My friend David over at The Reform Shuckle is someone who I spent several summers with at the URJ Kutz Camp. He's one of the few people who I feel like I truly connect with in terms of our struggle with the Reform Movement and Reform Judaism.
In his latest blog post, David speaks of the ‘Reform intellectual community.’ My first instinct after reading this was kind of to just roll my eyes, thinking that this was just an attempt to label David and a few of his friends as an elite group of Reform Jews. I read the whole post, and then started to follow the comments and conversations that resulted from the post. One commenter asked David if he could list a few women that might fit into this community he was describing, since he only listed some male examples. He lists some female leaders I have met or heard about…and at the end of the list was me. Ironically, another commentator later suggested that Rabbi Elyse Frishman (editor of Mishkan Tefilah, the Reform Movement’s new siddur) to the list, who happens to be the first female Rabbi that I can remember knowing (she was the Rabbi of my synagogue for several years when I was younger.) I like to think that maybe my often beyond boundaries thoughts about Judaism might have actually come from somewhere, and I’m not just crazy!
David defines the Reform intellectual community as “the group of Reform Jews who are actively thinking about and actively re-thinking what Reform Judaism is and who actively consider the implications of living as a Reform Jew." While I don't necessarily have a problem with with this, I want to know why we can’t fit into the Reform Movement. Why isn’t their room for us? Growing up in the Reform Movement is the reason why I am the Jew I am today. These people (and more) that David mentions are all on the fringes of the movement. As I am just beginning to think about what kind of adult Jewish community I want to become a part of, I am sad to say that the Reform Community is not an option (for more reasons than just this, but still…) Are there enough of these types of people that David mentions to find a community as I get older (and not just an internet based community?)
While I don’t really have a problem with this label, I just wonder if there is something proactive that we can be doing. Or does it matter? Maybe we’ll always be trying to figure it out. Maybe we’ll just all become Jewish professionals and find others to build the communities we dream about. Or maybe we’ll just continue to talk about it.
It is people like David that make me feel less lonely in my search to figure out my own Judaism and to find a community that will connect me to others, and challenge me at the same time.
I had a similar experience with the Conservative community. I was extremely involved in my Conservative community in my shul, USY, camp and other ways growing up and like you said, it made me who i am today....the only problem is, that person doesn't fit into the Conservative community anymore. It's hard to be shomer shabbat in a community that is wishy washy about it.
ReplyDeleteI am someone who likes structure and guidance and I found that more in what i guess can be labeled the orthodox movement. However, I try not label my Judaism for many reasons (one being, I grew up one way, and my family still practices that way). I envy the Jewish communities of other countries that don't have to worry about all the labels....they're either "religious" ("observant") or secular.
I think about the older generation, the people who are steeped in Classical Reform. They often feel on the fringes as well, and are being pushed out of the movement. Some of these folks spent years building Reform communities and feel like the movement is passing them by.
ReplyDeleteBarring a revolution, change is slow. I don't have the privilege of living somewhere with active indie minyans and trans/post-denominational communities. I have to make due with what exists, and be a (very reluctant) leader when I want something different.
We can't always get what we want, but sometimes we get what we need. (Some famous Rav wrote that ;)