The
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
, known in the Jewish community simply as JTS, is the academic and spiritual center of
Conservative_Judaism, and is the movement's main rabbinical seminary. It takes it name and basic ideology from the no longer extant Jewish Theological Seminary of
Breslau.
The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875) at one time was in the traditional wing of the nascent
Reform_Judaism movement. After the second Reform rabbinic conference (1845, Frankfurt,
Germany) he resigned after coming to believe that their positions were exceedingly radical. In 1854 he became the head of a new rabbinical school, the Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau. In his magnum opus Darkhei HaMishnah (Ways of the
Mishnah) Rabbi Frankel amassed scholarly support which showed that
Jewish law 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 that Judaism has always historically developed.
Positive-Historical Judaism in America
About this time in America, Rabbi Sabato Morais championed the conservative reaction to American
Reform. At one time Rabbi Morais had been a voice for moderation within the coalition of Reformers. He had opposed the more radical changes, but was open to moderate changes that would not offend traditional sensibilities. After the Reform movement published the Pittsburgh Platform, Rabbi Morais recognized the futility of his efforts and began the creation of a new rabbinical school in
New_York_City. He was soon joined by Rabbi Alexander Kohut and Rabbi Bernard Drachman, both of whom had received smicha (rabbinic ordination) at Rabbi Frankel's Breslau seminary. They shaped the curriculum and philosophy of the new school after Rabbi Frankel's seminary.
In 1902, Professor
Solomon_Schechter assumed presidency of JTS. In a series of papers he articulated an ideology for the movement. In 1913 he presided over the creation of the United Synagogue of America. (The name was changed in 1991 to the
United_Synagogue_of_Conservative_Judaism.)
See also:
Conservative_Judaism --
Rabbinical_Assembly --
United_Synagogue_of_Conservative_Judaism
External links and references
Neil Gillman's book "Conservative Judaism: The New Century"
Home |
Index |
mail
Search at Google.Com | Search at MSN.Com
History:
Copyright (c) 2004
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
"GNU Free Documentation License".