On the cushion behind me, embroidered by a group within the EDRS community to celebrate the 80th birthday of the synagogue, is a quote from Pirkei Avot[1]. It is extracted from a saying by Judah ben Teimah, which lays out what each stage of life entails. This passage is where we learn that at 13 you become responsible, as Jackson has celebrated today, for your own mitzvot and deeds. It also tells us that 80 is the time for supernormal strength. Supernormal, perhaps, because anything over 70 is seen as a second go around, as the Torah predicts an average life span to be 3 Score Years and 10 – in other words 70. This is why some people celebrate a second Bar Mitzvah at 83, something for Jackson to start looking forward to.
This Shabbat, up and down the country, communities are celebrating the fact that the Movement for Reform Judaism is turning 80 this year. Reform Judaism in the UK of course started well before that, but it was 80 years ago when 6 communities who shared a set of progressive ideals, came together to collaborate on children’s education and other resources which they could all benefit from sharing. Shared values brought them together, and today continues to unite 43 communities, all over the UK. That is not to suggest these 43 are all of one mind – we are a diverse movement, embracing the challenges of what it means to live as 21st Century Jews, and the debate and variety that has always characterised Judaism.
So what might it mean for our 80 year old movement to be entering a phase of supernormal strength? The last few years have been tough on everyone, not least organisations like Reform Judaism that rely on donors and on collaborative working to function. We have been without a senior rabbi for much of the pandemic, but the movement have just begun their search for the next leader of the movement to guide us on beyond our 80th year, an exciting moment to see where we will go next. There is lots to celebrate in what it means to be a part of a movement furthering Reform Judaism and supporting our communities.
I was ordained 13 years ago next weekend, when you were a new born baby Jackson, and in that time I have noticed a shift in many areas of Reform Jewish life that I think is an incredible indicator of strength. There have been times when parts of Reform Judaism have been a little bit like Korach. The protagonist of our portion is jealous of his powerful cousin, who seems to have a special relationship to God, and thus, in his view, lords it over the entire community.
Consisting of around 20% of Anglo Jewry, Reform Jews have at times experienced periods of jealousy, or have had an inferiority complex when it comes to our orthodox cousins. This was particularly true outside of London, where I have on more than one occasion been asked when I converted to Judaism, because the assumption has too often been that Jews only become Reform because they want to convert.
In fact I feel incredibly blessed to have been born and raised in a household that had already chosen a Reform Synagogue as its home a few years before I arrived. It meant that growing up in the 1980’s and 90’s, I saw only women rabbis on the bimah of my synagogue, and at 13 I stood before my community in tallit and kippah and read from the Torah just as my brother and sister before me had done. It enabled a level of choice to me personally that I know generations of women were denied.
Today, having strength in our convictions is lending us strength into the future. Less and less do we worry about what others may think of us from the outside, and whether they accept our decisions. We are who we are, and grow as a movement based on our Jewish principles, learning, and values that root us both in the traditions of the past, and a vision of the future. Sometimes there will be areas we individually or communally disagree over, but it was ever thus in the Jewish world, and the strength that comes in being able to act together continues to be a force that unites. Indeed intercommunal relations have improved massively in the last 20 years, although there is certainly work to do there too.
Judaism has never been a monolith, and the Talmud is very clear that multiple practices and ways of observing Judaism have always been the norm. We are an authentic continuation of that diverse Jewish tradition, and I am proud to be a product of the last 80 years of growth and change for the Reform Movement. It has shaped who I am beyond anything I could summarise here. From cheder to RSY Netzer, Reform Students to the Rabbis I look up to. From Leo Baeck College where I trained to be a Rabbi to the 43 Reform communities that I served centrally before taking up this role here. Reform Judaism has been a constant source of support and growth for me personally, and for the development of Progressive Judaism nationally.
The jealousy of Korach needs to be left in the past –strength comes from the pride we feel in embodying Reform Jewish values of compassion, care, and equality. Our strength grows when we value what Judaism can bring to an individual’s life. And it lies in what that individual can achieve when they are part of a community that acts together and looks after one another.
As the largest congregation in the movement, sometimes it is our role to also be a source of strength. We are a part of ensuring smaller communities without rabbis can receive training and support in ways that places like EHRS might not need, but to coin a phrase, we are stronger together, and if we are a part of helping to make that happen, we are ensuring a future for Reform Judaism wherever Reform Jews are living in years to come. We are also the beneficiaries of Reform Judaism in plenty of unseen ways, whether it be the 5 years it takes to train Rabbis at Leo Baeck College, or the support given to our professionals with resources in education and youth work. Some of Jacksons B’nei Mitzvah classmates are also beneficiaries of RSY Netzer, where they learn to bench grace after meals, enjoy egalitarian prayer space, and experience their Judaism as fun and meaningful. We have already seen the benefits of these experiences as teens return ready to get involved in our own Youth centre here at EHRS.
As Reform Judaism celebrates 80 years of travelling together, I am reminded of a story that Jackson and I studied when thinking about Korach’s rebellion. It is cited in our High Holiday Machzor and comes from the 18th Centruy Chassidic Rebbe Zusya of Hanipol. He taught that when he died, and ascended to heaven, God would not ask him ‘Zusya, why were you not more like Moses’ but ‘Zusya, why were you not more like Zusya?’. Reform Judaism has learnt over time to be more fully itself, and it is certainly a process that continues today. I hope as we celebrate our 80th year that we find strength in being able to proudly stand up for what our Reform Judaism represents, and know that we are a part of a proud tradition embracing change and diversity, equality and justice, tradition and meaning. Jackson I hope your Reform Judaism can be as nourishing to you as it has been to so many others, even if it is having to compete with West Ham.
May we all be blessed with the confidence of our own convictions, the gift of celebrating diversity throughout our communities, and the ability to be fully ourselves as individuals, and as a National movement.
Cain Yehi Ratzon, venomar Amen.
[1] 5:24
