200 Years of Reform Judaism
Written by Rabbi Dr. Michael Hilton Monday, 21 June 2010
Rabbi Dr. Michael Hilton of Kol Chai Hatch End Jewish Community looks back to the opening of the Seesen Temple which took place on 17th July, 1810.Reform Judaism began exactly two hundred years ago. The background was Jewish emancipation in Germany. A modern education and a modern approach to religion were the keys to entry to the wider society. The first "Jewish Free School" was founded in Berlin in 1778, guided by principles laid down by Moses Mendelssohn (1829 - 1876), the "mediator between two cultures", who promoted the idea that Jews could learn secular subjects and Judaism side by side. Such a form of education, which seems completely obvious to us, was totally new at the time, when German Jews were only beginning to be admitted to general society.
The Jewish Free School movement soon spread across Germany. Israel Jacobson (1768 - 1828), the so called "father of Reform Judaism" was a self-made business man and philanthropist. He was responsible for the founding of the Jewish Free School in Seesen (a town in Lower Saxony) in 1801. Shortly afterwards that part of Germany fell to Napoleon's army, and Seesen became incorporated into the "Kingdom of Westphalia", a French vassal state ruled by Napoleon's brother Jerome. Jacobson was put in official charge of organising the Jewish community. Ceremony was no longer to be and end in itself, but rather a support for genuine religious feeling. The clear agenda of Reform was to be the advancement of Jews in German society.
In 1807 Jacobson convened an official consistoire or Council of the leading Jews of the nation in order to "bring a number of customs which have crept into Judaism, more into line with changed circumstances." The "Duties of the Rabbis", published by the consistoire, laid down that sermons should be in German, and services should be "undisturbed by disorder or intrusions from the profane world outside." Rabbis were instructed to "prepare the young for confirmation and personally to conduct the ceremony." Jacobson planned to build a magnificent building for his combination school and congregation in Seesen, inspired by the large local churches. Unable to get planning permission for this, he constructed a more modest building with high windows and a flat roof topped by a small central bell tower.
The opening ceremony of the Seesen Temple, on Tuesday July 17th 1810, was a magnificent ceremony. Jacobson at his own expense accommodated and dined around 350 guests, both Jewish and Christian. The ceremonies began at 7 am with a choir singing from the Temple roof (choral music remains a typical feature of Reform services). At 8 am the assembled Jewish and Christian dignitaries assembled in the school hall, and at 9 am they walked in procession along the street to the Temple. A choir and musicians from the organ loft accompanied the service, and the scrolls were paraded around seven times, preceded by boys with candles.
In his address to the congregation, Jacobson emphasised that progress would be slow, but Jewish ritual must not continue to be weighted down with unreasonable customs. To the Christian guests, Jacobson appealed not just for tolerance and acceptance, but even for jobs: "I trust that you will not be far from receiving my brothers coldly. I trust that you will not reject them, as did your forbears only too often, but rather, that you will accept them with love into the circle of your society and business." With this plea for acceptance, Jewish Reform began. To this day, our dialogue with the wider society is an essential aspect of Reform Judaism.
The Roots of Progressive Judaism: a tour to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Liberal and Reform Judaism will take place next month and includes a visit to Seesen. Rabbi Dr. Andrew and Sharon Goldstein are organising the trip for the European Region of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.
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