The New Pittsburgh Platform (1999)
Reform Judaism
issues new guidelines on God, Torah, and Israel for the 21st
century.
The Central Conference
of American Rabbis, the rabbinical arm of the Reform movement, issued a new
Statement of Principles during its 1999 Pittsburgh conference. Known as the
“new” Pittsburgh Platform, the 1999 document was issued 114 years after the
original Pittsburgh Platform (1885), a seminal document that defined the then
nascent American Reform movement. The new set of principles was hotly debated
among leaders of the movement in the months before the conference. Two camps
emerged: 1.traditionalists who represent a new wave of rabbis and laypeople
seeking greater adherence to Jewish ritual and 2. classicists who reject
attempts to inject more ritual into daily practice.
Rabbi Richard Levy, a
leader of the traditionalist wing, drafted a platform that advocated the
observance of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) and mikveh (use of the Jewish
ritual bath). However, the final version of the platform was substantially
altered from Levy’s draft in an attempt to placate both traditionalists and
classicists. The new Pittsburgh Platform encourages Reform Jews to study Hebrew
and Torah, observe Shabbat, and recognize the importance of mitzvot (sacred
obligations). For traditionalists, the platform confirms that Reform is moving
toward more tradition; for classicists, the platform affirms the importance of
unity within the movement.
A Statement of Principles for Reform
Judaism
Adopted at the 1999 Pittsburgh Convention
Central Conference of
American Rabbis
May 1999 ‑ Sivan 5759
Preamble
On three occasions during the last century and a half, the
Reform rabbinate has adopted comprehensive statements to help guide the thought
and practice of our movement. In 1885, fifteen rabbis issued the Pittsburgh
Platform, a set of guidelines that defined Reform Judaism for the next fifty
years. A revised statement of principles, the Columbus Platform, was adopted by
the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1937. A third set of rabbinic
guidelines, the Centenary Perspective appeared in 1976 on the occasion of the
centenary of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Hebrew Union
College‑Jewish Institute of Religion. Today, when so many individuals are
striving for religious meaning, moral purpose and a sense of community, we
believe it is our obligation as rabbis once again to state a set of principles
that define Reform Judaism in our own time.
This "Statement of Principles" affirms the central
tenets of Judaism--God, Torah and Israel--even as it acknowledges the diversity
of Reform Jewish beliefs and practices. It also invites all Reform Jews to
engage in a dialogue with the sources of out tradition, responding out of our
knowledge, our experience and our faith. Thus we hope to transform our lives
through kedushah, holiness.
God
We affirm the reality and oneness of God, even as we may
differ in our understanding of the Divine presence.
We affirm that the Jewish people is bound to God by an
eternal b’rit, covenant, as reflected
in our varied understandings of Creation, Revelation and Redemption.
We affirm that every human
being is created btzelem Elohim, in
the image of God, and therefore every human life is sacred.
We regard with reverence all of God's creation and recognize
our human responsibility for its preservation and protection.
We encounter God's presence
in moments of awe and wonder, in acts of justice and compassion, in
loving
relationships and in the experiences of everyday life.
We strive for a faith that fortifies us through the
vicissitudes of our lives--illness and healing, transgression and repentance,
bereavement and consolation, despair and hope.
We continue to have faith that, in spite of the unspeakable
evils committed against our people and the sufferings endured by others, the
partnership of God and humanity will ultimately prevail.
We trust in our tradition's promise that, although God
created us as finite beings, the spirit within us is eternal.
In all these ways and more, God gives meaning and purpose to
our lives.
Torah
We affirm that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life.
We cherish the truths revealed in Torah, God's ongoing
revelation to our people and the record of our people's ongoing relationship
with God.
We affirm that Torah is a manifestation of ahavat olam, Gods eternal love for the
Jewish people and for all humanity.
We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of
Torah and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred texts.
We are called by Torah to lifelong study in the home, in the
synagogue and in every place where Jews gather to learn and teach. Through
Torah study we are called to mitzvot [commandments],the means by which we make our lives
holy.
We are committed to the ongoing study of the whole array of mitzvot and to the fulfillment of those
that address us as individuals and as a community. Some of these mitzvot, sacred obligations, have long
been observed by Reform Jews; others, both ancient and modem, demand renewed
attention as the result of the unique context of our own times.
We bring Torah into the world when we seek to sanctify the
times and places of our lives through regular home and congregational
observance. Shabbat calls us to bring the highest moral values to our daily
labor and to culminate the workweek with kedushah,
holiness, menuchah, rest and oneg, joy. The High Holy Days call us to
account for our deeds. The Festivals enable us to celebrate with joy our
people’s religious journey in the context of the changing seasons. The days of
remembrance remind us of the tragedies and the triumphs that have shaped our
people's historical experience both in ancient and modem times. And we mark the
milestones of our personal journeys with traditional and creative rites that
reveal the holiness in each stage of life.
We bring Torah into the
world when we strive to fulfill the highest ethical mandates in our
relationships with others and with all of God’s creation. Partners with God in tikkun olam, repairing the world, we are
called to help bring nearer the messianic age. We seek dialogue and joint
action with people of other faiths in the hope that together we can bring
peace, freedom and justice to our world. We are obligated to pursue tzedek, justice and righteousness, and
to narrow the gap between the affluent and the poor, to act against
discrimination and oppression, to pursue peace, to welcome the stranger, to
protect the earth's biodiversity and natural resources, and to redeem those in
physical, economic and spiritual bondage. In so doing, we reaffirm social
action and social justice as a central prophetic focus of traditional Reform
Jewish belief and practice. We affirm the
mitzvah of tzedaka), setting aside portions of our earnings and our time to provide for those in need. These
acts bring us closer to fulfilling the prophetic call to translate the words of
Torah into the works of our hands.
In all these ways and more, Torah gives meaning and purpose
to our lives.
Israel
We are Israel, a people aspiring to holiness, singled out
through our ancient covenant and our unique history among the nations to be
witnesses to God's presence. We are linked by that covenant and that history to
all Jews in every age and place.
We are committed to
the mitzvah of ahavat Yisrael, love for the Jewish people, and to k’lal Yisrael, the entirety of the
community of Israel. Recognizing that kol
Yisrael arevim zeh ba‑zeh, all Jews are responsible for one another,
we reach out to all Jews across ideological and geographical boundaries.
We embrace religious and cultural pluralism as an expression
of the vitality of Jewish communal life in Israel and the Diaspora.
We pledge to fulfill Reform Judaism's historic commitment to
the complete equality of women and men in Jewish life.
We are an inclusive
community, opening doors to Jewish life to people of all ages, to varied kinds
of
families, to all
regardless of their sexual orientation, to gerim,
those who have converted to Judaism, and to all individuals and families,
including the intermarried, who strive to create a Jewish home.
We believe that we must not only open doors for those ready
to enter our faith, but also to actively encourage those who are seeking a
spiritual home to find it in Judaism.
We are committed to
strengthening the people Israel by supporting individuals and families in the
creation of homes rich in Jewish learning and observance.
We are committed to strengthening the people Israel by
making the synagogue central to Jewish communal life, so that it may elevate
the spiritual, intellectual and cultural quality of our lives.
We are committed to Medinat
Yisrael, the State of Israel, and rejoice in its accomplish-ments. We
affirm the unique qualities of living in Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, and
encourage aliyah, immigration to
Israel.
We are committed to promoting and strengthening Progressive
Judaism in Israel, which will enrich the spiritual life of the Jewish state and
its people.
We affirm that both Israeli and Diaspora Jewry should remain
vibrant and interdependent communities. As we urge Jews who reside outside Israel
to learn Hebrew as a living language and to make periodic visits to Israel in
order to study and to deepen their relationship to the Land and its people, so
do we affirm that Israeli Jews have much to learn from the religious life of
Diaspora Jewish communities.
We are committed to furthering Progressive Judaism
throughout the world as a meaningful religious way of life for the Jewish
people.
In all these ways and
more, Israel gives meaning and purpose to our lives.
Baruch she‑amar ve‑haya ha‑olam.
Praised be the One through
whose word all things came to be.
May our words find
expression in holy actions.
May they raise us up to a
life of meaning devoted to God's service
And to the redemption of our
world.
Copyright 2000 Central
Conference of American Rabbis.
