Reform Judaism,also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism,is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism,the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones,and belief in a continuous revelation which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the Theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism,it is characterized by little stress on ritual and personal observance,regarding Jewish law as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous,and by a great openness to external influences and progressive values.
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City,New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.
Elliot N. Dorff is an American Conservative rabbi. He is a Visiting Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law and Distinguished Professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California,author and a bio-ethicist.
Jewish ethics is the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics,Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues,and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of ethics.
Sherwin Theodore Wine,Hebrew name שמעוןבןצבי,Shimon ben Tzvi,was an American rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism,a movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as sources of Jewish identity rather than belief in any gods. He was originally ordained as a Reform rabbi but later founded the Birmingham Temple,the first congregation of Humanistic Judaism,in 1963.
William E. Kaufman is an American Conservative rabbi,philosopher,theologian and author. His 1991 book,The Case for God,was perhaps the first book written on Jewish process theology.
Paula Ackerman was thought to be the first woman to perform rabbinical functions in the United States,leading the Beth Israel congregation in Meridian,Mississippi from 1951 to 1953 and the Beth-El congregation in Pensacola,Florida briefly in the 1960s. She led the National Committee on Religious Schools for the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods.
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote,Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. RRC has an enrollment of approximately 80 students in rabbinic and other graduate programs.
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (YU). It is located along Amsterdam Avenue in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan,New York City.
Amy Eilberg is the first female rabbi ordained in Conservative Judaism. She was ordained in 1985 by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,one of the academic centers and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism.
The Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary was founded in Berlin on 22 October 1873 by Rabbi Dr. Israel Hildesheimer for the training of rabbis in the tradition of Orthodox Judaism.
Eugene B. Borowitz was an American leader and philosopher in Reform Judaism,known largely for his work on Jewish theology and Jewish ethics. He also edited a Jewish journal,Sh'ma,and taught at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Jacob Bernard Agus was a Polish-born American liberal Conservative rabbi and theologian who played a key role in the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly.
Jacob J. Schacter is an American Orthodox rabbi. Schacter,a historian of intellectual trends in Orthodox Judaism,is University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University.
Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is the first woman to have been ordained a rabbi in Reconstructionist Judaism. She was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia,on May 19,1974. She is also the author of many children's books on religious topics.
Thomas R. Cole is a writer,historian,filmmaker,and gerontologist. He is currently the McGovern Chair in Medical Humanities and Director of the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is also a spiritual director at Congregation Beth Israel's Center for Healing,Hope,and the Human Spirit.
Joan Friedman became the first woman to serve as a rabbi in Canada in 1980,when she was appointed as an Assistant Rabbi at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. Her appointment was followed shortly after by that of Elyse Goldstein as Assistant Rabbi from 1983-1986;Goldstein has been called the first female rabbi in Canada,but that is incorrect.
Temple Israel Center is an egalitarian Conservative congregation and synagogue located in White Plains,New York,in the United States.
Geoffrey Claussen is an American rabbi and scholar who serves as a professor of Religious Studies at Elon University. His scholarship focuses on Jewish ethics,theology,and the Musar movement.
