All well said as always, William. It's always good to point out that the differences between Reform and Reconstructionism is more than liturgical. That is not to say anything negative about them. I'm glad that the Recon movement exists. It's just not for me.

I don't if William has anything in mind, but I think that there are some, by no means a majority, who try it. I do it, and still consider myself fully integrated in capital-R Reform. I think that there are tens of high school students at Kutz every summer who give it a shot, at least while they're there.

William:

You apparently want to shift the burden of proof to each Reform Jew to reject the practices of other religious groups like the Hassids, the Orthodox Jews, Kaballaists and perhaps the Conservative Jews. That is not our responsibility. It is the duty of those who espouse the traditional practices of other faiths to present a clear and convincing case to each of us as to why it is, first of all, even worth our while to spend our precious time reviewing their beliefs and practices, and secondly, to prove why we should adopt their beliefs and practices as our own.

Should each of us reinvent the wheel? Do we each have to refight the theological battles which were won by our champions almost two centuries ago? Should we also have to study, analyze, evaluate and debate each doctrine and practice of the Roman Catholic Church, of Islam, of the Baptists and the Episcopalians and why they should be adopted by us? That is a diversion of time and resources which we cannot afford.

Our freedom of choice is based on the knowledge that no Pope or head rabbi or synod is infallible or has the right to force their interpretation of the Bible upon others. Each of us is entitled to reason through the Bible and theological questions and reach their own conclusions. If anyone choses to reexamine Reform Judaism, they are free to do so, but not obligated to sit there while beliefs contrary to Reform is laid out ad nauseum.

An important advantage of Reform Judaism over Orthodoxy is that it leave more time in each persons life for family, recreation, charitable work, personal development and all the other things that one may want to do. Orthodoxy in its strict form sucks all of the oxygen out of the room, leaving little time in each persons life for living. It crowds out so much that most of the Reform Jews don't want to go there. If they did, they wouldn't be Reform Jews.

William:

Buber and Kaplan were not Reform, far from it. Their ideas seem peripheral to where we are.

Reform stated a comprehensive and appealing summary of our theology in the Pittsburgh Platform, which has been difficult to improve on. It was the foundation of our remarkable growth in America and it still captures the essence of progressive Judaism.

The Reform position of being mostly non-Zionist or anti-Zionist was a logical outgrowth of the belief in Judaism being a universal religion and insisting that the God given rights of Jews, Protestants, Catholics and others be respected in all nations. Reform Jews wanted Russians, Poles and Romanians to have the opportunity to be part of the American nation, of Western Europe, or to be allowed to flourish where they were. That had been the Jewish dream and great progress had been made toward realizing that dream before the forces of appeasement and pacifism enabled Hitler to create his vicious killing machine and reek havoc. Reform Jews like Louis Marshall worked successfully for decades to keep the gates open for millions of immigrants to the United States and to assimilate the newcomers so that refugees from oppression and discrimination could be allowed to become part of the American people. Zionism was viewed by most of Reform as a surrender to those who stubbornly resisted giving full rights and protection to Jews in their own countries, wanting to drive them out. In addition to supporting open immigration to the U.S., the U.K. and France, Anti-Zionist Reform Jews worked actively to allow the free immigration of Jews to Palestine and to support the development of a strong Jewish community there under a democratic government. Anti-Zionists and non-Zionists like Reform Rabbi Judah Magnes created the Hebrew University and other cultural institutions in Palestine and around the world. But Reform Jews were mindful of the fact that there were already hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arab families whose homes were in Palestine, who farmed virtually all the good farm land there for generations, who had no intention to abandon their homes, and whose civil and religious rights could not be ignored. Various solutions for Eastern and Central European antisemitism were considered including the purchase of Baja California from Mexico. Wouldn't it have been nice of have millions of Jews move a few miles south of San Diego? The Zionists considered setting up a Jewish state in Africa with the support of the British or moving millions to settle in Argentina, but wound up with a Palestine or bust policy. It was only when immigration had been cut off and the Holocaust had devastated Jews in Europe, that most Jews came to see the establishment of a homeland in Palestine as desirable and perhaps necessary as a refuge of last resort.

William:

I agree that Reform Judaism can be improved. Unfortunately, many of the efforts to improve Reform in recent years were 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

We have great numbers of Jews who do not find Orthodox, Hassidic, Conservative, or even some Reform Judaism to be an organized religious program they can accept. The potential members of Reform congregations include the spouses children, and step children of Jews who cannot connect with religious customs and practices taken from the Old World in pre-Modern times. For us to reach both the disaffected Jews and the potential Jews within easy reach (many of whom would like to belong), we need to have a truly American style of Judaism - American in language, in clothing, in music, and in its open, universalist, democratic, integrated attitude. Jews already have more Orthodox choices. Only a very small number of those Jews in America who join a religious congregation chose Orthodoxy. The percentage following Conservative Judaism is decreasing. We have already lost a large number who were not given a progressive choice, and that is true around the world. We must build up a modern, progressive Reform if we genuinely care about the Reform and the non-affiliated being Jewish. Without that progressive option, they have clearly shown that no Judaism or some some other religion ranks higher than any of the other possibilities. Even Israel, is facing a wave of atheism and apostacy which threatens to make Jews an endangered species in that nominally Jewish country. (This last being another plug to contribute to contribute to the WURJ Reform efforts in Israel).

William:

You say: We can become universal and integrated by abandoning Judaism. If we have nothing that is particularly valuable or unique, then what is there to attract the people you mention?

In America, and now in other lands, Reform Jews have shown that we don't to live segregated from our fellow citizens in order to be good Jews. We go to schools, public and private with people of all races, religions and national origins. We live, not in ghettos or shtels but in integrated neighborhoods. We work with, socialize with and do business with people of all faiths. Reform Jews pride themselves as being a "portion of the people" rather than "a people apart" as Jews had been forced to live in the lands of oppression. What makes us special is the ethical message of the our Bible, which it is our divine mission to spread to the rest of the world. To accomplish our mission, Jews want the rest of the world to join us in our devotion to both the ethics that guide us in the real world and in our devotion to the one true God. We brought the Bible and the belief in God to the three major monotheistic faiths. Much of what separates us is superficial and unimportant. What unites us is that which I believe we must stress both to avoid unnecessary conflict, antisemitism, and bias by Jews against others and to be that light unto the nations. Isn't it great that the Ten Commandments are fundamental to Protestants and Catholics as well as by Jews? Don't we want Christians to read the 23rd Psalm with the same reverence that we do? Aren't we glad to hear Christians quote Isaiah, Amos, Micah and the other prophets?

For centuries, Church and states forced Jews to be superficially different so that we would not be attractive to Christians or Muslims. They had to wear strange hats or speak different languages and have limited contact. Sometimes Jewish religious authorities joined in forcing Jews to be stress differences so that they would not interact with others. Now everyone can be recognized as a human being driven by the same emotions and with so much similarity.