The Reform movement begins in Hamburg (~1810) with the Hamburg Temple — liturgy in German, organ music, elimination of prayers for the return to Zion and restoration of the Temple. The theological foundations: halakha is not divinely binding but rather the evolving expression of the Jewish people’s encounter with God; each generation has the authority to reinterpret and revise Jewish practice in light of contemporary knowledge and values. The Pittsburgh Platform (1885) is the classical statement of American Reform theology — rejecting dietary laws, most ritual observances, and the concept of Jewish national peoplehood. The Columbus Platform (1937) partially reverses course, re-embracing ritual and Zionism. Reform Judaism was the first Jewish movement to ordain women rabbis (Sally Priesand, 1972) and is the largest Jewish denomination in North America.