The Encyclopedia of World Religions

248 S judgment of the dead

During the 19th century, two waves of Jewish immigrants approached this issue in two different ways. Until roughly 1880, most Jewish immigrants were of German background. They developed far reaching ideas about how to adapt Judaism to the American situation. After several attempts through out the century, Reform Judaism finally coalesced in the 1870s. In that decade, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations was formed in Cincinnati. It established Hebrew Union College to train rabbis. Then from 1881 to 1914, a second wave of Jewish immigration arrived at American shores. The new immigrants came from eastern Europe. They vastly outnumbered the Jews already liv ing in America. They also rejected Reform Juda ism in favor of maintaining their traditions, and some formed the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In 1913 they also established the United Synagogue of America. These became the central institutions of Conservative Judaism. Although this new form of Judaism accepted change as inev itable, it also insisted on making changes that still respected Jewish traditions. After World War I, Orthodox Judaism coalesced. Its premier institution was Yeshiva College, later Yeshiva University, founded in 1928. A Conservative thinker, Mordecai Kaplan, added yet another variety of Judaism to the American mix: Reconstruction ism. Reconstructionism emphasizes Judaism not as a religion but as an everchanging civilization. With the rise of Hitler, Reform Jews began a move to recover traditions that they had abandoned. After World War II, ultraconservative Hasidic communi ties settled in the United States ( see H ASIDISM ). A prime example is the Lubavitch community in New York City. In the second half of the 20th century, Ameri can Judaism was still negotiating the conflict between preserving traditions and adapting to the American environment. One very important issue concerned the place of women in the community. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism ordained women to the RABBINATE . The Orthodox refused to do so. The Conservative movement eventually decided to ordain women, but some within the community continued to resist this move.

judgment of the dead The idea that after peo ple die, their lives are assessed. It is especially important in C HRISTIANITY and I SLAM . Religions have many different teachings about what happens after death ( see AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELIGIONS ). Some teach that all people lead the same kind of existence, an existence that is not particu larly desirable. Examples include the religions of ancient Mesopotamia and Israel. Other religions teach that reward for a good life and punishment for a bad one occur according to “natural” laws. Examples are notions of KARMA in H INDUISM , J AINISM , and B UDDHISM , and the “bridge of the requiter” that Zoroastrians say the dead must cross ( see Z OROAS TRIANISM ). Still other religions teach that after peo ple die, they must answer to a judge or panel of judges for what they have done. Strictly speaking, judgment of the dead refers to this last teaching. Some religions of the ancient Mediterranean world contain hints of a judgment of the dead. The Egyptian Book of Going Forth by Day con tains a well-known image of a person’s heart being weighed in a balance after death. In one pan stands the heart; in the other rests a feather. The feather symbolizes Maat, the Egyptian GOD DESS of truth and justice ( see E GYPTIAN RELIGION ). Some Greeks also taught that the dead appeared before a panel of judges. According to Plato, in his Apology, the philosopher Socrates identified these judges as Minos, Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, Triptolemus, and other demigods. The Jewish New Year, Rosh ha-Shanah ( see J EWISH FESTI VALS ), is sometimes called the Day of Judgment. But J UDAISM has tended to be less specific about what happens after death than its younger cous ins, Christianity and Islam. The opening verses of the Q UR ’ AN emphasize the importance of the judgment of the dead in Islam: “In the name of A LLAH , the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, the Benefi cent, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judg ment” (Qur’an 1.1–3). Christians and Muslims share many ideas about the judgment of the dead. They generally think that the souls of the dead are already with G OD . At the same time, they expect a final judg