There are seven basic Jewish religious movements or denominations. They are the Secular Humanistic, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, Jewish Renewal, Conservative and Post-Denominational (which isn’t a movement itself, but a perspective of Judaism).
Each of these perspectives has different understandings of how Judaism came to be and how it should be practiced today.
Our hope is not that you will “choose a side” and become a certain kind of Jew, but that you will grow in your understanding of what Judaism is, drawing from all these different perspectives.
Read this Wikipedia article on the history of Jewish denominations. Pay close attention to the Modern Movements: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements#Modern_movements_or_denominations
Homework
Research and prepare answers to one of the following:
- There are many kinds of Orthodox Judaism. List three movements/sects and how they came to be
- What is the perspective of Conservative Judaism on the issue of driving on Shabbat?
- How are Reconstructionist and Secular Humanistic the same and different from one another?
- Who founded the Jewish Renewal movement and what were the beliefs that led him to do so?
- Find links to articles or videos on post-denominational Jewish communities. How do they talk about being post-denominational? What does that mean for them?