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Strengthen Reform: 11. Making Judaism Meaningful to Teens August 20, 2008 (10 Comments) By William Berkson As I explained in previous posts, Reform Judaism can become much stronger by serving families. And it can do this by showing how the personal ethics of the Talmud, updated, can powerfully assist sacred relationships, strong marriages and families. However, before this we first have to convince teens that Judaism can make a difference to their lives. As is well known, there is a huge drop off of students attending religious school after Bar and Bat Mitzvah. What can we teach teens that will be compelling evidence that it will help them to have Judaism as part of their lives? read MORE Filed Under: Ethics | The Future

Theological Summer Camp August 19, 2008 (10 Comments) By dcc David A.M. Wilensky, RJ.org blogger, Kutz Campus regular and liturgy-wonk, was a bit offended by yesterday's post from the Society for Classical Reform Judaism's Executive Director Rabbi Howard A. Berman. His post on the Reform Shuckle outlines and deconstructs the argument that the SCRJ is a vital and important aspect of present day Reform Judaism. My perusal of the rest of Rabbi Berman's post and of the Principles page of the SCRJ website leads me to believe that beyond [supporting] an increasingly outmoded aesthetic, there are no differences between SCRJ and the mainstream of the movement. Certainly the ideology the SCRJ labels Classical is no more than standard Reform ideology. While I am not sure which theological camp is right (or more to the point if any camp can be "right"), it does seem a bit out of place to go to the extremes that have often been supported in posts and comments this blog. My hope for the future of Reform Judaism is that we move past these broad stroke definitions and focus on our mandate to be the light onto the nations, have our youth see those vision and do justice while we walk humbly with our God. read MORE Filed Under: Religious Life | The Future

Kiev Revisited August 18, 2008 (4 Comments) By Larry Kaufman As regular readers of this blog may have noticed through my comments on other people's posts, I've recently returned from a river cruise through Ukraine -- fortunately arriving home before the Georgian crisis erupted -- and want to share some thoughts in three general areas: Differences between Jewish and secular travel The changes that appear to have taken place in Ukraine since my prior trip in 2001 Ukrainian roots for American Jews read MORE Filed Under: Community | Religious Life | The Future

Strengthening Reform 10: Synagogues and Families August 14, 2008 (6 Comments) By William Berkson In the last post in this series, I argued that Classical Reform took a wrong turn in rejecting the Talmud, and that this mistake led to the neglect of a key strength of Jewish tradition: rabbinic ethics. Fellow blogger Larry Kaufman argued, "I for one do not believe the health of our movement depends on our attitude towards the Talmud, but rather on our attitude towards our congregants." There is no doubt that good management both by clergy and lay boards are keys to the health of congregations. But there is more: what does the congregation do with and for its members? How does the congregation meet the needs of its members, and potential members? read MORE Filed Under: Community | Religious Life | The Future

Roles and Goals August 11, 2008 (2 Comments) By Larry Kaufman My teacher, Rabbi Fred Schwartz, used to remind us that synagogue leaders, both lay and professional, have to remember and cater to the congregation's two constituencies - the Prayers and the Payers.  Just as Torah can stand for the full body of Jewish learning as well as only for the five books of the Pentateuch, the Prayers as the rabbi used the term are not just those who attend services, but include all those who participate on a regular basis in the life of the congregation.  The Payers, on the other hand, may be those who show up only for the High Holy Days and perhaps for yahrtzeit, but who unfailingly send in their dues (and maybe even more) to assure the financial stability and continuity of the institution. read MORE Filed Under: Community | The Future

The Muslim-Jewish Tipping Point - Full Post July 30, 2008 (5 Comments) By Eboo Patel (First posted on Newsweek/Washington Post's On Faith) "Nobody believes you guys actually exist," I said to the group I was eating dinner with. I was sitting with the North American Board of Reform Judaism's youth movement (called NFTY) at their summer leadership camp, Kutz. These five teenagers were responsible for leading programming for thousands of young Reform Jews across the country. This year's study theme: Muslim-Jewish Relations. And these young leaders couldn't be more excited it. read MORE Filed Under: Social Action | The Future

Strengthening Reform: 4. The Challenge of a Changed Theology July 3, 2008 (7 Comments) By William Berkson In the previous installment in this series, I pointed out that there has been a quiet revolution in theology of liberal Jews. Most Reform Jews, including Rabbis, have rejected an interventionist God, but still accept and find meaningful a God who gives unity and purpose to the universe and to humanity. The challenge this poses is highlighted in a long and thought-provoking article by Conservative scholar Jack Wertheimer, which has been noted by fellow RJ blogger Larry Kaufman.  read MORE Filed Under: Religious Life | The Future

Leslie Bass on Reform Judaism July 2, 2008 (1 Comment) By David A.M. Wilensky As readers of Reform Judaism magazine will recall, the RJ Magazine's summer 2008 issue included a series of important questions regarding the Reform Movement and their answers as given by 30 adult members of the Reform Movement. I'm currently at the URJ Kutz Camp with a group of people who will be the future lay and professional leadership of the Reform movement in North America. I'll be featuring many of them as well as many of the younger Kutz staff members this summer in a series of posts here on the RJ.org blog, in which I will be asking Reform high school and college students (and perhaps a few 20-somethings) for their take on Reform Judaism via questions similar to those used in the Magazine. Leslie Bass hails originally from Austin, Texas. This fall she will be a junior at the University of Denver, where she is a double major in Digital Media Studies and Journalism. This July, she will be travelling to Brisbane, Australia to study abroad at the Queensland University of Technology for five months. In high school, she was an active member of NFTY-TOR and board member of her local TYG. She attended the URJ Kutz Camp in the Summer of 2005 and spent the Summers of 2006 and 2007 as Kutz Camp staff. read MORE Filed Under: Community | Holidays | Religious Life | The Future

Confronting the Big Issues July 2, 2008 (4 Comments) By Larry Kaufman Those of us who are concerned about the condition of Reform Judaism today, and where it (we) may be headed in the future should read Professor Jack Wertheimer's article from a recent issue of Commentary Magazine. The article has been the subject of discussion on the Union's iWorship list-serv, and was particularly well summarized there by Dr. Randi Thompson, based on discussion of the article by the Board of Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, led by Rabbi Joe Black.  Here's the collective New Mexican take on what Wertheimer said: Reform Judaism has avoided the decline that Mainline Protestants have experienced by being welcoming to the intermarried and to the GLBT community, inclusive of women, and liturgically diverse.  read MORE Filed Under: The Future

Witness to History: Past, Present and Future July 1, 2008 (2 Comments) By JanetheWriter Today marks the first anniversary of my visit to Oświęcim, the Polish shetl town in which the Nazis built the Auschwitz concentration camp. Sometimes, still, when I close my eyes, I see the infamous "Arbeit Macht Frei" entry gate and the iconic low brick building that marks the entrance to Birkenau, the neighboring extermination camp. On that long, long day last year, I walked the railroad tracks, stood in the barracks and in the crematoria. I gazed into the glassy water of the pond whose dark depths still cradle the bones and ashes of those whose lives were snuffed out there. I saw their tallitot, their tefillin. I saw their shoes, their eyeglasses, their hair. I saw the canisters of Zyklon B used to kill them. Their names--known and unknown--are indelibly etched in my heart. I know these people. I am a witness to their history--to my history. read MORE Filed Under: Ethics | The Future