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ooh, front-row seats!
Well well well, this should be good!
The Union for Reform Judaism publishes a weekly mailing called "Eilu v'Eilu". Each month they pose an intended-to-be-controversial question to two rabbis/scholars/etc who are supposed to argue different sides. (Sometimes that last part breaks down and they violently agree with each other, but not usually.) In week 1 you get the presentations, week 2 the rebuttals, week 3 the counter-rebuttals, and week 4 the questions from the audience.
This month's question: "What are the standards for Reform Jews?"
Some excerpts (see the whole thing in the archive):
Rabbi Arnold Gluck: Many Jews believe there are no standards for Reform Jews and that Reform Jews choose to observe as they please. Some who believe this are themselves Reform Jews. Others would say that religious autonomy is a defining characteristic of Reform Judaism and that halachah, a Jewish legal framework, is contrary to the liberal spirit of Reform. There are, in fact, standards for Reform Jews. [...] The time has come for a shift in Reform religious consciousness to place a higher value on Jewish observance as mitzvah, as personal religious obligation. We need to change our approach from “why should I?” to “why shouldn’t I?”
Preach it, Rabbi. :-)
Meanwhile, over in the other corner, we have Rabbi Michael Sternfield: Reform Judaism, on the other hand, readily admits that moral standards can and do change, as does our interpretation of some of the basics. Not all of the basics, but some of them. We are forthright enough to proclaim outright: “Sometimes the Torah can be wrong, because the Torah is the work of well-meaning and inspired teachers who were, nevertheless, deeply influenced by the prevailing views of their times, just as we are influenced by the prevailing views of our times.” When I was serving as the rabbi of a congregation in Durban, South Africa, the local Orthodox rav wrote a newspaper column in which he stated: “Reform rabbis make things up and call it Judaism.” At first, I was highly offended by the tone of his critique. Upon further thought, I said to myself (and others) “Yes, that is exactly what we do. We take into consideration the context, the circumstances, the opinions of others including Orthodox rabbis, and then we make a decision.”
(I do note in passing that both writers recast the question as "are there standards?"; I don't see a lot of "what" here. That's a necessary pre-question, though, so that's fine with me. I find myself having this discussion a lot in my congregation, and that rarely gets as far as "what" either.)
Realistically, I've got at most one shot at a question. But I have a couple of weeks to figure out what it'll be.
The Union for Reform Judaism publishes a weekly mailing called "Eilu v'Eilu". Each month they pose an intended-to-be-controversial question to two rabbis/scholars/etc who are supposed to argue different sides. (Sometimes that last part breaks down and they violently agree with each other, but not usually.) In week 1 you get the presentations, week 2 the rebuttals, week 3 the counter-rebuttals, and week 4 the questions from the audience.
This month's question: "What are the standards for Reform Jews?"
Some excerpts (see the whole thing in the archive):
Rabbi Arnold Gluck: Many Jews believe there are no standards for Reform Jews and that Reform Jews choose to observe as they please. Some who believe this are themselves Reform Jews. Others would say that religious autonomy is a defining characteristic of Reform Judaism and that halachah, a Jewish legal framework, is contrary to the liberal spirit of Reform. There are, in fact, standards for Reform Jews. [...] The time has come for a shift in Reform religious consciousness to place a higher value on Jewish observance as mitzvah, as personal religious obligation. We need to change our approach from “why should I?” to “why shouldn’t I?”
Preach it, Rabbi. :-)
Meanwhile, over in the other corner, we have Rabbi Michael Sternfield: Reform Judaism, on the other hand, readily admits that moral standards can and do change, as does our interpretation of some of the basics. Not all of the basics, but some of them. We are forthright enough to proclaim outright: “Sometimes the Torah can be wrong, because the Torah is the work of well-meaning and inspired teachers who were, nevertheless, deeply influenced by the prevailing views of their times, just as we are influenced by the prevailing views of our times.” When I was serving as the rabbi of a congregation in Durban, South Africa, the local Orthodox rav wrote a newspaper column in which he stated: “Reform rabbis make things up and call it Judaism.” At first, I was highly offended by the tone of his critique. Upon further thought, I said to myself (and others) “Yes, that is exactly what we do. We take into consideration the context, the circumstances, the opinions of others including Orthodox rabbis, and then we make a decision.”
(I do note in passing that both writers recast the question as "are there standards?"; I don't see a lot of "what" here. That's a necessary pre-question, though, so that's fine with me. I find myself having this discussion a lot in my congregation, and that rarely gets as far as "what" either.)
Realistically, I've got at most one shot at a question. But I have a couple of weeks to figure out what it'll be.
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