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UAHC Meeting Examines
Education, Tradition

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

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he Reform movement
is in "significant tran-
sition," according to
Temple Beth El Rabbi
Daniel Polish — a fact he be-
lieves was underscored by
the Union of American Heb-
rew Congregations biennial
convention, held last week
in Baltimore.
Rabbi Polish, one of
several Detroit-area rabbis
and temple leaders to attend
the convention, said the
UAHC's agenda focused on
ideological coherence and re-
ligious adherence.
"It was questions of real
religious hunger the bien-
nial was addressing," Rabbi
Polish said.
"Unless we Reform Jews
accept the idea that we must
do something, we will disap-
pear," Rabbi Simeon Maslin
of Keneseth Israel in Elkins
Park, Penn., warned in one
convention workshop.
Rabbi Polish said the
Reform movement's increas-
ed interest in religious edu-
cation and practice was evi-
dent at the convention wor-
ship services, which typical-
ly serve as a forerunner of
temple services nationwide.
He saw a greater use of Heb-
rew and chanting and a
more prominent role for can-
tors.
This year's biennial in-
cluded a series of study
classes on such topics as
spirituality, while past con-
ventions have usually focus-
ed on temples' practical con-
cerns, Rabbi Polish said.
The Reform movement has
grown by 25 percent over the
last 20 years and is bigger
than ever, with 856 af-
filiated congregations and
nearly 300,000 member
families. Forty-two percent
of American Jews identify as
Reform, according to a re-
cent study.
A major focus of the
movement has been
outreach to intermarried
couples. Reform's approach
to these couples was discuss-
ed at length at the con-
ference, with conclusions
less than positive, Rabbi
Polish said.
Participants realized that
"if the hope in the mind of
the founders (of outreach
programs) was to stem the
tide of intermarriage, then it
has failed," he said.
In his address to the 4,000
delegates, UAHC President

Rabbi Alexander Schindler
called for an intensification
of efforts to gain converts
both before and after mar-
riage. He conceded that the
Reform movement has not
placed enough emphasis on
converting non-Jews inter-
ested in participating in
Jewish life.
"We need to move away
from the 'neutral,' non-
proselytizing stance that has
hitherto informed our
outreach effort," Rabbi
Schindler said. "Our desire
to welcome converts should
be made explicit rather than
only implicit in our work."
"We need to affirm our
Judaism frankly, freely,

"Once Jews were
Reform because
they needed it to
help them be
Americans. Now
the question is,
how can we live
Jewish lives?"

Rabbi Daniel Polish

proudly, and without fear
that it will offend the non-
Jewish spouses, " he added.
For "if we lack in missionary
zeal, they are bound to sur-
mise that we have no mes-
sage at all."
Delineating that message
means defining the boun-
daries of Reform Judaism,
which are, Rabbi Schindler
acknowledged, "most
difficult to draw. But we
cannot be all things to all
people."
The biennial also hosted a
number of programs pro-
moting Jewish education.
Temple Israel Executive Di-
rector Eva Shapiro, who at-
tended the UAHC conven-
tion, said education con-
tinues to be a mandate for
all Jews.
"People have the need to
develop Jewishly," she said.
"Our children are called
Jews — they need to know
what that means."
She said the UAHC plans
increased educational pro-
gramming, much of it for
adults. "Several years ago
we (at Temple Israel) did a
study that shows people do
want more adult programm-
ing," she said.
Both Mrs. Shapiro and
Rabbi Polish said the kinds
of issues raised at the con-
vention do not reflect a
change in the nature of

