Comments on: An interesting question… http://jewishheritage.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/an-interesting-question/ A journey of discovery into my proud heritage Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:03:35 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Brown Shoes http://jewishheritage.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/an-interesting-question/#comment-4 Brown Shoes Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:40:24 +0000 http://jewishheritage.wordpress.com/?p=7#comment-4 To answer the question kind of briefly, Orthodox Jews tend to be more rigid about the mitzvot and believe that the Torah is divinely inspired, and that the Talmud comes from the Oral Torah and thus is also divinely inspired. Reform Jews tend not to believe in the divinity of the Torah and also believe that the ethical and socially just component of Judaism is primary, and tend not to pay much attention to halakhah and the Talmud. Conservative Jews, on the other hand, essentially walk a balancing act between the two - on the one hand, mitzvot are just as important as ethics and social justice, but on the other hand, the Talmud and Oral Torah are not set in stone and are adaptable to modernity and change. Hope this helps, a little! To answer the question kind of briefly, Orthodox Jews tend to be more rigid about the mitzvot and believe that the Torah is divinely inspired, and that the Talmud comes from the Oral Torah and thus is also divinely inspired.

Reform Jews tend not to believe in the divinity of the Torah and also believe that the ethical and socially just component of Judaism is primary, and tend not to pay much attention to halakhah and the Talmud.

Conservative Jews, on the other hand, essentially walk a balancing act between the two – on the one hand, mitzvot are just as important as ethics and social justice, but on the other hand, the Talmud and Oral Torah are not set in stone and are adaptable to modernity and change.

Hope this helps, a little!

]]>