“We recognize in the Bible the record of the consecration of the Jewish people to its mission as the priest of the one God, and value it as the most potent instrument of religious and moral instruction. We hold that the modern discoveries of scientific researches in the domain of nature and history are not antagonistic to the doctrines of Judaism, the Bible reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age, and at times clothing its conception of divine Providence and Justice dealing with men in miraculous narratives.”
— Pittsburgh Platform, 1885.
On this day in 1885, the National Rabbinic Convention, a precursor to the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) convened at the Concordia Club in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. By the time their convention completed, they had drafted the Pittsburgh Platform—a striking, sometimes controversial set of principles meant to guide the future of North American Judaism.
With its outright rejection of Zionism and ritual law, the Pittsburgh Platform earned its share of enemies, and, over time, even the Reform Movement distanced itself from several of the principles articulated within the platform. Nevertheless, its undertaking – to express those ideological principles which govern the pursuit of a modern Jewish life that embraces revelation through scientific discovery—remains as pivotal today as it did 135 years ago.
Each of us, wittingly or unwittingly, continues to participate in the task of creating modern American Judaism through the choices we make and the beliefs we adopt in our daily lives. By putting that task into words (to be fair, words that would quickly be rejected in today’s world), the rabbis of the National Rabbinic Convention continue to remind us of the importance of leading our Jewish lives through purposeful choices.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel