The Movement for Reform Judaism

But in this Editorial – which is, after all, for internal consumption – we would like to focus on the neuroses.

First, the highly perceptive Cohen and Kahn-Harris research conducted for the UJIA in 2005 pointed up an obsession with authenticity, defined as ‘how things were done in the shul that my father or grandfather didn’t go to’.  The Editor’s father and grandfathers (and his mother and grandmothers, come to that) actually attended Barking and Becontree Synagogue.  Very heimish it was too.  But why it should provide the litmus test for authentic Judaism is a puzzle.

Second, the community has a strong tendency to define Judaism in terms of kashrut and Sabbath observance.  These are significant and valuable practices.  But your Editor would scarcely like to read as his epitaph ‘He refrained from carrying his tallis bag and never touched turbot’.  The community is riddled with those who believe that anyone who is more obsessive than them when it comes to kashrut is meshuggeh and anyone who observes the Sabbath in a less traditional manner is a goy.

Third, we have singularly failed to move beyond the profound sense of victimhood bestowed upon us by the Shoah.  This is understandable but it makes us profoundly neurotic and unable to respond to the people and the society around us in a way that is in our own best interests, never mind in the interests of the people amongst whom we live.

It is hard to know how much of this has been caused by the global rise of fundamentalism since the 1960s.  But it leaves us in thrall to some very strange interpretations of Judaism.

Consider the latest demographic prediction for our community.  By 2050, if present trends continue, more than half of British Jewry will be charedi.

We are immensely deferential to organisations like Aish, who want our children to be Jewish but the Judaism they want them to subscribe to is a Judaism that drives a wedge between children and parents, most often expressed in the lament (or statement of pride) ‘They cannot eat in my home anymore’.  The Kotzker Rebbe famously commanded us to ‘Take care of your own soul and another person’s body not of your own body and another person’s soul’.  But there are many on the picturesque right who only want souls and will go to extreme lengths to capture them.  There are many within that camp who insist that they alone understand the will of God and they alone know the whole Truth.  Those souls who defy capture are best written out of the Jewish people.

If you doubt just how many are in thrall to the missionaries and soul trappers, ask anyone in leadership positions within the mainstream of the community about their bottomless pockets and their unmatchable budgets that enable them to offer enticing freebies and deploy seemingly endless human resources.  Much of the money comes from donors within the mainstream of the community.

Why is it that groups and religious organisations who parade a theology of the ‘there’s been a tragedy, check your mezuzah’ variety are held in such respect?  Why is it that we are so attracted to manifestations of the dignity of difference but cannot see that the great challenge to faith today lies not just in respecting difference but in the imperative of forming relationships and partnerships without which the world cannot be repaired, let alone find peace.

Perhaps it is the impact of fundamentalism.  Perhaps it is neurotic behaviour brought on by past Jewish experiences.  Most probably it is a potentially fatal interplay of the two.  Whatever of the analysis you share, it has produced a community which is not tackling the huge theological challenges of our time, which is not engaged in addressing the cutting edge ethical issues of the day; which is not widely committed to repairing the world; which does not see as its core purpose joining with others to be a blessing to all the families of the earth.

Which is why two communal initiatives are so important.  The first is the Jewish Cross-communal Secondary School (JCoSS) which will open its doors to 1100 pupils in September 2010.  It will welcome all those who count themselves to be Jewish and it will provide the kind of Jewish and secular education that roots young Jews in their tradition so that they can work with others for the good of society.  It will provide the kind of faith education that is needed in the 21st century.

The second initiative is ResponsAbility.  Just as Jewish Care provides for our welfare, CST for our security and UJIA for our Zionist commitment, so ResponsAbility will enable us as a community to engage with the cutting edge ethical issues of the 21st century.

In both cases, the Reform, Liberal and Masorti movements have worked energetically together, not for themselves, but to provide the community as a whole with cross-communal institutions tailored to the needs of the community today.

It is hugely significant that lay people from right across the community, from members of the United Synagogue to unaffiliated Jews have welcomed, embraced and whole-heartedly support these initiatives.  The ‘default’ position within the community may still be United Synagogue but that hasn’t stopped the emergence of two vital cross-communal projects which are genuinely in the interests of the entire community.

Let us welcome the first signs that our community is rising above its neuroses and voicing its frustration with the seductive hegemony of the fundamentalists.  Expressing a credible theology; uniting around values by which we can live and find meaning and purpose; working with others to repair the world; and seeking to be a blessing even when others are not a blessing to us – that is mainstream Judaism.

This article first appeared in Manna: The Forum for Progressive Judaism.

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Rabbi Bayfield's editorial was picked up by the Jewish Chronicle - see attached article:

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