Denominations of Judaism

In Judaism, there are several different denominations or sects.  As I mentioned, I define myself as an Orthodox (or specifically, “Modern Orthodox”) Jew.  Questions For My Jewish Friend is about giving you a window into the world of Orthodox Judaism. In addition to Orthodox Judaism, there are a few other denominations (or organized movements) which each have different approaches to the religion, and therefore have fairly different daily lives.

You don’t convert between denominations; you just practice what resonates the most with you.  Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox are the 3 major sects, in addition to Reconstructionist which is a smaller movement.  These movements are more or less the way Judaism is organized in North America, but in most communities outside of North America, the Jewish world is generally less divided into movements and more so divided into religious and secular.   **Caution: There is probably no way to explain each movement without offending at least someone, but I’m going to do the best I can.

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism approaches Judaism in what it finds to be the most authentic way of practicing.  Out of the many denominations of Judaism, it would be considered the furthest to the right on the “traditional” spectrum.  It is first and foremost as a system of laws.  You know the 10 Commandments?  Well, there are actually a whopping 613, and we take them very seriously.  There are laws that govern how you do pretty much everything, from what you can and can’t eat to how observance of the Sabbath (Shabbat) works to modest dress to how much of your pay check you’re supposed to donate to charity and so on.  The 613 commandments (or “mitzvot”) come from the Torah, and we consider them binding.  After all, Orthodox Judaism, in all its diversity, is pretty united when it comes to the belief that the Torah came from G-d.  Within Orthodox Judaism, there are many sects, rabbis, and ways of approaching Judaism, though.  Read more about Orthodox Judaism here.

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism (which is how I grew up) approaches Judaism slightly differently.  On the spectrum of right to left, Conservative Judaism proudly places itself in the middle of the denominations of Judaism.  While some believe that the Torah came from G-d, I’ve found it’s more common to believe that it was inspired by G-d.  The Conservative movement tries to balance an approach of “conserving” the traditions and laws of Judaism while adapting them to be more fit to the developing and modern world as they see it.  For example, in the Conservative movement, they’ve changed some of the traditional gender divisions within Judaism to be more equal in their eyes, such as having women partake in commandments traditionally only observed by men.  It’s very common for Conservative Jews to attend public schools (rather than private Jewish day schools), and many keep kosher, but to a less strict degree than Orthodox Jews.  Most outside of community leaders do not observe the Sabbath (keep Shabbat) in the traditional sense, although the movement is very diverse in terms of practice, so some do.  It really depends.  To read more about Conservative Judaism, visit the official movement’s website, where they can explain themselves far better than I did.

Reform Judaism

Of all of the denominations of Judaism, Reform Judaism has the most liberal approach.  Their slogan is “choice through knowledge,” meaning that each individual should keep whatever traditions they personally find meaningful and connect to.  It would be very rare to find a Reform Jew who observes the Sabbath in the traditional sense; rather, they may attend services on a Friday night or Saturday morning that features a Jewish rock band.  (My mom actually performs in a few.)  They try to use Jewish traditions and values as a guide (but not as binding law) to live lives of meaning.  As they do not give “commandments” the same weight as other movements, they are more flexible in their ability to shape the ideology of their movement and thus often lead the way in supporting liberal causes, such as LGBT rights.  To read more about the Reform movement, visit their official website here.

Reconstructionist Judaism

Reconstructionist Judaism is a smaller movement, and its members practice in a very similar way to Reform Jews.  I really couldn’t do them justice explaining it, so read about Reconstructionist Judaism for yourself here.