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soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Reform Judaism (10/12)
Section - Question 18.3.1: Reform's Position On...The authority of Torah?

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                                  Answer:
   
   The [5]1937 Columbus Platform of Reform Jewry
   ([6]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/columbus.html) expressed the
   position that Torah results from the relationship between G-d and the
   Jewish people. The records of our earliest confrontations are uniquely
   important to us. Lawgivers and prophets, historians and poets gave us
   a heritage whose study is a religious imperative and whose practice is
   our chief means to holiness. Rabbis and teachers, philosophers and
   mystics, gifted Jews in every age amplified the Torah tradition. For
   millennia, the creation of the Torah has not ceased and Jewish
   creativity in our time is adding to the chain of tradition.
   
   The platform went on to say that G-d is revealed not only in the
   majesty, beauty and orderliness of nature, but also in the vision and
   moral striving of the human spirit. Revelation is a continuous
   process, confined to no one group and to no one age. Yet, the people
   of Israel, through its prophets and sages, achieved unique insight in
   the realm of religious truth. The Torah, both written and oral,
   enshrines Israel's ever-growing consciousness of G-d and of the moral
   law. It preserves the historical precedents, sanctions and norms of
   Jewish life, and seeks to mold it in the patterns of goodness and of
   holiness. Being products of historical processes, certain of its laws
   have lost their binding force with the passing of the conditions that
   called them forth. But as a repository of permanent spiritual ideals,
   the Torah remains the dynamic source of life of Israel. Each age has
   the obligation to adapt the teachings of the Torah to its basic needs
   in consonance with the genius of Judaism
   
   This position is echoed again in the current (1999) [7]statement of
   principles ([8]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/principles.html),
   which says:
     * We affirm that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life.
     * We cherish the truths revealed in Torah, G-d's ongoing revelation
       to our people and the record of our people's ongoing relationship
       with G-d.
     * We affirm that Torah is a manifestation of (ahavat olam), G-d's
       eternal love for the Jewish people and for all humanity.
     * We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of Torah
       and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred
       texts.
     * We are called by Torah to lifelong study in the home, in the
       synagogue and in every place where Jews gather to learn and teach.
       Through Torah study we are called to (mitzvot), the means by which
       we make our lives holy.

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Top Document: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Reform Judaism (10/12)
Previous Document: Question 18.2.4: History: What is Reform Judaism today?
Next Document: Question 18.3.2: Reform's Position On...The authority of Talmud?

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