Do all jews believe the same, or is their a diversity of beliefs in different synogogues?

Answer 1

As others have said, there are three major sects of judaism in America today.

1) Orthodox- Believe that the torah is the explicit word of G-d, and as such is eternal and cannot be changed. Follow halacha under all circumstances.

2) Conservative- the most difficult to describe philisophically of the three sects. To understand why this is, you must understand that it was not created based on any deep philosophies, but based on a historical situation. When Jews started to come to America, many of the layperson, nonrabinical, leaders of the Jewish community felt that there was no way that Orthodox judaism, with a strict adherence to halacha, can survive in America. Therefore, they met and decided that in order to "conserve" the remainder of Judaism, we must compramise on some other portions of halacha. Most adherents justify this by saying that the Torah is not the explicit word of G-d, and thus it is subject to change, though a more recent phenomenon is conservative rabbis agreeing that the torah is the word of g-d. This movement is mostly an American phenomenon, though there are some adrehents in Israel, called Mesorati.

3) Reform- While this used to be based on some philisophical points (that the point of halacha is to lead you to be a good person, and thus if the halacha is against that goal, you must ignore it, and if you can be a good person without following halacha, you don't need it), it has basically become a "anything goes" type of thing, where if you are less than conservative, you are reform.

There are also some lesser sect (reconstructionist, for example), but they are less important.

There are other differences between synagoges, but they are ritual not based on beliefs. So, for example, you pray slightly differently if your family originated in Germany or Russia than if your family originated in Spain. Again, though, this is just based on different traditions, not based on different beliefs.

Answer 2

There is a great range of beliefs. Orthodox Jews try to follow the Bible - which they believe is the literal word of God - to the letter. Liberal/Reform (not politically liberal) Jews couldn't really care less about the laws and don't believe the Bible was actually personally written by God, but often believe in God and see themselves as Jewish. Conservative/Masorti (not politically conservative) Jews are somewhere in the middle.

Answer 3

In general, there are three primary categories of Jewish belief; Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed. In the simplest terms, that just means Devout, less Devout, Even Less Devout. There are many other sub-groups as well, such as those affiliated with individual Rabbi's, or Kabalah, or geographic regions. However, all people are individuals and hold their own beliefs.

Answer 4

There is a diversity of views. There are Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism which I believe are the main constituents. There are also Reconstruction and Renewal Judaism movements which are smaller constituents.

Answer 5

most of the differences between the jewish branches are simply how faithful that particular branch is to the bible. orthodox jews take biblical laws very seriously, whereas reform jews only follow the biblical laws they believe still apply, if they follow any at all.

Answer 6

the differences between synagogoes has more to do with practice (ritual) than belief. belief is always personal for jews.

for a better understanding of how varied the belief part of judaism can be, the book Finding God has 12 completely different concepts of god that all fall under the umbrella of jewish philosophy.

http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Rifat-Sonsino-Daniel-Syne/dp/0807407984

Answer 7

There are more kinds of Jews than there are Baptists... Thats a lot!