practice is shaped by a coalition that includes a worth the price of inefficiency. seminary (HUC–JIR), an array of professional Helping to create a meaningful Jewish groups (CCAR, , ACC, cantors, NATE, life for every Reform Jew is the shared respon- ECE–RJ, and PARDeS, educators, and NATA, sibility of rabbis, cantors, educators, adminis- administrators), and a congregational system trators, and lay persons working collaboratively. (URJ). Not surprisingly, decisions that engage Collaboration has become more than a this organizational matrix are time consuming, method of engagement; it has become a value labor intensive, and process driven. For exam- and, perhaps, a goal. And as partnerships de- ple, introducing a new siddur (Mishkan T’filah) velop, we see volunteers take on roles as teach- involved multiple votes by rabbis and feedback ers, readers of Torah, and worship leaders from 300-plus congregations that piloted dif- (shelichei tsibur). In early rabbinic Judaism, zugot ferent drafts of the siddur. The result is also (pairs of rabbinic leaders) articulated princi- telling — a prayerbook in multiple versions, ples of Jewish thought and practice. They often e.g., with and without transliteration, with and presented their ideas in tension with one an- without weekday services. Developing a cur- other, e.g., the exegetical approaches of Akiva riculum for congregational schools also re- and Ishmael. An echo of the zugot in Reform quired multiple layers of input from academics Judaism would include a and a congre- and practitioners, ongoing assessment, and gational president, a professional and a volun- continual refinement. This process-heavy atti- teer, walking and working together, in pursuit tude toward change can at times yield frustra- of a Torat Chayyim, a living Torah that is au- tion but the prize of inclusiveness and the thentic and relevant, rooted in Jewish tradition better outcomes it produces is perceived to be and open to Jewish innovation. Sh’ma solicited several “letters” to URJ President Eric Yoffie. He responds on page seven.

Rabbi Yoffie, Dear Rabbi Yoffie, To be honest…the movement is losing America is a place of nothing. us. “Us” is that in-between set. We’ve moved Nothing is handed down except freedom. past high school but not yet settled with a You can die of freedom.* family. We are in college, in grad school, working our way through debts and toward Like most Reform rabbis, I’ve had the an established career. We are the products of experience of seeing children reared in Re- Reform households, camps, NFTY, religious form synagogues turn to traditional Judaism schools; but since we graduated high school, when they reach young adulthood. Often it’s we’ve been forsaken. If our Hillel didn’t the most religiously serious and sensitive offer what we were looking for, our only time young people who go in this direction, find- to revisit our faith came when we went home ing in traditional Judaism a deeply satisfying for the High Holidays…if that. way of life: order, structure, moral clarity; a It’s time to refocus the movement’s en- sense of authenticity and rootedness; inten- ergy and see why we are losing our children, sive Jewish learning; open, unembarrassed the “us,” the ones who long for a Jewish com- God-talk and God-seeking; dynamic, partici- munity of our own — not defined by the patory prayer; the warmth and support of a youth or by our parents or by a singles scene. Shabbat-centered community. We are not always looking for a partner, but I don’t romanticize what traditional rather a firm and stable connection to com- communities have to offer, and I know well munity and to God. Though I am not choos- what these young people are sacrificing in ing a path that will lead me to becoming a embracing a way of life that may be repres- Jewish professional, I hope to someday be a sive, cloistered, sexist, and xenophobic. Still, lay leader for my movement. However, when I ask myself if a Reform congregation — the movement makes so little effort to grounded in freedom, autonomy, and self- beckon me back, it is difficult to imagine determination — can meet the most power- November 2007 serving the URJ in my future. Kislev 5768 ful needs of the soul. Do we have the Programs that work revolutionize the To subscribe: 877-568-SHMA capacity to inspire a Judaism of passion and — continued on page 4 www.shma.com — continued on page 4 3 connections between the arts, Torah, and devotion that can withstand the seductions prayer. Using music, performance, and in- of secular American life? tense study, these efforts infuse a serious We all know that serious Jewish learning, focus on text with an innovative, fresh ap- dynamic worship, inspired social justice proach. Study is not just work, and supportive, caring communities chevrutah anymore; it is asking questions, experimenting outside exist within our synagogues. What we don’t the comfort zone, and including a broader have are norms of commitment. Shabbat ob- sense of community. Reform does not mean servance isn’t normative, regular worship step back, but step forward, and I firmly be- isn’t normative, Jewish study isn’t normative, lieve that without my generation our move- and neither is a personal commitment to ment is going to be stuck in the same place it mutual care and support. For the most part, has been in for years. We are the generation the norm is ignorance, minimalism, and a of motivators, the ones who will hopefully be utilitarian approach to synagogue life: the able to reflect on the amazing work laid out congregation is “used” to purchase services by our predecessors and able to use that to and remains tangential in the life of most bolster further efforts. members. You need a critical mass of com- I struggle to find my own answer for my mitted participants to define the culture of a own faith every day. I ask the typical ques- congregation. And you need a culture of tions about the presence of God in my daily commitment to retain the best of our youth. life, the purpose of prayer, and how my Cultural change means the ongoing community can find me even as I travel to work of expanding the committed core. the far reaches of the world. I want my Cultural change is the essential task of Re- movement to reach out to me and ask: What form leadership. To build robust communi- can we do for you? What do you need? Just ties of Jewish substance and spirit, we need those questions might help restore my faith impassioned and skillful leaders, both lay in our community. and professional. — Emilia Diamant, Costa Rica Congregational life is enervating, disheart- ening, and lonely for idealistic Jewish leaders because we come to see that what is central to Dear Eric, our lives is of marginal importance to most of I can’t wait to see you at the URJ Bien- those whom we serve. Our leaders must have nial in San Diego. There, we will dance and not only the patience and resilience to with- sing and study and celebrate the many ac- stand that reality, but also the practical skills to complishments of our movement, for we guide the long-term work of change. To main- have many reasons to rejoice: people — Jews tain enthusiasm for this work, we must be con- by birth and Jews by choice — are coming to tinually nourished by powerful encounters synagogue; the study is deeper and the wor- with Torah and vibrant spiritual communities, ship more compelling. Our numbers are especially in . Only serious and sustained growing, our schools overflowing, and our investment in leadership will create a Reform programmatic initiatives read like the local Judaism with something significant to say in phone book. I am as busy as ever. the 21st century. Amidst all of our wonderful programs, I What’s exciting to me about Reform is feel that we rarely have the time to connect. that it’s a Judaism predicated on religious re- Blessed with so many passionate leaders vival. We believe that Judaism thrives when it deeply committed to learning, social justice, is periodically re-energized and re-created by and the spiritual search, we rarely make time new infusions of intellect, imagination, and for each other. love. So I believe deeply that we can find Perhaps, our distance is the price of the within our tradition and within ourselves the autonomy coupled with the increasing de- resources to meet today’s challenges. What’s mands of modernity. Or maybe it is the in- needed is our collective will. creasing demands and dizzying pace of — Janet Marder, Los Altos, California congregational life, holy living, and our dear movement where program follows program, November 2007 *Spoken by a woman attending a weekend gathering at a initiative follows initiative, list follows list. In Kislev 5768 Chabad House in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. See Malinovich, Present Tense 11:1 this broken world, too many things are To subscribe: 877-568-SHMA Myriam M. “A Haven Among the Chasidim” in www.shma.com (Autumn 1983), 41-44. pulling us apart. I’m not just talking about 4 the panoply of synagogue programs, but an identify with the traditional pull of people- increasingly fragmented world. hood; a shared history no longer connects As a Reform Jew, I find myself increas- us. To ward off that aloneness, let us make ingly alone. Just look at the interfaith table. time for each other, build relationships, Many of our Jewish colleagues have turned share the fullness and blessed intricacy of inward, no longer prioritizing interfaith dia- life. No more synagogue programs; our lives logue. Meanwhile, so many of our long-time are already too programmed. Rather, let the Christian friends have turned against us, crit- movement focus on building sacred relation- icizing Israel rather than engaging in fruitful ships where people care for each other and dialogue. It is time that we invest, when so share the sacred intimacies of life. many others choose to divest. Let’s stay connected, Many of our congregants no longer — Joel Sisenwine, Wellesley, Mass.

Dear Eric, congregant express frustration with their I hesitate a bit before writing this letter to rabbi in the middle of our Kabbalat Shabbat you as my congregation and my life are in Is- service, “But you told us this was a Reform rael. Though I have never served an American temple — and yet everything is in Hebrew!” I congregation, every year I welcome thousands fear this knowledge gap is growing even of American Reform Jews who come to wor- greater. ship at my congregation in Jerusalem, Kol The reactions of some to HaNeshama. I also spend time with dozens of the political situation in Israel intensifies our rabbis visiting and studying here. sense of isolation. While it is understandable It is a great challenge and privilege for that American Jews are sometimes troubled my congregation to receive the huge num- by Israeli government policies, I’d hope that ber of pilgrims (I don’t think of them as they would remain engaged with the issues tourists). We see it as our Zionist obligation rather than become alienated and indiffer- to welcome individuals and groups despite ent. We have so many struggles as we fight the strain (financial and otherwise) that it for our rights in Israel; when American Re- places on the community. But the en- form Jews visit and feel indifferent, it is un- counter is not always positive and I’d like to bearable. share with you some of our disappointments. And yet I’m proud to be part of the in- I am troubled by the low level of Jewish, ternational Reform movement, which en- Hebrew, and Israel literacy. Although the Re- gages in serious form Jews who visit are deeply committed, cheshbon nefesh. We admit mistakes and we take real steps to correct they know so little about Israel and even less them. For me, that is the essence of Reform. about the movement here. They are often We take bold steps. We make mistakes. We lost and alienated in an Israeli synagogue are self-critical. We move forward. where the worship is entirely in — Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, Hebrew. I have heard many an American Jerusalem

Upcoming in Sh’ma Facing a Different Sexual Revolution Israel through the Eyes of its Ministers NeoConservativism & the Jews Teaching Israel — Educating a Sophisticated Jewish Learner Philanthropy and Decision-Making November 2007 Transcending Centrality, Periphery & Hybridity in Jewish American Life Kislev 5768 To subscribe: 877-568-SHMA www.shma.com 5 If pressed, the leaders of our movement Dear Rabbi Yoffie, admit that some rabbis officiate at interfaith The Reform movement now stands in the marriages, but in the same breath explain midst of a moment of radical ideological dis- that the movement is officially opposed to in- sonance — a threshold that separates one dis- termarriage. While we let the non-Jews pay tinct ideological era from another. Although their families’ membership dues or drive the external events have often been the impetus carpool to religious school, we rarely let them for such transitions — think the destruction ascend the bima or if we do, the restrictions of the Second Temple or the Expulsion from we place on their participation are the equiv- Spain — ultimately, the philosophical transi- alent of the Scarlet Letter. tion from one era to another has been predi- Yet, these non-Jewish members of our cated upon meaning and relevance to Jews community have chosen to cast their lot with rather than fealty to Judaism. the Jewish people and in many cases are ob- Alexander Schindler, of blessed memory, servant, knowledgeable, and passionate “re-formed” by articulating about Judaism despite the absence of conver- a creative and courageous response to inter- sion. And they are waiting for our uncondi- marriage and welcoming non-Jews. His ideas tional acceptance. The only outstanding recognized that unless Judaism is relevant to issue is the creativity and courage of our re- Jews, it is meaningless. Our movement has sponse. Thus, I have concluded — and failed, though, to update Schindler’s para- Rabbi Yoffie, this is my plea to you — that digm of intermarriage and outreach. our movement must unabashedly embrace We must confront the reality that a signif- the non-Jews who choose to be part of our icant number of non-Jews live among us who community: let us officiate at their weddings either will not convert or will only convert to Jews without apology, let us welcome them when they are ready, but who desperately to our bimot without restrictions, and let us want to be part of the Jewish community. integrate them into our community with full Today, our movement’s official position rights and privileges. toward non-Jews who live within our commu- — Rabbi Joshua Aaronson, nities and with Jewish partners is at best am- Park City, Utah bivalent and at worst profoundly hypocritical.

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