ABSTRACT
In 1885 a small group of radical Reform rabbis led by David Einhorn and his sons-in-law, Emil G. Hirsch and Kaufmann Kohler, produced a document that was to mold American Judaism for decades to come. Its authors were profoundly opposed to Judaism in its traditional form and messianically confident of the glorious future of its alternative, Reform. They were mostly fine scholars in the noble tradition of Abraham Geiger, but they were very poor theologians. Their naïveté and their incoherence led to generations of Reform Jewish belief in a “pick-and-choose” Judaism as the American religion of choice. The fathers' misconceptions can be epitomized thus:
A god-idea instead of God
Absolute personal autonomy instead of heteronomy under God
Anthropocentrism instead of theocentrism
Negative mitzvot (do not keep kosher) instead of obedience to the Torah
Judaism as a religion instead of the faith of a people
Individualism over solidarity
Prophetic texts instead of rabbinic ones
The (Reform) temple as a central place instead of the home and school
Freedom above responsibility
Haggadah instead of Haggadah and halachah as the basis for theology
Aesthetics over authenticity
Rabbis, not communities, in power
Reason as the only criterion of truth
Faceless humanity instead of concrete communities and persons to be addressed
Wissenschaft over Lernen
Timeless “principles” instead of details of observance and decision
Self-confidence instead of religious humility
Innovation instead of persistence, for example, late Friday night services and confirmation
Premature messianism instead of messianic patience
