Reform is the most liberal of the major movements within Judaism today.
It started in the 1800s in Germany during the emancipation, and encouraged examination of religion with an eye towards rationality and egalitarianism. The laws reflect their times, but contain many timeless truths. Reform also stresses equality between the sexes. Reform Judaism shares the universal Jewish emphasis on learning, duty, and obligation rather than creed as the primary expression of a religious life. Reform stresses that ethical responsibilities, personal and social, are enjoined by G-d.