ABSTRACT
THE controversy between the “Reform” Jews and the orthodox or even semi-orthodox in the early decades of the nineteenth century had concerned itself only with the authority of the Talmud. This was discarded wholly by the Reformers and partially by the conservatives, while it was maintained in its integrity by the old-fashioned orthodox. All, three sections, however, concurred in recognizing the inspiration of the Bible and the binding character of the Mosaic legislation contained in it; even the Reformers found such an attitude compatible both with “enlightenment” and with “emancipation.”
