worship, nor about the inclusion of women in the minyan. Services were simply held for those present.”
Why did these innovations occur in North America and not in Europe ? The European reformers had to concern themselves with the attitude of the often conservative governments, which viewed any religious change as a threat to civil stability. Furthermore, they had to work within a communal framework that sought to accommodate everyone. Some changes were possible, radical experiments were not.
North America was different. All the communities were new and not well established, nor was there a huge reservoir of hostile traditionalists in neighboring lands. We might assign some other reasons as well(1) The impatience of the moment. No one wished to move slowly and to debate about minor matters.(2) The feeling that this generation had to make radical changes to accommodate itself to new conditions(3) The American optimism which saw the vision of the ancient prophets close to fulfillment.(4) North America was governed by a bent toward the practical rather than to theories, so a more radical stance could readily be taken. Though we should remember that the first Jewish theology was written by Kaufmann Kohler during his years as rabbi in North America (1917) did not deal with the issue of women and their place in Judaism .
Into the Twentieth Century
The treatment of women in the halakhah and in the synagogue were among the major concerns of the early Reform Movement. The changes earlier adopted were accepted and their details worked out in different ways in Europe and North America . This included issues of marriage and divorce, which raised the ire of respondists in Eastern Europe . The attack on these matters was less concerted than on outward changes in the synagogue service. The“organ controversy” stirred more individuals to duel with their pen than the get. Orthodoxy seemed to fear the very visible ritual changes more than the changes which affected only a small portion of the population and which would, anyhow always draw some sympathetic reaction even from their own