Reform Judaism and the Bar Miy-
ion 'Mix Well; Survey by Rabbis Indicates
I
co
.
THE DETROIT JEW ISH NEWS
Fri day, December
ea-
By BURTON DONNER
The Rabbi's
from incompatible.
Benjamin Efro
The opposition of Reform lished in 192
e CCAR, de-
eform Judaism of education of T
Judaism to the Bar Mitzvah dared
d the ceremony of in Roslyn
ceremony goes back to the "haS
vah with that of Con- Island
earliest times of the movement. Bar
irit
o
ea
lon for both boys and
The first yearbook of the pro-1 fir
in,
s "
ceedings of the 1890 meeting of
rabbi-
The return t
the Central Conference 0
iiaire to
practices among
American Rabbis, the _organ'
ow wide-
tion of Reform rabbis, ca d may or may not be
I itzvah cere-
obvi-
the Bar Mitzvah "a so ess for the fact that t
Reform congre-
nce ously much evi
ceremony without signi
nd what variations
on." Bar Mitzvah an
.. an old and worn tra
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The researchers interpreted
these findings to mean that
American Reform Rabbis "are
seeking to make Torah reading
service a teaching ritual once
again."
T h e researchers indicated
surprise at the number of con-
gregations — 75 — which "have
retained the traditional chant-
ing by the Bar Mitzvah." An-
other interesting finding was
that almost as many Reform
rabbis — 103 — used the tradi-
tional Orthodox portions in the
selection of the Haftarah pas-
sages to be read as did those-
110 — who used the table of
Scriptural readings in the back
of the official Prayer Book of
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations.
For those who remain con-
vinced that Reform puts little
or no stress on Hebrew in child
religious education, the find-
ings also might be surprising.
In 50 congregations, the Bar
Mitzvahs do the Haftarah in
both Hebrew and English.
The surveyors conclude with
the proposition that it is time
for American RefOrm to face
up to "the reality of the Bar
Mitzvah," partiularly in terms
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The questionnaire was sent
to 582 Reform rabbis believed
to be actively engaged in con-
gregational activity. A total of
336 filled-in questionnaires were
returned, almost 60 per cent of
those queried and a most re-
spectable return by the most
critical standards of polling.
No less than 324 of the rabbis
reported that the Bar Mitzvah
was a standard ceremonial pro-
cedure in their congregations—
better than 95 per cent. The
survey, which was completed in
May, 1960, demonstrated both
that Reform and the Bar Mitz-
vah ceremony mix very well
indeed and that rituals and
practices vary widely from con-
gregation to congregation.
In eight out of ten of the Re-
form congregations, the Bar
Mitzvah boy reads from the
traditional portion of the week
but it is the rabbi, not the Bar
Mitzvah boy, who chooses the
particular passage to be read.
Interestingly enough, 31 of the
326 Reform rabbis go to sources
outside the weekly sidra for the
Bar Mitzvah Torah reading
service.
The guiding principle for
68 was the "meaningfulness"
of the passage and 60 were
concerned that the verses
should be "suitable" for the
occasion. Fifty-six looked for
passages with ethical or pro-
phetic teaching, 21 picked
passages which could be
treated sermonically and 19
wanted the readings to be
inspirational and significant
in modern terms.
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d in the conduct of the
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