Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Let's Be Right, Too. - January 2013

The Talmud speaks out of the religious consciousness of its age and for that time it was right; I speak out of the higher consciousness of my age and for this age I am right. - [early 19th c. German Reform Pioneer] Rabbi Samuel Holdheim

This trimester (December - February), we began our yearly historical study with my favorite period in Jewish history, modernity.  As many of you know, I can and often do give a summary of this historical period, as it relates to us, at the drop of a hat.  In case you have not heard it before, I think I hear my hat hitting the floor.

While (Western) Europe was going through the Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, the relative Jewish position in society changed dramatically.  Jewish society did not change - Jews still lived in semi-autonomous enclaves with limited sovereignty of Jewish law, but the outside world did.  With the rise of nationalism, all natives of a particular area, regardless of whether they might be Protestant or Catholic, were granted this new concept of citizenship - which came with rights and responsibilities.  One of the hotly debated questions of the age was whether Jews could be “civilized” or whether the culture of Judaism (being millennia old) was too primitive for the modern world.  Much as we North Americans debated about our native population in the last century, intellectuals argued that the only way to modernize Jewish individuals was to take them out of their ghetto-ized communities and raise them as Europeans.  Internally, many Jews wanted to escape the ghetto and modernize as well.  A new concept, that of history and the progress of civilization led to wissenschaft des Judentums - a scientific study of Judaism, postulated that Judaism had actually changed over its 3,000+ year history - and could change again.

How could Jews modernize?  Two major ideas arose in the 19th century: The first, our answer, was that we could shrink Judaism from an all-encompassing way of life, to a “religion”, like our neighbors had, so we could take on our native nationality.  We could then be “French (or German or Italian) Jews”, worshipping in a particular way, but living to almost all outside appearances as our neighbors.  The second idea, which we will examine in our historical trimester next year, was to focus on Judaism as a national identity and create a national homeland, called Zionism.  As you can see, these were diametrically opposed answers to the same question - which led to a great deal of friction over the next few centuries.

The question that our Reform forebears asked is still relevant to us today - “How do we continue to be Jews and live in the modern world?” Different Jewish communities have offered different answers - from the Chasids in Boro Park, who work in the outside world, but live in 17th century Poland, to the Modern Orthodox, who look mainstream, but still live in communities where they have kosher food and can walk to synagogue, to us - Reform Jews who try to not only modernize our dress and behavior, but our beliefs and prayers as well.  We believe that Judaism has changed and progressed over its millennial history, and that we have as much right as our ancestors to (collectively) shape where Judaism is going.

The quote from Samuel Holdheim above reflects his belief that he stood in a long line of reformers - from Abraham, through Moses, Deborah, Hulda, Ezra, and Rabbis Hillel, Judah haNasi, Akiva, Maimonides, and Rashi.  Just as society and civilization had progressed, so much Judaism adopt the wisdom of the Enlightenment.  We, today, are the inheritors not only of those notables mentioned above, but Holdheim as well.  We have the responsibility to seriously examine what they have passed on to us, before we decide to “make our own Shabbes”.  Our Reform tradition teaches us that to make educated decisions, we must first educate ourselves.

So, join us at one of our classes (see page ?) this trimester.  Come to a congregational education program.  Read some of the books that we suggest about the history of Reform Judaism.  Start a personal course of study with me, or our Cantor.  Take up the mantle of Holdheim and resolve to help our Judaism continue to be progressive.