"Reform Jews don't do that"

[cellio]

This morning the torah-study group continued looking at kashrut, and someone raised the issue of kashrut standards for the synagogue kitchen. (Several of us would like there to be some beyond "no pork".) We talked about that for a while and then a relative newcomer said the words that really bug me: "Reform Jews don't keep kosher". (Just to be clear, my gripe is with the first three words of that sentence.)

My response was (approximately): The Reform movement isn't about not doing things. It's about autonomy. We can't just say "I'm Reform so I don't do that"; we're required to study and make an informed choice. Sometimes that informed choice will be "I don't do that", and sometimes it will be "I do that".

Sigh. The Reform movement certainly has its bad apples (as do all movements, or for that matter all organizations). And it's had some really embarrassing history, mainly in the 19th century. But we get enough flack from outside the movement that it really bugs me when people inside don't recognize that it's possible to take this seriosuly.

Maybe, if I'm lucky, I helped to enlighten one person today. It's a start.

Comments

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

The Reform movement isn't about not doing things. It's about autonomy. We can't just say "I'm Reform so I don't do that"; we're required to study and make an informed choice. Sometimes that informed choice will be "I don't do that", and sometimes it will be "I do that".

*wild applause from the cheap seats*

Thank you! That was exactly the attitude of the second rabbi I talked to. I explained to him that I was already trying to keep kosher, and he said something to the effect of, "oh, we're reform, that doesn't matter." ...well it matters to me! :-\

[cellio]

Thanks.

I hope you have a different rabbi than that one. I hear this from "just plain folks" more often than I'd like, but if I heard it from a rabbi it would really bug me. There's a difference between pointing out that one isn't necessarily obligated and just plain dismissing the question!

Hmm, if I ever get access to the pulpit again, maybe I have an idea of what I'm going to talk about...

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

I know this is an old post; I hope you get email notices!

I had to find this post again, because I actually mentioned it in the course of my conversation with the rabbi. That is by far the best description of reform Judaism that I've seen. Must write that down in my handy dandy notebook... :)

I asked the rabbi if there was a word for people who are partially observant, a word between shomer (as in shomer kashrut or shomer shabbos) and "not at all". She said there was a word that a friend of hers uses; it sounded like she said "zo-hare" ... it had something to do with the commandments being repeated in a second book (Deuteronomy?) and the difference between observing the mitvot and remembering to observe them...? Or something? Are you familier with a word like this?

[cellio]

I'm glad my post helped you.

I know the word you're looking for, though I'm not 100% sure of the grammar. Let me back up a bit, though.

The ten commandments appear twice in the Torah, once in Sh'mot (Exodus) and once in D'varim (Deuteronomy). They are not identical, which is a source of much commentary. One of the ways in which they are different is that one version says, with respect to Shabbat, "shamor" (keep, or guard really) and the other says "zachor" (remember). Some of our prayers and blessings make a point of mentioning both meanings.

I infer from grammatical pattern-matching that the term your rabbi used was "zocheir Shabbat" (or "zocheir kashrut" or whatever). By the way, that "ch" is "chet", that sort of guttural-sounding letter that's hard for non-natives to learn at first. (Keep at it; you'll get it.)

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner has written some articles about applying "zachor" as opposed to "shamor" to Shabbat. Basically, he makes the point that we can fulfill mitzvot in a way that remembers, even if we do not do the traditional implementation of keeping them. He says this much better than I can, so get thee to a library (or your rabbi's bookshelf), find the book A Sabbath Reader (ed. Dov Peretz Elkins, UAHC Press), and read his essay there. Much of the rest of the book is worth reading, too.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I asked my very wonderful, very wise Reform rabbi about something I was pissed off at the Reform movement for. He agreed calmly with my objection and said he'd fought it in the CCAR but been outvoted -- and then he also said, "I've always thought it doesn't matter much what denomination you belong to so long as you're dissatisfied with it. If you're dissatisfied with it, you remember to make the changes in your own life to compensate for where you think it's wrong. If you're satisfied with any one movement you're not thinking hard enough for yourself."

One of many things Rabbi Wolf told me that I'll always remember.

[cellio]

I think Rabbi Wolf has a very good point.

Slogans needed...

[goljerp]

I think that what the Reform movement needs is a pithy slogan which summarizes that philosphy. The Reconstructionist "Tradition has a vote, not a veto" is an example of what I'm thinking of. Hmm... How about "Informed Jews doing what they find meaningful" Or, maybe, "Informed Reform Jews doing what they find meaningful" "Informal, Informed, Reform Jews forming meaningful formulas for social action and personal behavior"?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

The last time I checked, the rule was "Reform Jews aren't required or obligated to keep Kosher. That doesn't mean you can't choose to do so.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Would "not required, but perhaps obligated" catch the right sense?

[figmo.livejournal.com]

I'm a Reform Jew, and I feel no obligation to keep Kosher. This does not mean other Reform Jews can't or don't keep Kosher.

My synagogue was the one where we had McDonald's cheeseburgers at one of our Hebrew school sponsored events, which just goes to show how much variance there can be in Reform congregations.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I didn't mean the "perhaps" to apply uniformly over all Reform Jews.

[cellio]

Yes. Some Reform Jews really do see themselves as obligated to certain mitzvot, other Reform Jews to different mitzvot, and yet others to none at all. I personally feel I am obligated in many of them.