Religion - Reconstructionist Denomination
Reconstructionist Judaism is a
denomination of Judaism with a relatively liberal set of beliefs:
* an individual's personal autonomy should generally override
traditional Jewish law and custom, yet also take into account communal
consensus,
* modern culture is accepted,
* traditional rabbinic modes of study, as well as modern scholarship and
critical text study, are both valid ways to learn about religious texts,
* non-fundamentalist methods of teaching about Jewish principles of
faith are acceptable, and no Jew needs to accept all, or any, principles
of faith,
* the Jews are not a chosen people, miracles and theism are rejected.
These beliefs lead to a more traditional set of observances than is seen
in Reform Judaism.
Origin
Reconstructionism was developed by Rabbis Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983)
and Ira Eisenstein over a period of time spanning from the late 1920s to
the 1940s. It formally became a distinct denomination within Judaism
with the foundation of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1968.
Theology
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan held that in light of the 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's
naturalism theology has been seen as a variant of John Dewey's
philosophy. Dewey's naturalism combined atheist beliefs with religious
terminology in order to construct a religiously satisfying philosophy
for those who had lost faith in traditional religion.
In agreement with some classical medieval Jewish thinkers, Kaplan
affirmed that God is not personal, and that all anthropomorphic
descriptions of God are, at best, imperfect metaphors. Kaplan's theology
went beyond this to claim that God is the sum of all natural processes
that allow man to become self-fulfilled. Kaplan wrote that "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." It must be noted that not all of Kaplan's writings on
the subject were consistent; his position evolved somewhat over the
years, and two distinct theologies can be discerned with a careful
reading. The view more popularly associated with Kaplan is strict
naturalism, ŕ la Dewey, which has been criticised as using religious
terminology to mask a non-theistic (if not outright atheistic) position.
However a second strand of Kaplonian theology exists which makes clear
that at times Kaplan believed that God has ontological reality, a real
and absolute existence independent of human beliefs. In this latter
theology Kaplan still rejects classical forms of theism and any belief
in miracles, but holds to a position that in some ways is neo-Platonic.
Most Reconstructionist Jews reject traditional forms of theism. Many are
deists; a small number accept Kabbalistic views of God.
All Orthodox Jews, most Conservative Jews, and some Reform Jews find
Kaplan's theology incompatible with that of classical Judaism. Some
within the Reconstructionist movement, while accepting many of Kaplan's
other ideas, refused to accept Kaplan's theology. Instead they affirm a
theistic view of God.
Jewish law and tradition
As in Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism holds that personal
autonomy has precedence over Jewish law and theology. It does not ask
that its adherents hold to any particular beliefs, nor does it ask that
Jewish law be accepted as normative. Unlike classical Reform Judaism,
Reconstructionism Judaism 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. The most important
distinction between Reconstructionist Judaism and traditional Judaism is
that Reconstructionism feels that all of halakha should be categorized
as "folkways", and not as law.
Reconstructionism promotes many traditional Jewish practices, while also
holding that personal autonomy has precedence over Jewish law. Thus,
mitzvot (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 kipot (yarmulkas),
tallitot and tefillin during prayer, and observance of the Jewish
holidays.
Principles of belief
In practice, Rabbi Kaplan's books, especially The Meaning of God in
Modern Jewish Religion and Judaism as a Civilization are de facto
statements of principles. In 1986, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association (RRA) and the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations
(FRC) passed the official Platform on Reconstructionism (2 pages). It is
not a mandatory statement of principles, but rather a consensus of
current beliefs. [See the FRC Newsletter, Sept. 1986, pages D, E.] Major
points of the platform state that:
Judaism is the result of natural human development. There 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 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,
in some way, can reveal God's will to humans). This is dismissed as
supernaturalism. Mordecai Kaplan instead 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."
(The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion).
Many writers have criticised the movement's most widely held theology,
religious naturalism. David Ray Griffin and Louis Jacobs have objected
to 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 (Sacred
Fragments, p.200); Milton Steinberg (Milton Steinberg: Portrait of a
Rabbi) by Simon Noveck, Ktav, 1978, p.259-260; and Michael Samuels (The
Lord is My Shepherd: The Theology of a Caring God 1996).
Jewish identity
Reconstructionist Judaism allows its rabbis to determine their own
policy regarding officiation at intermarriages; about half will do so.
Reconstructionist Judaism accepts patrilineal descent as well as
matrilineal, i.e., children of one Jewish parent, of either gender, are
considered Jewish if raised as Jews.
The role of non-Jews in Reconstructionist congregations is a matter of
ongoing debate. Practices vary widely between synagogues. Most
congregations strive to strike a balance between inclusivity and
integrity of boundaries. The JRF has issued 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.
Role of men and women
Reconstructionist Judaism is egalitarian in respect to sex.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructionist_Judaism
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