Reconstructionist
Judaism
Joshua A. Wallace
Many
religions throughout the world are trying to find ways to have their faith
remain intact as the world grows smaller and previously unexplainable phenomena
are being brought to such simple ends that they’re taught to our kids on a
daily basis. Evolution, the age of our
Earth, heliocentric solar systems, DNA, global warming, space travel, cloning
and many other fields of science argue directly with many of the world’s major
religions. Most Abrahamic religions have
the world at under 10,000 years old, believe that man came forth from God in
his image and that only He has the right and power to create life. However, that’s just not true. Scientists around the world are finding ways
to use computers to print function Human organs that are being transplanted
into needing patients; archaeologists and the like are creating a tapestry of
our past that shows we all grew from a metaphorical “primordial ooze” that once
gave birth to all of known life; and this is but a small taste of where
knowledge is taking us further away from unanswerable questions to
inconceivable beliefs.
Judaism
is one of the oldest religions with such drastic and dramatic faiths and
practices that even God-fearing Catholics and Protestants still raise their
eyes at the tremendous effort put forth by Jews on a day to day basis. There’s rules for how to dress, there’s a
two-year long process to becoming Jewish if you happen to desire marrying one,
there’s rules for how to eat and what to eat.
The list is expansive and feels very unnecessary but the process of
proving your faith can lead you into these intensive daily routines. Knowing the time period that the main Jewish
tome, the Torah, was constructed and the political atmosphere can lead one to
ponder the nature and validity of the work.
One famous example is the restriction of shellfish. Shellfish is very easily prepared wrong and
this could be fatal. Or, arguably,
shellfish was not very common in the Middle East (birthplace of Abrahamic
religions) and the nutritional gain for the cost was incredibly minimal, making
it a waste of money and frivolous.
Either of these reasons could lead someone to making a rule that pushes
for cleanliness and being thrifty.
About 1922, a
man came along who had questions that he felt weren't even being addressed by
the community at large. Mordecai Kaplan
believed that the lessons of Judaism and its potential modern interpretation
were being squandered on holding onto traditions for tradition-sake. He began a group called the Society for the
Advancement of Judaism, effectively forming the fourth branch of Judaism,
Reconstructionism. His idea was to bring
like-minded individuals together with the intent of providing a modern,
adaptable belief system that rounded off the edges between American values and
Jewish practices. In a time where many
religions were starting to close their doors off to change in attempt to ward
off “unnecessary” controversy, Kaplan was attempting to bring Judaism into a
new age of revitalized interest and growth.
In many places around the world, there was a resurgence of Jewish
displacement (as the world moved towards World War II and the ever-famous
Holocaust) that included a political emancipation known as Enlightenment.
The biggest
differences between Reconstructionist beliefs and the other three major
branches lies in a modern outlook on three core parts of the religion, the
Torah, Prayer and Ritual, and Mitzvot.
The Torah is said to be written by Moses as dictated by God directly and
audibly to him. The prayers and rituals
of Jewish life are direct recitations to God in an attempt to “get on his good
side”. A mitzvah is a commandment handed
down generation to generation, word for word, as the most basic rule of living
a moral life in the eyes of God. The
Reconstructionist believes, however, that all three of these are less direct
demands from God and more of a reaction to the sacredness of God around us and
the sacred power of everyday life. The
Torah was written by fallible man in an attempt to convey God’s will for us.
The prayers and rituals should be a thankful
notion to God and the beauty of life in general. Lastly, the Mitzvot are a man-made Jewish response to being
morally good for and because of God.
These changes
might not seem too grand in spectrum but that these three changes show a
fundamental difference between most other sects of Judaism that lead to a
modern, adaptable religion compared to the outdated, unchanging religions
brings out the full scope of these beliefs.
No longer a dreary and monotonous recitation of rituals that relate to
unremembered stories, the Reconstructionist attempts to bring new life to old
myths and keeps habits alive for the world as it is rather than allowing a past
age to dictate their actions. While
Reconstructionist Jews may still refrain from eating shellfish, it occurs as a
sense of pride about the past rather than as an unquestioned script.
Reconstruction
Judaism is still a Unitarian Monotheism, belief in a single deity, like the parent religion but there’s
almost a push towards the sacred not resting with God alone but within all
things (even our daily actions) but that doubles around to the idea that God is
within all things and is all things, rather animistic in nature. While, there’s a decisive pull away from the
idea that God orally dictated the gospel to Moses for him to author the Torah,
it does not remove the significance of Moses’ plight and the Jewish escape from
servitude under the Pharaoh. The myths still
hold strong significance over the lives and struggles of the Reconstructionist
Jew in everyday life and annual rituals.
Arguably, the largest difference would be in how a Reconstructionist
would experience the sacred. While the
other three denominations push for a direct relationship through a knowable God
through rituals that appear to His nature and divine will, a Reconstructionist
Jew would grasp more towards the sacred by attempting to be a morally good
person. In being good and doing good, a
Reconstructionist more fully allows God to show through himself.
While
many may argue, an adaptable religion is the strongest form. Many of the world’s major religions can only
survive by lying to themselves in fighting the truths that are discovered every
day that contradict their beliefs.
Instead, Reconstruction Judaism has found a way to hold onto faith and
rituals by making them no longer outdated and allowing for morals to catch up
with the times.
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The opinions stated within this article are those of Joshua A. Wallace and are not necessarily shared by those he's personally or professionally tied with.
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Bibliography Page:
Rabbi
Bronstein, Lester. "What Is Reconstructionist Judaism?" RRC. Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.rrc.edu/resources/reconstructionist-resources/what-reconstructionist-judaism>.
American Jewish
Historical Society. "Reconstructionist Judaism: The Fourth
Denomination." Reconstructionist
Judaism: The Fourth Denomination - My Jewish Learning. My Jewish Learning,
19 Oct. 1999. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Modern_History/1914-1948/American_Jewry_Between_the_Wars/Reconstructionist_Judaism.shtml?p=1>.
Images all obtained through Google Search, specific pages
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