthodoxy never became consistent and was mainly motivated by a rejection of Reform. They variously termed their ideology as "Enlightened Orthodoxy" or " Conservative Judaism ". The latter gradually became

14400-466: The coming of the Messiah and renewal of sacrifices ( post factum , it was considered to be the first Reform liturgy). More than anything else, this doctrinal breach alarmed the traditionalists. Dozens of rabbis from across Europe united in support of the Hamburg rabbinic court, banning the major practices enacted there and offering halakhic grounds for forbidding any changes. Most historians concur that

14560-568: The common mass was to be carefully handled. Some German neo-Orthodox believed that while doomed to minority status in their native country, their ideology could successfully confront modernity and unify Judaism in more traditional communities to the east. In 1847, Hirsch was elected Chief Rabbi of Moravia , where old rabbinic culture and yeshiva s were still extant. His expectations were dashed as traditionalist rabbis scorned him for his European manners and lack of Talmudic acumen. They became enraged by his attempts to reform synagogues and to establish

14720-412: The communities, was rapidly acculturating and often sought to oblige the state's agenda. Rabbi Elazar Fleckeles , who returned to Prague from the countryside in 1783, recalled that he first faced there "new vices" of principled irreverence towards tradition, rather than "old vices" such as gossip or fornication. In Hamburg , Rabbi Raphael Cohen attempted to reinforce traditional norms. Cohen ordered

14880-529: The crisis of traditional society for decades. , Harsh discrimination and active persecution of Jews continued there until 1917. Old-style education in the heder and yeshiva remained the norm, retaining Hebrew as the language of the elite and Yiddish as the vernacular. The defining fault-line of Eastern European Jews was between the Hasidim and the Misnagdic reaction against them. Reform attempts by

15040-425: The customary two Shabbat candles . Candles are lit usually by the woman of the house (or else by a man who lives alone). Some families light more candles, sometimes in accordance with the number of children. Shabbat is a day of celebration as well as prayer . It is customary to eat three festive meals: Dinner on Shabbat eve (Friday night), lunch on Shabbat day (Saturday), and a third meal (a Seudah shlishit ) in

15200-682: The day should be devoted to Torah study and prayer. The Talmud states that the best food should be prepared for the Sabbath, for "one who delights in the Sabbath is granted their heart's desires" ( BT , Shabbat 118a-b). All Jewish denominations encourage the following activities on Shabbat: Special Shabbatot are the Shabbatot that precede important Jewish holidays : e.g., Shabbat HaGadol (Shabbat preceding Pesach ), Shabbat Zachor (Shabbat preceding Purim ), and Shabbat Shuvah (Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ). Most Christians do not observe Saturday Sabbath, but instead observe

15360-518: The day. Sabbath is also described by the prophets Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezekiel , Hosea , Amos , and Nehemiah . The longstanding Jewish position is that unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. The origins of Shabbat and a seven-day week are not clear to scholars; the Mosaic tradition claims an origin from the Genesis creation narrative. The first non-Biblical reference to Sabbath

15520-518: The dead , divine reward and punishment for the righteous and the sinners, the Election of Israel as a people bound by a covenant with God , and an eventual Messianic Age ruled by a salvific Messiah -King who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem and gather the people to Zion . Orthodox Judaism is not a centralized denomination. Relations between its different subgroups are often strained, and

15680-535: The death of a spouse or first-degree relative) outwardly conduct themselves normally for the duration of the day and are forbidden to display public signs of mourning. Although most Shabbat laws are restrictive, the fourth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus is taken by the Talmud and Maimonides to allude to the positive commandments of Shabbat. These include: Havdalah (Hebrew: הַבְדָּלָה, "separation")

15840-474: The decree. On the other end of the spectrum, Hildesheimer's planned seminary was too radical for the same mainstream rabbis, and he became marginalized and isolated by 1864. The internal Orthodox division was complicated by growing tension with the Neologs. In 1869, the Hungarian government convened a General Jewish Congress that was aimed at creating a national representative body. Fearing Neolog domination,

16000-554: The designation of the seventh, fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eight days of a lunar month in an Assyrian religious calendar as a 'holy day', also called 'evil days' (meaning "unsuitable" for prohibited activities). The prohibitions on these days, spaced seven days apart (except the nineteenth), include abstaining from chariot riding, and the avoidance of eating meat by the King. On these days officials were prohibited from various activities and common men were forbidden to "make

16160-475: The differences between an unbroken week and a lunar week, and explaining the absence of texts naming the lunar week as Sabbath in any language. Seventh-day Shabbat did not originate with the Egyptians , to whom it was unknown; and other origin theories based on the day of Saturn , or on the planets generally, have also been abandoned. Sabbath is given special status as a holy day at the very beginning of

16320-505: The divinely revealed status of the Torah and a strict observance of halakha , separating it from Conservative ideology. Physically separate seating (symbolized by gender partitions ) became the distinguishing mark of Orthodox/Conservative affiliation in the 1950s, and as pushed by the RCA. However, many Modern Orthodox followers were barely observant, and many synagogues did not use a gender partition. As late as 1997, seven OU congregations lacked

16480-454: The early and mid-19th century, with the advent of the progressive movements among German Jews, and especially early Reform Judaism , the title Orthodox became the epithet of traditionalists who espoused conservative positions on the issues raised by modernization. They themselves often disliked the name that was earlier adopted by eastern Christianity, preferring titles such as "Torah-true" ( gesetztreu ). They often declared they used it only as

16640-406: The elderly, traditional Chief Dayan Baruch Oser with Isaac Bernays . The latter was a university graduate, clean-shaven, and modern, who could appeal to the acculturated and the young. Bernays signified a new era, and historians marked him as the first modern rabbi, fitting the demands of emancipation: his contract forbade him to tax, punish, or coerce, and he lacked political or judiciary power. He

16800-494: The emergence of distinctly Orthodox communities and ideologies, were the exception rather than the rule in Central and Western Europe. France, Britain, Bohemia, Austria and other countries saw both a virtual disappearance of traditional Jewish life, and no serious interest in bridging Judaism and modernity. The official rabbinate remained technically traditional, in the default sense of not introducing ideological change. The organ –

16960-694: The epithet Haredim (generic term for the observant and the pious). Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism , with its nonobservant if not staunchly secular partisans, was the key question facing Eastern European traditionalists, although it was tangled with modernization. Salmon claimed that the future Zionists were: supportive of a national agenda; motivated by criticism of Jewish society; supportive of modernity; tolerant of nonobservance; and approving of traditional faith and practice. Their proto- Haredi opponents sharply rejected all he former positions and espoused staunch conservatism, which idealized existing norms. Any illusion that differences could be blanded and

17120-411: The exact limits of Orthodoxy are subject to intense debate. Very roughly, it may be divided between Haredi Judaism (ultra-Orthodox), which is more conservative and reclusive, and Modern Orthodox Judaism , which is relatively open to outer society and partakes in secular life and culture. Each of those is itself formed of independent streams. These are almost uniformly exclusionist, regarding Orthodoxy as

17280-447: The formation of Orthodox ideology and organizations was itself influenced by modernity. This was brought about by the need to defend the very concept of tradition in a world where that was no longer self-evident. When secularization and the dismantlement of communal structures uprooted the old order of Jewish life, traditionalist elements united to form groups that had a specific self-understanding. This, and all that it entailed, constituted

17440-571: The heir of late Hatam Sofer, considered appointing Hildesheimer as his assistant-rabbi in Pressburg and instituting secular studies in the city's great yeshiva . The rabbi of Eisenstadt believed that only a full-fledged modern rabbinical seminary could fulfill his neo-Orthodox agenda. In the 1850s and 1860s, however, a radical reactionary Orthodox party coalesced in the northeastern regions of Hungary . Led by Rabbi Hillel Lichtenstein , his son-in-law Akiva Yosef Schlesinger and decisor Chaim Sofer ,

17600-505: The importance of daily practice and adherence to halakha (Jewish law) mooted theoretical issues. Others dismissed this view entirely, citing ancient rabbinic debates that castigated various heresies with little reference to observance. However, even without a uniform doctrine, Orthodox Judaism is basically united in its core beliefs. Disavowing them is a major blasphemy . . Several medieval authorities attempted to codify these beliefs, including Saadia Gaon and Joseph Albo . Each composed

17760-522: The individual Jew determines whether to follow Shabbat prohibitions or not. For example, some Jews might find activities, such as writing or cooking for leisure , to be enjoyable enhancements to Shabbat and its holiness, and therefore may encourage such practices. Many Reform Jews believe that what constitutes "work" is different for each person, and that only what the person considers "work" is forbidden. The radical Reform rabbi Samuel Holdheim advocated moving Sabbath to Sunday for many no longer observed it,

17920-539: The late afternoon (Saturday). It is also customary to wear nice clothing (different from during the week) on Shabbat to honor the day. Many Jews attend synagogue services on Shabbat even if they do not do so during the week. Services are held on Shabbat eve (Friday night), Shabbat morning (Saturday morning), and late Shabbat afternoon (Saturday afternoon). With the exception of Yom Kippur , days of public fasting are postponed or advanced if they coincide with Shabbat. Mourners sitting shivah (week of mourning subsequent to

18080-520: The latter half of the 18th century, Jewish communities in Central and Western Europe were autonomous entities, with distinct privileges and obligations. They were led by the affluent wardens' class ( parnasim ), judicially subject to rabbinical courts , which governed most civil matters. The rabbinical class monopolized education and morals, much like the Christian clergy. Jewish Law was considered normative and enforced upon transgressors (common sinning

18240-428: The like are forbidden.) The utter imperceptibility of God, considered as beyond human reason and only reachable through what he chooses to reveal, was emphasized among others in the ancient ban on making any image of him . Maimonides and virtually all sages in his time and thereafter stressed that the creator is incorporeal, lacking "any semblance of a body". While incorporeality has almost been taken for granted since

18400-471: The local traditionalists complete their transformation into Orthodox, albeit never as starkly as in Hungary or Germany. Eastern European Orthodoxy, whether Agudah or Mizrahi, always preferred cultural and educational independence to communal secession, and maintained strong ties and self-identification with the general Jewish public. Within its ranks, the 150-years-long struggle between Hasidim and Misnagdim

18560-422: The men in his community to grow a beard, forbade holding hands with one's wife in public, and decried women who wore wigs, instead of visible headgear , to cover their hair; Cohen taxed and otherwise persecuted members of the priestly caste who left the city to marry divorcees, men who appealed to state courts , those who ate food cooked by Gentiles , and other transgressors. Hamburg's Jews repeatedly appealed to

18720-430: The movement as a dangerous innovation; and the organized Orthodox in Hungary rejected it as well, especially after it did not affirm a commitment to communal secession in 1923. In the Interwar period , sweeping secularization and acculturation deracinated old Jewish society in Eastern Europe. The October Revolution granted civil equality and imposed anti-religious persecutions, radically transforming Russian Jewry within

18880-447: The movement both tolerated and advocated modernization: Traditionally rare formal religious education for girls was introduced; modesty and gender separation were relaxed to match German society; men went clean-shaven and dressed like Gentiles; and exclusive Torah study virtually disappeared. Basic religious studies incorporating German Bildung provided children with practical halakhic knowledge for thriving in modern society. Ritual

19040-551: The movement. In total, Orthodox Judaism is the largest Jewish religious group, estimated to have over 2 million practicing adherents, and at least an equal number of nominal members or self-identifying supporters. The earliest known mention of the term Orthodox Jews was made in the Berlinische Monatsschrift in 1795. The word Orthodox was borrowed from the general German Enlightenment discourse, and used to denote those Jews who opposed Enlightenment. During

19200-475: The mystical tradition, exemplified in Kabbalah , assigned each rite with a role in hidden dimensions of reality. Sheer obedience, derived from faithfulness to one's community and ancestry, was believed sufficient for the common people, while the educated chose one of the two schools. In the modern era, the prestige of both declined, and "naive faith" became popular. At a time when contemplation in matters of belief

19360-422: The need to adapt to the segment of Judaism in a modern world inhospitable to traditional practice. Orthodoxy often involved much accommodation and leniency. In the mid-1980s, research on Orthodox Judaism became a scholarly discipline, examining how the need to confront modernity shaped and changed its beliefs, ideologies, social structure, and halakhic rulings, separating it from traditional Jewish society. Until

19520-670: The non-Orthodox. That year, Hildesheimer visited Hungary. Confounded by urbanization and acculturation – and the rise of Neology , a nonobservant laity served by rabbis who mostly favoured the Positive-Historical approach – the elderly local rabbis at first welcomed Hildesheimer. He opened a modern school in Eisenstadt that included secular studies in the curriculum. Traditionalists such as Moshe Schick and Yehudah Aszód sent their sons to study there. Samuel Benjamin Sofer ,

19680-590: The norm. Separation of church and state and dynamic religiosity along the Protestant model shaped synagogue life. In the mid-19th century, Reform Judaism spread rapidly, made popular by formally abandoning traditions that few upheld. The United States was labeled the Treife Medina , or "Profane Country", in Yiddish . Isaac Leeser was an ultra-traditionalist in the American context, although his lack of

19840-576: The notion that the Oral and Written Law were intertwined and inseparable. Wissenschaft posed a greater challenge to the modernized neo-Orthodox than to the traditionalist. Hirsch and Hildesheimer divided on the matter, anticipating modernist Orthodox attitudes to the historical-critical method. Hirsch argued that analyzing minutiae of tradition as products of their historical context was akin to denying its divine origin and timeless relevance. Hildesheimer consented to research under limits, subjugating it to

20000-505: The now-lost communal autonomy, the Neo-Orthodox turned Judaism from an all-encompassing practice into a private religious conviction. In the late 1830s, modernist pressures in Germany shifted from the secularization debate, moving into the "purely religious" sphere of theology and liturgy. A new generation of university-trained rabbis (many German states required communal rabbis to possess such education) sought to reconcile Judaism with

20160-435: The only authentic continuation of Judaism as it was until the crisis of modernity. Its progressive opponents often shared this view, regarding it as a remnant of the past and lending credit to their own rival ideology. Thus, the term Orthodox is often used generically to refer to traditional (even if only in the sense that it is unrelated to modernist movement) synagogues, rites, and observances. Academic research noted that

20320-532: The only legitimate form of Judaism. While adhering to traditional beliefs, the movement is a modern phenomenon. It arose as a result of the breakdown of the autonomous Jewish community since the late 18th century, and was much shaped by a conscious struggle against the pressures of secularization , acculturation and rival alternatives. The strictly observant Orthodox are a definite minority among all Jews, but there are also numerous semi- and non-practicing persons who are officially affiliated or personally identify with

20480-523: The pale of Jewishness, and were more concerned with neo-Orthodoxy, which they regarded as a thinly-veiled gateway for a similar fate. Chaim Sofer summarized their view of Hildesheimer: "The wicked Hildesheimer is the horse and chariot of the Evil Inclination ... All the heretics in the last century did not seek to undermine the Law and the Faith as he does." In their struggle against acculturation,

20640-680: The polemics. They did not secede over reasons of finance and familial relations. Only a handful of Secessionist, Austrittorthodox , communities were established in the Reich; almost everyone remained Communal Orthodox, Gemeindeortodox , within Liberal mother congregations. The Communal Orthodox argued that their approach was true to Jewish unity and decisive in maintaining public standards of observance and traditional education in Liberal communities. The Secessionists viewed them as hypocritical middle-of-the-roaders. The conflicts in Hungary and Germany, and

20800-409: The predetermined sanctity of the subject matter and accepting its results only when they accorded with the latter. More importantly, while he was content to engage academically, he opposed its practical application in religious questions, requiring traditional methods to be used. Hildesheimer's approach was emulated by his disciple Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann , a scholar and apologetic. His polemic against

20960-661: The preferred term. Strictly traditionalist Eastern European immigrants formed the Union of Orthodox Rabbis (UOR) in 1902, in direct opposition to the Americanized OU and JTS. The UOR frowned upon English-language sermons, secular education and any acculturation. In 1897, an old-style yeshiva , Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), was founded in New York. Its students rebelled in 1908, demanding rabbinic training more like that of their JTS peers. In 1915, RIETS

21120-411: The realities of the modern age. Sofer understood that what remained of his political clout would soon disappear, and that he had largely lost the ability to enforce observance; as Katz wrote, "obedience to halakha became dependent on recognizing its validity, and this very validity was challenged by those who did not obey". He was deeply troubled by reports from his native Frankfurt and the arrival from

21280-464: The right of secession, the Netziv and other Russian rabbis forbade it for contradicting the idea of Israel's unity. In the 1860s and 1870s, moderate maskilic rabbis like Yitzchak Yaacov Reines and Yechiel Michel Pines called for inclusion of secular studies in the heder s and yeshiva s, anticipating a communal disintegration as in the west. Instead they proposed a careful modernization, based on

21440-404: The sense of a comprehensive response to modernity, and specifically to the traditionalist, militant ultra-Orthodoxy . The 1818–1821 controversy also elicited a different response, which first arose in its very epicenter. Severe protests did not affect Temple congregants, eventually leading the wardens of Hamburg's Jewish community to a comprehensive compromise for the sake of unity. They replaced

21600-579: The separation of chaff from grain , and "selecting" refers exclusively to the separation of debris from grain, they refer in the Talmudic sense to any separation of intermixed materials which renders edible that which was inedible. Thus, filtering undrinkable water to make it drinkable falls under this category, as does picking small bones from fish ( gefilte fish is one solution to this problem). The categories of labors prohibited on Shabbat are exegetically derived – on account of Biblical passages juxtaposing Shabbat observance ( Exodus 35:1–3 ) to making

21760-483: The seventh day of creation according to Genesis . A cognate Babylonian Sapattu or Sabattu is reconstructed from the lost fifth Enūma Eliš creation account, which is read as: " [Sa]bbatu shalt thou then encounter, mid[month]ly". It is regarded as a form of Sumerian sa-bat ("mid-rest"), rendered in Akkadian as um nuh libbi ("day of mid-repose"). Connection to Sabbath observance has been suggested in

21920-399: The side of the building. In 1988, the congregation restored the interior to its original splendor, and the former Hebrew school building that is attached, but had become dilapidated, was renovated and reopened as The Daniel Potkorony Building. The magnificent stained glass windows were recently completely recreated and renewed. Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism therefore advocates

22080-438: The spirit of the day. Many observant Jews avoid the prohibition of carrying by use of an eruv . Others make their keys into a tie bar , part of a belt buckle, or a brooch , because a legitimate article of clothing or jewelry may be worn rather than carried. An elastic band with clips on both ends, and with keys placed between them as integral links, may be considered a belt. Shabbat lamps have been developed to allow

22240-679: The stars have surfaced until the sabbath technically ends. Some people hold by 72 minutes later and other hold longer and shorter than that. Jewish law (halakha) prohibits doing any form of melakhah (מְלָאכָה, plural melakhoth ) on Shabbat, unless an urgent human or medical need is life-threatening. Though melakhah is commonly translated as "work" in English , a better definition is "deliberate activity" or "skill and craftmanship". There are 39 categories of melakhah : The 39 melakhoth are not so much activities as "categories of activity". For example, while "winnowing" usually refers exclusively to

22400-567: The traditionalist wing of American Jewry, forcing locals to adopt their views. The younger generation in the JTS and the Rabbinical Assembly concurrently demanded greater clarity, theological unambiguity and halakhic independence from the Orthodox veto on serious innovations. In 1935, for example, the RA shelved its proposal for a solution to the agunah predicament. "Conservative Judaism"

22560-469: The transgressor. Denying this fact is akin to denying the sun at noon. However, maskilic '-rabbinic rivalry ended in most of Central Europe, as governments imposed modernization upon their Jewish subjects. Schools replaced traditional cheders , and standard German began to supplant Yiddish . Differences between the establishment and the Enlightened became irrelevant, and the former often embraced

22720-430: The two stressed that the difference was dogmatic and not halakhic . They managed to tarnish Frankel's reputation in the traditional camp and delegitimized him for many. The Positive-Historical School is regarded by Conservative Judaism as an intellectual forerunner. While Hildesheimer distinguished Frankel's observant disciples from Reform proponents, he wrote in his diary: how meager is the principal difference between

22880-484: The validity of the Oral Law, could confidently appropriate the vision of most medieval rabbinic scholars; a defensive German Orthodoxy, by contrast, could not. ... Thus began a shift in understanding that led Orthodox rabbis and historians in the modern period to insist that the entire Oral Law was revealed by God to Moses at Sinai." 19th-Century Orthodox commentaries, like those authored by Malbim , attempted to amplify

23040-571: The views of the latter (now antiquated, as more aggressive modes of acculturation replaced the Haskalahs program). In 1810, when philanthropist Israel Jacobson opened what was later identified as the first Reform synagogue in Seesen , with modernized rituals, he encountered little protest. The founding of the Hamburg Temple in 1818 mobilized the conservative elements. The organizers of

23200-404: The way a Jew is seen by an orthodox religious court regarding their affiliation to Judaism. Orthodox and some Conservative authorities rule that turning electric devices on or off is prohibited as a melakhah ; however, authorities are not in agreement about exactly which one(s). One view is that tiny sparks are created in a switch when the circuit is closed, and this would constitute lighting

23360-401: The west of dismissed rabbis, ejected by progressive wardens, or pious families, fearing for the education of their children. These émigrés often became ardent followers. Sofer's response to the crisis of traditional Jewish society was unremitting conservatism, canonizing every detail of prevalent norms in the observant community lest any compromise legitimize the progressives' claim that the law

23520-484: Was adopted as an exclusive label by most JTS graduates and RA members, became a distinct movement. In 1950, the Conservatives signaled their break with Orthodoxy by acceptance of a far-reaching legal decision, which allowed one to drive to the synagogue and to use electricity on Sabbath. Judaism never formulated a conclusive credo ; whether it reflects a dogma remains controversial. Some researchers argued that

23680-419: Was applied to Jewish affairs, to which these concepts were alien. The rabbis were bemused when the state expected them to assume pastoral care, foregoing their principal judicial role. Of secondary importance, much less than the civil and legal transformations, were the ideas of Enlightenment that chafed at the authority of tradition and faith. By the end of the 18th century, the weakened rabbinic establishment

23840-474: Was appointed rabbi of the Orthodox sub-community in Berlin (which had separate religious institutions but was not formally independent of the Liberal majority), where he finally established his seminary. In 1877, a law enabling Jews to secede from their communities without baptism was passed in Germany. It was a stark example that Judaism was now confessional, not corporate. Hirsch withdrew his congregation from

24000-473: Was associated with secularization, luminaries such as Yisrael Meir Kagan stressed the importance of simple, unsophisticated commitment to the precepts passed down from the Beatified Sages. This became standard in the ultra-Orthodox world. Judaism adheres to monotheism , the belief in one God. The basic tenets of Orthodoxy, drawn from ancient sources like the Talmud and later sages, chiefly include

24160-504: Was facing a new kind of transgressor: they could not be classified as tolerable sinners overcome by their urges ( khote le-te'avon ), or as schismatics like the Sabbateans or Frankists , against whom sanctions were levied. Their attitudes did not fit the criteria set when faith was a normative and self-evident part of worldly life, but rested on the realities of the new, secularized age. The wardens' class, which wielded most power within

24320-418: Was fluid or redundant. He was unwilling to trade halakhic opinions for those he considered to be pretending to honor the rules of rabbinic discourse, while intending to undermine them. Sofer regarded traditional customs as equivalent to vows; he warned in 1793 that even the "custom of ignoramuses" (one known to be rooted solely in a mistake of the common masses) was to be meticulously observed and revered. Sofer

24480-492: Was forbidden from interfering in the Temple's conduct. Conservative in the principal issues of faith, in aesthetic, cultural, and civil matters, Bernays was a reformer and the Temple leaders. He introduced secular studies for children, wore a cassock like a Protestant clergyman, and delivered vernacular sermons. He forbade the spontaneous, informal character of synagogue conduct typical of Ashkenazi tradition, and ordered prayers to be somber and dignified. Bernays' style re-unified

24640-550: Was frank and vehement about his stance, stating during the Hamburg dispute that prayers in the vernacular were not problematic per se , but he forbade them because they constituted an innovation. He succinctly expressed his attitude in wordplay he borrowed from the Talmud: "The new ( Chadash , originally meaning new grain) is forbidden by the Torah anywhere." Regarding the new, ideologically-driven sinners, Sofer commented in 1818 that they should have been anathemized and banished from

24800-663: Was largely subsided; the latter were even dubbed henceforth as "Litvaks", as the anti-Hasidic component in their identity was marginalized. In the interwar period, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan emerged as the popular leader of the Eastern European Orthodox, particularly the Agudah-leaning. American Jewry of the 19th century was small and lacked traditional institutions or strong rabbinic presence due to its immigrant-based nature. This informality allow religious innovation to flourish. Voluntary congregations were

24960-548: Was not connected to a 7-day week like the Gregorian calendar . Instead the New Moon marks the starting point for counting and the shabbat falls consistently on the 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th of each month. Biblical text to support using the moon, a light in the heavens, to determine days include Genesis 1:14 , Psalm 104:19 , and Sirach 43:6–8 See references: Rabbinic Jewish tradition and practice does not hold of this, holding

25120-484: Was rebuked, but tolerated) invoking all communal sanctions: imprisonment, taxation, flogging, pillorying, and, especially, excommunication . Cultural, economic, and social exchange with non-Jewish society was limited and regulated. This state of affairs came to an end with the rise of the modern, centralized state, which appropriated all authority. The nobility, clergy, urban guilds, and all other corporate estates were gradually stripped of privileges, inadvertently creating

25280-475: Was reformed to match prevalent aesthetic conceptions, much like non-Orthodox synagogues though without the ideological undertone, and the liturgy was often abbreviated. Neo-Orthodoxy mostly did not attempt to reconcile its conduct and halakhic or moral norms. Instead it adopted compartmentalization, de facto limiting Judaism to the private and religious spheres, while otherwise yielding to outer society. While conservative Rabbis in Hungary still thought in terms of

25440-618: Was reorganized as a Modern Orthodox institution, and a merger with the JTS was discussed. In 1923, the Rabbinical Council of America was established as the OU's clerical association. Between the ultra-Orthodox and Conservatives, Modern Orthodoxy emerged as a distinct movement. Its postwar leader, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik , left Agudas Israel to adopt a positive, if reserved, attitude toward Western culture. As dean of RIETS and honorary chair of RCA's halakha committee, Soloveitchik shaped Modern Orthodoxy for decades. RCA stressed

25600-485: Was the first regular Orthodox newspaper, signifying the coalescence of a distinct Orthodox millieu, rejected their call. Ettlinger, and German neo-Orthodoxy in his wake, chose to regard the modern secularized Jew as a transgressor rather than a schismatic. He adopted Maimonides' interpretation of the Talmudic concept tinok shenishba (captured infant), a Jew by birth who was not raised as such and therefore could be absolved for not practicing, and greatly expanded it to serve

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