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BLUETHREAD READERS TALK
BACK
On October 8, 1998, David_Woodworth@nps.gov wrote:
Dear Ms. Falanga,
I ran across your site (quite well-constructed) on the
Jewish Webring, and did a little bit of exploring. I noticed
that you passionately insist that the UORUSC was really
saying that all non-Orthodox Jews are not really Jews.
Unfortunately, saying a thing does not make it true. The
condemnation they issued was leveled at Reform and
Conservative practices and ideology, not at the status of
the holders of said ideology. I understand your desire, and
commitment to "observant Reform-" I had made much out of my
status as "Observant Conservative" in earlier days. Of
course, the Conservative movement doesn't accept a whole lot
of Reform converts either, and also doesn't accept
"patrillineal" Jews, so your beef shouldn't just be with
Orthodoxy. Remember to take the source of those comments
into consideration: as Orthodox Rabbis, they view mitzvot as
obligatory upon Jews, and not upon non-Jews. It is not their
job (except in a macro sense) to reprove non-Jewish persons
for their (accused) misdeeds. However, is it any surprise
that an Orthodox Rabbi will disapprove of Reform and
Conservative practices? This is reminiscent of that scene in
"Casablanca-" "Shocked, Shocked I am to find gambling in
this place..."
Really, where is the news? Orthodox Rabbis have condemned
Reform practices ever since the Haskala. Of course, the
old-style Reformers cast an awful lot of stones as well -
"archaic," "outdated," etc... It is my belief that the
new-found pluralistic ideology on the part of Reform leaders
stems from a realisation that they are on the wrong end of a
major demographic shift: in this generation, more people are
becoming Orthodox than leaving Orthodoxy. This, of course,
was not true a few generations ago.
Let me just ask one question of you: If Reform
Judaism is so successful, where are all of the 3rd and 4th
generation Reform Jews? Admittedly, I don't run in Reform
circles much, but I have yet to meet these people. I wish
you luck in bringing more people l'or haTorah: yivverekhekha
hashem v'yishmarekha...
-David Woodworth
(I had a Conservative conversion - for some of my ideas, go
to
http://www.freeyellow.com/members5/masoret/index.html)
Bluethread responds:
Dear David,
Thank you for your thoughtful, and passionate letter.
NO LONGER A JEW was a spontaneous, personal reaction to
hearing the UORUSC statement. I still believe, despite
their backtracking, that they meant to make non-persons of
us all. At least, that is how their statement felt to me.
I know it was not addressed to me. It was addressed to
non-Orthodox Jews who were born Jewish and those who made it
probably hoped it would bring people to Orthodoxy. I don't
think it was the best strategy.
As a Reform convert, I am already less than a non-person
to many, not all, Orthodox Jews. Of course this is not news
to me. I knew what I was getting into when I chose a Reform
conversion. But as a convert, I have no genetic claim to
being Jewish, I have only my religion, so I defend it
against all comers. I simply found it ironic that, even
though so many of the aspects of my daily life and the lives
of the Reform Jews of my community are based solidly on
Torah, to many Orthodox, our practice is not Jewish in any
way; it is their approach or nothing.
Most of the time I am oblivious to Orthodox opinions,
especially the opinions of those in power in Israel. I
deeply respect all approaches to Judaism. Sometimes I
wistfully wish that they would respect mine. Silly me.
If I wanted to, I could argue, based on Torah, how many
Orthodox practices are not Jewish. I could list perfectly
observable mitzvot that the Rabbis removed from observance
and perfectly simple ones that they made so complicated they
are practically impossible to follow. Both actions are in
violation of Deuteronomy 13:1 Neither add to it nor take
away from it. If you spend time in Bluethread, however, you
will see that most of our criticism is of the "oldtime"
Reformers, who, in our opinion, often threw the baby out
with the bathwater.
But Bluethread's purpose is not to criticize others, it
is to help Reform Jews to better understand and find their
own path to the Torah. I have not given up the hope of
finding common ground between the different divisions, but
it is a difficult task. As chair of our Ritual Committee,
one of my goals is to be able to celebrate Simchat Torah
with every other Jew in Berkeley. I will let you know when
it happens.
Now to your question of the success or non-success of
Reform Judaism. Do I personally know many third generation
Reform Jews? Yes. Do I also know many Orthodox and
Conservative Jews who have moved over to Reform? Yes. Do I
know folks who have started out totally non-practicing,
joined our congregation, which, while Reform, has many
traditional aspects, and then moved over to Conservatism or
Orthodoxy? Yes. So what does this mean to me? Not too
much, I am afraid. Being Reform is a personal choice to me
and it is not based on statistical "success" or "failure."
To me, Reform is a verb, not a noun; it is a process of
developing and refining a modern Jewish identity without
disconnecting from our deepest traditions.
Sincerely,
Rose Falanga
Bluethread Editor
On Sat, 26 Apr 1997 BertFam4@aol.com wrote:
Dear Rose,
I was also interested in your article NO LONGER A JEW. My
impression of the pronouncement by the Union of Orthodox
Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada is not that they classify all
Reform and Conservative Jews as non-Jews, but rather that
they consider those streams of Judaism as not true Judaism.
If Iunderstand this correctly, they would consider Reform
and Conservative Jews who are Jews by birth as apostates,
capable of returning to Judaism simply through an act of
tshuvah. Not so Jews by choice converted in these movements
(and Reform Jews whose fathers are Jewish and mothers are
not), who they would indeed call non-Jews, capable of
becoming Jews only by Orthodox conversion. As a Jew by
choice, converted by a Reform beit din after years of study
and soul searching, I find it deeply disturbing that anyone
should question my choice of Judaism. As the mother of two
children who have never known any other way of life than
that of affiliated and committed Jews, I am even more
distraught that anyone would attempt to classify my children
as non-Jews.
Linda Bertenthal
BertFam4@aol.com
Bluethread responds:
The UORUSC's backtracking and saying that they were
really not classifying Reform and Conservative Jews as
non-Jews is the worst kind of
pilpul -- that designed to
disguise the intent of the commentator.
Leaving the experiences of converts out of it for a
moment, let's look at what they would say about a typical
Reform Jew He is a "Jew" because he was born of Jewish
parents, but he might not think, act, live,worship, marry
and have children "Jewishly" according to Orthodox practice.
He is only a "Jew" in that he has the potential to become a
"Jewishly" operating person by adopting their religious
lifestyle. Logically, ANY person,whether of Jewish heritage
or not, has THAT choice, because he can convert. We think
their statements are trying to make non-persons of us all.
Conversion, or membership, in any religious organization
must not be a prerequisite to marriage or other institution
of civil society (Code Napoleon onward.) Membership in an
organization -- religious or otherwise -- Orthodox,
Conservative or Reform -- is up the members and rules of
that organization. As much as we hate saying this, we must
remember that there have been other times in our history
when Jews have had their basic civil rights denied, piece by
piece, until we did not even have the right to live. It is
painful for us to think that there are Orthodox Jews in
Israel who think of Reform and Conservative Jews with this
same hatred and enmity. We must fight them at every step,
despite their disingenuous explanations.
11/11/98
© 1997 Rosemarie E. Falanga, Cy H. Silver
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