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Frequently Asked Questions on Soc.Culture.Jewish
Part 2: Who We Are: The Group and Jewish Movements
[Last Post: Mon Mar 29 11:07:11 US/Pacific 2004]
The FAQ is a collection of documents that is an attempt to answer
questions that are continually asked on the soc.culture.jewish family
of newsgroups. It was written by cooperating laypeople from the
various Judaic movements. You should not make any assumption as to
accuracy and/or authoritativeness of the answers provided herein. In
all cases, it is always best to consult a competent authority--your
local rabbi is a good place to start.
[2][Got Questions?] Hopefully, the FAQ will provide the answer to your
questions. If it doesn't, please drop Email to
[3]questions@scjfaq.org. The FAQ maintainer will endeavor to direct
your query to an appropriate individual that can answer it. If you
would like to be part of the group to which the maintainer directs
questions, please drop a note to the FAQ maintainer at
[4]maintainer@scjfaq.org.
The deceased sages described within are of blessed memory, (assume a
Z"L or ZT"L after their names) and the sages alive today should live
to see long and good days (assume SHLITA). May Hashem grant complete
recovery to the ill. Individual honorifics are omitted.
The FAQ was produced by a committee and is a cooperative work. The
contributors never standardized on transliteration scheme from Hebrew,
Aramaic, Yiddish, or Ladino to English. As a result, the same original
word might appear with a variety of spellings. This is complicated by
the fact that there are regional variations in the pronunciation of
Hebrew. In some places, the common spelling variations are mentioned;
in others--not. We hope that this is not too confusing.
In general, throughout this FAQ, North American (US/Canada) terms are
used to refer to the movements of Judaism. Outside of North American,
Reform is Progressive or Liberal Judaism; Conservative is Masorti or
Neolog, and Orthodoxy is often just "Judaism". Even with this, there
are differences in practice, position, and ritual between US/Canada
Reform and other progressive/liberal movements (such as UK
Progressive/ Liberal), and between US/Canada Conservative and the
conservative/Masorti movement elsewhere. Where appropriate, these
differences will be highlighted.
The goal of the FAQ is to present a balanced view of Judaism; where a
response is applicable to a particular movement only, this will be
noted. Unless otherwise noted or implied by the text, all responses
reflect the traditional viewpoint.
This list should be used in conjunction with the Soc.Culture.Jewish
[5]reading lists. Similar questions can be found in the books
referenced in those lists.
There are also numerous other Jewish FAQs available on the Internet
that are not part of the SCJ FAQ/RL suite. An index to these may be
found at [6]www.scjfaq.org/otherfaqs.html
This FAQ is a volunteer effort. If you wish to support the maintenance
of the FAQ, please see [7]Section 20, Question 99 for more
information.
Reproduction of this posting for commercial use is subject to
restriction. See Part 1 for more details.
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: ORGANIZATION
This portion of the FAQ contains answers to the following questions:
Section 2:
Who We Are
1. [5]Who reads the soc.culture.jewish newsgroups?
2. [6]What are the major Jewish movements?
3. [7]What is Conservative Judaism?
4. [8]What is Orthodox Judaism?
5. [9]What is Reform/Progressive Judaism?
6. [10]What about other movements?
7. [11]What are some of the Orthodox sub-groups?
8. [12]What is Chassidism and how does it differ from other Orthodox
groups?
9. [13]What is Lubavitch Chasidism and Chabad?
10. [14]What is Breslov Chasidism?
11. [15]What is Satmar Chasidism?
12. [16]What other forms of Chasidism?
13. [17]What are OCR (O-C-R) wars? Why all the flames?
14. [18]But Reform Judaism isn't Judaism? Why don't they see that?
15. [19]But Orthodox Judaism isn't Judaism? Why don't they see that?
16. [20]Why shouldn't I say "ultra-Orthodox", "Reformed Judaism", or
"Humanist Judaism"?
17. [21]How does a Chassid differ from Misnagid?
18. [22]What is a "Torah Jew?"
19. [23]What about homosexual Jews?
20. [24]Is it true that Jews are all (fill-in-the-blank)?
21. [25]How many Jews are there today in the U.S.A.?
22. [26]How many Jews are in the world?
23. [27]Who was the first Jew?
24. [28]What is Judaism all about?
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.1: Who reads the soc.culture.jewish newsgroups?
Answer:
Qualitatively? We have men and women who have outstanding Jewish
educations, and who are willing to take the time to share their
knowledge. We have serious non-observant Jews seeking deeper Jewish
roots. We have Jews still trying to see exactly where they fit it,
Jews who are struggling, and learning, and actively improving
themselves. Some reply carefully and kindly; others use their wits
like scalpels, cutting away at the first sign of nonsense. We have
talented writers, whose prose is often poetic. Counted among us are
Hassidic Jews, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and
miscellaneous Jews. We've got atheists and secularists, Hebraists and
Yiddishists. And we are all learning from one another and teaching one
another.
Quantitatively? This is difficult to answer. When Usenet was smaller,
surveys were done of the newsgroup to try to determine the
denominational breakdown of the readership. This survey involved
regular postings to the newsgroup, together with periodic mail sent to
newsgroup participants. Nowadays, some of the approaches taken in
conducting the survey (i.e., the sending of notes to newsgroup readers
unsolicited) would be considered to be spam. So a survey hasn't been
done recently. Note: If you are interested in conducting one, please
contact the FAQ maintainer <[5]maintainer@scjfaq.org>, and he will be
glad to provide you with the scripts and ideas from the last survey.
What did the last survey say? First, note that it only applied to
S.C.J, and was last conducted in 1995, well over 5 years ago. There
were just under 332 respondants (or approximately 1% of the readership
at that time). This survey showed the following breakdowns:
1995 1993 1991 1989
JC [Conservative ]: 30.12% 22.06% 28.98% 37.12%
JO [Orthodox ]: 27.11% 31.62% 36.33% 29.55%
JL [Liberal/Reform ]: 13.86% 12.87% 10.20% 11.36%
JS [Secular/Humanistic ]: 5.72% 5.15% 3.67% 2.27%
JR [Reconstructionist ]: 5.42% 2.21% 1.63% 1.52%
JU [Unspecified Jewish ]: 4.22% 4.78% 2.86% N/A
JN [Non-Affiliated ]: 3.01% 4.04% 2.45% 0.76%
AA [Agnostic or Atheist ]: 3.01% 2.94% 0.82% 6.06%
OT [Other ]: 2.41% 3.68% 4.49% 0.76%
JT [Traditional ]: 1.51% 3.68% N/A N/A
CF [Christian Fndmntlist]: 0.90% 1.47% 3.67% N/A
CM [Christian Mainstream]: 0.60% 0.74% 2.04% N/A
CC [Catholic ]: 0.30% 1.84% 1.22% N/A
CO [Christian Other ]: 0.30% 1.47% 1.22% N/A
HI [Hindu ]: 0.00% 0.37% N/A N/A
Gross Breakdown:
J [Jewish ]: 91.87% 86.40% 86.12% 82.58%
A [Atheist/Agnostic]: 3.01% 2.94% 0.82% 6.06%
O [Other ]: 2.41% 3.68% 4.49% 0.76%
C [Christian ]: 2.11% 5.51% 8.16% N/A
H [Hindu ]: 0.00% 0.37% N/A N/A
It is interesting to contrast these numbers with the results mentioned
in [6]Question 2.21.
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.2: What are the major Jewish movements?
Answer:
The three major denominations in Judaism are, in alphabetical order,
Conservative Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, and Reform/Progressive
Judaism.
Outside of the United States and Israel, the distinction tends to be
along Orthodox/Liberal lines. Outside of North America, the equivalent
of North American Reform Judaism is called Progressive or Liberal
Judaism. Outside of North America, the equivalent of North American
Conservative Judaism is called "Reform" or "Masorti", although there
are differences in all cases from the North American versions. To be
more specific, all synagogues associated with the movement in North
and South America are called 'Conservative', all synagoues in Israel
and England are called 'Masorti', and all synagogues in Hungary are
called 'Neolog'. Note that the Neolog movement developed independently
of the rest of Conservative Judaism. Their philosophy was also based
on the work of Rabbi Zecharias Frankel, the founder of the
Positive-Historical school of thought (Mid 1800s, Germany, Breslau).
The evolution of their school of thought basically followed the same
path as the Conservative movement, and in recent years they have
formalized this by joining the World Council of Conservative/Masorti
Synagogues.
With respect to the United Kingdom, there are about 11 synangogues
that are officially part of The World Council of Conservative/Masorti
Synangogues ([5]http://www.masortiworld.com ), and all of these
synangogues refer to themselves as 'Masorti'. Most of them even have
the word 'Masorti' in their name. Their philosophy is identical to
that of Conservative Jews in the US - and Masorti Jews in Israel - and
almost all of their rabbis (perhaps even all by now) are officially
members of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly.
In Israel, the Conservative and Reform movements are very small
(although they do exist). Rather, the split tends to be along
secular/non-secular lines, with further internal devisions with the
non-secular adherents. An estimated breakdown might be 30% secular,
50% traditional (those who keep some Mitzvot), and 30% religious.
These numbers have been provided by Hillel Applebaum
([6]alpebaum@cs.huji.ac.il) and are being reinvestigated because they
add up to over 100%. This breakdown may be misleading, because the
Mitzvot observed by the majority of "traditional" Israelis include
some that are imposed by secular law (Jewish marriage and divorce) and
others that have been adopted voluntarily because of their social,
cultural, and/or national content (e.g. Passover Seder, Chanukah
candles). Conversely, most members of this group do not keep the
Mitzvot that are considered by non-secular Jews to lie at the heart of
Judaism: Shabbat (observance of the Sabbath) and Kashruth (observance
of the dietary laws), and should therefore be regarded as "nearly
secular" rather than "moderately religious".
There are also a fourth movement which is considered major by some:
Reconstructionist. It is an offshoot of Conservative.
Note: "Messianic Judaism[sic]" and other groups accepting the tenets
of Christianity are not Jewish movements.
Sephardic(Southern European/Spanish/North African) Orthodox tend not
to bother with liberal/traditional distinctions as much as Ashkenazi
(Northern European/Franco-German/Russian) Jews.
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.3: What is Conservative Judaism?
Answer:
Conservative Judaism attempts to combine a positive attitude toward
modern culture, acceptance of critical secular scholarship regarding
Judaism's sacred texts, and also commitment to Jewish observance.
Conservative Judaism believes that scholarly study of Jewish texts
indicates that Judaism has constantly been evolving to meet the needs
of the Jewish people in varying circumstances, and that a central
halachic authority can continue the halachic evolution today.
Attitude Toward Halacha
Conservative Judaism affirms that the halachic process reflects the
Divine will. It makes use of Solomon Schechter's concept of "Klal
Yisrael" (the whole of the (observant) Jewish community), in that
decisions on Jewish Law are largely determined by the practices of
Klal Yisrael.
In Conservative Judaism, the central halachic authority of the
movement, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS), will often
set out more than one acceptable position. In such a case, the rabbi
of the congregation (mara d'atra) is free to choose from the range of
acceptable positions (or none of them), and his congregation is
expected to abide by his choice. The CJLS speaks for the Conservative
movement and offers parameters to guide local rabbis who turn to it
for assistance. Local rabbis will make use of traditional sources and,
when available, teshuvot written for the CJLS.
An exception is made in the case of "standards". A "standard" requires
an 80% (not unanimous) vote of the membership of the CJLS (not just
those in attendance) and a majority vote by the plenum of the
Rabbinical Assembly. Willful violations have led to resignations or
expulsions from membership of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA). At
present, there are four standards:
1. A complete prohibition on rabbis and cantors to officiate in any
way at intermarriages.
2. A complete prohibition against officiating at the remarriage of a
Jew whose previous marriage has not been halakhically terminated,
whether by a halakhic divorce [get], hafka'at Kiddushin [annulment
of the marriage], or death.
3. A complete prohibition against taking any action that would
intimate that native Jewishness can be confirmed in any way but
matrilineal descent.
4. A complete prohibition against supervising a conversion to Judaism
that does not include circumcision for males, and immersion in a
mikveh for both males and females.
Conservative Theology
Conservative Judaism hold that the laws of the Torah and Talmud are of
divine origin, and thus mandates the following of Halakha (Jewish
law). At the same time, the Conservative movement recognizes the human
element in the Torah and Talmud, and accepts modern scholarship which
shows that Jewish writings also show the influence of other cultures,
and in general can be treated as historical documents.
The movement believes that G-d is real and that G-d's will is made
known to humanity through revelation. The revelation at Sinai was the
clearest and most public of such divine revelations, but revelation
also took place with other people - called prophets - and in a more
subtle form, and can happen even today.
These concepts are very complex, and readers are referred to Emet
VeEmunah, published jointly by the Rabbinical Assembly and USCJ.
Many people misinterpret Conservative Judaism as being like Reform
Judaism except with more Hebrew in its services; They believe that if
one simply goes to a Conservative synagogue, then one is a
Conservative Jew. This of course is not true, and the movement's
leadership is strongly concerned with whether or not the next
generation of Conservative Jews will have the commitment to lead an
authentic Jewish lifestyle.
Derivation of the Movement's Name
The name derives from the idea that the movement would be necessary to
conserve Jewish traditions in the U.S., a culture in which Reform and
Orthodoxy were not believed to be viable.
Conservative Judaism in Israel
Conservative Judaism begun to make its presence known in Israel before
the 1960s. Today, there are over 40 congregations with over 12,000
affiliates. In 1962 the Seminary began creating Neve Schechter, the
University's Jerusalem campus. This center houses the Schocken Center
for Jewish Research, and the Saul Liberman Institute for Talmudic
Research. In 1975 a new Rabbinical School curriculum instituted a year
of study in Israel as a requirement for every seminary rabbinical
student.
In 1979 Chancellor Gerson Cohen announced the creation of the Masorti
(Traditional) movement as Israel's own indigenous Conservative
movement, with its own executive director, board and executive
committee. Today the Masorti movement is an independent Israeli
organization, that is parallel to, and not a subset of, the USCJ.
There is cooperation on a large number of projects and issues. Many
members of the Masorti movement are also members of the Rabbinical
Assembly (RA).
The Masorti movement created MERCAZ, a party within the structure of
the World Zionist Organization. The Conservative movement is thus
officially represented in the centers of decision making within the
Zionist movement.
The Masorti movement sponsors youth groups, an overnight camp, a
system of day camps, Kibbutz Hanaton and its Education Center and
Moshav Shorashim, and special programs teaching new Russian and
Ethiopian olim (immigrants) basic Judaism. It is involved in many
issues promoting the rights of non-orthodox, traditional Jews.
The movement also sponsors "The Center for Conservative Judaism in
Jerusalem" 2 Agron Street, P.O. Box 7456, Jerusalem 94265. Phone
02-257-463 FAX 972-02-234127. The Center provides activities and
resources such as: daily study Havurot; headquarters for the Israel
operations of USY; campus outreach programs at Israeli universities; a
resource center for those making Aliyah from our Movement; A youth
hostel, the "Neshama" program for Schechter High School Seniors as
well a variety of educational programs. Adjacent to the Center is
Congregation Moreshet Israel providing daily, Shabbat, and festival
services. The Center will provide outreach to movement members of all
ages who are in Israel, including home hospitality, and support
whenever needed.
Sources of More Information
Additional information may be found in the [5]Conservative Reading
List, available at [6]www.scjfaq.org/rl/jcu-index.html or via the
SCJFAQ autoretriever. Also worth exploring is the home page for the
[7]United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism (UCSJ)
<[8]http://www.uscj.org>. Another source of information is the
[9]Conservative and Masorti Judaism FAQs
([10]http://communities.msn.com/JudaismFAQs&naventryid=114).*
[*: This source is controversial on soc.culture.jewish. There do not
appear to be major disputes with its representations of
Conservative/Masorti positions. However, some on the newsgroup dispute
its representation of the positions of other movements.]
For more information on Masorti, see <[11]http://www.masorti.org/>.
Interested readers might also want to look at the following documents
available via WWW:
* [12]Ismar Schorsch's "Core Values" of Conservative Judaism (a
synopsis) ()
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.4: What is Orthodox Judaism?
Answer:
Orthodox Judaism is not a unified movement with a single governing
body, but rather many different movements adhering to common
principles. All of the Orthodox movements are very similar in their
observance and beliefs, differing only in the details that are
emphasized. They also differ in their attitudes toward modern culture
and the state of Israel. They all share one key feature: a dedication
to Torah, both Written and Oral.
Origins of the Movement
Historically, there was no such thing as Orthodoxy; in fact, you find
the particular term is used primarily in North America (elsewhere, the
distinction is primarily between "more observant" and "less
observant"). The specific term "Orthodox Judaism" is of rather recent
origin and is used more as a generic term to differentiate the
movements following traditional practices from the Liberal Jewish
movements.
Orthodox Theology
Orthodox Judaism views itself as the continuation of the beliefs and
practices of normative Judaism, as accepted by the Jewish nation at
Mt. Sinai and codified in successive generations in an ongoing process
that continues to this day.
Orthodox Judaism believes that both the Written and Oral Torah are of
divine origin, and represent the word of G-d*. This is similar to the
view of the Conservative movement, but the Orthodox movement holds
that such information (except for scribal errors) is the exact word of
G-d, and does not represent any human creativity or influence. For the
details of the Orthodox view of the origin of Torah, see [5]Section
3.4. For the Orthodox, the term "Torah" refers to the "Written Law" as
interpreted by the "Oral Law", interpreted in turn by the Rishonim
(Medieval commentators), and eventually codified in the Codices: R.
Joseph Karo's Shul`han Arukh and/or R. Moshe Isserlis's Mapah (printed
as parenthetical text in the Shul`han Arukh). As practical questions
arise, Orthodox Authorities apply the Halachic process (the system of
legal reasoning and interpretation described in the Oral Torah) using
the Torah (both Oral and Written) to determine how best to live in
accordance with G-d's will as directed by the Halacha. In this way,
Orthodoxy evolves to meet the demands of the times.
An excellent summary of the core beliefs of Orthodox Judaism may be
found in the [6]Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. [For those reading
the posted version of this, they may be found in Section 4.7 of the
FAQ]
One of the hallmarks of Orthodox Jews is an openness (and
encouragement) to question what it is that G-d requires of us, and
then to answer those questions within the system that G-d gave us.
In addition, among the major movements only Orthodoxy has preserved
the "mystical" foundations of Jewish theology, most obviously in the
Chasidic movements though no less so in many Yeshivah movements, both
Ashkenazi and Sephardi.
Sources for More Information
Additional information may be found in the [7]Traditional Reading
List, found at http://www.scjfaq.org/rl/tra-index.html.
[*: Some Orthodox Jews include the commentaries and responsa
literature as part of "Torah". Such works are human attempts to divine
the meaning of the Written and Oral Torah.]
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.5: What is Reform/Progressive Judaism?
Answer:
Reform is the most liberal of the major movements within Judaism
today. It started in the 1800s in Germany during the emancipation, and
encouraged examination of religion with an eye towards rationality and
egalitarianism. Viewed from the light of today's Reform practice, the
original adherents went a little-too-far; often, this early form
(which lasted until the 1960s, in some respects) is referred to as
"Classic German Reform".
Reform Theology
Reform differs from the other major movements in that it views both
the Oral and Written laws as a product of Man's hand (specifically, it
views the Torah as Divinely inspired, but written in the language of
the time in which it was given). The laws reflect their times, but
contain many timeless truths. The Reform movement stresses retention
of the key principles of Judaism (as it sees them; for details,
consult the Reform Reading List). As for practice, it strongly
recommends individual study of the traditional practices; however, the
adherent is free to follow only those practices that increase the
sanctity of their relationship to G-d. Reform also stresses equality
between Men and Women. The current statement of principles of Reform
may be found in the [5]1999 Statement of Principles
([6]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/principles.html), and in the
[7]1976 Centenary Perspective
([8]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/centenary.html). Reform is
recently rededicating itself to Torah and education. This is
emphasized in the [9]installation speech of the current president of
the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (the Reform congregational
arm), Rabbi Eric Yoffie. The speech may be found at
()
Reform requires familiarity with the laws before choosing not to
observe them. A non-observant Jew unfamiliar with the laws would not
be a "serious" Reform Jew. Also, Reform rejects the faith tenets of
other religions as a matter of first principles.
It should be noted that many of the paths taken by the Reform movement
differ from those of traditional Judaism. These differences result in
many of the discussions you will see on S.C.J.
Size of the Movement
In terms of size, the UAHC 1993-1994 annual report notes that there
were a total of 853 UAHC-affiliated congregations, with a total
reported congregational membership of 302,193 member units (families,
singles, etc.). This can be contrasted with the 1983-1984 period,
where there were 773 congregations with a total of 269,406 member
units. Congregations range in size from a 2-member-unit congregation
in Port Gibson, Mississippi, to "mega"-shuls such as Wilshire Blvd
Temple in Los Angeles (2,123 member units), Anshe Chesed in Cleveland
Ohio (2,151), Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto Ontario (2,043), Temple
Israel in Minneapolis Minnesota (2,075), Washington Hebrew
Congregation in Washington DC (2,783), Congregation Emanu-El in New
York City (2,650), Temple Israel in W. Bloomfield Michigan (2,659),
Temple Emanu-El in Dallas Texas (2,526), and Cong. Beth Israel in
Houston Texas (2,011).
Sources of More Information
This FAQ contains much additional detail on Reform, it's theology,
it's origins, and how it has changes from its more "rejectionist"
beginnings. This information may be found in the
[10]Reform/Progressive portion of this FAQ. For further reading,
consult the [11]Reform Reading List.
------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Question 2.6: What about other movements?
Answer:
Reconstructionism
Philosophically, Reconstructionism has its roots in the work of
Mordechai Kaplan, who argued for a naturalistic conception of G-d and
a functionalist view of Judaism as a religious civilization. He
acknowledged that Jewish communities have always evolved to adapt to
their historical circumstances, and was particularly interested in the
ways in which American Judaism could construct communities that would
permit its members to live in two civilizations (American and Jewish)
at once, participating fully in each of them.
Kaplan's conception of G-d was a transnatural one -- he spoke of "the
power in the Universe that makes for salvation", rather than an
anthropomorphic G-d intervening to reward and punish. As a result, the
tradition we have inherited (e.g. keeping shabbat and kashrut, the
text of our liturgy, etc.) is our cultural inheritance of how our
ancestors related to this power in the universe -- it is not an
unchanging divine mandate. Our tradition should, indeed must, be
reconstructed in each generation to reflect our own understanding of
this relationship -- as Kaplan said, "The past has a vote, not a
veto."
Reconstructionist Theology
Kaplan's conception of G-d spoke of "the power in the Universe that
makes for salvation", rather than an anthropomorphic G-d intervening
to reward and punish. By salvation, he meant the power to improve
oneself, not any sort of religious salvation.
The philosophy of the movement contains a principle called
"Transvaluation". This means that any person (at least the leaders of
the movement) have the right to re-define a word to make it mean what
they want. Kaplan did not believe in G-d, but he did believe that
nature existed; he also believed that the universe was open to the
possibility that people could better themselves. Kaplan "transvalued"
the word "G-d" to mean the nature of the world. As a result, people
who no longer believed in the traditional Jewish conception of G-d
could now call themselves "religious" and could say that they "believe
in G-d". This system proved quite appealing to a large number of
people who had a deep love for the Jewish way of life, but who were
not religious in the traditional sense.
Reconstructionism Today
Kaplan's personal theology was extremely rationalistic, but in forming
his movement's seminary he probably did not realize the long term
effects. He set up a seminary in which people could train to be
Reconstructionist rabbis. In doing so he encouraged the study of
religious texts, even if he himself discouraged what most people would
call "religion". What eventually began to happen was obvious in
hindsight: Hundreds of committed Jews studied for years in a religious
environment, and they began to do what Kaplan rejected his whole life:
They began to believe in the traditional Jewish G-d, especially as G-d
was envisioned by the Medieval Kabbalists. As a result, many people in
the Reconstructionist community now have a traditional Jewish belief
in G-d!
One hallmark of the Reconstructionist community has been its
flourishing creativity. It has been at the forefront of many modern
trends in Judaism, especially in the egalitarian approach to religious
life and liturgy.
In terms of size, the Reconstructionist movement is smaller than the
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