Reform Vs. Conform

Rabbi Irwin Wiener, D.D.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, reform means to improve or to change something for the better. And thumbing through the pages of this very same dictionary we stop at the word conform, and we learn that its meaning is to make or become similar; to be in agreement. These meanings, to me, indicate the turbulent storm that has erupted in the Judaism’s Reform Movement.

On the one hand Reform Judaism was designed to give meaning to today’s world. And today’s world includes yesterday, today and tomorrow. As the world turns so does our understanding of its purpose and significance. The understandings of yesterday do not fit neatly into the world we live in today.

Yesterday contained no computers or space travel. Yesterday was filled with disasters that boggle the imagination. Yesterday was good for one thing: To bring us to today with all the new discoveries and means to adapt these revelations to life as experienced right now.

Today we accept modernization and experimentation as a way of life not a figment of some dark corner of the mind that has taken us to sinister places. Today we know that the vastness of the universe reminds us that the ability to accomplish things is as endless as time and space.

We have learned through trial and error that we are not committing sins of omission but rather methods by which growth can be maintained. We are not destroying the fabric of human existence but rather enhancing its possibilities. Growth can only be maintained with continuous speculation.

Reform Judaism understood that the past is an essential ingredient in reaching for the future. You cannot assume to know the goodness or proficiencies of human endurance without regard for the past.

I, certainly, am not an expert on Reform Judaism. Nor am I a participant in its deliberations and pronouncements. What I do know of it I learned from experience and from books. But what I extracted from all the research and living as a Reform Jew and Reform rabbi was one vital fact: Reform Judaism was created to bridge the gap between traditionalism and secularism. Having been trained in traditional Judaism enables me to fully appreciate the value of Reform Judaism’s approach to the universal understanding of God.

Reform Judaism’s most potent weapon was a small word, inclusion. It understood that Judaism could not and would not continue to grow and develop if it remained in a vacuum. Telling fellow Jews that if they did not fit into a narrow definition of religious completion that they would forever be isolated was an enigma.

Reform Judaism teaches that there is no value to Judaism if it does not seem relevant or necessary in every day life. Where is the future of the Jewish People if we live only in the past without trying to reach for the present and the future? That is the underlying characteristic that makes Reform Judaism important for the continuity of the generations and the perpetuation of a dream that began with a man called Abraham.

Even the rabbis of the Talmud were forever engaged in making Judaism relevant for their generation. There are constant references to the learning centers of Bait Hillel and Bait Shammai, the House of Hillel and the House of Shammai. Shammai was considered more rigid and inflexible while Hillel was more liberal in the transmission of religious thought and its interpretation. Reform Judaism follows the standard set by Talmudic expression and relates to this definition of relevancy.

On the other hand I have noticed a resurgence of traditional expressions in Reform Judaism. I have always marveled at the somewhat intimidated attitude that can be found among Reform rabbis. It is as though they consider themselves inferior to their more traditional counterparts. They are more deferential to Jews who profess to be true Torah adherents. Perhaps some think that they are not legitimate and therefore must resort to introducing a different kind of Jewish acceptance.

Inclusion, which was the hallmark of Reform Judaism, has been replaced by exclusion. Tampering with traditional attitudes now seems to be a repudiation of religious living. We see Reform congregations building Mikvehs (ritual baths) for conversion or other purposes. We find Reform rabbis refusing to participate in interfaith marriages.

When people reach out and our hand is not there to take theirs, what have we done? Alienation is not the road to acceptance. If Judaism is to remain vibrant and relevant then we need to be as inclusive as we possibly can, not to dilute but to be an example. To teach that even today Shammai is still relegated to the next world as described in the Talmud. To make clear that Hillel is the path to involvement and continuation.

Perhaps when Reform rabbis feel secure in who they are we too will feel comfortable in Reform Jewish fervor. If our people are not afraid to identify, in whatever form, why should we Reform rabbis tell them to change or be sidelined?

Are we reformists or conformists? That is the question. It should be a continuing debate that should be in the forefront of attempting to bring relevance to an ancient faith that deserves better than excluding many of its adherents. I wonder if the Conservative Movement realizes that the Reform Movement is the new you!

There is a classic story about a man coming to the saintly Sage, the Ba’al Shem Tov and remarked that his son had abandoned God. In desperation the man asked, “What shall I do, Rabbi?” And the Ba’al Shem Tov answered, “Love him even more than ever.” Is that not what the founders of Reform Judaism going back to Spinoza had in mind when they sat and determined that the future of Judaism was not only in yesterday but in today which will guarantee tomorrow? Which will it be reform or conform?