"Reform Jews: Being Jewish, Doing Jewish, Choosing Jewish"

"What does it really mean to be a Reform Jew?" Recently, a student studying for conversion asked me this question. We began to talk about Reform Jews and the things we sometimes say and do.

"I'm not really that religious - I'm Reform."
"I'm Reform - I don't keep kosher."
"I was born Orthodox, but I'm more Reform now. I don't really do much anymore that is Jewish."
"I'm reformed."

When I hear such comments, which is far too often, I have to laugh, if only to keep from crying. While some may think that we ought to consider reforming our evil ways, we are REFORM Jews, not REFORMED Jews. "Reform," Leonard Fine once wrote, "is a verb." We are a movement that believes that Judaism is constantly in a state of redefining itself, and we believe that the process of Reform is an ongoing, dynamic one, not a static process that has reformed and is finished becoming. To be a Reform Jew means to constantly confront the claims of tradition and the challenges of the present day, and to produce a meaningful and rich Jewish response.
 
Reform Jews who use Reform Judaism as an excuse NOT to do something, like keeping kosher, observing the holidays, or coming to Temple, are simply mistaken. Reform Judaism is not a license to do nothing; rather, Reform Judaism is a challenge and an obligation to do something, something Jewish. Unlike more traditional philosophies of Judaism, however, Reform Judaism does not simply accept the claims of previous generations whose interpretations of the Torah have come to be seen as binding Halachah, or Jewish law. Instead, Reform Judaism demands that each Reform Jew, in each generation, must seek to interpret God's demands for himself or herself. We are encouraged to use the teachings of Torah and the interpretations of successive generations of Jews as guidance, but we are also taught that our own creative response to revelation, our own understanding of God and our obligations, must guide our Jewish choices. We are a movement based upon freedom of choice, inclusiveness and egalitarianism, and most of all dignity and integrity.

Once we had completed our discussion, my student commented: "Wow! Being a Reform Jew is harder, not easier, than I thought!" Being a Reform Jew IS a challenge, because it requires thinking and choosing and creating. Sadly, far too many Reform Jews do not undertake this challenge, but instead, mistakenly use the freedom of Reform Judaism as an excuse to make no choice at all.

Choosing something is different than choosing nothing. For example, choosing to observe the arrival of Shabbat in a meaningful and appropriate way, even if this observance does not exactly resemble the traditional ways in which Shabbat has been observed by other Jews, is different than ignoring Shabbat completely. Choosing to think about what we eat before we eat it, to acknowledge God's presence in the universe through appropriate prayers, words of gratitude, or actions, to care about making this world a better place, are all different than ignoring the fact that our tradition has a tradition of dietary laws and customs, prayers and blessings to be said at various times, and commandments about the way we treat others and the world. Be a good Reform Jew: choose to do SOMETHING Jewish.
 
James M. Bennett