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65-702: Nina Beth Cardin is a rabbi, author, and environmental activist. In 1978, she founded the Jewish Women’s Resource Center . In 1988, Cardin was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary , after which she held seminary jobs including Assistant to the Vice Chancellor, Special Assistant to the Chancellor, and Visiting Lecturer in Theology. In 1994, she became the founding associate director of

130-463: A Jewish homeland by endeavoring to make it not only a haven of refuge for the oppressed but also a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life." This major re-statement of the "Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism" was an acceptance of the massive demographic shift caused by recent waves of eastern European Jewish immigrants attracted to Zionism, as well as influential pro-Zionist Reform rabbis like Stephen S. Wise , Abba Hillel Silver , and Max Raisin ,

195-486: A Judaism celebrating historic practices including specific gender roles in prayer and ritual, embracing distinct Jewish clothing styles and customs, using Hebrew in religious services, speaking Jewish languages (Yiddish, Ladino, Judeo-Arabaic), and minimizing social fraternalization with non-Jews. Among the most vocal advocates for Jewish life and practice was Moshe Sofer , also called the Hatam Sofer (1762-1839), who led

260-522: A best-selling author and Nina Beth Cardin , who became an author and environmental activist. Erica Lippitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel were the first women ordained as cantors by JTS (and the first female Conservative Jewish cantors in the world.) They were both ordained in 1987. Ismar Schorsch became Chancellor of JTS in 1986. Among his accomplishments was creating the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, which

325-533: A compromise approach to Halacha in the belief that it would better maintain Jewish continuity. Morais and his supporters (including Rabbis Alexander Kohut and Bernard Drachman ) joined moderates within the traditional community, such as Rabbi Solomon Schechter , in establishing the Jewish Theological Seminary , which would grow into the Conservative Jewish movement in the late 1880s. Today, Conservative Judaism

390-524: A little time for a Homiletics class, very little time was spent on practical training for serving in a rabbinical position. As of 1904 there were 37 students in the theological department, and 120 students took a set of courses designed for teachers. This set of course later evolved into the Teachers Institute. Mordechai Kaplan joined the faculty during this period, becoming professor of homiletics following Joseph Mayor Asher's death. Kaplan became

455-599: A manner that was accessible to persons of any faith. The show continued to run until 1985. During the 1940s, the Jewish Theological Seminary established Camp Ramah as a tool for furthering Jewish education . The founders envisioned an informal camp setting where Jewish youth would reconnect with the synagogue and Jewish tradition, and a new cadre of American-born Jewish leadership could be cultivated. The first camp opened in Conover, Wisconsin in 1947. The program

520-433: A more nuanced endorsement of Zionism, noting "In all lands where our people live, they assume and seek to share loyally the full duties and responsibilities of citizenship and to create seats of Jewish knowledge and religion. In the rehabilitation of Palestine, the land hallowed by memories and hopes, we behold the promise of renewed life for many of our brethren. We affirm the obligation of all Jewry to aid in its upbuilding as

585-519: A prestigious seminary in Bratislava . The cornerstone of his position is that "modification of any kind and in any degree of what had long been established could not fail to be incompatible with halakha [Orthodox religious law] and that the rule was absolute and all-embracing. There could be no question of drawing distinctions between greater and lesser matters, between greater and lesser precepts and injunctions. Innovation, whatever its form and context,

650-706: A religiously segregated Jewish army to fight alongside the Allies, formed the American Council for Judaism . In 1976, nearly thirty years after the establishment of Israel, the recognition of Jewish "peoplehood" was noted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in their " Centenary Perspective ", adopted in San Francisco, and marking the centenaries of the founding of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and

715-452: A writer. After years of discussion, the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983. The first female rabbi to graduate from the school (and the first female Conservative Jewish rabbi in the world) was Amy Eilberg , who graduated and was ordained as a rabbi in 1985. The first class of female rabbis that was admitted to JTS in 1984 included Rabbi Naomi Levy , who later became

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780-617: Is a pivotal 1885 document in the history of the American Reform Movement in Judaism that called for Jews to adopt a modern approach to the practice of their faith. While it was never formally adopted by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) or the Central Conference of American Rabbis founded four years after its release, and several rabbis who remained associated with Reform in its wake attempted to distance themselves from it,

845-477: Is hand-wrought iron and the whole design is symbolic." These gates were presented on September 26, 1934, by Mrs. Frieda and Mr. Felix M. Warburg in memory of her parents, Jacob H. and Therese Schiff. In April 1966 JTS's library caught fire. 70,000 books were destroyed, and many others were damaged. Gerson D. Cohen became Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1972. Prominent faculty during Cohen's chancellorship included David Weiss Halivni of

910-514: Is now the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies , and the graduate division is the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. In 1915, Schechter was succeeded by Cyrus Adler , the President of Dropsie College . A member of the board with impressive academic qualifications, he was initially seen as an interim replacement for Schechter. Adler went on to serve as President until 1940. During

975-472: Is the primary educational and religious center of Conservative Judaism. The single largest physical addition to JTS came in the form of seventeen-foot wrought iron gates. The beautifully constructed gates led to the main entrance through a large vaulted passageway to the entire group of buildings. In a 1930s guidebook, it is written about the Seminary, "Be sure to notice the main gate to the seminary as you go in. It

1040-677: Is the second largest Jewish denomination in America. The non-Zionist ideas of the Pittsburgh Platform remained (and remain) controversial within the Reform movement, particularly for those who supported the movement. Every successive major platform of the UAHC (now the Union for Reform Judaism ) backed off further from the ideas contained in the Pittsburgh platform. The Union's 1937 Columbus Platform included

1105-953: The National Center for Jewish Healing . In 2006, she founded the Baltimore Jewish Environmental Network. From 2007 until 2009 she was general consultant to COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life . In 2011, she founded the Baltimore Orchard Project, which grows and distributes fruit to the poor in Baltimore. Her books include: Tears of Sorrow, Seeds of Hope: A Jewish Spiritual Companion for Infertility and Pregnancy Loss (1999), The Tapestry of Jewish Time: A Spiritual Guide to Holidays and Life-Cycle Events , with Ilene Winn-Lederer (Apr 2000), Rediscovering

1170-543: The 1920s, Adler explored the possibility of a merger with Yeshiva University , but the Orthodox leaders of Yeshiva University viewed JTS as insufficiently Orthodox. New faculty appointed during the early part of Adler's tenure included the Biblical scholar Jacob Hoschander . In the 1920s, Boaz Cohen and Louis Finkelstein , both of whom were ordained at JTS and completed their doctoral degrees at Columbia University , joined

1235-454: The 1970s included Susannah Heschel , daughter of JTS faculty member Abraham Joshua Heschel . There was a special commission appointed by the chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America ( Gerson D. Cohen ) to study the issue of ordaining women as rabbis, which met between 1977 and 1978, and consisted of 11 men and three women; the women were Marian Siner Gordon, an attorney, Rivkah Harris, an Assyriologist , and Francine Klagsbrun ,

1300-400: The 54 Weekly Torah Portions . Jewish Woman Magazine named her one of 10 Women to Watch in 2011. Jewish Theological Seminary of America Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801–1875) was a leading figure in mid-19th-century German Jewry. Known for both his traditionalist views and the esteem he held for scientific study of Judaism, Frankel was at first considered a moderate figure within

1365-610: The Diaspora, and redemption. The Union's new 1999 "Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism", also called the New Pittsburgh Platform , again noted the trends that had occurred within Reform Jewish and codified these with respect to religious practice and the modern state of Israel. The 1999 platform called for "renewed attention" to "sacred obligations," of which it mentioned the observance of holidays and Shabbat , prayer, and

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1430-588: The God-idea." Instead of a nation , the Pittsburgh Platform defines Jews in the modern world as a religious community within their pluralistic nations. For this reason, there was an explicit rejection of Zionism in the form that maintained that Jews were "in exile" anywhere except in what is now Israel and should all move to Israel as soon as possible; that version of Zionism was viewed as completely inapplicable to American Jews because they were at home in America and to other communities of Jews in free countries around

1495-504: The Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary. When Finkelstein took office, prominent faculty members included Louis Ginzberg , Alexander Marx , Mordecai Kaplan , H.L. Ginsberg , Robert Gordis , and Boaz Cohen . In 1940, Finkelstein made his most significant academic appointment, hiring the prominent Talmud scholar Saul Lieberman as Professor of Palestinian Literature and Institutions. In 1948, Lieberman became dean of

1560-532: The H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music.) This was at roughly the same time that the other established American Jewish seminaries, Hebrew Union College and Yeshiva University , opened cantorial schools. Prior to this time, American cantors were often trained in Europe. In 1950, Finkelstein created the Universal Brotherhood program, which "brought together laymen interested in interpreting

1625-701: The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Marking the 100th anniversary of political Zionism in 1997, the CCAR dealt specifically for the first time with issues related to Zionism in its “Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform”, also known as the " Miami Platform ". The perspective noted the trends that had occurred within Reform Jewish thought with respect to the religion, its people and religious practice, their movement from degradation to sovereignty, their relationship and obligations to Israel, as well as Israel's obligations to Jews of

1690-452: The Humanities with the Graduate School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which brought together JTS's non-theological academic training programs. Cohen appointed historian Ismar Schorsch as the first dean of the Graduate School. Beginning in the 1970s, the topic of women's ordination was regularly discussed at JTS. Women who unsuccessfully sought admission to the rabbinical school during

1755-717: The Jewish Holidays: Tradition in a Modern Voice , with Gila Gevirtz (Jun 1, 2002), and The Time of Our Lives: A Teen Guide to the Jewish Life Cycle , with Scott Blumenthal (Jun 1, 2003). She has also translated and edited Out of the Depths I Call to You: A Book of Prayers for the Married Jewish Woman , written "Mourning a Miscarriage", a LifeLights™ pastoral care pamphlet, and contributed to the anthology The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on

1820-728: The Jewish Philosophy department and became head of JTS's Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies. The number of advanced programs in the Graduate School grew over the course of Schorsch's tenure. The Graduate School came to describe itself as being "the most extensive academic program in advanced Judaica in North America." Gordon Tucker 's tenure as dean of the Rabbinical School ended in 1992. His predecessor, Joel Roth , again became dean, serving in 1992–1993. Roth

1885-527: The Jewish Theological Seminary in 1940. During his chancellorship, JTS made significant efforts to engage the American public. One of its signature programs was a radio and television show called The Eternal Light . The show aired on Sunday afternoons, featuring well-known Jewish personalities like Chaim Potok and Elie Wiesel . Broadcasts did not involve preaching or prayer, but drew on history, literature and social issues to explore Judaism and Jewish holidays in

1950-779: The Rabbinical School. In 1958, he was named rector of the Seminary. In 1945, Finkelstein hired the theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel , who had been teaching for a brief period at Hebrew Union College . During the course of his chancellorship, Finkelstein also gave academic appointments to other prominent scholars including Moshe Davis (1942), Shalom Spiegel (1943), Yochanan Muffs (1954), Max Kadushin (1960), Gerson Cohen , David Weiss Halivni , Judah Goldin , Chaim Dimitrovsky , and Seymour Siegel . Finkelstein appointed Max Arzt to serve as Vice-Chancellor of JTS in 1951, and he appointed Arzt as Israel Goldstein Professor of Practical Theology in 1962. The Jewish Theological Seminary, JTS,

2015-595: The Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform in late 1885, Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began to work with like-minded rabbis to strengthen the Orthodox institutions. One of the tools his group used was the creation of a new rabbinical school in New York City . The "Jewish Theological Seminary Association" was founded with Morais as its President in 1886 as an Orthodox institution to combat

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2080-473: The Reform movement was growing at a rapid pace, alarming more traditional ( halakhic ) Jews. Sabato Morais , rabbi of Philadelphia's Mikveh Israel , championed the reaction to American Reform . At one time Morais had been a voice for moderation and bridge-building within the Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not break with significant traditional. After

2145-612: The Schocken Institute for Jewish Research and its library in Jerusalem. In 1968, JTS received a charter from the State of New York to create an Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, which conferred bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. The Institute was designed as a non-sectarian academic institute which would train future college and university professors. Its first students enrolled in 1970. The Institute later evolved into

2210-467: The Talmud Department and José Faur . Both of these scholars resigned when the JTS faculty voted to ordain women as rabbis and as cantors in 1983. Yochanan Muffs , who had joined the JTS faculty in 1954, was a prominent professor of Bible . Max Kadushin , who had joined the JTS faculty in 1960, taught ethics and rabbinic thought until his death in 1980. In 1972, Cohen appointed Avraham Holtz as

2275-619: The Talmud faculty. In the 1930s, Adler appointed H.L. Ginsberg , Robert Gordis , and Alexander Sperber as professors of Bible. He also gave appointments to Israel Efros , Simon Greenberg , Milton Steinberg , and Ismar Elbogen . During his tenure, Adler groomed Louis Finkelstein as his chosen successor. In 1931, he appointed Finkelstein to a full professorship. Finkelstein became the Solomon Schechter Professor of Theology. In 1937 Adler appointed Finkelstein as Provost. In 1930

2340-650: The creation of the United Synagogue of America , as a formal group for member synagogues who subscribed to his philosophy. The group was strongly aligned with JTS from its creation to the present day. Along with Schechter and Bernard Drachman , professors at the seminary at the time included: Louis Ginzberg , professor of Talmud; Alexander Marx , professor of history and rabbinical literature and librarian ; Israel Friedländer , professor of Bible ; Joseph Mayor Asher , professor of homiletics; and Joshua A. Joffe, instructor in Talmud. In 1905, Israel Davidson joined

2405-514: The culmination of a meeting of Reform rabbis from November 16–19, 1885 at the Concordia Club in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . It explicitly calls for a rejection of those laws which have a ritual, rather than moral, basis. An example of a ritual rejected by the Pittsburgh Platform is kashrut , or the observance of Jewish dietary laws. These ritual laws were seen as detracting from Jewish life in

2470-667: The dean of academic development. Neil Gillman served as Dean of the JTS Rabbinical School for much of the Cohen chancellorship. Morton Leifman served as Dean of the Cantors Institute. Cohen oversaw the appointment of Judith Hauptman as the first female professor of Talmud at JTS. Hauptman began teaching at JTS in 1973. Joel Roth , who had begun teaching at JTS in 1968, was appointed Associate Professor of Talmud upon completing his Ph.D. at JTS in 1973. Roth went on to serve as

2535-465: The dean of the Rabbinical School from 1981 to 1984. He was succeeded by Gordon Tucker , who became dean of the Rabbinical School in 1984. In June 1973, the Seminary's Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities was granted permission to grant Ph.D. degrees in Jewish History , Bible , Talmud , Jewish philosophy , and Hebrew . In 1975, the Seminary replaced the Institute for Advanced Studies in

2600-613: The director of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau . Rabbi Bernard Drachman , a key Frankel student and one of the founders of the American JTS, was himself Orthodox, and claimed that the Breslau seminary was completely Orthodox. Others disagree, citing the published viewpoint of Frankel. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah ( Ways of the Mishnah ), Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that Jewish law

2665-477: The ethical dimensions of Judaism to the wider society." JTS expanded its public outreach in the 1950s with Finkelstein's development of JTS's Institute for Religious Studies and the establishment of its Herbert H. Lehman Institute of Ethics. During the Finkelstein era, the Institute for Religious and Social Studies brought together Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish scholars for theological discussions. (In 1986,

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2730-506: The faculty, teaching Hebrew and Rabbinics . According to David Ellenson and Lee Bycel, "each of these men was a distinguished scholar, and the academic reputation of the Seminary soared with the addition of these men to the faculty. ... Schechter was determined to carve out the highest academic reputation for the Seminary." The rabbinical school had very high academic standards. The curriculum focused especially on Talmud , legal codes , and classical rabbinic literature , but aside from

2795-400: The first principal of the Teachers Institute (TI), which opened in 1909. A majority of TI students were women, both because teaching was seen as a women's profession and because the Teachers Institute was one of the only institutions where women could obtain an advanced education in Jewish studies. The Teachers Institute offered both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The undergraduate division

2860-517: The formation of the competing and "ardently Zionist" American Jewish Congress , and the recent sharp increase in European antisemitism brought on by the rise of Fascism . Prominent Reform rabbis who were more integrationist, unwilling to abandon the principle that Jews should live as free and equal citizens in the United States and other countries around the world, and who rejected the idea in 1942 of

2925-476: The hegemony of the Reform movement. The school was hosted by Rabbi Henry Pereira Mendes ' Congregation Shearith Israel , a sister synagogue to Mikveh Israel. Morais and Mendes were soon joined by Alexander Kohut and Bernard Drachman , both of whom had received semicha (rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary. The first graduate to be ordained, in 1894,

2990-505: The institutions of Reform Judaism), and Rabbi David Woolf Marks . Rather than resolving the issues of religion and Jewish nationalism it addressed, the adoption of the Pittsburgh Platform only intensified the debate within American Judaism about how Halacha , Jewish peoplehood , and Zionism should be viewed. By openly disavowing those concepts, the leading Reformers alienated more moderate reformers like Sabato Morais , who advocated

3055-414: The modern era by placing undue emphasis on ritual, rather than ethical considerations. The platform affirms God 's existence, and recognized a universal desire in all religions to experience "the indwelling of God in man." In this vein, the Pittsburgh Platform also calls for a recognition of the inherent worth of Christianity and Islam , although it still holds that Judaism was the "highest conception of

3120-636: The name of the institute was changed to the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies in Finkelstein's honor.) In 1957, JTS announced plans to build a satellite campus in Jerusalem for JTS rabbinical students studying in Israel. A building was completed in 1962. (The campus eventually evolved into the home of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies .) In 1962, the seminary also acquired

3185-492: The nascent Reform movement . He severely criticized the 1844 first Reform rabbinic conference of Braunschweig , yet eventually agreed to participate in the next, in spite of warnings from conservative friends such as Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport . He withdrew from the assembly, held in Frankfurt am Main in 1845, making a final break with the Reform camp after coming to regard their positions as excessively radical. In 1854 he became

3250-611: The nascent movement of Conservative Judaism . Many of the Orthodox rabbis associated with JTS vehemently disagreed with him, and left the institution. About 100 days after Schechter's appointment, the Agudath Harabbonim formed, principally in protest, and declared that they would not accept any new ordinations from JTS, though previous recipients were still welcome. The more moderate Orthodox Union (OU), however, maintained some ties to JTS, and some of its rabbis, including Drachman, continued to teach there. In 1913, Schechter directed

3315-531: The organization commissioned a new headquarters for 122nd Street and Broadway in a neo-colonial style, with a tower at the corner. The architects were Gehron, Ross and Alley. In 1931, the Seminary College of Jewish Studies was established for students who wanted college-level courses in Jewish studies but who were not preparing for teaching careers. This branch is now part of the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies . Louis Finkelstein became chancellor of

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3380-639: The perpetuation of the tenets of the Jewish religion , the cultivation of Hebrew literature , the pursuit of Biblical and archeological research, the advancement of Jewish scholarship, the establishment of a library , and the education and training of Jewish rabbis and teachers. It is empowered to grant and confer the degrees of Rabbi , Ḥazan , Master and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, and Doctor of Divinity , and also to award certificates of proficiency to persons qualified to teach in Hebrew schools ." The reorganized seminary

3445-399: The platform exerted great influence over the movement in the next fifty years, and still influences some Reform Jews who hold classicist views to this day. The most important principles of Judaism as practiced by the largest Jewish denomination in the United States were laid out in eight concise paragraphs: This founding document of what has come to be called "Classical Reform" ideology was

3510-586: The prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Today this principle, among others, is maintained by the Reform Movement through their commitment to what is sometimes called Tikkun Olam (the healing of the world). There were many early leaders of the "Classical Reform" ideology, including Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler (who presided over the Hebrew Union College), Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (who was instrumental in creating

3575-484: The study of Torah and the Hebrew language. The statement endorsed aliyah (emigration to Israel) for the first time, and notes differences within both the country Israel and Reform Judaism concerning the relationship of Medinat Yisrael (the modern state of Israel) and Eretz Yisrael (the Biblical Israel), included in on-going debates regarding conceptions of Zionism. Reform Judaism still holds that Halacha

3640-447: The world. The platform seems to acknowledge the concept of Jewish chosenness accepting in the Bible "the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God." The form of Judaism practiced by Reform Jews contrasted radically with the traditional and historic practices of Lithuanian, Hasidic, Sephardic, and Mizrahi Jews. Traditional Jewish leaders teach and practice

3705-523: Was Joseph Hertz , who would go on to become the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth . Morais served as the president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America until his death in 1897. After Morais's death, Mendes led the school, but the financial position of the association became precarious, and Mendes did not have the resources to turn it around. In October 1901, a new organization

3770-582: Was drawn up by Moshe Davis and Sylvia Ettenberg of the JTS Teachers' Institute. In 1945, JTS established a new institution, the Leadership Training Fellowship, designed to educate young people within Conservative synagogues and guide them into Jewish public service. In 1952, the Jewish Theological Seminary opened a new school known as the Cantors Institute. (The school was later renamed

3835-727: Was established through an endowment by William Davidson of Detroit in 1994. Michael Greenbaum served as Vice Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary. Prominent faculty in the Talmud and Rabbinics department during Schorsch's chancellorship included Joel Roth , Mayer Rabinowitz , David C. Kraemer and Judith Hauptman . Hauptman was the first woman appointed to teach Talmud at JTS. The Bible department included David Marcus and Stephen A. Geller . The Jewish literature Department included David G. Roskies . The Jewish history department included Jack Wertheimer and Shuly Rubin Schwartz . The Jewish Philosophy department included Neil Gillman and Shaul Magid . In 2004, Alan Mittleman joined

3900-468: Was founded in 1886 through the efforts of two distinguished rabbis, Sabato Morais and Henry Pereira Mendes , along with a group of prominent lay leaders from Sephardic congregations in Philadelphia and New York. Its mission was to preserve the knowledge and practice of historical Judaism. In 1887, JTS held its first class of ten students in the vestry of the Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue, New York City's oldest congregation. About this time in North America,

3965-400: Was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. He called his approach towards Judaism "Positive-Historical", which meant that one should accept Jewish law and tradition as normative, yet one must be open to changing and developing the law in the same historical fashion in which Judaism has always historically developed. The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)

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4030-404: Was opened on Sept. 15, 1902, in the old building of the Theological Seminary Association at 736 Lexington Avenue. A search was executed for a new president. Solomon Schechter was recruited from Great Britain. His religious approach seemed compatible with JTS's, and he assumed the presidency, as well as serving as Professor of Jewish theology. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for

4095-410: Was projected entitled the "Jewish Theological Seminary of America", with which the association was invited to incorporate. This arrangement was carried into effect April 14, 1902. The new organization was endowed with a fund of over $ 500,000, and was presented with a suitable building on University Heights by Jacob H. Schiff. It obtained a charter from the state of New York (approved Feb. 20, 1902), "for

4160-489: Was succeeded by William Lebeau , who served as dean from 1993–1999. Lebeau was succeeded by Alan Kensky, and then Lebeau became dean of the Rabbinical School again in June 2002. In 1998, Henry Rosenblum was appointed Dean of the H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1998, becoming the first Hazzan to hold that position. Rosenblum remained in this position until 2010. Pittsburgh Platform The Pittsburgh Platform

4225-576: Was unacceptable." For mainstream orthodox Jews, the codification of Jewish law in the 16th century by Joseph Caro , called the Shulchan Aruch , is the "ultimate criterion" by which orthodox practice is measured. For the Reformers, this position was seen as contributing to stagnation in Judaism. The Pittsburgh Platform helped shape the future of American Reform Judaism by calling for American Jews to not focus on traditional customs and practices but instead on ethical living (rather than custom and ritual) and to engage in acts of social justice as taught by

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