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REFORM ATTITUDES TOWARDS
TZITZIT IN MODERN TIMES
For a discussion of earlier approaches, see
Fringes in Early Reform
Judaism.
We know now that we did not get what the early Reformers
expected from the Emancipation and the
Enlightenment : an
new age of heaven-on-this-earth and an opportunity to remake
the immediate world into the messianic era:
- Even in their own time the early Reformers still
suffered from restrictions in their ability to
participate in society; new forms of anti-Semitism
replaced the old ones.
- Although many of the hopes of the Enlightenment were
realized, it had significant and profound flaws. It
lacked a sense of historical development, and an
appreciation of the slow growth of institutions and
practices among humankind. Nor did it appreciate the
non-rational elements of human life, the deposit of
customs and attitudes, and religious loyalties, all of
which constitute essential elements of the personality,
without which one is scarcely human. (Jamison, p.146)
- The early Reformers embarked upon a movement that
"emphasized reason at the expense of revelation. They
were prepared to accept the demand for assimilation and
adaptation as a precondition of civil equality. That
equality of rights means the same rights for a minority
in recognition of its singularity was appreciated at that
time by neither Jews nor Gentiles." (Graupe , p.124)
- Reform Judaism in the second half of the 20th century
began to try to repair some of the damage without letting
go of the best of the original spirit of the movement. In
post-WWII America reform rabbis began to wear tallitot
(plural of Tallit )
again, but fringeless ones to make the practice more
acceptable to old-line reformers. (Plaut, p. 349)
As late as 1955 Reform congregations were still
forbidding the use of tallitot in their synagogues, but by
1979 that practice had begun to end.
Many Orthodox and some Conservative wear Tzitzit everyday
and, in the relatively safer American environment, let their
fringes show.
Reform leaders granted permission to wear tallitot, but
do most Reform Jews do not wear fringes on a daily basis.
It is ironic and sad that one of the main functions of
tzitzit today is to distinguish one type of Jew from
another!
Why Did Reform Restore
Tallitot As Well As Other Customs And Mitzvot?
- They realized that the total abandonment of ritual
and commandments led to the abandonment of Judaism for
many and for others left only a hollow shell of a
faith.
- There is an increasing commitment to flexibility and
tolerance.
- It is "an effort of a modern people to make use of
archaic ways...for the formation of a way of living
appropriate to the modern condition." (Neusner , p
324)
- Reform "is now a movement that is open to all Jewish
possibilities, whether traditional or innovative. The
guiding principle of Reform today is the autonomy of
every individual to choose a Jewish religious expression
that is personally meaningful." (Wertheimer , p 96)
GENERAL REFERENCES
Graupe, Heinz Moshe, THE RISE OF MODERN JUDAISM. NY:
Robert E. Kreiger Publishing Company, 1978.
Jamison, A. Leland, ed., TRADITION AND CHANGE IN JEWISH
EXPERIENCE.Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University, 1978.
Neusner, Jacob, ed., UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN JUDAISM:
TOWARD THE DESCRIPTION OF A MODERN RELIGION, II. SECTORS OF
AMERICAN JUDAISM: REFORM, ORTHODOXY, CONSERVATISM AND
RECONSTRUCTIONISM, NY: Ktav, 1975.
Plaut, W. Gunther, THE GROWTH OF REFORM JUDAISM: AMERICAN
AND EUROPEAN SOURCES UNTIL 1948, NY: World Union for
Progressive Judaism, 1965.
Wertheimer, Jack, A PEOPLE DIVIDED: JUDAISM IN
CONTEMPORARY AMERICA, HarperCollins, 1993
RETURN TO TZITZIT
9/27/97
© Rosemarie E. Falanga, Cy H. Silver
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