Good morning everyone! Here is a question posed to a Rabbi through an email dialogue hosted by the Reform movement. I don't know how I feel about the answer - why do we have to insult Orthodoxy, traditional ways of living Jewishly, in order to position ourselves...wait a minute...I said ourselves....wait, am I a Reform Jew or aren't I....ugh....
Do you see a difference between being religious and being observant? Is one concept more central to the Reform movement than the other?
One may be both religious and observant and I have no problem with that. However, in the earliest days of Reform’s development was the recognition that many Jews were very observant but who did not live ethically, who did not demonstrate sensitivity for those in need, who refused to make changes in their observances even when extreme hardships were acknowledged, even when new insights demonstrated why changes should be made, for concepts in the siddur no longer in consonance with contemporary thinking about the nature of existence such as the resurrection of the body. I believe that Reform has a special responsibility to notice the distinction between customs as decorative and customs are substantive. I favor the former and not the latter. When Orthodox and Conservative Jews comment about how we Reformers are returning to tradition, I understand what they mean but I am not complemented. When I see Reform Jews wrapped in a talit engaged in a lively prayer service, I am not threatened. When others suggest that this is what I need to do, I ask: “Why?” Understanding or at least the endeavor to understand is an important quality of being a Reform Jew. I acknowledge that there are times when I may have to live with ambiguity but I should use caution in those circumstances.
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