| Orthodox | Conservative | Reform | Reconstructionist | |
| alternative name | (umbrella term for traditional / Torah - Judaism) | Historical Judaism | Liberal / Progressive Judaism | |
| Percentage in US | 15 % | 40 % | 35 % | small |
| View of Scripture | divine origin of written and oral Torah; attempt at a practical synthesis between tradition and general culture. | Torah is word of God and humans; dynamically inspired | Revelation as a continuous process, Torah preserves history, culture, legends and hope of a people, gives valuable moral and ethical insights: critical - historical method of reading bible | Judaism as the ever-evolving product of history, an ongoing attempt to forge a society based on holy values |
| halakhah | halakhah is binding; following the mitzvot is necessary to enjoy the "World to come" | halakhah is central to preservation of identity, but must be modified in light of changing social and economic circumstances | the "World to come" is achieved through a betterment of society; halakhah is to be read in that light | halakhah is defined as
the Jewish process of
celebrating, creating
and transmitting
tradition; tradition has
"a vote, but
not a veto." |
| Messiah | Messiah will come, and rule in righteousness | similar to Reform | Messianic progress achieved through progress in ethical and spiritual dimensions of Judaism | similar to Reform |
| Afterlife | physical resurrection | similar to Reform, no Eastern influence | no focus on afterlife. Some strands influenced by Eastern notions of merging with life-force | an emphasis on Godliness -- working for a better world. |
| Women | no women rabbis; men and women sit separately | women can be ordained rabbis since 1983. | move toward inclusivist language, ordination of women rabbis | women have equal status with men |