From Demonic Deviant to Drowning Brother: Reform Judaism in the Eyes of Orthodoxy (1983-2007)

Over the past two centuries, Orthodox Judaism's attitude toward the Reform movement has been dominated by animosity and polemical efforts at delegitimization and demonization. In particular because of the Reform sanction of patrilineal descent as a basis for Jewish identity, the early 1980s was a period of acute tensions. Various Orthodox parties gave the impression that they were on the verge of completely cutting themselves off from their Reform contemporaries. This article demonstrates that, in the subsequent decades, hostilities have diminished and a new style of Orthodox interaction with Reform has begun to emerge. This dynamic, though by no means leading to harmony between the religious streams, was far removed from prior predictions of "separation-cum-divorce" of these two movements. The article analyzes a range of examples that manifest this transition and offer insight that helps to account for the ensuing changes.