February 07, 2010

Reform? Orthodox? Conservative? What's the Difference?

My old roommate in New York City was Orthodox. My husband's family is Conservative and since my husband and I are thinking about becoming members of a synagogue, we're looking at Reform. So, what's the real difference between all three? It's really about the degree to which they interpret Jewish law, where Orthodox Judaism has the strictest interpretation and Reform Judaism is the least strict. In the Reform synagogue, inter-faith marriage is acceptable and so are female rabbis for that matter. It's kind of like Orthodox = Catholic, Conservative = Southern Baptist and Reform = Methodist. Here's a wikipedia link for some more basica intel.

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