The Viennese Model and American Reform Judaism

• In Event: American Judaism and the “Unity” Impulse

Abstract

In the Mid-Nineteenth Century, Reform congregations emerged in the United States with a variety of liberal Jewish visions. Isaac M. Wise and Max Lilienthal aspired to unify American congregations across the ideological spectrum with a moderate Reform platform. This paper investigates the extent to which the Viennese rite and music influenced their liturgical and musical efforts. In Vienna, the clergy had unified the disparate forces of modernization and tradition within that divided synagogue. Among Wise’s most important efforts to unify American Jewry, was his prayer book, Minhag America. Bruce Ruben’s comparison of the Viennese and Wise prayer books as well as Wise’s use of Viennese synagogue music show the impact and limits of the Viennese model on the American synagogue and its usefulness in achieving cohesion during the formative mid-nineteenth century.

Author

• Bruce Ruben, Hunter College, CUNY