That Reform Judaism is becoming more “traditional” is not only a perception, it’s a manifest reality. What we need to examine is why it’s happening, what traditions are being reclaimed, and is it good for the Jews.    

Yes, it’s good for the Jews.  Rabbi Alan Bregman z”l used to remind us that Judaism has always changed to meet the needs of the Jews of a given time and place. My teacher Rabbi Frederick Schwartz (who brought Chicago’s Temple Sholom from its Classic roots into the mainstream) contrasts the mission of nineteenth-century Reform—teaching Jews how to be Americans—with today’s mission, teaching Americans how to be Jews.  Reclaiming traditions, like all the programs, practices and principles of Reform Judaism, is market-driven. Our congregations are populated by Jews (like me) who grew up in other traditions, joined a Reform congregation for convenience, expecting some though not all of the stuff we were accustomed to in our prior religious incarnations. 

This willingness to be seen “doing Jewish” is facilitated by the successful integration and acceptance of Jews into the general society, and by a zeitgeist that not only accepts the non-rational, but actively encourages the mystical, the symbolic, the spiritual. We are comfortable today with metaphor and poetry and no longer worry that outsiders will take it/us literally.

No, this does not mean, as the ignorant aver, that “we’re becoming Orthodox.” It means that we’re still reforming our Judaism in terms of ideology (what we think), worship (what and how we pray), and lifestyle (what we do outside the synagogue).    

Few members of Reform congregations give a moment’s thought to the ideological position of their rabbis or of the movement, much less their own; but the changes in ideology underlie those in worship and practice. The coming of the Messianic Age is not an expectation, particularism and Zionism are taken for granted, but our historic universalism and commitment to social action remain central.    

The most visible reclamation of tradition is in the synagogue. More b’nei mitzvah, more Hebrew, more two-day Rosh Hashanah synagogue observances, more marching with the Torah scroll, more body language punctuating our praying—bowing, bending the knee, rising on our tiptoes as we sing kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, part of the K’dushah prayer.

 I save the most obvious (and most personal) for last—the kippah and tallit.  Some twenty years ago, at the Union’s Biennial in Atlanta, so many men and women, scores if not hundreds, were wearing tallitot at Shabbat services, including His and Hers matched sets, that my wife asked, “Is this a religious statement or a fashion statement?” When I first affiliated with the Reform Movement, not wearing a kippah and tallit was a big adjustment—but not nearly as momentous as deciding earlier this year to put them both back on. My impetus came during Shabbat services in Jerusalem at the World Union for Progressive Judaism assembly, where I felt not so much underdressed as out of step, and decided that I needed a tallit not to connect to God, but to connect to world Jewry.    

How we lead our daily lives is probably where the return to tradition has had the least impact. I doubt that kashrut observance, whether in our homes or when we eat out, has changed appreciably, except among our clergy—although more temples probably observe some degree of kashrut. As a community, we are probably no more Sabbath observant than in the past, nor no less. Leaving aside intermarried families, we probably have fewer Christmas trees and “Chanukah bushes” than was once the case in Reform circles. But essentially, the reclaiming of tradition is something that happens at the temple, not in the daily lives of members. 

We were once at a dinner party where the other six couples all belonged to Conservative congregations, and someone made a disparaging remark about our Reform “minimalism.”   I retorted that we might be the only Reform Jews in the group, but we were also the only ones who went to shul every Shabbos. We understand our Reform privilege to reclaim that to which we relate, and to relate to a community that is similarly tradition-minded.  Ken yirbu—may this only increase.

The Pittsburgh Platform, written in 1885 and considered the foundational document of Classical Reform Judaism, called for “the establishment of the reign of truth and righteousness among [people]” and solutions to “the problems presented by the contrasts and evils of the present organization of society.” The ethical mitzvot, aimed at establishing a just society, were considered to have inherent value, while ritual practices were valuable only insofar as they “elevate and sanctify our lives.” The authors of the Pittsburgh Platform recognized that, for rituals to continue to have this effect, they must evolve in conjunction with changing societal circumstances and “our present mental and spiritual state.” In contrast to pre-Enlightenment cultures, when Jewish communities lived separately from the surrounding societies, the United States of 1885 had a “melting pot” ideal, in which people of different national origins became Americans by becoming assimilated into the general culture. Therefore, in order to join American society while still remaining Jewish, the writers of the Pittsburgh Platform frowned upon ritual practices they saw as going too far to maintain Jewish distinctiveness.

In establishing Jewish practice for their age, the Classical Reformers looked to Jewish history for inspiration. They looked to the Torah to revive traditional practices such as observing one festival day rather than two. They looked to the biblical prophets for their messages of social justice that became central to Reform Judaism. They looked to rabbinic literature for Reform interpretations that addressed many areas of Jewish life. And they looked to their own time to produce innovations for unanticipated conditions, like a later start for Friday night services.

As the heirs of those nineteenth-century Reform Jews, we must view them today as one stage in Jewish history rather than a triumphant conclusion. Their pronouncements should not be interpreted as one-time corrections intended to last forever, but as ongoing for progressive Jews in every generation. The longstanding Reform commitments to social justice, ethical action, and recognizing the divine image in every human being are more relevant now than ever before, and need no adjustment other than deepening these commitments. However, like the Classical Reform rabbis, we are reexamining our ritual practices, which are still intended to “elevate and sanctify our lives” in light of changing circumstances. The “melting pot” has been replaced with a multicultural “salad bowl.” In our day, maintaining distinctive cultural practices is seen as part of being authentic Americans. Just as pre-Enlightenment rituals seemed irrelevant in 1885 because their contexts no longer applied, many contemporary Reform Jews view the practices of 1885 the same way, and would echo the words of the Pittsburgh Platform, “[t]heir observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.”

Like our Classical Reform forebears, we have Jewish history at our command to formulate Reform Jewish practices for the twenty-first century. Some practices are based on older rituals that have lain dormant for generations, while others are entirely new.  In either case, this is not returning to previous times, but in the Reform tradition uses past customs to keep Judaism evolving into the present and future.

As multicultural ideals have become accepted in America, they have also taken hold in Judaism in general and Reform Judaism in particular. For this reason, I am avoiding specifics about contemporary practice, because different communities and different individuals will arrive at different legitimate conclusions. What these diverse conclusions should have in common is that they are informed by an educated understanding of traditional and modern Jewish sources, and they are true to the highest ethical principles of the progressive Jewish tradition. As we develop Reform Judaism into the future, let us continue to draw inspiration from all periods of Jewish history, including the history that we have yet to write.