How many branches are there of Judaism? How are Reformed and Orthodox Jews different?

Bannister of Truth: How many branches are there of Judaism? How are Reformed and Orthodox Jews different?
What is the difference between a reformed Jew and an Orthodox Jew? Are they different branches of judaism? (Just as the Christians have Catholics and Protestants). I work with an orthodox Jew who hates reformed Jews- why- isn’t it the same religion?

Answers and Views:

Answer by love and peace
The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

Answer by Aravah
answer: There are four branches of Judaism – Orthodox (with sects within the branch), Conservative, REFORM (not Reformed), and Reconstructionist.

The difference ONLY is how one is observant to the commandments and whether the Torah was divinely written or divinely inspired.

It is the same religion. There are extremists in every religion. You’ll find Evangelical Christians are VERY hateful towards Unitarian Christians and, quite often, against Catholics as well = fellow Christians.

Answer by Hatikvah JPA
There are several forms of orthodox Judaism in addition to the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist branches. The differences are in observance, not in belief. Orthodox Jews observe all of the pertinent commandments from the Bible, while Conservative Jews observe many, and Reform and Reconstructionists observe few.

Orthodox Jews object to Jews who are not observant because the messiah won’t arrive until all Jews are acting in accordance with God’s will. The vast majority of Jews today are either Conservative or Reform and hold a different view of the messiah or a messianic age.
.

Answer by Ambivalent LAUreate
Please note that the movement is Reform, not “Reformed” Judaism.

Your answers so far have referred to the movements in the USA. In the UK and Europe (and I think in much of the rest of the world), we have the various movements within Orthodox Judaism (Modern Orthodox, assorted charedi groups), Masorti, Reform (which is NOT identical with US Reform, but probably closer to Conservative) and Liberal. In the UK, Orthodox remains the larger movement, although Reform has an increasing ‘share’ of the total.

Unlike in the Christian branches you refer to, there is no difference in basic theology between the movements, nor is there a centralised organisation that determines everything. Synagogues choose to affiliate to a movement, and can leave it.

Orthodox Jews feel that non-Orthodox Jews are failing to observe important aspects of Judaism and therefore regard non-Orthodox conversions as invalid. However, a large proportion of people who are affiliated to Reform synagogues in the UK and Europe began life in Orthodox synagogues, or their parents did, and hence according to Orthodox Judaism they are just as Jewish as anyone else. I’m surprised to hear about a Jew who “hates” (rather than regards as misguided) other Jews, but I guess you get that in every sort of group – religions, political groups etc. It’s not the common attitude.