This fiftieth anniversary edition of W. Gunther Plaut's classic volume on the beginnings of the Jewish Reform Movement is updated with a new introduction by Howard A. Berman. The Rise of Reform Judaism covers the first one hundred years of the movement, from the time of the eighteenth-century Jewish Enlightenment leader Moses Mendelssohn to the conclusion of the Augsburg synod in 1871.In these pages the founders who established liberal Judaism speak for themselves through their journals and pamphlets, books and sermons, petitions and resolutions, and public arguments and disputations. Each selection includes Plaut's brief introduction and sketch of the reformer. Important topics within Judaism are addressed in these writings: philosophy and theology, religious practice, synagogue services, and personal life, as well as controversies on the permissibility of organ music, the introduction of the sermon, the nature of circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, the rights of women, and the authenticity of the Bible.

This fiftieth anniversary edition of W. Gunther Plaut's classic volume on the beginnings of the Jewish Reform Movement is updated with a new introduction by Howard A. Berman. The Rise of Reform Judaism covers the first one hundred years of the movement, from the time of the eighteenth-century Jewish Enlightenment leader Moses Mendelssohn to the conclusion of the Augsburg synod in 1871.In these pages the founders who established liberal Judaism speak for themselves through their journals and pamphlets, books and sermons, petitions and resolutions, and public arguments and disputations. Each selection includes Plaut's brief introduction and sketch of the reformer. Important topics within Judaism are addressed in these writings: philosophy and theology, religious practice, synagogue services, and personal life, as well as controversies on the permissibility of organ music, the introduction of the sermon, the nature of circumcision, the observance of the Sabbath, the rights of women, and the authenticity of the Bible.

"W. Gunther Plaut is one of Reform Judaism's most acclaimed twentieth-century rabbis and scholars. He is a gifted writer and intellectual whose ideas garner devotees throughout the world. Eight Decades: The Selected Writings of W. Gunther Plaut is a selection of his previously published articles and essays. They include discussions on history, biblical topics, literature and linguistics, theological questions, moral and social issues, perspectives on Reform Judaism, legal issues, and Israel. First published in magazines as diverse as Maclean's, Atlantic, Commentary, Reconstructionist, Ontario Medical Review, Hebrew Union College Annual, and many others, each essay carries a unique message that is still relevant today, Eight Decades is a fitting companion to One Voice: The Selected Sermons of W. Gunther Plaut, published in 2007 on the occasion of his ninety-fifth birthday."--Jacket

More Unfinished Business is a companion to the first volume of Rabbi Plaut?s 1981 memoir, Unfinished Business, offering readers his reflections on the unfolding of his life and work, and of events that touched him, during the past two decades. In some of these events ? for instance, in the case of his report on refugee policy and his role in shaping the direction of the Reform movement in Judaism, his reach has touched the lives of many thousands of people. This is a book of doings and musings rather than a detailed analysis of events. Rabbi Plaut considers how the events and issues he was involved with forced him to confront and reassess his life?s work, his religious, institutional, and political commitments. To understand this process, the reader is invited to consider something of the private man behind the events. It is this effort to reveal himself as a person, rather than as an actor in history, that gives added meaning to his reminiscences and his discussion of his concerns, involvements, and disappointments ? wrestling with prayer, the future of Judaism, ageing and mortality, parting with material possessions, even his passion for tennis. Rabbi Plaut is an exceptional writer and story-teller. This is a remarkable book by a remarkable man.