Liberal Judaism (until 2002: Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues) is one of the two WUPJ-affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. It is smaller and more radical in comparison with the other one, the Movement for Reform Judaism. It is considered ideologically closer to American Reform Judaism than it is to the British Reform movement. As of 2010 it was the fourth largest Jewish religious group in Britain, with 8.7% of synagogue-member households. The beliefs of Liberal Judaism are outlined in The Affirmations of Liberal Judaism, authored in 1992 by Rabbi John D Rayner, the most prominent of the movement's later theologians. Like Liberal Judaism founder Claude Montefiore, Rayner shared the ideals of worldwide Reform Judaism, also known as Progressive or Liberal Judaism. Rayner affirmed a personal God; an ongoing (or "progressive") revelation allowing all to form their own views of religiosity; mandating a critical understanding of sacred texts and the evolving nature of Judaism across the ages; the separation between the ethical and ritual aspects of Judaism, with the latter serving as an instrumental capacity of the former and having no intrinsic value; personal autonomy for the individual Jew; a belief in a messianic era of harmony instead of a personal messiah; and the rejection of bodily resurrection of the dead in favour of, at most but not necessarily, the immortality of the soul. The centrality of the Prophets' moral teachings was also stressed. As in the other branches of worldwide Reform, these convictions laid little emphasis on practical observance and regarded the mechanisms of Jewish law as basically non-binding. More information...
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