cover image A Vision of Holiness: The Future of Reform Judaism

A Vision of Holiness: The Future of Reform Judaism

Richard N. Levy, . . URJ Press, $15.95 (296pp) ISBN 978-0-8074-0941-1

Since 1885, when a group of Reform rabbis promulgated the radical Pittsburgh Platform, Reform Judaism has been moving steadily rightward toward traditional Jewish thinking and observance—a trend culminating in the new "statement of principles" the denomination adopted in 1999. This book includes the 1999 document as well as earlier declarations of a Reform creed, enabling the reader to see the remarkable shift in how Reform Jews define themselves. These changes have contributed to Reform Judaism being America's largest Jewish denomination today. Levy, who has served as a rabbi and is currently director of a Reform rabbinical school in California, analyzes and explains each of the principles that were adopted in the 1999 report, which he helped create. He organizes them into three categories of Reform belief and behavior with regard to God, Torah and the Jewish people. The material is clearly presented, and Levy displays a strong historical perspective, such as when he describes the transformation of Reform views from anti-Zionist to Zionist. Complicated theological issues are lucidly explicated, sometimes using helpful homespun illustrations. The book will appeal to Reform Jews but also to others interested in the development of religious creeds and their influence on American society. (Aug. 15)