The Pagan Rabbi Historical Context

The Pagan Rabbi Historical Context

The Three Denominations of Judaism

There are three main denominations of Judaism— Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Orthodox Judaism maintains the strictest observance of traditional Jewish law and ritual. (Hasidism is an even more traditional practice of Orthodox Judaism.) Conservative Judaism, while maintaining most of these traditions, concedes to some modernization of the observance of Jewish law. Conservative Judaism can be traced back to Germany in the 1840s. In 1985, a significant change in the policy of Conservative Judaism was the decision to ordain women rabbis. Reform Judaism, which dates back to the early 1800s, is the observance most adapted to modern society, and focuses less on the strict observance of traditional Jewish law. Reform Judaism was the first branch to include a girls' Bat Mitzvah confirmation equivalent to the traditional boys' Bar Mitzvah confirmation. A newer and more radical practice of Judaism is Reconstructionism.

The Rabbinical Council of America

The Rabbinical Council of America is a national organization of Orthodox rabbis, founded in 1923. It is a branch of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, founded in 1898. Together, these organizations are devoted to supporting Orthodox Jewish observance and education, as well as supporting the State of Israel. They are also the primary body that overseas the approval of manufactured foods as "kosher," or consistent with Jewish dietary laws.

The Medieval Ghetto

Rabbi Isaac Kornfeld in this story at one point mentions the "medieval ghetto" in the "letter" that the narrator reads. In modern American usage "ghetto" generally refers to low-income areas of a city, often inhabited primarily by minority populations. However, the term "ghetto," first dubbed in the early sixteenth century, referred to areas of many cities in which Jews were legally forced to live, segregated from the rest of the population....
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