The Movement for Reform Judaism

Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Romain, Chairman of the Assembly of Rabbis and Rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue is a respected writer and broadcaster, frequently asked to comment on news issues on radio and television. In this fortnightly feature he addresses your concerns, giving responses to modern issues and queries.

This week's question: I have often noticed on the radio that many interviewers mistake the title 'Reform Jews' and speak of 'Reformed Jews', which makes us sound like criminals. In your introduction on the BBC website about Religion you correctly identify the fact that Rabbinic Judaism was originally a reforming movement. To reform therefore seems like a natural part of Judaism, so to call ourselves Reform seems to buy into the idea that this approach is novel   to Judaism when in fact it isn't at all.

It is certainly true that Judaism has constantly been in a state of change. Within the Bible itself, Jewish status switched from going through the father's line to going through the mother's line; in
rabbinic times, various biblical commands were abolished (such as animal sacrifices or the death penalty) while new traditions were introduced (such as kiddush or wearing a head-covering during prayers). In fact, the Talmud - completed around the end of the fifth century - was so aware of how much Judaism had changed that it even tells a story about Moses coming back to life and attending a rabbinic discussion about Jewish life but bursting into tears because he does not recognise anything from his own time.

The fact that many Jewish customs have non-Hebrew names indicates that the later periods in which they developed eg 'sandek' (Greek) or 'yartzeit' (German). The problem was that later on this reforming tendency ground to a halt, and Judaism became increasingly fossilised.
Eventually this led to the birth of Reform Judaism, although it saw itself not as a breakaway movement but as a return to the more flexible approach within Jewish tradition. For that reason, when the first Reform synagogue in Britain started in 1840, it did not label itself 'Reform' - calling itself 'The West London Synagogue of British Jews' - and taking the view that to use
'Reform' in its title would limit it to an offshoot of Judaism rather than being mainstream. Similarly, when there were sufficient numbers of Reform-minded synagogues to form a movement in 1942, it was known as the ASGB (Association of Synagogues in Great Britain) and only in 1958
became the RSGB (Reform Synagogues of Great Britain).

This followed a long debate over its name, with some still strongly against 'adjectival Judaism' but the majority feeling that as we are so different in style from the Orthodox (be it use of Hebrew and English, or men and women sitting together, or a more accommodating approach to
new insights and scientific advances) and as many people do want something different, we should say so and 'advertise our stall' openly and confidently. That is the current attitude still, with the general position being that there are several different traditions within Judaism, all stemming from the Torah, all equally valid and allowing people to choose the one in which they feel most at home. The obvious image is a tree with many branches and a common trunk, and whilst each
branch may go off in a different direction, it is just as important to remember what unites us as what divides us.

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain

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