The following is my response to a posting on Mike's blog.
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Interesting ideas...
One thing I struggle with is the "concept of constantly challenging ourselves to think differently,"
I do believe it's critical to any movment to challenge itself, otherwise it just remains stagnant. But I also believe that one of the greatest "flaws" (perhaps "challenges" is a better word) of the Reform Movement is that it is constantly doing things differently. (In the grand scheme of things... look at the evolution of responsa in just the past 25 years alone).
Theologically, philosophically, liturgically, religiously, etc... I think what will allow us to grow the most is if we grow our roots and stick into something permanent.
If you ask most Reform Jews "what's permanent about Reform Judaism?"... what response do you think you'll get? I'm not even sure myself.
It's a delicate balance. We need to grow to remain relevant and vibrant in the 21st century, but we also need to be standing on firm ground. I feel too often that Reform Judaism is a castle in the clouds. I believe that if we root ourselves strongly, we'll be able to grow even more. It's physics... look at trees.
Just as you note, it's so important to be able to say "HEY!! Look at it this way!"... we're taught that the Torah has 70 faces, and it's critical to explore those new faces. Let's just remember when we're exploring that all those faces are on the same head and even if someone is looking at a different face, it's still the same head.
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1 comment:
let's see if i can articulate this right.
I think we're actually in agreement...
when i refer to challenging ourselves, I'm mostly speaking to the concept of personal introspection, as opposed to consistently changing stances and responsa and such.
I think we as the Reform Movement tend to like fluff, as opposed to really delving into the issues and content of Judaism and Jewish Life. (How many of us were dissatisfied with our religious school education?)
I would like to see the Reform Movement take a stand, and provide more of these opportunity to allow Reform Jews to use our jewish education to challenge ourselves through Jewish observance, ritual and texts.
Many of us are starving for judaism, and the reform movement hasn't been able to provide us with any sustenance. And so, many of us are looking elsewhere to find our judaism.
If anything, i would love for the Reform Movement to take some stances, and stick to them, it would probably make us a much stronger movement. The murkiness that we have definitely hinders our growth.
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