| VIEW OF |
| SALVATION |
| Repentance (belief in God's mercy) prayer, and obedience to the LAW are necessary for salvation. |
| Conservative Jews tend toward the Reform view, but include the necessity of maintaining Jewish identity. |
| Salvation is obtained through the betterment of self and society. |
| VIEW OF THE LAW |
| The LAW is the essence of Judaism. It is authoritative and gives structure & mean- ing to life. The life of total ded-ication to *Halakhah leads to a nearness to God. *author-itative rabbinic judgements. |
| Adaptation to contemporary situations is inevitable. The demands of morality are absolute. The specific laws are relative. |
| The law is an evolving, dynamic religious code that adapts to every age. They maintain, "If religious observations clash with the just demands of civilized society, then they must be dropped." |
| VIEW OF |
| MESSIAH |
| The Messiah is a personal, superhuman being who is NOT divine. |
| (He will restore the Jewish kingdom and extend His righteous rule over the earth. He will execute judgement and right all wrongs.) |
| Conservative Jews hold much the same view as the Reform. |
| Instead of belief in Messiah as a person or divine being, they favor the concept of a Utopian age toward which mankind is progressing. |
| LIFE AFTER DEATH |
| There will be a physical resurrection. The righteous will exist forever with God in the Garden of Eden. The unrighteous will suffer, but disagreement exists over their ultimate destiny. |
| Conservative Jews tend toward the Reform influenced by Eastern thought. |
| Generally, Reform Judaism has no concept of personal life after death. They say a person lives on in the minds of others. There is some influence of Eastern thought, where souls merge into one great impersonal life force. |
| SYNAGOGUE |
| WORSHIP |
| The synagogue is a house of prayer, study and social aspects are incidental. All prayers are recited in Hebrew. Men and women sit separately. The officiants face the same direction as congregates. |
| The synagogue is viewed as the basic institution of Jewish life. Alterations listed under Reform are found to a lesser degree in Conservative worship. |
| The synagogue is know as a "Temple". Service has been modernized and abbreviated. English, as well as Hebrew, is used. Men and women sit together. Reform temples use choirs and organs in their worship services. |
| GROUPS |
| Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in America (1898); National Council of Young Israel (1912); Rabbinical Council of America, Inc. (1923, reorg. 1936); Yavneh, National Religious Jewish Students Association. (1960) |
| Rabbinical Assembly (1900) United Synagogue of America. (1913) |
| Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1873); Central Conference of American Rabbis . (1889) |
| SCHOOLS |
| Yeshiva University of New York City |
| Jewish Theological Seminary of America of New York City; University of Judaism (Los Angeles). |
| Schools - Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion; campuses in Cincinnati, New York, LA. |
| BOOKS |
| A. Cohen, Everyman's Talmud (1932); S, Schechter, "Some Aspects of Rabbinic Theology". (1936) |
| Conservative Judaism(1945); Mordecal Waxman (editor) Tradition and Change (1958); Robert Gordis, M. Skiare, Conservative Judaism. (1965) |
| S. B. Freehof, Reform Jewish Practice and its Rabbinic Background (1963); J. Wolf (editor), Rediscovering Judaism. (1965) |
| *JEWISH VIEWPOINTS - NEWS from ISRAEL, 12/97 - pgs. 14-17 (Midnight Call) - Original Source: Jews For Jesus "American Renewal" & "Reconstructionism" movements are both so debauchee, even from Reform, as to be represented in this rewiew. AMA -jdh 2000 |
| The Table below is a faithful verbatim reproduction of a lead article appearing in NEWS FROM ISRAEL, (Midnight Call Ministries, SC) - December 1977, pages 14-17, entitled Jewish Viewpoints [Original source: Jews For Jesus]. The purpose of this expanded model on contemporary Jewish belief positions is not for a doctrinal trilogy per se, rather as working source material for evangelical witnessing and understanding of "the three main streams of Jewish religious thought and how they differ"*. The ever expanding inter- national importance of Israel, the coming Restoration of the Jewish Nation, and fulfillment of Prophecy for the Jewish people must be recognized, understood and assimilated into any Christian Eschatology, in order to have a 'full and complete' revelation of His Coming. Sadly, the at-large Christian church has been sorely remiss in teaching much about our Jewish heritage through Christ, and seldom if ever teaches about contemporary Jewish faith and practices, in part or whole. |
| JEWIISH VIEWPOINTS |
| ORTHODOX |
| CONSERVATIVE |
| REFORMED |
| This is page two of JEWISH VIEWPOINTS |
| Amen Ministries of Austin P.O. Box 27683 Austin, Texas 78755 |
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