Tarihsel Yorum Bağlamında Solomon Schechter’in Muhafazakâr Yahudiliğe Etkisi/The Influence of Solomon Schechter on Conservative Judaism in the Context of Historical Interpretation

Abstract

Solomon Schechter (1849-1915) is undoubtedly the main figure that left a mark in the history of Conservative Judaism, which started to evolve into an institutional structure, centered in America, from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. His institutional contributions to Conservative Judaism through the Jewish Theological Seminary (1886), which was established to train rabbis to address modern Jewish communities in America, and the United Synagogue of America (1913), which is his own legacy, are of indisputable importance. In addition, it is possible to find traces of Schechter's thoughts in the background of the religious approach that the movement continues to adopt today. In the article, the views of Schechter, who actively participated in the Conservative movement in the early period, on Tanakh, tradition and halakha and his view on the issue of authority and change in religion in the context of the Catholic Israel principle and its reflection on the movement will all be examined. In the study, it has been tried to determine the effect of Schechter on the basic ideology of the movement and the nature of the Conservative identity that he tried to reveal in the context of his approach to the Reformist and Orthodox stance.

Keywords

• history of religions
• solomon schechter
• historical school
• tradition
• interpretation
• conservative judaism