Reforming Reform

One steaming July day in 1873, representatives of some 30 Jewish congregations met in Cincinnati to make a historic break with Orthodox Judaism. They formed themselves into a society to be known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, dedicated, as they saw it, to a newer, more contemporary vision of the Jewish faith. In Manhattan last week, U.S. Reform Judaism celebrated the 80th anniversary of this birthday.* More than 3,000 delegates from 465 Reform temples were on hand; the five-day conference of U.A.H.C. was the largest Jewish religious gathering in U.S. history.

The assembled rabbis and laymen had more than growth to be pleased about. In their own eyes, Reform has done much to wipe out the sense of deep separation from the rest of U.S. life which, they believe, long characterized the Jewish community. But recent years have seen a kind of reform of Reform--a movement away from a liberalism which was sometimes hardly distinguishable from Unitarianism. At last week's convention, Dr. Emanuel Gamoran, director of the Commission on Jewish Education, called for a deeper recognition of the Jewish past.

The Magic Formula. "Classical Reform," he said, "detached God from Israel, thinking that it could achieve a greater measure of sanctity by concentrating on the idea of God . . . The opposite was the result . . . We have only succeeded in breaking the magic formula which, throughout the centuries, served effectively to maintain the Jewish people as well as Judaism , . . We now realize that if our Jewish education is to be effective, it must begin with the Jewish people, [and] it must include Torah."

Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein of Temple Brith Kodesh in Rochester called for more religion in Reform Judaism, even though it be at the expense of social action. "Hitherto," he said, "we have concentrated on defending ourselves against bigots and supporting our brethren overseas . . . Now the American Jewish community is becoming free to give primacy to the task of making itself a strong moral force in this country."

The Will to Serve. Even more indicative of the new temper of Reform were the findings of a survey conducted by the National Federation of Temple Brotherhoods. Items: P:Three laymen in ten--and half the rabbis--now feel that their congregations should have more ritual and ceremony. P: There has been a marked increase in use of the ceremony of bar mizvah to admit young men to full membership in the congregation.

P:A substantial number of laymen (34%) report that they and their families now observe Passover for the traditional eight days.

So clearly did the survey indicate a revived interest in the old Jewish forms that its sponsors felt it necessary to point out that this was not to be interpreted as a swing to Orthodoxy: "It is not the will of God that dictates what the Reform Jews shall practice . . . but what the Reform Jew feels his will to serve God justifies him in doing . . . Reform is a religion of choice . . . Orthodoxy is a religion of divine command."

*Though the first U.S. Reform congregation was founded in Charleston, S.C. in 1841.

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