Editor's Notebook

The Jewish Divide

ties. "Until then, if you didn't want to observe the Shabbat,"
s there still a need for religious movements within
Dr. Lupovitch said, "you weren't simply admonished: You
Judaism? At 8 a.m., that's a heavy question. The topic
could be fined or imprisoned or even beaten."
could have been overwhelming but history professor
Such power, he said, assured uniformity in religious expres-
Howard Lupovitch made an early morning talk a thoughtful
sion among Jews.
lesson about the American Jewish experience.
Movements percolated when Jews no longer had to meet
For Jews who belong to a synagogue, movements matter
community-mandated observance levels or face being ostra-
because synagogues tend to be grouped by movement or reli-
cized. Each movement reflected a different attitude to count-
gious beliefs ranging from Orthodox to Secular Humanistic.
er the loss of communal authority.
Movements also distinguish our differences as Jews so they
Orthodoxy came in response to Reform Judaism, whose
help religiously ignorant or under-involved Jews migrate to
first synagogue opened in 1819 in Hamburg, Germany.
an affiliated comfort level of their choice.
Before then, Jews were simply Jewish. "You were more obser-
Over breakfast at the Max M. Fisher
vant or less observant or you were pious or you were different
Federation Building in Bloomfield
or you were a heretic," said Dr. Lupovitch, "but Jews around
Township on June 9, Dr. Lupovitch
the world were drawing from the same package of beliefs and
helped a small audience ponder whether
practices and symbols and institutions."
there is a core group of Jews in America
Conservative Judaism was born later in
with enough Jewish knowl-
America as a middle ground, built from what
edge to assure a next gener-
its immigrant founders felt were the most
ation of informed Jews who
ROBERT A. can transmit Jewish values
SKLAR
and our heritage effectively
Dr. Howard Lupovitch: "If the
Editor
amid the tugs of assimila-
20th century taught anything, it
tion, acculturation and apa-
thy. Breakfast co-hosts were the Michigan
is the difficulty ... to maintain a
offices of the American Jewish Committee and
certain level of commitment in a
the Jewish Theological Seminary.
place where religious observance
"If the 20th century taught anything," said
Dr. Lupovitch, an Oak Park native, "it is the
is entirely voluntary"
difficulty of every religious denomination in
America to maintain a certain level of commit-
ment in a place where religious observance is
appealing elements of religious observance
entirely voluntary."
and the Jewish community in their European
America's freedoms call for self-determina-
homelands. It wove threads of tradition through its embrace
tion when it comes to sizing up a religious belief or a way of
of religious diversity.
life. Having a choice means religious denominations compete
The next profound change affecting the movements fol-
for followers. "Each religious denomination has had to work
lowed the Holocaust when America became the universal
even harder to try to figure out a way to instill some sense of
center of Jewish life and leadership.
commitment," said Dr. Lupovitch, the Pulver Family
Today, our identity as American Jews is defined as much by
Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Colby College in
the
spiritual experience we get from movements as the reli-
Waterville, Maine. This year, the Hillel Day School of
gious precepts of the movements. In Michigan, we see syna-
Metropolitan Detroit graduate also became a visiting associ-
gogues in all Judaic streams striving to be more relevant and
ate professor of history at the University of Michigan in Ann
inviting yet true to their tenets.
Arbor.
So do movements still matter?
Dr. Lupovitch's Bloomfield Township talk was as provoca-
Like Dr. Lupovitch, I believe they do in some ways as they
tive as it was enlightening. He asked a question that unaffili-
reposition or re-invent themselves to keep vibrant. I don't like
ated Jews don't necessarily care about and that affiliated Jews
that we tend to categorize and limit ourselves by movement;
often wonder about. His appearance was in celebration of
that seems stifling in understanding or appreciating the sweep
350 years of Jewish settlement in North America.
that is the joy of Judaism.
The "sense of religious commitment"
But American Judaism requires balance
that he spoke about has roots in 19th-
to prosper — like life itself
century Europe. The leading Jewish
As Dr. Lupovitch put it: "Because
movements then, Reform and Orthodox,
maintaining a balance between uniformi-
gave Jews who wanted to be part of the
If you identify with a
ty and diversity is so important in an age
Jewish community a choice of how to
movement, do you understand
of world leadership for American Jews,
become engaged. In both cases, the lead-
its "sense of commitment"
and in an age where the American Jewish
ers tried to instill a common commit-
for involved membership?
community lacks the ability to really
ment upon the membership. This com-
enforce Jewish law, denominations help
mitment, whether adhering to tradition
If you are secular in Jewish
even if only as punctuation marks."
or adapting to modern times, acted as the
belief, are there conditions
Still, only 40 percent of U.S. Jewish
essential glue that held the movements
under which a movement or a
households
belong to a synagogue, the
together.
synagogue could attract you?
foundation of the movements. What
The movements sprang from the loss of
JTS Provost Jack Wertheimer
exactly are we doing to make Judaism
communal authority by Jewish leaders in
responsive for unaffiliated Jews living
sees an easing of intra-Jewish
Europe. Jewish leaders lost state-granted
tensions in his essay "All Quiet
outside the margins of organized Jewish
power to enforce the laws of Judaism in
on the Religious Front?" To
life?
their religiously autonomous communi-

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