BACKWARDS OF FORWARDS?: A SERIES OF DISCOURSES ON REFORM JUDAISM
New York: Temple Beth-El [Printed by Stettiner, Lambert & Co.], 1885. Item #43573
1st edition. Original printed green paper wrappers, 8vo, 40 pages. 24 cm. Singerman 3358.
With Kohler’s foreword dated August 1, 1885, the context of this discussion, “Published by the [Tempel Beth-El] Congregation,” puts it in the lead up to passage of the Pittsburgh Platform three months later in November of that year .
With the Pittsburgh Platform, several key questions facing Reform were decided, including:
• Modernity vs. Halakha (Traditional Law): Reform leaders struggled with how much traditional Jewish law (Halakha) to retain. They rejected traditional dietary laws (kashrut), ritual purity rules, and traditional clothing or dress codes, arguing that only the moral laws of the Torah remained binding.
• Science and Religion: Reform rabbis needed to reconcile traditional religious doctrines with modern scientific discoveries, particularly the theory of evolution. They declared that science and Judaism were fully compatible.
• Zionism and National Identity: A sharp debate centered on whether Jews constituted a separate "nation" or merely a religious community. The 1885 platform explicitly opposed political Zionism, rejected the idea of a return to Palestine, and viewed America as a promised home.
• Escatology and the Afterlife: The movement rejected literal beliefs in bodily resurrection, Gehenna (hell), and Eden (paradise), shifting the focus toward ethical action in the present.
• Social Justice: Leaders faced the question of how Judaism should engage with rapid industrialization and urban poverty in America, mandating active participation in social and societal reform.
• Schism with Traditionalists: The aggressive turn toward "Classical Reform" alienated more traditional members and moderate figures. This split directly catalyzed the creation of Conservative Judaism, leading traditionalists to organize the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Kaufmann Kohler (1843-1926) was a U. S. Reform rabbi and president of Hebrew Union College. Kohler was born in Fuerth, Bavaria, long known as a center of rabbinic learning, and was himself descended from rabbinic stock. He pursued rabbinical studies from an early age and in 1862 entered the gymnasium at Frankfurt. While in that city he came under the influence of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, champion of Neo-Orthodoxy, and, though later diverging sharply from his viewpoint, never ceased to pay tribute to his influence. Kohler pursued his university studies at Berlin and Erlangen, receiving a doctorate in 1867.
Kohler's Orthodoxy and his doctoral thesis, Der Segen Jacobs (1867), took such a radical viewpoint that no rabbinic position was open to him. For a time he continued his studies at Leipzig with a view to entering the academic world, but, warmly recommended by the German Reform leader Abraham Geiger, Kohler accepted the office of rabbi of Congregation Beth El, Detroit (1869). In 1871 he moved to Sinai Congregation, Chicago (where he introduced Sunday services in 1874), and in 1879 he succeeded his father-in-law, David Einhorn, at Temple Beth El, New York.
OCLC: 36904419. OCLC and Singerman together identify 8 institutions with holdings (AJHS, UDenver, Harvard, Princeton, JTSA, HUC, YU, YorkU). Lacks rear wrapper (probably blank), damage to title page affeting one letter, center crease, otherwise Very Good Condition. (PBERL-1-18).
Price: $500.00