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Ties That Bind

Calls for greater links among Reform Jews draws local praise.

JOE BERKOFSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Minneapolis

eform Jews cannot go it
alone.
That was the message at
the Reform movement's
67th biennial convention two weeks
ago.
Despite numerically dominating
the North American Jewish landscape,
Reform Jews must reach out to other
Reform Jews in Israel and Eastern
Europe and fight anti-Semitism by
forging closer ties to Christians, said
the movement's president, Rabbi Eric
Yoffie.
"There is no such thing as Lone-
Ranger Judaism," he said, delivering
the keynote address to a Shabbat
morning service of 4,500 delegates on
Nov. 8.
The organization's name, "Union
of American Hebrew Congregations,"
has been changed to "Union for
Reform Judaism: Serving Reform
Congregations In North America."
The old name was considered awk-
ward and reflective of a 19th-century
era when the word "Hebrew" was
thought to be a genteel substitute for
"Jewish" in Christian society, said
Rabbi Yoffie.
The address marked less of a philo-
sophical sea change for Reform
Judaism than Rabbi Yoffie solidifying
an agenda he has promoted since
ascending to the top of the largest
American stream of Judaism in 1996.
Since that time, Rabbi Yoffie has
spearheaded calls both to infuse the
movement with more tradition and to
invigorate ritual through participation.
On Shabbat, he underscored his
points with a distinctively progressive
twist.
Since God made the covenant at
Mount Sinai with the Jewish people,
he said, "every religious Jew has

Ro

understood that she can-
not fully observe Torah
and reclaim the holy
moment at Sinai unless
she does so as part of
klal Yisrael," the people
of Israel.
"Rabbi Yoffie's ser-
mon was an inspiring
call to the Reform
movement to make
some changes in the way
we think about our sup-
port of Judaism — not
only in our country but
around the world," said
Rabbi Joshua Bennett of
Temple Israel in West
Bloomfield.

Bennett

Klein

Doable Initiatives

Rabbi Yoffie urged
members specifically to
raise money to help
build two new Reform
synagogues in Modi'in
and in Mevasseret Zion,
both led by women rab-
bis, while also helping
train Reform Jews in Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union to
launch new communities.
He urged the movement to support
Israeli students at the Jerusalem
branch of the movement's seminary,
the New York-based Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion,
with two-year scholarships and two
years of post-ordination salary.
To raise such funding, Rabbi Yoffie
requested that each of the movement's
920 congregations ask each member
to donate $18 annually — "about the
cost of two movie tickets."
Some Detroit-area congregations
have made a commitment to partici-
pate in the program. "We will defi-
nitely be part of it," said Rabbi Joseph
Klein of Temple Emanu-El in Oak

Yoffie

Park. "This, like other ini-
tiatives presented this year are very
narrowly focused, positive, easily
doable — and really, really good ideas
that fit easily into what we are already
doing. How can we not ask synagogue
members to make an $18 donation to
be part of a Temple Emanu-El gift
that will be sent to an Israel program
or seminary?"
Rabbi Bennett was "impressed by
the call to reach out and support
Israeli Reform congregations and the
progressive movement in the former
Soviet Union. It is time to continue
what we have already been doing in
Detroit with the entire country
responding. A small $18 contribu-
tion from 50 percent of the move-
ment would make an amazing differ-
ence in both areas."

Daily Torah Study

Another area of interest to local syna-
gogues is Rabbi Yoffie's calling on
Reform Jews to study Torah for 10
minutes a day.
Those who sign up for the pro-
gram, at: vvwvv.urj.org/torah/ten/ will
receive an e-mail each weekday morn-
ing on topics of Jewish text, Torah
social action, Israel connections,
Jewish ethics and the Jewish world.
The thought of involving more
Torah in our lives and having the
opportunity to be involved in Torah
study is extremely commendable," said
Stuart Lockman, president of Temple
Beth El in Bloomfield Township. "To
involve more people in their Judaism
will contribute to the betterment of
the overall Jewish community, and
making us more spiritually involved is
good for everyone."
Rabbi Klein said: "My intention is
to include each Monday's 10 minutes
Web-site information in my weekly e-
mail to the congregation. It will be an
easy way for me to remind folks there
is quick way to get in and out through
the Web site," he said.
"This program is an incredible way
— in the age of technology — for
Reform Jews around the country to
take study to a different level," Rabbi
Bennett said. "The opportunity for
people to spend 10 minutes a day in
their offices or in their homes looking
at a Jewish text or a Jewish piece of
knowledge and integrating it into
their day is a wonderful chance for
our members to become more knowl-
edgeable."
Rabbi Yoffie said those who com-
plete 100 hours of study using a "Ten
Minutes of Torah" Web site will be
hpnored at the group's 2005 biennial
in Houston.
For Michelle Sage Chekan, the
unveiling of the movement's new
"Packing for College" program
brought particular interest. She is a