Shofar Shevat/Adar 5770
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
February 2010
From the Rabbi’s Desk As you probably saw in the news recently, a woman was arrested at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem for the astounding crime of wearing a tallit to pray there.
A Christian colleague of mine has said a number of times that she regrets that she has no Sabbath day, no day on which she can rest and ―recharge her batteries‖, no day which is set apart from others, from work and chores and errands. The Lord‘s Day, SunShe is part of the group, Women of the Wall, who as- day, is not characterized by the prohibitions against semble there at the beginning of every new Jewish work which define Shabbat, and so the day is not sacmonth to pray; there are between 6 and 10 such Isrosanct; lots of church committees meet on Sunday raeli women and whatever number of visiting support- because of course, people are available that day, as ers they can muster. When I was in Israel in March, they are not on weekdays. By contrast, synagogue about 100 women rabbis, myself included, joined the committees do not meet on Shabbat. group, and because we sang some of the prayers, brought down the wrath of the Orthodox men on the But that does not mean that we Reform Jews abide other side of the divider, and with that, the confusion by Orthodox restrictions on Shabbat. Though halakand anger of the people hired to maintain calm at the hah (Orthodox law) does not permit driving on ShabWall. bat, or handling money, or playing a musical instrument, or turning on/off electrical appliances, lights, These incidents raise again the question of what is etc, these are things many of us Reform Jews do. authentic Jewish religious practice. The Orthodox clearly believe that they have the market cornered on The gift of Reform Judaism is that it challenges that subject. In fact, in Israel, the world is divided into each of us to define how we will be religious. ―religious‖ and ―secular‖…but only those who practise Orthodoxy meet the definition of ―religious‖. Religious pluralism is alive and struggling in Israel, But we can choose to do these things in the spirit of and with it, your right and mine to define ourselves as Shabbat, which is for the purpose of refreshment and religious Jews. reinvigorating ourselves. We can drive to attend serThe gift of Reform Judaism is that it challenges each vices; we can drive to visit friends; we can handle of us to define how we will be religious. The Orthodox money to eat in a restaurant; we can handle money to attend a movie, a concert, a play. We can use electribelieve that Reform Jews just cut to the chase and cal appliances to make meals we enjoy at a relaxed eliminate most rituals and customs in our practice of pace; to play music we don‘t otherwise get to listen to; Judaism. But in fact, Reform asks us to study religious practices (observing Shabbat; the dietary laws; to be in touch with friends we cannot reach during the hectic work week. wearing a kippah or tallit), learn their meaning and value, and then decide whether and to what extent All of these activities make Shabbat a special day, a these practices are of use to us, individually. It is true day of pleasure and renewal. They do not conform to that, for lots of Reform Jews, the result is a reduction Orthodox standards…but they are meaningful in the in religious practice, but it need not be so. context of a Reform observance of Shabbat. (Continued on page 9)
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