The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism, generally known as the Columbus Platform, was adopted by the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1937 in Columbus, Ohio. Against the rise of Nazism in Germany and a large wave of Eastern European immigration that did not share the founding generation's assumptions, it repudiated the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform's rejection of Zionism, affirming Reform Judaism's stake in the rebuilding of Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and reopened space for ceremonial and traditional practice the earlier platform had treated as no longer binding. As the movement's own adopted text, it is the primary source for what Reform Judaism itself declared at that date, distinct from how individual congregations later implemented it. Use it for the documented reversal of the Pittsburgh Platform's position on Jewish peoplehood and Zion; the 1999 Statement of Principles is the further, later step in the same documented direction.
Facts
Citation
AuthorCentral Conference of American Rabbis
PublisherCentral Conference of American Rabbis
Publication Year1937
URLhttps://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-guiding-principles-reform-judaism/
Source Typeprimary-text
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
The movement's own platform text, adopted by its central rabbinic body in its own name; the primary instrument for what Reform Judaism itself declared in 1937. NotesThe Reform movement's own 1937 platform, adopted at Columbus, Ohio, restoring a positive statement on Jewish peoplehood and the rebuilding of Palestine as a Jewish homeland after the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform had disowned both.
Custodian
Custodian SourceYes
Custodian BodyCentral Conference of American Rabbis
Custodian BasisAdopted by the Reform rabbinate's own central body in its own name. Authoritative for what the movement itself declared about Jewish peoplehood and the Land of Israel.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Germany directly: "Against the rise of Nazism in Germany and a large wave of Eastern European immigration that did not share the founding generation's assumptions, it repudiated the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform's..."
This source names Palestine directly: "Judaism's stake in the rebuilding of Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and reopened space for ceremonial and traditional practice the earlier platform had treated as no longer binding."
This source names Pittsburgh directly: "assumptions, it repudiated the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform's rejection of Zionism, affirming Reform Judaism's stake in the rebuilding of Palestine as a Jewish homeland, and reopened space for..."
Claims Backed By This Source (16 claims)
This source backs 16 claims across the atlas. As facts: 12 well-attested. As cited relationships: 3 holds. Plus 1 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 14 claims: 11 well-attested, 3 holds.
- Denominations, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.
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