Ritual and Social Justice: Judaism’s Closed Circle
Rabbi Sue Ann Wasserman is the Director of the Union for Reform Judaism's Department of Worship. The views expressed are her own.
Later this month, the Joint Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living (a partnership of the ACC, CCAR, HUC and URJ) will meet in NY. In addition to our ongoing work the Commission will study with three wonderful teachers. On Sunday we will study with Rabbi Jonathan Slater of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and on Monday with Rabbi Jonah Pesner and Lila Foldes of Just Congregations. To some this might seem like an odd combination: spirituality and social justice.
Somewhere along the way we developed an either/or mentality: either you are involved with social action or you go to services and value ritual. This view of Jewish life was evident as I was growing up in our Movement and it persists today. The clearest evidence of this either/or perspective is the unease expressed by some Reform Jews about the increased interest in ritual and observance by other Reform Jews. There is a concern that we are abandoning the core values of Reform Judaism. Truthfully I’ve never understood this division.
What is so brilliant about Judaism is that it is a closed circle. The true intent of most Jewish rituals, celebrations and worship is to help us embody the values that will lead us to pursue justice and live ethically in the world. One of the best examples is the celebration of Shabbat. Shabbat menuchah—rest is more than just taking a nap. A day away from work reminds us that a living wage should include being able to afford to take a day off. We need to push our society to make this possible for all workers.
Each Shabbat ritual has the potential to teach us about our role in the world if we open ourselves to their messages. By the act of lighting and blessing candles on Friday night we transform the night into Shabbat. We have the power to effect change through our actions and our words. As we bless the wine on Shabbat we are reminded of our liberation from Egypt—a call to us to end the slavery that exists in our own day. The blessing over the challah refers to God as “the one who brings forth bread from the earth.” We know that bread doesn’t come out of the earth whole. It takes a partnership between God and human labor to create bread. God gives us the raw ingredients to create food that will sustain us all but it’s up to us to distribute it.
We can be lead in the path of righteousness if we enact the ritual mitzvot with the kavanah—the intention of hearing their call to tikkun olam—repairing the world.