ABSTRACT
This "declaration of principles" is often known as the Pittsburgh Platform. It was adopted by a conference of American Reform Jewish rabbis gathered in that city in 1885, but it was also preceded by extensive debate between its framer, Kaufmann Kohler, and other rabbis, especially Alexander Kohut. It was also preceded by a similar conference in Philadelphia in 1869 and others in Germany in the 1840s. The more traditional wing, represented by Orthodoxy, stressed the continuing validity of Torah-observant lifestyles. Indeed, it continued to define itself in debates about observance. This is not to say that the Orthodox cannot or do not articulate beliefs, but that the central concern of traditional rabbinic Judaism is observance of Torah. Of particular importance for understanding the Pittsburgh conference and the larger question of the relationship of ritual and belief is that Jews had to make choices.
