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Recently in Torah Category
Strengthening Reform: 9. Reform's Wrong Turn
August 6, 2008
(18 Comments)
By William Berkson
Several on this forum have looked back to "Classical Reform" somewhat wistfully, admiring the clear sense of direction and the passion and confidence that Reform Judaism had in that period. And by implication, some feel that that clear direction is lacking now. And I agree. Yet the current muddle I believe has its roots in a fundamental mistake that was made during the Classical Reform period.
The mistake was to throw the Talmud overboard.
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Community | Religious Life | Torah
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A Few Minutes More
July 31, 2008
(20 Comments)
By David A.M. Wilensky
Yesterday a post by Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman appeared on this blog titled "Ten More Minutes of Torah." It was a response to Lewis M. Barth's recent Ten Minutes of Torah for Masei, in which Barth argued that the current Haftarah cycle of three haftarot of destruction followed by seven haftarot of consolation suggest that Reform Judaism should reassess its relationship with Tishah B'Av. Rabbi Schwartzman's post expressed strong discomfort with this idea.
Rabbi Schwartzman's first argument is typical of Reform Jews who are uncomfortable with even talking about the Temple in a Reform context. He tells us that, "Given the importance of the Temple in the Conservative and Orthodox movements, whether spiritually or practically, we Reformists would do well to consider exactly what we would be tying onto ourselves were we to adopt Tishah B'Av observances."
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Holidays | Religious Life | Torah
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Drama in our Lives
July 30, 2008
By Marge Eiseman
Some of my friends seem to have a lot of drama in their lives. They are either really up or down, and find the middle way quite boring. Another (more rational) friend and I were talking about the place of drama in our lives - and I was filtering this through my recent experience in training to become a Storahtelling Maven.
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Community | Torah
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Ten More Minutes of Torah
July 30, 2008
(7 Comments)
By Rabbi Joel R. Schwartzman
In this week's comment on the parashat hashavuah (weekly Torah portion), in Ten Minutes of Torah, Professor Barth suggests that for the sake of the Haftarot that appear this time of year and are centered on Tishe B'Av (the Ninth of Av) that we in the Reform movement might re-consider observing this day as well.
While not a Classical Reformer myself and while I can appreciate the devastation that the destructions of the First and Second Temples meant to the Jewish people, I am not taken with the idea to instate this day into my Reform calendar.
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Holidays | Religious Life | Torah
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Foreign prophets, foreign songs
July 14, 2008
(6 Comments)
By David A.M. Wilensky
Two summers ago, here at Kutz, a girls' cabin led services one day. As we all entered the tron, they were standing at the front singing and clapping their hands. The song goes like this:
Lord, prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary for you
It's a nice song. The message is fairly basic and unobjectionable. The tune is catchy and sounds slightly gospel. I like it. Since then, I've also heard a variation that incoporates a quote from Torah, "V'asu li Mikdash, v'shachanti b'tocham" ("Build me a sanctuary and I will dwell amongst you"). I like that version even better. When people found out that this verse of song is actually part of a larger song from the wonderful world on contemporary Christian music, they went nuts.
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Religious Life | Shabbat | Torah
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Strengthening Reform: 3. God's Providential Care
July 1, 2008
(2 Comments)
By William Berkson
In the last post in this series I explained why science will always leave the door open to belief in a God who gives unity and purpose to nature and to humanity, and a God, who, when we experience the sacred, can inspire us. But can God have the qualities of God as portrayed in the Torah and the Talmud?
The most troubled question about God throughout most of Jewish history has been of God's Providence, or caring intervention in the world on behalf of individuals and groups, especially the people Israel. The Torah clearly reports (in Exodus and Deuteronomy) that at Sinai God promised us prosperity--a bountiful harvest--and children if we obey his laws, and horrible punishments if we don't. However, during the revolt of the Maccabees, many devout Jews were killed. This seemed to violate the covenant at Sinai. In reaction to this bitter experience, I have read, the Pharisee branch of ancient Judaism adopted the idea that we can only expect just reward and punishment in a future life after death, olam haba, the world to come.
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Religious Life | Torah
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Strengthening Reform: 2. Science and God
June 25, 2008
(3 Comments)
By William Berkson
In the first installment, I argued that Judaism shouldn't try to do without God, because then it will lack the power to inspire us. That raises the question of whether modern science leaves open the door to God, to religion.
There is still a strong movement that says science has superseded religion. This movement, known as "positivism" started with Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Comte had the theory that there were historical three stages in the development of understanding of the world: religious, then metaphysical, then scientific or "positive." Science should sweep aside all religious and metaphysical explanations, and scientific theories of society, in particular, would advance humanity to an ideal condition.
Originally, the idea that the world consists only of "atoms and the void," and lacks any guiding purpose had been championed by the Epicurus (341-270 BCE). The Epicureans were unique in the ancient world in denying Providence--that God, or many gods, had a guiding influence on humanity. For that reason, the Jewish sages condemned them and said, "Know what to answer to an Epicurean." (Avot 2:19) Because there are leading scientists who still champion the idea that science has superseded religion, "knowing what to answer" is still a vital issue.
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Religious Life | Torah
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Why Talitot
June 23, 2008
(24 Comments)
By Larry Kaufman
It's the custom in our congregation for the person who presents the d'var Torah to pose questions for discussion by the kahal, the community. Leading the discussion on Shelach Lecha, I noted that this parashah includes the commandment to wear fringes, a commandment that was essentially negated in Reform Judaism by the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885, the negation remaining in force for well over a hundred years.
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Community | Religious Life | Torah
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Taking back "Religious" and "Traditional"
June 20, 2008
(20 Comments)
By David Fair
The Reform Movement in America is well over a hundred years old. In that time, our movement has developed and expanded many customs and ways of life that reflect a culture, rich with tradition and background. Yet it's a rare week when I don't hear one of our congregational leaders give a sermon where we are not compared to the more conservative movements of Judaism. What I hear the most is how we are justified in not following the Conservative and Orthodox customs of Kashrut, Shabbat, fasting holidays, and the like.
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Filed Under:
Religious Life | The Future | Torah
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