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Aug 26, 2015 · Some experts believe that this gap is explained in part by a “period effect” (i.e., a surge in switching away from Orthodox Judaism from the 1950s to the 1970s, followed by higher retention within Orthodox Judaism in recent decades), as explained in the Jewish Identity chapter of the Pew Research Center’s 2013 report “A Portrait of ...
Jan 21, 2011 · Throughout the different branches of Judaism, the role of rabbis is variously perceived. While Orthodox rabbis’ decisions are assumed to be binding, responsa of liberal rabbis are ascribed a rather guiding and advising character. Although Judaism’s movements can be distinguished by characteristic tendencies, they are hardly monolithic.
Oct 1, 2013 · Chapter 3: Jewish Identity. U.S. Jews see being Jewish as more a matter of ancestry, culture and values than of religious observance. Six-in-ten say, for example, that being Jewish is mainly a matter of culture or ancestry, compared with 15% who say it is mainly a matter of religion. Roughly seven-in-ten say remembering the Holocaust and ...
For Judaism to make sense, then, humans must have free will. The Free Will Problem. There are theological problems with the idea of human free will. Jewish tradition depicts God as intricately involved in the unfolding of history. The Bible has examples of God announcing predetermined events and interfering with individual choices.
Rabbi Berman lists and discusses nine central distinctions, four of which I would like to mention here. First, Modern Orthodoxy values secular knowledge and a relationship with ambient culture. Second, it respects the integrity and certain approaches of the “other”—nonreligious Jews and gentiles.
The Orthodox believe that it comes directly from God and so cannot be changed. All we can do is "understand" (they wouldn't even say interpret) it, and the right to do so has devolved upon rabbis, descendants of the Pharisees who probably began teaching during the Babylonian Exile.
Jul 20, 2016 · Judaism teaches that death does not end a soul’s journey. The soul, which was joined to a body in life, continues into an Afterlife. Classical Jewish theologians debate the nature of the Afterlife. According to Maimonides (Rambam, d. 1204), the Afterlife is a purely spiritual experience of souls receiving reward and punishment for the good ...
