The movement for religious reform in modern Judaism is one of the most significant phenomena of Jewish history in the last two centuries. It introduced new theological conceptions and innovations in liturgy and religious practice that affected millions of Jews. Today Reform Judaism is one of the three major branches of the Jewish faith. Michael Meyer offers a comprehensive and balanced history of the Reform movement, tracing its changing configuration and self-understanding from the beginnings of modernization in late ...
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The movement for religious reform in modern Judaism is one of the most significant phenomena of Jewish history in the last two centuries. It introduced new theological conceptions and innovations in liturgy and religious practice that affected millions of Jews. Today Reform Judaism is one of the three major branches of the Jewish faith. Michael Meyer offers a comprehensive and balanced history of the Reform movement, tracing its changing configuration and self-understanding from the beginnings of modernization in late eighteenth-century Jewish thought and practice through Reform's 1970s American renewal. He traces its spread throughout Europe and America and interprets Reform's response to such important influences as Protestantism, biblical criticism, and Darwinism. Meyer pays particular attention to the personal qualities of its leaders and the major disputes dividing the movement, especially those over Zionism. He also makes necessary comparisons with more traditional forms of modern Judaism, and measures the extent to which Reform Judaism cohered as a single, unified movement, even as it evolved in varying ways in individual countries.
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