Closing Statement
Rabbi Leon A. Morris
I have been enriched by this virtual chavruta of sorts with my good friend, Rabbi Evan Moffic and with you, the readers of Eilu V’Eilu. In writing a closing statement, I am keenly aware of how much more there is to say about all of the issues raised in this discussion. Let it suffice for me to make three closing points.
First, our movement needs to continue to explore and promulgate correctives to the ways in which personal autonomy has run amok. As society becomes increasingly individualistic and our sense of community is weakened, we need religion to remind us that we are not isolated individuals. Life is indeed with people. Our choices need to be increasingly informed by a variety of concerns that are located outside of our selves. Our teacher at Hebrew Union College, Prof. Eugene B. Borowitz, has most cogently articulated a Reform post-modern theology of duty in his books and essays over the past several decades. His concept of the “Jewish self” provides a model of how autonomy might responsibly and meaningfully ground a life that is “commandingly involved” with God, Jewish peoplehood, the Jewish past and the Jewish future. Borowitz’s books and essays need to be read again, discussed and applied in ways that allow us to create communities that reflect our highest ideals. While there can be additional ways of working out the balance of liberal religion and a sense of obligation, no one in our movement has devoted more time or creative thought to these issues than Borowitz.
Second, let us re-think our relationship to halachah (Jewish law) and express it in ways that are far more nuanced than the oft-repeated claim that “we are not a halachic movement.” While we might object to a notion of THE Halachah, there is simply no Judaism without a relationship to halachah, the method by which Jews translate mitzvot into ways of living. The more connected we are to halachic texts, the more we will appreciate Judaism’s development, its modes of thought, its emphasis on action and its ability to find holiness in the midst of the every day. As Professor Mark Washofsky writes in the introduction to Teshuvot for the Nineties, “It will not do to argue that we can link ourselves to Jewish tradition without the halakhah, that we can substitute other, ‘friendlier’ texts in place of the legal literature….If we desire a genuine connection to the Jewish heritage, then we cannot overlook the historical fact that this heritage is overwhelmingly a tradition of law. If we are serious in claiming “Jewish tradition” for ourselves, we must also assert our stake in the halakhah.”
Finally, when speaking about Reform Judaism and ritual, we would do well to consider ritual as an educative experience. Rituals are the ways in which we transmit values from generation to generation. Israel Scheffler, professor emeritus of education and philosophy at Harvard, writes in Visions of Jewish Education: “The symbol system of Jewish ritual [can be understood as] ... not a piece of magic, superstition, rational theory, cosmic technology or outmoded theology. It constitutes a language which organizes a world, structuring time and space, orienting us in history, binding us in community and sensitizing us to those features of life in which our forebears have found the highest value and deepest meanings—freedom, responsibility, sincerity, humility, care, loyalty, righteousness, compassion. The specific interpretations given to this symbolic system have changed throughout our history more frequently than the system itself. It is the system itself we need, however, to treat seriously again, recovering it as a potent resource for Jewish education.” Such views offer a different perspective toward ritual. The measure by which we value ritual must not be solely the degree to which it seems meaningful to us. The ritual’s ability to teach us, to transmit lasting Jewish values that are embedded within it, becomes its most “commanding” power. |
Closing Statement
Rabbi Evan Moffic
I am grateful to my friend and colleague, Leon Morris, for joining me in this discussion. As always, he has taught and inspired me in his wisdom and profound commitment to Jewish learning. Thank you as well to the Union for Reform Judaism for inviting me to write and to all our readers for their thoughtful insights and questions.
Mark Twain famously said that “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” The same words might be said about the approach to and principles of Reform Judaism that I have discussed. While the current focus of many congregations is creating more traditional services and encouraging greater observance of Jewish customs, many Reform Jews remain committed to the liberal, inclusive and intellectual approach to Reform that has guided us for much of our history. I have seen this in congregations I’ve served and in conversations with many Reform Jews about their core beliefs and Jewish practices.
This is not to advocate complacency or an unwillingness to change. To the contrary, Reform evolved out of a spirit of adaptation and development inherent in Jewish life. Our congregations differ from those of the 1950s, just as the Reform synagogue of 2030 will not look or feel exactly like what we experience today. Yet, as business consultant and best-selling author Jim Collins pointed out in his study, Built To Last, successful organizations always stay focused on their core ideology, on the values that make them unique and different.
As Reform Jews, we have a unique ideology of and approach to Judaism. We are a movement that thrives on intellectual inquiry, inclusiveness, ethics, pluralism and progress. Each of us will live out these values in different ways and to differing degrees, but our task is to remain focused on them, to teach and model them in our schools and camps, and to engage with them in our communities and congregations. May we be blessed with the confidence, creativity and wisdom to do so. |
