HOW DOES THE UTJ VIEW “DENOMINATIONALISM” IN JEWISH LIFE?
Many Jews exaggerate the significance of contemporary denominational labels. The UTJ, by contrast, believes that these labels often obscure more than they clarify. In a responsum concerning the “credentials” of rabbis in a Bet Din (Jewish Court), the UTJ’s Panel of Halakhic Inquiry ruled that the qualifications of rabbis “stand independent of any movement affiliation….’Orthodox’, ‘Conservative’, ‘Reform’, and ‘Reconstructionist’ are categories that have no halakhic validity and ought not be recognized as such. They are political distinctions. Either a Bet Din operates halakhically or it does not. If it does, then its actions are valid. If it does not, then its actions are invalid.
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- HOW DOES THE UTJ VIEW "DENOMINATIONALISM" IN JEWISH LIFE?
