Reform Judaism
Einhorn was an opponent of the Cleveland Conference of 1855 and its decision that the Talmud had primacy in interpreting the Torah. In this stand, Einhorn stood in contrast to Rabbi Wise's efforts to find language that could accommodate the various strands of Judaism in the United States, arguing that such efforts betrayed the progress of reform. Starting in 1856, he started publishing the German language magazine, Sinai, devoted to interests of radical reform, which he also used as a platform for his antislavery pronouncements. Einhorn remained an opponent of Interfaith marriage in Judaism, arguing in Sinai that such practices were "a nail in the coffin of the small Jewish race", though he opposed the retention of practices such as the wearing of phylacteries, the limitations on activity prohibited on Shabbat and kosher dietary laws, all of which he viewed as outmoded. Only those portions of the Torah that derived from a moral basis were to be retained. He became the acknowledged leader of Reform Judaism in America.
Read more about this topic: David Einhorn (rabbi)
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