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Holdheim's policy was slowly
adopted by a handful of Reform
institutions in Germany; when
Reform Judaism made its way to
America, the Sunday service came
along.
In 1885, the Reform rabbinical
conference in Pittsburgh unani-
mously agreed that Shabbat was too
important to be limited to Saturday.
They wrote, "It cannot be denied
that there is a very large number of
Jews who, owing to economic and
industrial conditions, are not able
to attend services on our sacred
day of rest; be it resolved that in the
judgment of this conference there
is nothing in the spirit of Judaism
to prevent the holding of divine
services on Sunday, or any other day
of the week, where the necessity of
such services is felt:'
Essentially, if
people could not
get off from work
to attend services
on Saturday, they
should still strive to
attend a service at a
synagogue even if it
meant doing so on
Sunday.
In contrast with
the practice begun
by Rabbi Holdheim,
Reform rabbis in
America weren't
advocating transfer-
ring Shabbat services
to Sunday altogether. Rather they
were offering a supplementary
service and sermon on Sunday
for those who could not attend on
Saturday.
In practice, only about 15 percent
of Reform synagogues in America
ended up adding a Sunday service,
and all but two of those congrega-
tions still held services on Friday
night and/or Saturday. Still, the
communities that held services on
Sundays were large and powerful
ones within the Reform movement.
Meanwhile, the Orthodox com-
munity in America was becoming
increasingly frustrated about the
six-day workweek. In many states,
blue laws made it illegal to do busi-
ness on Sunday so Jews who owned
businesses and observed Shabbat
were forced to be closed on both
Saturday and Sunday. Many Jewish
families became accustomed to
attending synagogue early Saturday
morning and then going to work.
In order to combat what they saw

as a real divestment from Jewish
tradition, Orthodox rabbis joined
in a campaign with labor unions to
shorten the workweek to five days.
Clothing manufacturers were
the first industry to cut down their
workweek. By the mid-1920s, some
major garment workers' unions
were insisting on a five-day work-
week and the Jewish community —
across all denominations — vocally
supported this cause.
Over the next 15 years, more and
more industries moved to the five-
day workweek. By the end of World
War II, the five-day workweek was
standard across most industries.
Once the workweek had been
shortened and people were no
longer obligated to be at their
jobs on Saturday morning, many
Reform temples began moving their
main weekly ser-
vices to Friday night
and eventually to
Saturday morning.
Only a few Reform
synagogues continue
to hold services on
Sunday morning.
Among them
is Chicago Sinai
Congregation, which
explains on its web-
site why it maintains
Sunday services:
"The Sunday service
was first instituted
at Sinai in 1874 as a
supplement to the Saturday Sabbath
service.
However, it became so popular
and evidently filled such a need,
that by the early 20th century, it
had become the major service of
the week. Frequently, hundreds and
thousands of people gathered in the
congregation for the services, music
and sermon.
Today, Sunday services have the
additional advantage allowing par-
ents of Sunday school students an
opportunity to worship while their
children are in class:'
So the shift to services on Sunday
was a gradual one; and the shift
back away from it has been gradual,
too. But at Chicago Sinai and a few
other American Reform congrega-
tions, you can still get a taste of
what it used to be like when most
worshipers attended synagogue on
Sunday, not Saturday.

In practice, only
about 15 percent
of Reform
synagogues in
America ended
up adding a
Sunday service.

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June 10 • 2010

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