Reform Judaism in Los Angeles

Can Rabbinical students bridge the gap between secular and sacred?

By Erin Lindgren

A small woman stands at the front of a classroom of 20 graduate students. "I'd like to start class today with a bracha," she says. Dr. Tamara Eskenazi is using the Hebrew word for blessing, and in Hebrew the class thanks God for the opportunity to study. While prayer in schools may be a sticky issue in other arenas, here the act of giving thanks is an integral part of learning. Eskenazi teaches the Hebrew Bible (commonly known as the Old Testament) at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.

As her class gets underway students debate the writers and intentions in the book of Isaiah. Here in a non-descript basement room with sparse furnishings and a white-board that stands alone at the room's center the Bible comes alive. Students and teacher mention "covenant" and "Promised Land" as though they are realities of the world today, not archives of long-lost life in Jerusalem, where the prophet Isaiah lived. Students engage the text faithfully and academically, considering the audience it was written for and the metaphors it includes.

This class exemplifies the fusion of religious teachings and academia at Hebrew Union College. The Los Angeles campus is one of three campuses in the nation's only reform seminary. In New York, Cincinnati and on 30th street in Los Angeles, the future leaders of Reform Judaism are being educated, trained and ordained.

Although Reform Jews still occupy a minority of the American population, our attention was drawn to them in this election year as a community with an important swing vote. Indeed, Reform Judaism seemed to be the one religious community that secular academics and non-church-going Democrats were not appalled by. After seeing hardheaded evangelicals who seemed to let their doctrines and dogma harden their hearts, secular America was put-off by the fervor and fury of rural religious zeal.

It is in this atmosphere of secular and sacred division that the Reform Judaism movement stands out as a beacon of compromise. After talking to many rabbinical students at Hebrew Union and speaking in-depth with three of them, Reform Judaism has revealed itself to be a "thinking man's religion" which emphasizes individual choice over catechisms, discussion over dogma and acceptance over ex-communication. The students of this religion are an important demographic to understand as they will hold positions of future political influence and be responsible for adapting a major world faith to the changing climates of America.

Teachings about Tolerance

Reform Judaism is a movement that began in the 1800s to modernize Judaism. It began in Germany after the Enlightenment when Rabbi Samuel Holdheim decided that not all Jewish laws needed to be obeyed, and that strict rules about diet and dress could be cast aside as long as the laws regarding ethics remained.

One of the major turn-offs many liberals feel towards conservative religious movements is their exclusivity and the limited views they hold regarding church involvement of women, minorities and homosexuals. Hebrew Union literature describes modern Reform Judaism as an "open and pluralistic movement with sustaining values, texts and responsibilities." The movement rejects fundamentalist theology and believes that each individual has the capacity to decide for themselves what traditions to follow and how to live as a Jew. In the same regard, a reform synagogue is a very accepting and inclusive place, where even non-Jews are welcome to study, discuss and pray.

"In that way, we have a lot more in common with Protestantism or other liberal religions than with Orthodox Jews," said Stacey Nolish, a third-year rabbinical student. Reform Judaism is also very egalitarian and treats men and women equally as well as accepting homosexuals as congregation members and rabbis.

Nolish told her mom when she was 11 that she wanted to be a rabbi. She considers herself called to Judaism, and said the desire to be a rabbi was always inside her. When she graduates she will be one of almost 400 women rabbi ordained at Hebrew Union since 1972.

She said she feels lucky to be born now when there are less obstacles for women who want to be rabbis, though she will have to battle the same "glass ceiling" of women's salary in the rabbinate that would be found in a major corporation.

While other parts of the country do not have as many women rabbis, she joked that the preponderance of females in Los Angeles has caused kids to ask, "Mommy, can men be rabbis too?"

Nolish also discussed the openness of reform teachings to homosexuality and she said as a rabbi she would marry a gay couple before she would marry an interfaith couple. "The rabbi is here to put a religious sanction on a marriage, and for me marriage is about commitment and upholding Jewish values. If both members of a gay couple are Jewish I would definitely marry them," she said.

In the late 1970s Reform Judaism called for a decriminalization of homosexual acts and began working for an end to discrimination against gays and lesbians. In 2000 the Central Conference of American Rabbis (an organization of reform rabbis) declared, "The relationship of a Jewish, same gender couple is worthy of affirmation through appropriate Jewish ritual. We support the decision of those who choose to officiate at rituals of union for same-gender couples, and we support the decision of those who do not."

Actions Speak Louder than Oaths

For Nolish, Reform Judaism involves cultural involvement and social action. "Judaism is not just a religion to me. It is nature, culture and ethnicity. I want to be a rabbi so that I can create spiritual moments for other people and bring them together in community," Nolish said.

The other rabbinical students expressed this same idea; that you can be Jewish without being religious, that Judaism is not only a belief system but also a cultural connection, a worldwide community and a social club.

Third-year student Mark Miller tells about his own upbringing in a secular Jewish home. "When I grew up I did some Jewish things, I went to religious school I went to Jewish summer camp I even went to Israel for my bar mitzvah when I was 13, things like that, but those were all kind of cultural experiences and not really intense religious experiences." Miller said.

He noted that these early events would later peak his interest in becoming a rabbi, but originally they were not central to his life. He describes his family as "twice-a-year Jews," those who only show up to synagogue on the high holy days.

"One year on Rosh Hashanah we were all dressed up and in our car on our way to evening services and one of the kids said "Do we have to go? Can't we just see a movie instead?' and my dad said "Why not?' and we went in our suits to a movie," Miller said.

Despite this, he said his family still feels a very strong Jewish connection.

"We talked about Israel, we visited Israel, my father liked being Jewish for the fact that we were Jewish, he liked associating with religious people," Miller said. "Religion was just not huge, it was who we were and who we were affiliated with but not what we did. My dad can't believe he has a son who's going to be a rabbi, he loves it and is proud of me but he doesn't know where it came from."

Indeed, Reform Judaism is primarily theistic, meaning they believe in a singular, personal God. However, they also are accepting of deism, naturalism, humanism and even atheism, and believe all can be incorporated into Jewish belief.

Mark Miler said that comparing the "faith" of Christianity to Judaism is one of the hardest things to do because Jewish religion is based on an entirely different framework.

"What I mean by that is that in Christianity the most important thing is having faith in Jesus. And if you do, and if you profess that faith then other things take care of themselves. In Judaism faith in God is important but it is not the central element. In other words, if you profess faith and don't back it up with actions then it's meaningless," Miller said, "What it means to be religious relates to ritual practices and how we act in the world, and interact with other people, our friends, family and the environment."

Significance of Social Action

Although all of the rabbinical students believe strongly in God, they emphasized that Jewish world philosophy is different than both Islam and Christianity. "Christians plan for tomorrow, but Jews work today," Jaffe said. He referred to the emphasis in Islam and Christianity on leading a good life for the purpose of rewards in heaven.

Reform Judaism stresses good deeds to improve the present time, and offers no guarantees about the afterlife. Instead of asking how to get into heaven, Reform Judaism centers on the question of, "How do we lead a good life?"

When death occurs rabbis "admit [at funerals] that they don't know what happened and if that person went to heaven or not. They focus on cherishing the time people had," Jaffe said.

"The first letter of the Torah is abet," explained Jaffe, "and it is first because it faces forward. It is not for humans to know what is above, below or behind. So, just as the first letter faces forward, we should also use religion as a tool to lead our lives and not worry about what was before us or what will come after we die."

He said that instead of measuring their lives in sins and forgiveness, Jewish people are supposed to do mitzvahs, or positive things, to the world. Reform Judaism emphasizes not worrying about the afterlife, because there is no certainty of what it holds, but there is a certainty in good deeds and improving the world.

The other rabbinical students stressed the same importance in social activism as Jaffe. They said that as Jews they feel charged with the responsibility of improving the world around them. "Reform Judaism uses religion to be involved in the world, eradicate hunger and strife, and beat swords into plough shares," said Stacey Nolish, "This is what we learn from the Torah; that fixing the world equals being religious." This lesson is reflected in their coursework at Hebrew Union, which is a three-part educational program, rabbinical program and community service program.

De-emphasized Evangelism

Another distinct difference between Judaism and Islam and Christianity is that Judaism lacks the Evangelistic component present in the other two religions. Both Christians and Muslims say you cannot be saved without accepting the teachings of Jesus or Mohammed and believe it is their personal responsibility to save people by exposing them to the same teachings.

When asked why Jews don't conduct the same intensive outreach Stacey Nolish laughed and said, "It's not easy to be Jewish." She explained that the life-long commitment of Judaism is so serious that they want people to learn and explore the faith before considering conversion. "It's not a light matter," Nolish said, "and you can't change religions on a whim. We really want new converts to come to us."

While the piercing evangelism of Christianity and Islam is considered oppressive to some, this outreach has marked triumphs in converting the lives of drug users and criminals who give up their lives of crime and addiction after being "saved."

Nolish said Jewish chaplains do go to jails and do work with the homeless and have converted people on the streets and in prison. Despite this Nolish said that Jews don't have the desire to proselytize and they don't see their religion as an answer to people's problems.

"We believe that God loves you," Nolish said, "but it is not a father-son relationship. We view our relationship with God as a partnership." This relationship places the role of God as an ally, not a savior.

Jewish Conversion: You Keep on Knocking, but You Can't Come in

The social action, social consciousness and social inclusion of Reform Judaism stands in stark opposition to the conservative religious ideology that split the American vote this election year. While Judaism is welcoming of all people, don't consider a hasty conversion just yet.

Jon Jaffe referred to a popular culture depiction of Jewish conversion in the HBO series Sex and the City. When the character Charlotte announces that she "wants to be a Jew" the rabbi flatly says, "We're not interested." Her boyfriend Harry explains that typically someone is rejected three times before they are allowed to begin studying to become Jewish. Jon Jaffe describes this portrayal as "very accurate."

"At rabbinical school we learn that if someone wants to convert you should push them away with one hand and pull them in with the other," Jaffe said. He takes conversion very seriously and said when faced with someone who wants to become a Jew he would ask them about their goals, motives and what they think they will gain through conversion. "Forced conversion is an easy way to corrupt a religion, so I wouldn't push it," Jaffe said.

As for the future of Reform Judaism, the rabbinical students hope that it will continue to grow in America and all over the world. "This is a very exciting time for Reform Judaism," Nolish said, "It is becoming a pioneering movement all over the world." Indeed, Reform Judaism has over 1.5 million members throughout the world.

Whether Reform Judaism's influence will continue to grow is yet to be seen. They overwhelmingly supported Kerry in the last election, by a margin of 78-22 percent, according to National Election Poll exit polls. For typically secular Democrats, this is one religious group that they can count on in their corner as Reform Judaism represents a non-gendered marriage between the resolutely religious and the liberal left.

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