Welcome to the Home Work page for JHist '11. Every Monday and Tuesday (or sometimes Wednesday) I'll post some artifact and look for your great questions.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Week 9 (Reform Temple - Inside)
The first purpose-built Reform Temple opened in Hamburg in 1818
Looking at this synagogue, it looks just like every other old synagogue I have ever been in. What strikes me as odd is the mechitza above the main floor. This is not like the reformed movement we see today, with female rabbis and kol nidre filming. This appears to be standard Orthodoxy. Today in class we learned that the reformed movement was actually a movement for reform, the leaders genuinely believed that this was the direction all of Judaism, including Orthodoxy was going. Did the architects and rabbis who designed the synagogue intentionally make it appear as a normal synagogue to attract “standard” Jews to their new faith, or did the Reformed movement develop slowly, and the Rabbis who started it still follow much, if not most of the Orthodox customs? This was a relatively recent movement, but how quickly did it evolve? Was it a slow, gradual change, or a quick jump in faith? Obviously there was some evolution because Reform Jews sit together during davening, but was this the exception, was the mechitza one of the sole things to stay in place when every thing was evolving around it?
I can't tell much about the Temple from the picture, but I read that it had an organ, which accompanied the services along with a choir. The services were conducted in German, not in the traditional Hebrew. Why did this Temple want to be a Church? If the Reform Jews were confident in their identity, why should they make their services like those of a Protestant church? Jews were able to connect to God without music since the destruction of the true “Temple” – why was it so important to these Jews to break with tradition and Christianize their services? The organ is associated with church music – they could have used a piano. I know it’s question time, but a possible answer is that they were trying to show solidarity with other Germans. They sought out to integrate into western society, so they may have wanted to make the aspects of their lives that are distinctly different from the average German appear more German-like. Therefore, they brought in an organ and choir, translated their prayers into German (or wrote new ones of their own), and discarded hundreds of years of tradition in favor of the traditions of the German Christians around them.
Dr.Gotthold Salomon was the first spiritual leader there. What I find interesting is that reform Jews read the bible front to back. Also that this is one of the first time in history men and women are not seperate as you can see by the way the chairs are arranged in the picture.How come they have the light shinning right through the window like there an angel comming through? Do the reform people think there being more holly then religious since there reading the whole bible not just random sections? It makes sense to me that the more you do for g-d the more g-d will do for you. How come every jew is not reform if that's the case?
In addition to what Nathan said, the Temple had a signature prayer book, read from front back as like the Christians. And what Nathan said, had an organ. On contrary to what Joey asked, why did it choose to structure it's Temple like an orthodox Shul (i.e mechitzah)? Clearly it's structure does not reflect it's practice. If they're using an organ and a christian style prayer book, why make it even remotely similar to an orthodox Shul?
As Joey said the shul does not have any resemblance to modern Reform shuls, instead it looks like a normal orthodox shul, the only difference is that it has seats above on balconies which we can assume were reserved for the women as was the custom from that time as seen by the B’nai Israel shul in Baltimore. So what did make it different from other shuls of the time?
For the first purpose-built reform temple, this picture is totally expected; no movement is going to make a leap from old customs to radically different customs without a period acclimation. If you go into a reform temple today (at least the ones I’ve been in) they aren’t radically different the orthodox shuls, and that’s 192 years after the first reform temple was built. The real question (because there always has to be a question) is what was Reform Judaism back then? We know they all didn’t have a German male cappella group singing for them. The movement started as a reformation, what did they preach in its beginning, and what are the more recent changes? How do our modern views on the modern reform movement, both as orthodox Jews, and as unknowledgeable in regards to the reform movement, cause us to unjustly characterize what the movement was in its founding?
The first thing i see in this Temple that comes to my mind is in the back of the Synagogue. The Aaron Hakodesh is built just like the structure of the entrance to the Bais Hamekdash. This must have some important significance to it. Most Shuls now do not have this type of architecture. why would the architect build this temple in this way? was it because it was a reminder to them that if they repent and do good deeds then the next one will come? was their a specific religious movement during 1818?
What strikes me as most odd about this temple is that, indeed, it is modeled (especially the Aron Kodesh) to look like The Beit Hamikdash. Similarly, I read elsewhere that the prayer book of the Hamburg Temple omitted references to the return to Zion or the restoration of the Beit Hamikdash after the coming of Mashiach. Is it possible that the Reform Movement truly believed that it was living in a Messianic Age or that it actually considered its place of worship to be a true Temple? If so, why now? And why Germany? Did the Reform Movement have a traditional Messianic figure- or was the Messiah embodied in something else? (In other words, did the Reform Movement have a different concept of what the Messiah was, assuming the use of the term Temple, the odd structure of its place of worship, and the various things that were left out of its prayer book were not simply coincidences?)
In the picture the light is streaming in on the aron kodesh, and not on the empty seats. Is this to symblize that they are more traditional with their Judaism?
Looking at this synagogue, it looks just like every other old synagogue I have ever been in. What strikes me as odd is the mechitza above the main floor. This is not like the reformed movement we see today, with female rabbis and kol nidre filming. This appears to be standard Orthodoxy. Today in class we learned that the reformed movement was actually a movement for reform, the leaders genuinely believed that this was the direction all of Judaism, including Orthodoxy was going. Did the architects and rabbis who designed the synagogue intentionally make it appear as a normal synagogue to attract “standard” Jews to their new faith, or did the Reformed movement develop slowly, and the Rabbis who started it still follow much, if not most of the Orthodox customs? This was a relatively recent movement, but how quickly did it evolve? Was it a slow, gradual change, or a quick jump in faith? Obviously there was some evolution because Reform Jews sit together during davening, but was this the exception, was the mechitza one of the sole things to stay in place when every thing was evolving around it?
ReplyDeleteI can't tell much about the Temple from the picture, but I read that it had an organ, which accompanied the services along with a choir. The services were conducted in German, not in the traditional Hebrew. Why did this Temple want to be a Church? If the Reform Jews were confident in their identity, why should they make their services like those of a Protestant church? Jews were able to connect to God without music since the destruction of the true “Temple” – why was it so important to these Jews to break with tradition and Christianize their services? The organ is associated with church music – they could have used a piano. I know it’s question time, but a possible answer is that they were trying to show solidarity with other Germans. They sought out to integrate into western society, so they may have wanted to make the aspects of their lives that are distinctly different from the average German appear more German-like. Therefore, they brought in an organ and choir, translated their prayers into German (or wrote new ones of their own), and discarded hundreds of years of tradition in favor of the traditions of the German Christians around them.
ReplyDeleteDr.Gotthold Salomon was the first spiritual leader there. What I find interesting is that reform Jews read the bible front to back. Also that this is one of the first time in history men and women are not seperate as you can see by the way the chairs are arranged in the picture.How come they have the light shinning right through the window like there an angel comming through? Do the reform people think there being more holly then religious since there reading the whole bible not just random sections? It makes sense to me that the more you do for g-d the more g-d will do for you. How come every jew is not reform if that's the case?
ReplyDeleteIn addition to what Nathan said, the Temple had a signature prayer book, read from front back as like the Christians. And what Nathan said, had an organ. On contrary to what Joey asked, why did it choose to structure it's Temple like an orthodox Shul (i.e mechitzah)? Clearly it's structure does not reflect it's practice. If they're using an organ and a christian style prayer book, why make it even remotely similar to an orthodox Shul?
ReplyDeleteAs Joey said the shul does not have any resemblance to modern Reform shuls, instead it looks like a normal orthodox shul, the only difference is that it has seats above on balconies which we can assume were reserved for the women as was the custom from that time as seen by the B’nai Israel shul in Baltimore. So what did make it different from other shuls of the time?
ReplyDeleteFor the first purpose-built reform temple, this picture is totally expected; no movement is going to make a leap from old customs to radically different customs without a period acclimation. If you go into a reform temple today (at least the ones I’ve been in) they aren’t radically different the orthodox shuls, and that’s 192 years after the first reform temple was built. The real question (because there always has to be a question) is what was Reform Judaism back then? We know they all didn’t have a German male cappella group singing for them. The movement started as a reformation, what did they preach in its beginning, and what are the more recent changes? How do our modern views on the modern reform movement, both as orthodox Jews, and as unknowledgeable in regards to the reform movement, cause us to unjustly characterize what the movement was in its founding?
ReplyDeleteThe first thing i see in this Temple that comes to my mind is in the back of the Synagogue. The Aaron Hakodesh is built just like the structure of the entrance to the Bais Hamekdash. This must have some important significance to it. Most Shuls now do not have this type of architecture. why would the architect build this temple in this way? was it because it was a reminder to them that if they repent and do good deeds then the next one will come? was their a specific religious movement during 1818?
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me as most odd about this temple is that, indeed, it is modeled (especially the Aron Kodesh) to look like The Beit Hamikdash.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I read elsewhere that the prayer book of the Hamburg Temple omitted references to the return to Zion or the restoration of the Beit Hamikdash after the coming of Mashiach.
Is it possible that the Reform Movement truly believed that it was living in a Messianic Age or that it actually considered its place of worship to be a true Temple? If so, why now? And why Germany? Did the Reform Movement have a traditional Messianic figure- or was the Messiah embodied in something else? (In other words, did the Reform Movement have a different concept of what the Messiah was, assuming the use of the term Temple, the odd structure of its place of worship, and the various things that were left out of its prayer book were not simply coincidences?)
In the picture the light is streaming in on the aron kodesh, and not on the empty seats. Is this to symblize that they are more traditional with their Judaism?
ReplyDelete