Reform Judaism across the Atlantic: Liturgical Music in Flux

Judaism’s liturgical practices and norms are complex and differ across denominations, including their musical dimension. Liberal Jewish denominations, i.e. those that emerged in Western Europe since the late 18th century and later on in America, offer a fertile ground for examining changing patterns of liturgical music in modern Jewry. This paper addresses liturgical music practices of one such denomination, Reform Judaism in contemporary Israel and its relation to the music of Reform congregations in America.

Change and renewal of ritual are of the main tenets of Reform Judaism, the most liberal branch among the modern religious streams of Judaism. Synagogue music is a special aspect of ritual that the Reform movement emphasized since its inception in Germany in the early 19th century. In the 20th century, Reform Judaism flourished especially in North America and with it its musical practices.

During the political establishment of the new state of Israel, religious practices were relinquished to the orthodox rabbinate. Therefore, establishing Reform communities in the State of Israel was a daring project because there was, or is, no clear separation of state and church in Israel. Nowadays in Israel the Reform movement is still peripheral and struggles to obtain a place in the Israeli consensus. In America on the other hand, the Reform denomination comprises the majority of the Jewish population as it aligns well with the approach to religion established by the American constitution.

Through my fieldwork at an Israeli reform synagogue, I identified how musical practices are used to create and preserve the community. In this paper I will address how the differences and interactions between Israeli and American Judaism contribute to the formation of an Israeli musical repertoire of Reform Jewish liturgy.