Pittsburgh Platform

The Pittsburgh Platform was a pivotal document in the history of Reform Judaism, adopted in 1885 by a conference of Reform rabbis in the United States. It declared Judaism to be an evolutionary faith, no longer a national one, and asserted that Mosaic and rabbinical laws concerning diet, purity, and dress were outdated. The platform viewed the Talmud as religious literature rather than binding legislation. These principles guided American Reform Judaism until 1937, when the Columbus Platform reintroduced concepts of Jewish personhood, Hebrew, and traditional liturgy. Reform Judaism emerged in the 19th century as a movement to adapt Jewish beliefs and practices to modern life, challenging traditional laws and customs to remain relevant in changing social and cultural conditions.12