Reform Movement in Judaism - The Emergence of Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism

The Emergence of Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism

Historians of Conservative Judaism trace its intellectual origins to thinkers like Zacharias Frankel, who held a religious middle ground between German Reformers and Orthodoxy. Institutionally, the Conservative movement in the US developed in reaction to reforms. For instance, a group of rabbis split with the Reform movement due to the controversial Pittsburgh Platform. In 1887, they founded a separate rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary and, in 1901, Conservative rabbis organized as the Rabbinical Assembly and by 1913 their congregations banded together under the banner of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

From the Conservative movement, another liberal, non-orthodox Judaism approach was created by Mordecai Kaplan. Initially, Mordecai Kaplan was deeply opposed to the formation of yet another American Jewish denomination. In 1955, the Reconstructionist Fellowship of Congregations was formed. This organization allowed reconstructionist congregations to share common concerns but required members to be dual affiliated with either the US Reform or Conservative movement. In 1961 the dual affiliation requirement was dropped and Reconstructionist Judaism became a full fledged fourth denomination on the American scene. After building its own rabbinical seminary and congregational presence, the Reconstructionists eventually affiliated in the 1990s with the World Union of Progressive Judaism.