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"The Statement of Principles"
(Formerly "Ten Principles...")
In response to the publication of draft three in the Winter 1998 edition, we received approximately 70 pages of comments on this website. Please feel free to read the recent comments of others and comments posted last November and last December.
We also invite you now to share your opinions on the latest drafts, as they appear (see the latest information). Please let us know what you think of the proposed "Statement of Principles" (specifying by draft) by typing in your comments in the form below:
Thank you for taking part in a vital conversation that reaches to the core of who we are, both as individual Reform Jews and as the largest and fastest growing Jewish movement in North America.
Some HistoryIn the Winter 1998 Reform Judaism magazine cover story, "Is It Time To Chart a New Course for Reform Judaism?" CCAR President Rabbi Richard Levy discussed his rationale for proposing a new Pittsburgh Platform for our times and presented draft three of the "Ten Principles for Reform Judaism," which had been created in consultation with the Executive Board and membership of the Conference. In a radical departure from the Reform movement's earlier Pittsburgh Platform (1885), these guidelines called for Reform Jews to reclaim some traditional Jewish practices rejected by our Reform predecessors and to embrace new pathways to holiness and social justice. In a rebuttal, published in the same edition, entitled "This is Not the Way," Reform Rabbi Robert Seltzer argued that "we must guard against the pitfalls of turning Reform Judaism into Conservative Judaism Lite." In response to the outpouring of comments from both rabbis and key leaders following the publication of draft three, Rabbi Levy and other CCAR leaders produced a fourth draft. At the UAHC Board meeting in December, Rabbi Levy discussed his rationale for the new draft and outlined the next steps in the process of guiding the movement toward the creation of a new platform (see Rabbi Levy's comments for details). Voicing a somewhat different perspective in his remarks to the Board, UAHC President Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie questioned the need for a new set of principles at this time. He urged the Central Conference of American Rabbis "to proceed slowly and very deliberately." In mid-February, the CCAR Advisory Task Force-composed of members of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, two HUC faculty members, three members of the UAHC Executive Board, and an HUC student-developed a fifth draft (now known as the "Statement of Principles") as a series of two- to three- sentence headlines, which were still being revised at press time. At that time, Rabbi Levy indicated his intention to present the draft at the CCAR Board meeting in March 1999, at which time a decision would be made regarding the next steps in the process. Please access the UAHC reference page, which is updated with the latest information. |
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