SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Q.

Reform Judaism Strives
For A Sacred Balance

/-

here has been much con-
versation these days about
Reform Judaism and
Reform Jews.
Where is the
movement going?
Does Reform
have an ideology?
What has hap-
pened to "classi-
cal" Reform? The
conversation is
heated at times.
But it is a healthy
RABBI
encounter that
SHELDON
will continue for
ZIMMERMAN a long time.
Special to the
At issue is not
Jewish News
simply Reform
Judaism or a par-
ticular ideology. The essence of the
conversation is the meaning of being
a Jew today, our connection with tra-
dition and the challenge to become
serious Jews.
Reform began as an attempt to bal-
ance the claims of modernity with
those of Jewish tradition. Its founders
and earliest thinkers asserted it was
possible to live Jewishly and still be
fully citizens at home in the modern
world. Reform Judaism emphasized,
and has continued to emphasize, the
legitimacy of change, the primacy of
social justice, the use of critical schol-
arship and the values of egalitarianism
and inclusiveness. Judaism was, and
is, open to change, according to these
thinkers, and thus could be interpret-
ed and re-interpreted for our time and
place.
The early work of Reform took
place in a world in which Jews were
entering modernity and settling in
new lands. It demonstrated that we
could live in both the Jewish and
modern worlds, free and Jewishly
loyal at the same time.
For many generations, we grew up
in a world in which immigrant mem-
ories were strong. Homes and families
transmitted Jewish values and tradi-
tions. We lived in communities and
neighborhoods that resonated to the
rhythm and heartbeat of Jewish cele-
brations, festivals and calendar.
Today, the immigrant memories
have receded for most. Extended fam-
ilies are geographically dispersed. The

Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, the
1 Ith generation of rabbis in his family,
is president of Reform Judaism's Hebrew
Union College-Jewish Institute of Reli-
gion, based in Cincinnati.

nuclear family itself has changed.
Many parents do not feel that they
have the knowledge or capacity to serve
as the major transmitters of Jewish
observance and values. We have become
highly acculturated, very much at home
in America. Our lives resonate more to
the rhythm and heartbeat of American
life, festivals and calendar.
The Shoah and the birth and
building up of the State of Israel have
changed the realities and challenges of
Jewish life. Over these past years, we
note a renewal of Jewish religiosity, a
search for meaning and connection
with our Jewishness, an interest in
learning more, practicing more, and
anchoring our universalism and
Americanism in the particulars of
Jewish life and observance — not for
all, but for many.
Our task in the past was to reform
Judaism, to emphasize its adaptability
in the modern world. The loyalty of
many generations was ensured by
early Reform.
Our task today is to reform Jews,
to help so many at home in the mod-
ern world re-encounter and re-engage
with their Jewishness, Jewish values
and life. In both the past and present,
the general challenge is the same —
how to be serious Jews and live Jew-
ishly in the modern world.
The emphasis today has shifted to
enable our people to find personal
and communal meaning Jewishly, to
take their place in the covenant
between the Eternal and the Jewish
people, to encounter mitzvot and to
make serious decisions.
This path to discovery and con-
nection, to meaning and observance,
opens up a multitude of possibilities-.
There is not one way, but many
gateways. For some, it is through
renewal of prayer; for others,
through study; for many, through
experimentation with observance;
for others, through healing. Each
gateway is used alone, or in combi-
nation, with others. It is a non-judg-
mental openness that respects per-
sonal choice and expands religious
possibilities. We are on a shared
journey, personally and communally
-- no easy answers here.
In this journey and search and
becoming, we maintain commitments
tcy egalitarianism, the quest for social
justice and tikkun olam (repairing the
world), as well as inclusiveness and
loyalty to the Jewish people wherever
we live, to Torah and to the covenant
with the Eternal.

The New 2000 BMW 23

ERHARD BMW

The Ultimate BMW Center

Maple at Telegraph
Bloomfield Hills

(248) 642-6565

The Ultimate Driving Machine'

wvvw.er

EINTRAUB I EWELERS

WE SERVICE EVERYTHING WE SELL...
AND EVERYTHING ANYBODY ELSE SELLS.

Anybody Can Sell Jewelry... But Nobody
Provides Service & Discounts Like Weintraub

New Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 - 5:00 • Closed Sunday & Monday
Sunset Strip • 29536 Northwestern Hwy. • Southfield • 248-357-4000
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE` .

tr 41%

(gtdr i

Exquisite Presentations
Baby Bedding
Bridal Registry
for the Bed, Bath & Table

ASK ABOUT OUR

Preventive
Maintenance Program

• 24 Hour Emergency Service
• 30 Vehicles • Radio Dispatch
• Quality Installation

a t

Eg ruished

(248)335 4555

CUSTOM WE MOP, mar

r

2545 Orchard Lake Road
Sylvan Lake, MI 48520
248- 685- 0450
258- 685-0498 fax

r.N.

Detroit Jewish News

7/30
1999

29