Al Reguel Ajat

The origin of Modern Orthodox Judaism lies in late 18th and early 19th century Germany, where a group of traditional Jews, who accepted some of the new values ​​of the Enlightenment, defended the classical interpretation of Judaism. Their leaders had opposed the establishment of a new temple in Hamburg in 1819, promoted by Reform Jews, who did not consider it obligatory to observe the commandments of Jewish law, halakha. In that year, Rabbi Jacob Ettinger published a manifesto signed by 177 rabbis, condemning the changes made by the Reformists.

One of his students, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hisrch, believed that Judaism had to apply the principles of the Torah to the entire field of human experience, including secular disciplines. He called this “Torah im Derech Eretz”—“Torah and the ways (customs) of the land.” Although he insisted on strict adherence to Jewish beliefs and practices, he argued that Jews should integrate and influence the modern world and foster secular studies compatible with the Torah. This was not new; it had already happened before with Jews in Babylon and medieval Spain.

Its development in the United States is linked to the creation of the Jewish Theological Seminary, an initially Orthodox institution created as a traditional alternative to the Reformist approach. But in 1898, Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes and a group of rabbis broke away from the JTS and formed the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the «OU.» The OU was soon recognized in the American Jewish community as the principal spokesperson for the Modern Orthodox movement. At the 1919 convention, 150 congregations, with 50,000 members, formed the OU.

In 1915, Yeshivah College, now Yeshivah University, was founded, and the OU has strongly supported it ever since. Yeshiva University is an educational institution that produces English-speaking, university-educated rabbis who serve the needs of Modern Orthodox congregations. The OU is a pro-Zionist organization that maintains relationships with non-Orthodox Jewish organizations and extends its work to non-Jewish communities. In 1920, the OU began monitoring kashrut as a nonprofit community activity.

The term Orthodox means «one who faithfully follows the principles of a doctrine» and began to be used in Judaism in the 19th century. The Orthodox maintain that they practice the original Judaism that has existed since its beginnings, while other denominations have departed from that path. They claim that Orthodox Judaism extends from the time of Moses to the present. This claim has been refuted by scholars who have shown that even the Judaism practiced in the Middle Ages bears little resemblance to what the Orthodox practice today. These, as a reaction to liberal movements, have made halakhic practice more rigorous than before, even in cases where the sages of the Talmud and previous generations took a more lenient stance. Furthermore, there are Orthodox practices that have no precedents in the past. Orthodoxy is undoubtedly modern.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Article by Michael Kress and other sources.

Haredi Judaism is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that broke away from modern secular culture. It emerged as one of the responses to the changes that the modern era imposed on Jews. The Haredim have maintained strict adherence to Jewish religious laws, segregating themselves from modern society. Haredi means in Hebrew: «the one who trembles» at the word of God.

Before Jewish emancipation, most Jews lived segregated in ghettos, where classical culture and religious observance were their only option. Rabbis such as Moses Shraiber, the Chatam Sofer, opposed any change in the practice of Judaism. In 1912, shortly after the 10th Zionist Congress, where funding for religious schools was voted down, the organization Agudath Israel was founded as a distinct alternative to the Mizrahi religious Zionist movement. Agudath Israel was led by Hasidic rabbis and heads of Lithuanian yeshivot. Its goal was to strengthen Orthodox religious institutions and make them independent of Zionism.

In 1919, Rabbis Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and Yitzchok Yerucham Diskin founded the Edah Hahareidis organization in the Land of Israel as part of Agudat Israel. Despite being a minority on the committee representing the Jews before the British Mandate, Sonnenfeld secured separate representation for the Haredim before the British High Commissioner. They claimed to cooperate with the general Jewish representation on municipal matters, but sought to protect their religious beliefs independently. This simple fact is considered the breaking point of the Haredi community with the rest of the Jewish community.

In the decade beginning in 1945, following the end of World War II, there was a strong push to rebuild the Haredi religious lifestyle, destroyed in the Holocaust. In the nascent State of Israel, this was done by the Chazon Ish, and in the United States by Rabbi Aharon Kotler, who established many of America’s schools and yeshivos. Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum played an important role in the revitalization of the Hasidim, especially the Satmar dynasty. In Israel, the formation and spread of the Haredi lifestyle among Sephardic Jews began in the 1980s, led by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Shas political party. Sephardic Jews adopted the culture of the Lithuanian Haredim, without any historical or cultural basis for doing so.

Haredi Judaism is not an institutionally cohesive or homogeneous group. It is composed of a wide variety of groups with particular cultural and spiritual orientations, including their ideology, lifestyle, religious practice, and degree of isolation. Men and women attend separate schools, and this gender separation has been extended to the public sphere. Many men continue their education after marriage. Haredi families are very large. They do not watch television or movies, nor do they use the internet or computers at home.

The Haredim opposed the establishment of the State of Israel and do not celebrate its Independence Day. Some groups participate in Israeli politics, joining political parties, but only to secure advantages and benefits for their members. Others are anti-Zionist, like the Neturei Karta. In any case, Haredi life is like returning to life in the medieval ghetto.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Encyclopaedia Judaica and other sources.

The Jewish Enlightenment, the Haskala, from the late 18th to the early 20th century, was the catalyst for a wide range of religious, cultural, and political movements. These initially developed in Europe, then migrated to the United States, and then spread to the rest of the Jewish communities, including the State of Israel. The main currents are:

The Orthodox: They maintain that the Written Torah and the Oral Torah (the Talmud) were revealed by God directly to Moses, so the commandments they contain are binding and immutable. They consider Josef Caro’s Shulchan Aruch to be the definitive codification of Jewish law (halakha). They are further divided into two groups: the first are the Haredim, who reject modernity and live segregated from the surrounding society. The second are the Modern Orthodox, who accept modernity while still complying with halakha.

Conservatives: (Masorti Movement). They maintain that the Torah is a divinely inspired creation of man. They accept that the commandments of halacha are binding, but that these can be modified by a collegial body of rabbis to adapt to new circumstances, while remaining consistent with the original values ​​of Judaism. They emphasize that Judaism is constantly evolving, as evidenced by its own history. The movement accepts that both men and women have equal rights in the religious sphere.

Reformists: Also called liberals or progressives, they consider it optional to comply with the commandments of halacha, but they emphasize compliance with the ethical precepts of the Torah and the biblical prophets. They consider everyone equal for religious purposes and use the language of their country more than Hebrew in their prayers. For them, the Torah was written by man.

Reconstructionists: Originating in the United States, they consider Judaism a civilization in progressive evolution. For them, the reason for complying with halacha is more for its historical value than for obligation. Changes in laws and customs are decided by each community. The Torah was not inspired by God, but is the product of the historical and social development of the Jewish people, who are responsible for taking an active and participatory role in its evolution.

But these are not the only options. Other movements have emerged in the United States. One is Jewish Renewal, which emphasizes Kabbalistic and Hasidic concepts, along with an extensive use of music. Another is Humanist Judaism, which offers a non-theistic (Godless) vision and considers Judaism as the historical and cultural experience of the Jewish people. Yet another is Traditionalist Judaism, which emerged from a group of Conservative synagogues and rabbis who distanced themselves from that movement when it granted equal rights to women, including the right to study to become rabbis. A fourth is Open Orthodox Judaism, which aspires to a more prominent role for women, even to the point of serving as rabbis.

Aside from the religious option, we have secular Judaism, which completely distances itself from the religious sphere; Zionism, the national expression of Jewish identity, especially present in Israel and which has many facets (including religious ones); and finally, cultural Judaism, which is expressed in the cultural creations of the Jewish people.

The Jewish menu is very rich in options. You can be: Haredi, Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, Renewalist, Humanist, Traditionalist, Open Orthodox, Secular, Zionist, or Cultural. Some choose only one dish, but others like a bit of everything.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Jewish Encyclopaedia and other sources.

There is no commandment in the Torah commanding us to light candles on Shabbat, even though the blessing clearly states, “vetzivanu lehadlik ner shel shabat,” “and you commanded us to light Shabbat candles.” The earliest document containing the blessing for Shabbat candles is the “Siddur of Rav Amram,” written by Amram Gaon in the 9th century CE.

In the absence of earlier sources, it is believed that women lit candles before Shabbat without saying a blessing. Most rabbis before 1000 CE held that lighting a candle on Shabbat was a women’s occupation, simply because they were at home while the man was in the synagogue. Lighting a light had no ritual purpose; it was simply intended to prevent the family from sitting in the dark during dinner. In the 11th century, a blessing began to be said when lighting a candle on Shabbat, copied from the one said when lighting Hanukkah candles. The earliest mention of the ritual is attributed to Hannah, Rashi’s granddaughter, who describes her mother lighting the candles and blessing them. Some explain that the blessing emphasized having a burning flame on Shabbat, in contrast to the Karaite position, which stated that no fire could be lit.

Over the years, lighting candles on Shabbat and holidays became the responsibility of women, although men may do so if there is no woman in the house. There are ancient illustrations showing women performing the candle-lighting ritual. Women’s graves have also been found in Eastern Europe with engraved images of Shabbat candles and hands blessing them.

It is most common to light two candles. The sages explain that they represent two versions of the biblical commandment regarding Shabbat: the one that commands «zachor,» to remember Shabbat, and the one that commands «shamor,» to observe Shabbat. Some light more: one candle for each family member, or six candles representing the six days of the week preceding Shabbat, or seven corresponding to the days of the week, or ten candles commemorating the Ten Commandments, or up to 12 for the twelve tribes.

The Gemara comments in Masechet Shabbat (23b) that if one cannot afford to buy Shabbat candles or Chanukah candles, Shabbat candles take priority, out of shalom bayit, for peace in the home. Rashi explains this by saying that family members would feel uncomfortable sitting in the dark, as they might stumble and fall, disrupting the peace in the home.

At first, lighting Shabbat candles was less symbolic and more practical. But over time, the purpose changed, and lighting candles on Shabbat is now one of the most symbolic and representative rituals of Judaism.

By: Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Article by Nina Amir, Jewish Encyclopedia, and other sources.

Mordechai Kaplan (1881-1983) was born in Lithuania. His parents, Rabbi Israel and Haya Kaplan, gave him a traditional Jewish education. In 1889, the family emigrated to the United States and settled in New York. He attended public schools, graduated from the City College of New York, then was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and received his master’s degree from Columbia University.

He was hired as an associate rabbi at Kehillath Jeshurun, an Orthodox synagogue in New York, where he remained until 1909, when he resigned and Salomon Schechter appointed him director of the JTS Teachers’ Institute and later professor of homiletics (preparing and delivering sermons), midrash, and philosophy of religion. He remained a teacher at JTS for 54 years, and during those years, virtually all of the rabbinical students were his students.

He and his family continued to practice Judaism in a traditional way, although over time, Kaplan began to become disillusioned with Orthodoxy and interested in non-Orthodox approaches to Judaism. He promoted the concept of the Jewish Community Center (JCC), which would have a synagogue but would also be a center for study, the development of the arts, and even sports. In 1922, when his eldest daughter turned twelve, Kaplan allowed her to say the blessing at the beginning of the Torah reading (he gave her an «aliya»), marking the first bat mitzvah for a woman, a ceremony that is now commonplace.

In 1935, he wrote «Judaism as a Civilization,» his most important work. In it, he argued for the need to rebuild Judaism. He argued that despite the geographical dispersion of the Jewish people and cultural differences, we are united by a common religious civilization, along with a common history. Kaplan argued that Judaism was not simply a religion, a form of behavior and belief, or a people. It was all of these and more. It was a civilization that included language, history, institutions, beliefs, practices, arts, literature, ethics, symbols, customs, ties to a land, and a religion that gave structure to everything and that evolved over time.

He rejected several classic concepts of traditional Judaism, such as that of being the chosen people, the concept of the Messiah as a human being, and the resurrection of the dead in the Messianic era. In 1945, Kaplan published a prayer book, a siddur, in which he eliminated references to these concepts he rejected. In response, a group of Orthodox rabbis gathered in a formal session, excommunicated him and burned his siddur.

Kaplan studied social sciences, especially William James, Emil Durkheim, and John Dewey, and their work in the fields of psychology, sociology, and philosophy applied to religion. He realized that virtually all religions had similar characteristics, for example, a great prophet and a holy book. He argued that religion is a product that emerges from within a healthy community and not from outside. When asked if there is only one true religion and the others are false, he replied that religions are the natural product of the intuition of each community, and therefore, each religion is true for the community that produced it. For him, Judaism is the creation of the Jewish people and no one else. Judaism is what the Jewish people want it to be. Judaism is more than a religion; it is a civilization.

By: Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Conservative Judaism by Neil Gillman and other sources.

The Kaddish is a prayer that praises God and expresses the longing for His Kingdom to be established on Earth. It is recited at the conclusion of some prayers in the synagogue, after reading the Torah, after a religious discourse, and when someone is in mourning. It is written in Aramaic, except for the last prayer, as the practice of reciting the Kaddish developed in Babylon, where most Jews spoke Aramaic.

The Kaddish was originally recited by the rabbi upon finishing a midrash or agadah and bidding farewell to his students. They would respond: “May His Great Name be praised for all eternity.” The oldest version dates back to the Second Temple period and is what we know today as Hatzi Kaddish (half Kaddish). The opening words, Ytgadal be Ytkadash, are inspired by a verse in Ezekiel (28:23), where the prophet imagines the time when God will be recognized as the greatest in the eyes of all nations.

By the 6th century CE, the kaddish was already incorporated into the prayers as a separation between its different parts. The custom of mourners reciting the kaddish originates when Torah study began in the house of mourning, with the aim of gaining greater merit for the deceased, and it was said at the end of the study. After the massacres during the Crusades, the kaddish became definitively tied to the mourning ritual. Initially, it was recited only upon the death of a scholar, but later it was recited at every burial so as not to embarrass others.

During synagogue prayer, four types of kaddish are generally used: 1. The Hatzi Kaddish, or half-kaddish, which is interspersed between prayers, such as between the Shema and the Amidah. 2. The Yatom Kaddish, or mourner’s kaddish, which is said only by those who are grieving or commemorating the yorzait (anniversary of the death) of a family member and requires a minyan (ten people) to be recited. 3. The Shalem Kaddish, or full kaddish, which is said at the end of prayer; and 4. The Rabanan Kaddish, or the rabbinical kaddish, which is said at the end of a sermon, especially by those who are grieving.

Although women were not permitted to say the mourner’s kaddish in Orthodox Judaism, this has been changing. Some Orthodox organizations, such as Beit Hillel in Israel or the Union of Hebrew Congregations in Great Britain, already allow and support it. Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah/WIZO and one of the eight daughters of a Baltimore rabbi, was offered by a close friend that he could say Kaddish for her when her mother died. Henrietta replied: “I think the intention was to free women from the obligation to fulfill some of the mitzvoth because of their responsibility to care for the family. But now they can fulfill those commandments, and that doesn’t make it any less valuable than if a man did it.”

Without a doubt, saying Kaddish has a therapeutic effect for the mourners. Since it requires a minyan to say it, it forces them to go out and be with people, instead of staying locked up in the house. Praising God while suffering the pain of losing a loved one may seem contradictory, but this act opens the way to comfort and a new relationship with the Creator of life. Praise God is given in the most difficult moments. Praise God is given when life is difficult to understand. That is why death is not mentioned in the Kaddish.

By Marcos Gojman:

Bibliography: Articles by: Cyrus Adler, Kaufmann Kohler, Judah David Eisenstein, Francis L. Cohen, David Golinkin, and Joseph Telushkin.

Our sages tell us in the tractate Bava Metzia, chapter 84a: “One day Rabbi Yochanan was swimming in the Jordan River. Reish Lakish [a criminal] saw him and thought he was a woman. He jumped into the Jordan, threw his spear into the water, and swam toward him. When Rabbi Yochanan saw him, he said: Your strength should be for the Torah! Reish Lakish replied: Your beauty should be for women! Rabbi Yochanan said to him: If you repent [of the life you lead], I will give you [as a wife] my sister, who is more beautiful than I.” Reish Lakish accepted the deal. However, he tried to get his weapon back but could not.

Rabbi Yochanan taught him Torah and Mishnah and made him a great man. One day, [the two] were debating in the house of study [regarding] the sword, the knife, the spear, and the sickle. At what stage [of their [manufacture] become impure? They both answered: The moment they are finished. And when are they considered finished? Rabbi Yochanan said: When they have been tempered in a furnace. Reish Lakish said: When they have been polished with water. Rabbi Yochanan said: A thief knows the tools of his trade. Raish Lakish answered him: And how has what you have done for me benefited me? There [as a thief] they called me Master, and here [also] they call me Master. Rabbi Yochanan said: I helped you by bringing you under the wings of the Shekhinah (the presence of God).

Rabbi Yochanan was deeply hurt, [which caused] Reish Lakish to become ill. Rabbi Yochanan’s sister came and wept before her brother. She said to him: [Forgive him and] look at my son who is going to be orphaned. He said to her: Leave your orphans, I will provide for them. She said to him: For the sake of my widowhood. He said to him, “And let your widows trust in me.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish died. Rabbi Yohanan was deeply distressed. The rabbis said, “What can we do to comfort him? Let us send Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat, who is a scholar, to sit before him…

In response to everything Rabbi Yohanan said, Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat would answer him, “Here is a text that supports [what you say]. Rabbi Yohanan said, “Do you think I need this?” When I argued [in favor of] a commandment, Reish Lakish would raise twenty-four objections, and I would give him twenty-four answers. This led to a better understanding of the law. And you say to me, “Here is a text that agrees with what you say. Do I not know that what I said was correct?” Rabbi Yohanan tore his clothes and wept, “Reish Lakish, where are you, son of Lakish, where are you!” And he wept until he lost his mind. So, the rabbis prayed for him, and he finally died.”

Many lessons can be gleaned from this Aggadah. In the time of the Talmud, our sages discussed the meaning of the Torah’s commandments and often arrived at different interpretations. For there wasn’t always a single answer to the same question. Even more so when the meaning of the question and its corresponding answer changed with time and place. Although late, Rabbi Yohanan realized that the important thing wasn’t having the correct answer but rather walking the path of his search alongside his study partner, with whom he happily argued. The beauty was in discussing with the other, more than in coinciding with him.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Ruth Calderon “A Bridge for One Night, Talmud Tales”

Eliezer Yitzhak Perelman (1858-1922) was born in Lithuania to an Orthodox family. His father died when he was five, and his mother sent him to live with an uncle. After his bar mitzvah, his uncle sent him to a yeshivah in a nearby town. There, he met a rabbi who introduced him to the ideas of the Enlightenment. He soon began reading the classics of world literature, but it was discovered by the yeshivah authorities and expelled.

Eliezer wandered helplessly until he was «adopted» by the family of Shlomo Yonas, an enlightened Jew. Amazed by the abilities of a 14-year-old boy, Yonas asked his daughter Deborah to teach him French, German, and Russian. In 1878, he went to Paris to study medicine. It was there that it occurred to him that Hebrew should be transformed from a language used only by rabbis and scholars to a language used by people in the marketplace. He began writing his ideas about a Jewish homeland with Hebrew as the common language, under the pseudonym Eliezer Ben Yehuda.

It was in Algeria that I first heard the Sephardic pronunciation of Hebrew. He has adopted it as his way of speaking Hebrew. I have returned to France and decided to live in the Land of Israel. He proposed marriage to Deborah, but on the condition that only Hebrew would be spoken in his home.

When the couple arrived in Jerusalem, they adopted the dress and customs of religious Jews. They wanted to influence them to revive the Hebrew language. They only used Hebrew for prayer and study. He began publishing a newspaper, «Zvi,» in which he used new words he had devised. Pioneers coming from Europe began using Hebrew as their journaling language.

When the Sabbatical year arrived, the rabbis decreed that farming the land had to be stopped. Eliezer found this absurd and wrote about it in his newspaper. In response, the rabbis contacted Eliezer and his newspaper. Eliezer and his wife stopped pretending to be religious Jews. In 1891, Deborah died, leaving him with several young children. His sister-in-law Hemda, 14 years his junior, came to visit them, and they eventually married. This was frowned upon by the religious community in Jerusalem. In 1895, he began working on a dictionary of modern Hebrew.

Together with Herzl, Ben Yehuda supported the Uganda proposal to establish a Jewish homeland. Because of this, the pioneers who had arrived in the Land of Israel became hostile to him and considered him a traitor. Upon Herzl’s death, Ben Yehuda abandoned the Uganda idea and concentrated on his dictionary. With Hemda’s help, he managed to publish 17 volumes.

Eliezer Ben Yehuda had an enormous impact on modern Jewish life, although he failed to convince ultra-Orthodox groups to speak Hebrew. He died in 1922, the year British authorities declared Hebrew, English, and Arabic the three official languages ​​of the Land of Israel. His son Ben Zion spoke only Hebrew from birth, and people spoke Hebrew in the marketplace.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by Libby Kantorwitz, Jack Fellman, David Saiger, and Ami Isserof.

The commandment to affix a mezuzah to the doorpost of a house is written in verses VI:6 and VI:9 of Deuteronomy, which say: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart,” “and you shall write them on the doorposts (mezuzot) of your house and on the gates (of your cities).” It is therefore a “mitzvah d’oraita,” a commandment of the Torah.

The mezuzah consists of two parts: The “klaf,” a rectangular piece of parchment with verses from the Torah written on the front: Deuteronomy VI:4–9 and XI:13–21, and on the back the word Shadai, the name of God, and the initials of the phrase “Shomer Dlatot Israel,” He who guards the gates of Israel. The other part of the mezuzah is the container that holds the scroll, which can be made of any material and design. The important thing about the mezuzah is the klaf, not the container.

All the rules regarding the mezuzah are in chapter 11 of volume 1 of the Shulchan Aruch. Rule 24 states that the purpose of the mezuzah is to remind us that God’s name is written on it, and rule 25 tells us that the mezuzah must be checked twice every seven years. This is part of the text written on the mezuzah: “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 Embrace these words I command you today. 7 Teach them to your children continually. Speak them to them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Bind them on your hands as a sign; wear them on your forehead as a mark; 9 write them on the doorposts of your houses and on the gates of your towns” (Deuteronomy VI).

In Talmudic times, the mezuzah was attributed with protective power. This is evident from many anecdotes, such as those of Artaban and Abba Arika, and that of Onkelos. In the Middle Ages, influenced by Kabbalah, biblical passages began to be added where God watches over his people, and even the names of angels. Maimonides condemned this practice of turning the mezuzah into an amulet for personal use, so the addition of additional texts to the mezuzah was stopped.

An amulet is an object designed to repel evil. A talisman is an object designed to attract blessings and prosperity. Both characteristics have been attributed to the mezuzah.

This is true even today. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Schneerson, emphasized the importance of the mezuzah as a spiritual device capable of protecting against the effects of the evil eye and other potential tragedies. He said: «Moreover, this protection extends to all members living in the house, even when they leave it.» He stated that every kosher mezuzah placed in a home generally protects the entire Jewish people.

What makes a mezuzah kosher or not? First, the parchment must come from a kosher animal. Second, it must be written by a sofer in the same way the Torah is written. Third, it must be free of errors. Fourth, no letters must have been erased. Some groups within Judaism, especially in the Orthodox branch, attribute people’s suffering to the fact that the mezuzahs in their homes were not kosher. It is difficult to understand why someone could become ill or suffer some mishap because the sofer who wrote their mezuzah did something wrong.

The mezuzah is not intended to be a protective device or the source of divine punishment. The mezuzah is a symbol and a reminder of our Covenant with God, of our love, commitment, and will to create a Jewish home. And this is more than enough.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by Cyrus Adler, I.M. Casanowicz, Michael Leo Samuel, and Ari Z. Zivotofsky.

Kaufmann Kohler (1843-1926) was born and educated in Germany. He completed his rabbinical studies in Frankfurt with Samson Raphael Hirsch. He earned his doctorate and wrote one of the first works of biblical criticism. This closed the door to practicing as a rabbi in Europe, and he emigrated to the United States, where he served as rabbinate in Detroit, Chicago, and finally in New York.

Despite having a traditional background, he represented the most radical wing of Reform Judaism. In 1885, he called his colleagues to a conference in Pittsburgh, where the foundations of what would become the Reform movement were laid. Chaired by Isaac Mayer Wise, the father of American Reform Judaism, the conference approved principles known as the «Pittsburgh Platform.» These principles established that Jews are not a people but a religious community, that they do not seek to return to the Land of Israel, and that they accept only the ethical commandments of the Torah as binding and observe only those ceremonies that elevate and sanctify life in a modern way.

The traditionalist sector of American Judaism responded immediately. Ten weeks after the Pittsburgh conference, a group of leaders met at the Shearith Israel synagogue in New York and decided to form a rabbinical seminary that would «conserve the traditional values ​​of Judaism.» A year later, in 1886, the first eight students enrolled at the Jewish Theological Seminary of New York (JTS). Its first president was Rabbi Sabato Morais (1823-1897), born and educated in Italy. Morais was joined by Alexander Kohut (1842-1894), a graduate of the Breslau rabbinical seminary founded by Zechariah Frankel.

Although JTS began as an Orthodox institution, in 1902, with the arrival of Solomon Schechter as president, Torah study began to be liberalized, causing divisions within the faculty. Some JTS professors objected to these changes. In 1897, one of them, Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes, a history professor at JTS, founded the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, known as the «Orthodox Union» (OU).

Already in 1886, the Etz Chaim Yeshivah, a religious elementary school, had been organized. By 1896, it had become a yeshivah covering high school and beyond. In 1897, it was registered in the state of New York as Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), which eventually became the rabbinical school of Yeshivah University. Despite its separation from JTS, RIETS students demanded to be taught the same subjects as JTS without diminishing their strictly Orthodox studies in order to become rabbis.

By the end of the 19th century, the movements were defined: the Reform with the Pittsburgh Platform, the Conservative with JTS, and the Orthodox with the Orthodox Union.

By: Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Conservative Judaism by Neil Gillman and other sources.