Reform Judaism is Religious Judaism
This past Monday Jacques Berlinerblau posted an entry on Newsweek’s blog On Faith entitled “Michael Bloomberg and his God Problem”. I, as well as numerous other individuals in the Reform Movement, found this post to be deeply troubling because of the flippant tone in which it characterized Reform Judaism. Below is a replication of the comments which I made in response to Berlinerblau’s entry on Newsweek’s website:
In a recent posting on Newsweek’s blog On Faith, Jacques Berlinerblau speaks of Reform Judaism and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s association with it in a dismissive tone, classifying Reform Judaism as a “secularized religion”. As a deeply committed Reform Jew myself, I find this statement, and in fact his posting as a whole which attacks Bloomberg’s religions preferences as a Reform Jew, to be deeply offensive. What exactly is Berlinerblau insinuating by classifying Reform Judaism as a “secularized religion”? Granted, Berlinerblau offers no definitive meaning, but to me I interpret such a statement to mean that he considers Reform Judaism a non-religion. If this is what he is claiming, then there are over 1.5 million Reform Jews in America that I believe would argue to the contrary. Reform Judaism is in fact the largest and fastest growing segment of the Jewish population in America and consists of deeply committed Jews. It is a vibrant community that Berlinerblau is right to claim emphasizes gimiulut chasadim or the pursuit of social justice; however he fails to mention that we are equally committed to torah and avodah – lifelong Jewish learning and the worship of God. Such an omission is a failure to understand Reform Judaism at its most basic level – as a religion. A religion that has 3 seminaries, over 900 congregations, over 1800 Rabbis, and countless Cantors and Jewish Educators. To claim that this is a community of atheists is to insult all of these institutions and to insult Reform Jews as a whole. I would urge Berlinerblau to learn more about Reform Judaism and the practices of Reform Jews prior to offering a degrading evaluation of it, and its institutions, as a non-religion.