There is room at the table for everyone.
Last night I was at a Masorti Movement dinner celebrating, honoring, and thanking the rabbinic interns who have engaged with and supported the Masorti communities throughout Israel. There was much discussion of the challenges that Masorti Movement and pluralistic Judaism face in Israel. It is an ongoing conversation that was heightened as a result of a "Tag Machir" (price tag) attack on one of the Masorti communities in Jerusalem this week. Additionally, in the car to and from Jerusalem my companion and I had a lengthy discussion about the current state of affairs both within our community and our larger municipality vis-a-vis our newly established religious presence.
Having grown up in the Reform Movement, trips to Israel heightened my sense both of individual Jewish identity and the challenge of losing that on a daily basis in American life. Therefore, I chose to incorporate more observance into my life - keeping Shabbat, planning for a kosher home after college, clothing selection that was more modest. All of these choices stemmed from my Reform upbringing, which instilled in me a belief in personal choice through informed decisions about my personal religious practices.
I keep Shabbat, I wear skirts and cover my hair since I got married, I go to the mikvah, I keep a kosher home. Doing these things adds an element of daily religious awareness in my life. This was hugely important in the US where it is so easy to find oneself absorbed in the secular/Christian rhythm of life. I do all of these things for me, for the value the add to my life.
In Israel it is a different situation. It is so easy to be Jewish in Israel that a majority of Jews are secular - still keep kosher, have something family oriented on Shabbat (evening lighting candles and making kiddush and motzi - the blessings over wine and bread), know when the holidays are. The shul (synagogue) they don't go to is dati (Orthodox) and there is no other possible choice for them. The idea that there a way to practice Jewish religious observance in a non-Orthodox manner is unimaginable to them, Masorti and Reform Judaism are almost heretical because everything here is black and white.
We have chosen to engage with the Masorti Movement, not only because it is the direction of our religious beliefs and practices, but also because of how vitally important it is to the State of Israel to have religious choices that are between all (Orthodox) and nothing (Secular). The Masorti worldview as well as the Reform worldview provide important nuances to Jewish practice and belief. Our communities are not here to recruit others away from their practices, but rather, to provide another option for how Jewish religious practice can have a meaningful place in daily life.
Isn't it better to have more options available than just one seemingly monolithic, but which is in fact innumerable splinters, approach to Jewish observance? Why is it that the Orthodox world would rather the masses of Secular Israelis be anti-religion/anti-Orthodoxy than adopt some level of observance and practice through engagement with the Masorti or Reform movements? What are they afraid of that keeps them vilifying those who are religious but not Orthodox? Why can't we find a place at the table for everyone to have a spot?
And so, how do we, as a movement convey this message to the Orthodox world and the Secular world, and let them know we have a place at our table for them whenever they would like to sit with us?
Last night I was at a Masorti Movement dinner celebrating, honoring, and thanking the rabbinic interns who have engaged with and supported the Masorti communities throughout Israel. There was much discussion of the challenges that Masorti Movement and pluralistic Judaism face in Israel. It is an ongoing conversation that was heightened as a result of a "Tag Machir" (price tag) attack on one of the Masorti communities in Jerusalem this week. Additionally, in the car to and from Jerusalem my companion and I had a lengthy discussion about the current state of affairs both within our community and our larger municipality vis-a-vis our newly established religious presence.
Having grown up in the Reform Movement, trips to Israel heightened my sense both of individual Jewish identity and the challenge of losing that on a daily basis in American life. Therefore, I chose to incorporate more observance into my life - keeping Shabbat, planning for a kosher home after college, clothing selection that was more modest. All of these choices stemmed from my Reform upbringing, which instilled in me a belief in personal choice through informed decisions about my personal religious practices.
I keep Shabbat, I wear skirts and cover my hair since I got married, I go to the mikvah, I keep a kosher home. Doing these things adds an element of daily religious awareness in my life. This was hugely important in the US where it is so easy to find oneself absorbed in the secular/Christian rhythm of life. I do all of these things for me, for the value the add to my life.
In Israel it is a different situation. It is so easy to be Jewish in Israel that a majority of Jews are secular - still keep kosher, have something family oriented on Shabbat (evening lighting candles and making kiddush and motzi - the blessings over wine and bread), know when the holidays are. The shul (synagogue) they don't go to is dati (Orthodox) and there is no other possible choice for them. The idea that there a way to practice Jewish religious observance in a non-Orthodox manner is unimaginable to them, Masorti and Reform Judaism are almost heretical because everything here is black and white.
We have chosen to engage with the Masorti Movement, not only because it is the direction of our religious beliefs and practices, but also because of how vitally important it is to the State of Israel to have religious choices that are between all (Orthodox) and nothing (Secular). The Masorti worldview as well as the Reform worldview provide important nuances to Jewish practice and belief. Our communities are not here to recruit others away from their practices, but rather, to provide another option for how Jewish religious practice can have a meaningful place in daily life.
Isn't it better to have more options available than just one seemingly monolithic, but which is in fact innumerable splinters, approach to Jewish observance? Why is it that the Orthodox world would rather the masses of Secular Israelis be anti-religion/anti-Orthodoxy than adopt some level of observance and practice through engagement with the Masorti or Reform movements? What are they afraid of that keeps them vilifying those who are religious but not Orthodox? Why can't we find a place at the table for everyone to have a spot?
And so, how do we, as a movement convey this message to the Orthodox world and the Secular world, and let them know we have a place at our table for them whenever they would like to sit with us?
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