SA Delegation at Connections 2009 in Israel

A delegation of 10 South Africans [including the writer] attended Connections 2009, held in Israel from 18 to 23 March 2009. The delegation was led by Steve Lurie, Chairperson of the SA Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) and organised by Reeva Forman, with assistance from the SA Zionist Federation (SAZF). It included key figures in Reform Judaism in SA, such as Rabbi Robert Jacobs, spiritual leader of Bet David congregation in Sandton.

Connections 2009 – the 34th (Biennial) International Convention of The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) – took place in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and was attended by over 600 delegates, representing the Reform, Liberal, Progressive and Reconstructionist movements from more than 40 countries, serving 1,200 congregations with 1.7 million members worldwide. Delegates also celebrated the 30th anniversary of Netzer Olami, the WUPJ’s international Reform Zionist youth movement, now reportedly the world’s largest Jewish youth movement.

The packed agenda included addresses from prominent figures in Israeli and Jewish society. Newly elected mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat spoke at the opening ceremony, while Israeli President Shimon Peres’ address was the focus of the closing banquet. In between these highlights, delegates were treated to a profusion of keynote addresses, lively panel discussions, field trips, congregational visits and walking tours of Jaffa and Tel-Aviv. This was rounded out by innovative Shacharit morning worship and Shabbat evening and morning services with communities from the small but growing Israeli Movement for Progressive Judaism (IMPJ). An important part of such events is the formal and informal “networking” which takes place, facilitated in this case by the “Regional Shuk (Market)” and related activities.

The SA delegation was also privileged to visit key sites in Jerusalem under the expert guidance of Prof. Ophir Yarden, a lecturer at Brigham Young University. This intensive learning experience covered the Old City, the Western Wall and archaeological sites around the Temple Mount, as well as the various components of the Mt Herzl complex (including both Yad Vashem and the IDF military cemetery).

While Reform Judaism is relatively small in communities such as Israel and South Africa, Progressive Judaism can justifiably claim to be the largest Jewish religious denomination worldwide. WUPJ conventions such as Connections 2009 are the ideal opportunity for adherents of Progressive Judaism in SA to connect with like-minded individuals and communities throughout the world, thereby gaining a new perspective on the role and development of Progressive Judaism. It was also the ideal opportunity for the Progressive “family” to show solidarity with the people of Israel as a whole, as well as with Progressive congregations in Israel (which - unlike their Orthodox brethren - enjoy no official support), and new growth areas such as the Former-Soviet Union (FSU).

(This article was originally prepared for (but didn’t make the pages of) the SA Jewish Report.  On my return from Israel, I was hit by a “travel bug” and preparations for moving home, so I wasn’t able to follow up as to why the piece was never published.  Here it is anyway…)

Progressive Judaism: Just Be Yourself

Last week I posted an entry regarding Hanukkah, suggesting that it’s time to become more assertive about a Hanukkah “moral” that’s more in keeping with the ethos of progressive Judaism, as well as being aligned with what we know about the personalities and events of that era.

The blog post was based on an item by Andy Ratto on MetaFilter entitled “The True Story of Chanukkah”. One of those who commented on the original piece was user Ghidorah (Jeremy Wilgus), who had this to say:

As a former conservative Jew, I'd go along with the Hassidic/Reform split. When I pretty much left the fold, it seemed to me that the conservative movement was falling all over itself to be more religious, that people in the conservative movement were adopting Hassidic practices as a form of one-ups-manship. It was pretty sad to me. I mean, the conservative movement had solid practices and rules, but through whatever kind of insecurity, or keeping up with the Lipschultzes, they were just throwing it away. As someone who had, at one point, deeply believed, yet struggled with certain things (keeping kosher, no TV on Saturday), it was another thing (of many) that pushed me away from Judaism.

A youth group I was in had a special, super-duper religious sub-section, for truly observant teens. They had an open meeting at one event a year, where anyone could come, and there would be a talmud discussion. While it's odd to say it, I kicked ass at talmud. Liking pepperoni on my pizza, however, kept me from being allowed into the club, though. That, and not wearing a kippah full time, among other things...

Although Ghidorah referred to Conservative Judaism, there’s a lesson in here that all of the progressive Jewish streams (what I’ve referred to elsewhere as ABO – Anything But Orthodoxy) need to take to heart. The lesson is that progressive Judaism needs to be centred on itself. It must not allow itself to internalise (or externalise) the belief or perception that it fits somewhere on a scale of observance or strictness, where more observant or stricter is better, less observant or less strict is worse.

Progressive Judaism is not “less observant” it is “differently observant”!

When I started to become a regular shul-goer again a few years back, I was surprised to find many rituals that were not around in the Reform Judaism of my youth had now become a part of it. While I’m quite happy that many of these beautiful traditions have found their way back into progressive Judaism, this careful and considered adoption of certain rituals should not be allowed to generate into the “observance-envy” referred to above. Down that path lies irrelevance and eventual extinction for progressive Judaism. We cannot outflank ultra-Orthodoxy and Hassidism on the right, and any attempt to do so would be tantamount to spiritual suicide.

Remember what your mother used to say about those awkward social situations: “Just be yourself!”

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Book review: Whose Torah?

Whose Torah?: A Concise Guide to Progressive Judaism (Whose Religion? Series)

At just over 150 pages, this slim volume really is the “concise guide to progressive Judaism” it claims to be.

As progressive Jews, we are often made to feel that the social justice issues and values we champion are not a part of Judaism itself; not something Jews should be concerning themselves with. Instead, we are led to believe that these are simply democratic, liberal, secular or Western values that have been adopted en masse by assimilated Jews as an alternative to Judaism. Judaism, so we are told, is about piety, ritual, observance and Torah study, as well as identity and survival, but certainly not about justice. It deals with our relationship to God, not our relationship to one another, to humanity as a whole and to the planet that sustains all life.

It is therefore inspirational to read a book that convincingly asserts that these issues (concern with issues around sexuality, gender, race, war, poverty and the environment) do actually go to the heart of what Judaism is all about, far more so than do the minutiae of ritual observance.

As a teenager growing up in the affluent northern suburbs of Johannesburg during the 70s, the genteel anti-Semitism I encountered resulted in my being heavily influenced by the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the JDL. In Kahane’s view, there was (is?) only one authentic Judaism; the Judaism of Orthodoxy (even ultra-Orthodoxy). Reading “Whose Torah?” has played an crucial role in helping me to at last shake off the mental and psychological shackles of that worldview, and finally accept that there is no one true Judaism, but multiple Judaisms. It also helped me to realise that concern for social justice is part of our legacy to the Western World, not something we picked up along the way.

My quibbles? The issue of the Black anti-Semitism that went hand-in-hand with Jewish involvement in Civil Rights was not discussed. As regards Israel and the Middle East, there is little recognition that the Palestinians are a party to the conflict, not its innocent victims. One side cannot simply “declare peace”, nor did I get a sense of how human rights can be safeguarded in the middle of a civil war. (And sometimes, even when we act justly, we can still receive a slap in the face in return.)

The “Whose Religion?” series would benefit from a companion volume that focuses more on the theology and rituals that should be core to progressive Judaism in the 21st Century, i.e. what are the bedrock beliefs we should grapple with, and how should they be reflected in our customs, traditions and rituals? Or perhaps such a companion volume already exists?

My grateful thanks to Thaler Pekar for providing my “review copy” of this significant work, which now has a permanent place in my nightstand.

For an aspiring writer, having readers such as Thaler makes it all worthwhile.

(This review was originally posted to Goodreads.)