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Judaism - American Family Tree   [Return to List of Trees]

Judaism is a monotheistic and ethnic religion that encompasses the religious, cultural, and legal tradition of the Jewish people. For religious Jews, Judaism is the expression of the covenant that God established with Abram, Moses, and other Hebrew prophets. Based on the Hebrew Bible (including the Torah) and the Talmud, Judaism stresses careful observance of the rites and practices given in the Torah. Both Christianity and Islam are identified as Abrahamic traditions tracing their history back to the Jewish religion. There are several Jewish traditions, including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform Judaism, and Reconstructionist.

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Religious Group Founded Description
Traditional Rabbinic Judaism 70 CE Judaism emerged in Palestine in a time before written records and distinguished itself from its neighbors by the development of a belief in monotheism. Under King David, Jerusalem was established as the capital of Israel, with Judaism being its established religion. Worship became focused in the temple built by David's successor, Solomon. Under Solomon's successor, Rehoboam, the kingdom divided into Israel and Judah. Israel was destroyed and ceased to exist after being overrun by the Assyrians c.722 BCE. Judah continued to exist until it was overrun by the Babylonians c.587 BCE. At that time, the temple in Jerusalem was leveled and with the deportation of the Jewish religious elite, Judaism underwent significant changes. Following its conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE, the Persians allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple, completed c. 515 BCE. Judaism again underwent significant changes and would continue to evolve as its land became a prize for competing monarchs century by century. Eventually, the Romans leveled the city and destroyed the temple again in 70 CE. The Roman action destroyed a variety of groups that had emerged in Israel--Sadducees, Zealots, etc. The history of modern Judaism really began after the dispersion of the community and the end of temple-centered worship. After 70 CE, Jews were scattered around the Mediterranean Basin, but two particularly important communities eventually gathered on the Iberian Peninsula and in northeastern Europe from Germany to Poland and Lithuania to Russia. The traditional Jewish community, defined by its allegiance to the Hebrew Bible and its following of the old Oral law as written in the Talmud and Misash, would be challenged on two sides in the nineteenth century by a liberalizing movement influenced by the Enlightenment (Reform) and by the most strict of traditionalists (Hiradi movement). What has emerged is modern Orthodoxy, which attempts to stay true to tradition while also attempting to engage the modern world.
Hassidism Hassidism emerged as a pietistic devotional movement in eastern Europe, built around rabbis that were seen as embodying the teachings they offered and assigned attributes as healers, wonder workers, and bearers of supernatural powers (termed "rebbes" or "tzadiks"). The charismatic Hassidic leaders challenged traditional rabbinic authority but became a major force across eastern Europe-Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and Russia. Largely wiped out by the Holocaust, groups moved to Western Europe, the US, and Israel and a few like the Satmar and Lubavicther (currently the largest Hassidic group) have thrived.
Reform Judaism 1800s Beginning at the time of the European Enlightenment in the 18th century, Jewish leaders began to search for a form of Judaism more attuned to modern culture. German Reform leaders began to articulate a way of being fully religious as a Jew that both fit into modern cultural and intellectual expectations and which emphasized the more universal affirmation of Judaism and abandoned what were seen as mere ancient cultural attributes. The reform movement found its organizational unity through Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1873). Reform Jews practice a Judaism that is open to change and adaptation with the times. They view the Torah as divinely inspired (but a product of human hands), are committed to the equality of men and women, ordain women rabbis, and accept gays and lesbians into all areas of Jewish life. Globally, they are a minority movement, though they maintain a signficant presence in North America.
Orthodox Judaism 1800s What today is known as Orthodox Judaism emerged in steps through the nineteenth century as many reacted unfavorably to the development of Reform Judaism and what was seen as the stripping away of the tradition. Attempting to continue traditional belief and practice, modern Orthodoxy assumes its particular cast in its organization to oppose the challenge presented by Reform and then the presence of Hasidism.
Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada 1902 The first of the basic organizations formed to carry the Orthodox cause was the Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary (1896) which evolved into Yeshiva University. Two years later it was joined by the national synagogue association, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in America (1898), which was followed by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (1902). The group is also known the Agudat HaRabbonim. The Orthodox rabbis split in 1935 when the English speaking rabbis formed the Rabbinical Council of America.
Haredi Judaism 1800s Haredi Judaism emerged in the early nineteenth century as the most conservative wing of Orthodox Judaism. It opposed reform Judaism and attempted to push the mainstream to ever more conservative adherence to the Jewish Law. It has re-emerged in strength in modern Israel with a goal of re-establishing the boundaries of King David's ancient kingdom. It is often referred to by its critics as the Ultra-Orthodox, and exists through several organizations, among the most famous being the Neturei Karta.
Conservative Judaism 1886 Conservative Judaism formed amid a new wave of immigration of Jews from Europe in the last decades of the nineteenth century. More specifically, it was founded as a movement in 1886 with the formation of the Jewish Theological Seminary Association. The intention of the movement was to retain traditional Jewish practices while inhabiting an ideological position between Reform and Orthodox Judaism, honoring the past while adapting to the present. In 1913, the United Synagogue of America, today called the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, began connecting Conservative synagogues. The Rabbinical Assembly unites rabbis within Conservative Judaism.
Union of American Hebrew Congregations 1873 The Union of American Hebrew Congregations was formed in Cincinnati in July of 1873 through the leadership of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (a Reform Judaism leader in North America) and delegates of 28 reformed congregations. At the time, the primary objective of this new group was the founding of a seminary. Accordingly, two years later, in 1875, the Hebrew Union College opened in Cincinnati, Ohio, with Rabbi Wise as its president. In 2003, the group changed its name to the Union for Reform Judaism.
American Ethical Union 1876 By the end of the twentieth century, the stance taken by Reform Judaism in America led to a variety of even more liberal approaches to the tradition. The American Ethical Union grew from the thought of Felix Adler, a reform Jewish rabbi who emphasized the cultural aspects of Judaism over its theological unity. Adler, raised Jewish and trained as a rabbi, was inspired by neo-Kantian idealism to push religion toward “pure” ethics and morality. While maintaining a liberal Jewish base, the Union has steadily moved toward humanism as its dominant perspective and has come to include a significant non-Jewish membership and leadership.
Satmar Hassidism 1904 The variety of Hassidic groups in America were imported from Eastern Europe. Among the oldest and largest in America, the Satmar groups were founded relatively recently, in 1904, in Hungary, by Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum (1887-1979). In 1946, Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum settled in Brooklyn, New York, with a few Satmar survivors from the Holocaust. The headquarters remain there until this day, though leadership has factioned since the death of Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (Yoel Teitelbaum's nephew and successor), who took office in 1980 and passed away in 2006. Today, Satmar Hassidism is one of the largest Hasidic movements in the world. Members include the largest concentration of Jews opposed to the state of Israel and vocal anti-Zionists.
Young Israel 1912 Some younger leaders associated with emerging Conservative movement found Orthodoxy more appealing and founded young Israel as a new association of orthodox believers. The association began in 1912 at Jewish Theological Seminary and was started by two professors, Israel Friedlander and Mordecai M. Kaplan, and Rabbi Judah Magnes. The goal of the group was to unite Orthodox Jewish youth of the Lower East Side of New York City. In 1926, the National Council of Young Israel was incorporated, and has since expanded through the Jewish community. Today, the group claims over 25,000 member families and approximately 150 branch synagogues throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.
United Synagogue of America 1913 In the early 1900s, two champions of the Conservative Judaism movement were Solomon Schechter and Cyrus Adler. One of these men, Solomon Schechter, organized the United Synagogue of America in 1913, though it is now known as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (name change in 1992). The group serves as the association of Conservative Jewish congregations in North America and maintains a network of nearly 600 congregations. The group's main mission is to strengthen synagogues and invite others into Conservative Judaism.
Reconstructionist Judaism 1930s Reconstructionist Judaism is a movement fueled by the thought of professor Mordecai M. Kaplan, a conservative rabbi who argued for a whole new approach to Judaism as an evolving civilization; it began with the publication of his book Judaism as a Civilization in 1934. In the 1940s and 1950s, the Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation began to take shape, the rabbinical college was founded in 1954, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association was formed by its graduates. Kaplan was excommunicated by Conservative Jews for his edits to the prayer book in 1945. His followers remain socially progressive and have drawn near to Reform Judaism.
Agudas Chassidism Chabad 1930s Currently the largest of the Hassidic groups worldwide, the Lubavitcher movement was almost completely wiped out during the Holocaust, but has experienced phenomenal growth in the last generation after re-establishing itself in Brooklyn, New York, in the 1950s. Much of this growth took place under the leadership of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the son of Joseph Isaac Schneerson, who assumed leadership of the group in 1950. His efforts included outreach to liberal and non-practicing Jews, and during his tenure the group founded over 900 centers internationally. Additionally, the group developed educational centers and programs for both humanitarian aid and social services. After Menachem Mendel Schneerson's death in 1994, the group became split over beliefs about whether he was the messiah. The main body of the group celebrates the anniversary of his passing every year, and the group's headquarters are still located in Brooklyn, New York.
Rabbinical Council 1935 The first of the basic organizations formed to carry the Orthodox cause was the Rabbi Elchanan Theological Seminary (1896) which evolved into Yeshiva University. Two years later it was joined by the national synagogue association, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in America (1898), which was followed by the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada (1902). The Orthodox rabbis split in 1935 when the English speaking rabbis formed the Rabbinical Council of America.
Humanistic/Secular Judaism 1960s By the 1960s, the more liberal wing of the reform movement was moving beyond even Reform theological approaches and adopted a non-theistic Humanist stance. The new secular Jewish movement drew upon a tradition of Jewish leadership in non-theistic forms of philosophy since Spinoza and through the Enlightenment. They have divided over whether they should keep the trappings of the religious tradition, even as they agree in dropping mention of God or revelation. Internationally, they have found a home in the Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations.
Society for Humanistic Judaism 1963 By the 1960s, the more liberal wing of the reform movement was moving even beyond even Reform theological approaches and adopted a Humanist stance. They differed from both the American Ethical Union in their desire to maintain the religious trappings of the synagogue led by a rabbi. That stance led to the formation of the Society for Humanistic Judaism founded in 1963 by Rabbi Sherwin Wine who proposed the idea of continuing a Jewish religious life apart from any affirmation of the existence of god.
Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations 1969 The Congress of Secular Jewish Organizations most clearly continues the secularized Jewish perspective that emerged in the Jewish phase of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment. As founded in 1969, the Congress offers an alternative to both Reform Judaism and the religious humanism of the Society for Humanistic Judaism. Members seek to affirm their Jewish cultural/ethnic identity apart from any religious affirmations. The Center for Cultural Judaism is a prominent secular Jewish center in New York City that exists independently from the Congress. In 2020, the group changed its name to Cultural and Secular Jewish Organization.
Center for Cultural Judaism 2003 The Center for Cultural Judaism is a non-theistic group that supports the exploration of historical and modern Jewish identity.

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