“I fear that we are losing the soul of the Reform movement,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said at the opening of “Re-Charging Reform Judaism,” a two-day conference held this week in New York City. “Here and now is the place and time to have the urgent conversations that will shape the future of our movement.”
Reform Judaism, which originated in Germany as a liberal response to Orthodoxy, is the largest denomination in Judaism, but has been declining in recent years. The conference was convened to reverse the decline and reimagine a more vibrant future for the movement.
Although I’m in the Orthodox world, I have many friends in the Reform movement, just as I have in other denominations. I’ve always felt that all denominations have something to offer and that we can all learn from one another. In that spirit, I asked myself: What would I have talked about at the conference if I were one of the speakers?
On the conference website, I counted 68 speakers, with diverse topics such as:
Zionism and Jewish Peoplehood
Envisioning the Future of Re-CHARGED Reform Communities
Identity Formation of Proud Reform Jews as They Enter Adulthood
Embracing Jewish Peoplehood to Re-CHARGE our Future
The Components of Healthy Jewish Identity Formation in Relation to Israel
Re-CHARGING the Mission of our Sanctuaries and Communities: The Place of God
The Formation of Ethically Responsible and Jewishly Committed Reform Jews
The Promise of Tikkun Olam and Social Justice: Universalism v. Particularism
Re-CHARGING Reform Ritual and Practice
What could I add to all this?
The conference already covered major issues like Jewish peoplehood, Zionism and Jewish identity, and it’s clear that the movement is wrestling right now with how to interpret Jewish values in a changing world.
I can imagine that there were hundreds of deep conversations and debates during the conference over those Jewish values and how they would shape the future of the movement.
So, instead of piling on more cerebral heft to that conversation, I thought I’d go in another direction and harken back to my Sephardic tradition.
The Judaism I grew up with in Casablanca centered around the family table. We lived in a Muslim country, but through the protection of the King we were free to practice our Judaism. The beating heart of this practice was the Friday night Shabbat meal.
There were many other rituals, but Friday night was the magical ritual, the one that rose above all. To this day, no matter at which stage I am in my life, the Friday night Shabbat table continues to be my weekly anchor that keeps me connected to the things I love most.
It blows me away that 3,300 years after we received the commandment to honor the Sabbath, the ritual has become more and more relevant as technology has become more and more invasive. It’s hard to meet anyone, Jewish or non-Jewish, who doesn’t like the idea of disconnecting from the digital world once a week– and reconnect with our humanity. With friends. With family. With our community. In person. Live. Not on Zoom.
It’s hard to meet anyone, Jewish or non-Jewish, who doesn’t like the idea of disconnecting from the digital world once a week– and reconnect with our humanity.
So, what would I have talked about at the conference?
I would have suggested that the Reform movement take a page out of my Casablanca Judaism and make the Friday night table the beating heart of the movement. I can envision a movement-wide investment in a “Friday Night Re-Charge” initiative that would urge all Reform members and communities to do their own version of the Friday Night Re-Charge meal.
Friday night could become the weekly rhythm of the movement, with Reform communities from across the country sharing Shabbat stories on a dedicated website. The website would be a resource with ideas to help enhance the Friday night experience.
The Friday night initiative is not a substitute for working through the major issues Rabbi Hirsch enunciated in his address. But it’s a practical and doable idea that the movement already believes in and can start immediately. And it can boost the morale of the movement and give it momentum while it figures out its future.
Most important, perhaps, is the fact that hardly anyone will disagree, something any denomination would appreciate.
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