What are differences between Orthodox Hasidic Conservative Reconstructionist Reform and Humanistic Judaism?

Answer 1

The only thing that unites ALL Jews is a shared culture, history, and traditions. Because Judaism is a very diverse religion, not all Jews believe in God, that the Torah was written by God, or that the 613 Commandments are "binding."

Orthodox Jews are the most conservative. They obey the 613 Commandments (yes, 603 more than you thought, even for Christians!) as the word of God, that are binding without exception. They believe the Torah was written by God and given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Chasidic Jews are most conservative of the Orthodox. Chasidic live separately and do not integrate with outside society. Some Orthodox choose to grow their beards, wear plain clothing, wear yarmulkes in public, keep the Sabbath strictly, and speak Hebrew within the home. Almost all of an Orthodox temple service is Hebrew.

Conservative Jews are more liberal. They maintain that the Torah was God's work, written by humans, however. Jewish law can adapt to modern society. Much of Conservative services are in Hebrew. Conservative Jews integrate with modern society, choosing to not wear yarmulkes in everyday life, living with gentiles, and sending their kids to public school.

Reform Judaism is constantly changing. It is not "Reformed" (past tense). It is still changing to adapt to the society in which it exists. It is more liberal than Conservative Judaism. While Reform congregations are typically the largest in number of any of the Jewish movements in America, many Reform Jews only attend synogogue on the high holidays (Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah), as well as a few other times per year.

Reconstructionist Judaism does not generally demand belief in a God the way that the above three movements do. Instead, Reconstructionist Jews focus on the important teachings of the Torah in terms of societal value.

Humanistic Judaism values the culture and traditions of the Jewish people, but excludes mention of God and prayer in its teachings, services, and ceremonies. It is the most liberal and secular of the Jewish movements.

http://judaism.about.com/od/denominationsofjudaism/p/branches.htm