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Answer:
The [5]1937 Columbus Platform of Reform Jewry
([6]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/columbus.html) expressed the
position that Torah results from the relationship between G-d and the
Jewish people. The records of our earliest confrontations are uniquely
important to us. Lawgivers and prophets, historians and poets gave us
a heritage whose study is a religious imperative and whose practice is
our chief means to holiness. Rabbis and teachers, philosophers and
mystics, gifted Jews in every age amplified the Torah tradition. For
millennia, the creation of the Torah has not ceased and Jewish
creativity in our time is adding to the chain of tradition.
The platform went on to say that G-d is revealed not only in the
majesty, beauty and orderliness of nature, but also in the vision and
moral striving of the human spirit. Revelation is a continuous
process, confined to no one group and to no one age. Yet, the people
of Israel, through its prophets and sages, achieved unique insight in
the realm of religious truth. The Torah, both written and oral,
enshrines Israel's ever-growing consciousness of G-d and of the moral
law. It preserves the historical precedents, sanctions and norms of
Jewish life, and seeks to mold it in the patterns of goodness and of
holiness. Being products of historical processes, certain of its laws
have lost their binding force with the passing of the conditions that
called them forth. But as a repository of permanent spiritual ideals,
the Torah remains the dynamic source of life of Israel. Each age has
the obligation to adapt the teachings of the Torah to its basic needs
in consonance with the genius of Judaism
This position is echoed again in the current (1999) [7]statement of
principles ([8]http://www.ccarnet.org/platforms/principles.html),
which says:
* We affirm that Torah is the foundation of Jewish life.
* We cherish the truths revealed in Torah, G-d's ongoing revelation
to our people and the record of our people's ongoing relationship
with G-d.
* We affirm that Torah is a manifestation of (ahavat olam), G-d's
eternal love for the Jewish people and for all humanity.
* We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of Torah
and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred
texts.
* We are called by Torah to lifelong study in the home, in the
synagogue and in every place where Jews gather to learn and teach.
Through Torah study we are called to (mitzvot), the means by which
we make our lives holy.
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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