Pick one of the movements to research through the following websites, and answer the following questions: 1. What is the movement's attitude towards halakhah (Jewish law)? Should it be followed strictly, can it be interpreted to fit the modern world, or can it be ignored completely when necessary? 2. What is the role of women in the movement? Can women be rabbis or synagogue presidents? Are there any women leaders of the movement as a whole? 3. What does the movement have to say about homosexuality? Are gay and lesbian people welcomed, turned away, or permitted to become rabbis? 4. Finally, how does a person identify as a Jew in this movement? Is it only if the person's mother is Jewish (matrilineal descent) or does it count if only the father is Jewish (patrilineal descent)? How does one convert to Judaism according to this movement? Reform Movementhttp://urj.org/ - Union for Reform Judaism http://reformjudaism.org/ - Reform Judaism http://ccarnet.org/index.cfm? - Central Conference of American Rabbis http://www.huc.edu/ - Hebrew Union College My Jewish Learning - on the early history of Reform Judaism, by Louis Jacobs Conservative Movementhttp://www.uscj.org/index1.html - United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism http://www.jtsa.edu/ - Jewish Theological Seminary of America http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/law/contemporary_halakhah.html - Committee on Law and Standards My Jewish Learning - on the first 100 years of Conservative Judaism, by Louis Jacobs Orthodoxyhttp://www.ou.org/ - Orthodox Union http://www.jofa.org -
Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance My Jewish Learning - on the history of the development of Orthodoxy, by Louis Jacobs
Reconstructionismhttp://www.jrf.org/reconstructionism - Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation My Jewish Learning - on the early history of the Reconstructionist movement
Jewish RenewalMy Jewish Learning - on the history of the havurah movement, by Jonathan Sarna My Jewish Learning - an introduction to Jewish renewal, by Debra Nussbaum Cohen |