Abstract
Reform Judaism is based precisely on the intellectual heritage of the Enlightenment (Haskalah) and its origins is dated back to the late 18th century. This movement was born in Germany, but the real boom and reform in the true sense of the word occurred in the first half of the 19th century in America with the arrival of European immigrants who brought with them new ideas influenced by European reform movement.
The extraordinary success of the reform movement, that quickly spread across North America, resulted mainly from the religious tolerance. Isaac Mayer Wise, who is considered a significant personality and a founder of American Reform Judaism, was one of these immigrants in 1848.
The native of the Czech Republic was undoubtedly influenced by the European reform atmosphere and thoughts at that time especially in Germany where Reform Judaism was born, primarily due to Rabbi Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim. With regard to the above, it can be said that these two directions of reform, European and American Reform Judaism, have the same origin.
But despite the same philosophical basis of the influence of different cultural backgrounds have shaped over the years independently.