Discussion Guide (excerpts)

By Rabbi Rachel Rembrandt

The Reform Jew in Dialogue with God

The section on God is the longest in the entire statement. Why do you think this is so? Perhaps, at this moment in time we Reform Jews are more connected with God than before, or perhaps we are struggling more with God.

Rabbi Levy writes, "The true issue in dialogue, Reform Judaism suggests, is not so much whether—and how—God responds to us, but how we respond to God" (page 33). How do you respond to God as an individual and as a member of a congregation and community?

There are a number of avenues through which we can be in dialogue with God— engaging in prayer, interacting with and taking care of nature, seeing God’s presence in other human beings, doing acts of g’milut chasadim (loving- kindness). Do you speak to God? How? In what other ways would you hope to continue your growth as a Jew?

An addition to this most recent platform is a discussion of the word "mitzvah," sacred obligations that have the power to "make our lives holy." Are the mitzvot, as Rabbi Levy asks, "commandments (given from without) or obligations (accepted from within)?" (page 50). Levy states that Reform Jews should be involved in informed choice with regards to doing mitzvot. Thus "are we committing a transgression when we fail to perform the mitzvot that we have not heard God ask us to do?" (page 61).

That the Reform Jewish experience of prayer changes with the times is indicated not only by the various platforms but also by the publication of various prayer books (page 56). How has your personal experience of prayer changed?

There has been a definite increase in the popularity of adult Torah study. Rabbi Levy suggests that this is "leading to a growing number of Reform Jews affirm[ing] the ancient belief that their study not only puts them in closer touch with God in life, but also contributes to the eternality of the soul and its return to God, the source of Torah, after death" (page 81). Do you agree? How has adult study impacted your life?

Rabbi Levy begins this section with an important question: "Is it possible for a human being to be in dialogue with God?" (page 17). How do you feel he answered the question? How would you answer it? In the conclusion of this section, Rabbi Levy states: "The final paragraph in the Pittsburgh Principles section on God discusses the few years we spend on earth in the context of an eternity spent in the presence of God. Our souls were one with God before they were breathed into us at birth, and the dialogue we carry on with God in the flesh can be seen as but a segment of a conversation that will continue for eternity" (page 87). How do you feel about that statement? How do you dialogue with God?

The Reform Jew in Dialogue with Torah

The Principles tell us that Torah is the foundation of our lives. How do you see Torah’s role in your life?

Rabbi Levy raises two questions: "Why [should] the Torah be accepted as an authority if it is but a pastiche of human writings?" and "Why [were] its contents handed down in their particular order and style?" (page 94). Do these questions speak to you as a Reform Jew? How would you answer them?

One of the hallmarks of Reform Judaism has been its understanding of the changing, on-going revelatory nature of Torah. This has been one of the major rationales that help us to deal with "difficult" Torah passages, those that do not seem to speak to our understandings today. The Principles of 1999, through its defining of Torah as a dialogue between God and our people, asks us to deal with these passages by saying: "What the Torah says may have been the will of God in the past; our experience leads us to believe that God’s will has enlarged, or that our growing experience is enabling us to understand a new dimension of God’s will" (page 99). How do you respond to this statement? How does it fit with your belief of God, Torah and your relationships with them?

By including twenty words and phrases in Hebrew, many more than in any other platform, the Principles indicates a revival of the importance of the Hebrew language within Reform Judaism. Is this the case in your own congregation? What impact would you hope to see through the greater use of Hebrew?

On pages 115-123, Rabbi Levy shows a progression of additional traditional observance as an essential part of Reform Judaism. Have you or your congregation experienced a similar process? What reasons can you offer for observing or not observing various mitzvot that have become a part of Reform Jewish practice?

"The Pittsburgh Principles asserts that each Reform Jew has the right, indeed the obligation, to enter into dialogue with the mitzvot …it is the right of every Reform Jew to emerge from that dialogue affirming a mitzvah, declaring one is not ready yet to accept it, or even rejecting it. But the dialogue must precede the decision, or it is not really a decision" (page 123). How do you understand the concept of "choice" and "dialogue" in Reform Judaism? What mitzvot have you examined and what decisions have you made that have had an impact on your Jewish life?

While ritual mitzvot including celebrating holidays are important, ethical mitzvot including acts of tikkun olam, or social justice, have been the mainstays of Reform Judaism. The Principles tell us that integrating the two is imperative. How have you and your congregation achieved this? What are the ways that Torah and mitzvot give meaning and purpose to your life?

The Reform Jew in Dialogue
With the Jewish People

The Pittsburgh Principles speaks of ahavat Yisrael, a love and commitment to the people Israel. Especially with the background in Reform Judaism of a strong belief in universalism, what does it mean to love the Jewish people? Does this mean to love all Jews, regardless of the denomination to which they belong? How can we show and express this love personally and as a Movement?

How can Reform Judaism retain our stands on issues such as patrilineal descent and gays and lesbians in the rabbinate, for example, while remaining committed to the concept of k’lal Yisrael, the entire community of Israel?

(The complete discussion guide can be found on the URJ Web site. Type "Significant Jewish Books" in the site’s search engine.)

Significant Jewish Books

A Vision of Holiness:
The Future of Reform Judaism

By Richard N. Levy

(URJ Press, 296 pp., paperback $15.95).

Rabbi Richard Levy, former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) and presently director of the rabbinic program at the Los Angeles campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, was a major contributor to the "Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism," presented and adopted at the CCAR convention in Pittsburgh in 1999. In this volume, Levy explicates this latest Reform platform and compares it with previous Reform rabbinic platforms and perspectives (1885, 1937, and 1976) designed to chart the course for the Reform Movement.

Adopted amid lively debate, this new platform was characterized by some as "a return to tradition." Whereas the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 considered only ethical mitzvot (commandments) as binding--and discarded whole categories of ritual mitzvoth — the 1999 document reflects a new openness to ritual mitzvot (translated as "sacred obligations") as opportunities to experience kedushah (holiness) in everyday life. In this book, Levy makes the case for taking a new look at traditional Jewish spiritual practices from a Reform perspective.

"As the new century takes shape," Levy writes, "I believe that the Pittsburgh Principles [of 1999] will prove to be an important force shaping the Reform Movement’s perception of itself and other people’s understanding of us." Looking back at the experiences and events of the past century and forward into the future, Levy presents a personal commentary on the vision embodied in this new statement of guiding principles for Reform Judaism.

Reviewed by Bonnie Fetterman

Reprinted from Reform Judaism,
Summer 2006