I’m not sure if Liberal Judaism is limited to the UK and doesn’t really exist in the US. If that’s the case, it would help explain why I was so clueless about it. Be that as it may, it’s apparently a major movement over there.
This morning, I was quickly disabused of my prior understanding by an article in The Jewish Chronicle, which reported that the two movements - Liberal and Reform - are soon expected to merge into a new denomination called Progressive Judaism. The stated reason for the merger—that the differences between the two are “vanishingly small” - is, ironically, yet another reason I never realized they were separate movements in the first place.
If this new movement weren’t such a tragic aberration from what Judaism is - and has been for over 2,000 years - I would almost find it laughable. The idea that engaging in gay sex or undergoing sex reassignment surgery should be celebrated as consistent with the defining values of Judaism, when the very document that defines our values, the Torah, considers them sinful - should make it obvious that these are not Jewish values. And yet, this is these are the kinds of things Progressive Judaism embraces.
They’ve also redefined who is a Jew on an entirely non-Halachic basis and encourage intermarried couples to raise their children Jewishly. Both policies contribute to a growing crisis of Jewish identity.
When people are told by religious leaders of a particular denomination that they are full-fledged Jews when, in fact, they are not recognized as such by the entirety of the Jewish world - the consequences can be tragic. Especially once they get married and children are involved.
Progressive Jews may think of themselves as the ‘loyal opposition’ to the Orthodox mainstream, but there’s nothing ‘loyal’ about it. The only thing they appear loyal to is progressive ideology, regardless of where it leads.
(Orthodox Jews who consider themselves ‘progressive’ might do well to reflect on where that road ultimately leads in terms of their own religious values.)
So why do I care what movements that are so far removed from traditional Judaism - do? People can believe and practice whatever they want. But don’t call it Judaism.
And yet, that is exactly what they do call it.
As The Jewish Chronicle notes:
If Progressive Judaism comes into being, it will become the largest Jewish denomination in the UK in terms of affiliated synagogues - about 80 congregations.
That should concern all of us.
While their roughly 30,000 members represent about a third of British synagogue-affiliated Jews, compared to the 36,000 who belong to the United Synagogue (which is Orthodox), we shouldn’t take comfort in our greater numbers. 30,000 people are a lot of Jews to potentially write off as lost to Judaism. Making matters worse, we have no way of knowing how many of those ‘Jews’ are in fact Jewish according to Halacha. Should any of them one day decide to ‘switch teams’ and become Orthodox, they may be shocked to learn they must first convert. Despite Jewish-sounding surname’s like Goldberg or Silverstein.
Not that I have the slightest idea what to do about our so-called ‘loyal opposition’. But knowledge is power. And there must be something we can do to increase outreach to our fellow Jews - lest they be lost to Judaism forever. That 30,000 of them care enough to at least identify as a Jew - even if they misunderstand what that identity really means - is a start. We need to build on that.