Studies in the Meaning of Judaism (JPS Scholar of Distinction Series)

1 / Theological Conference Cincinnati, 1950: Reform Judaism’s Fresh Awareness of Religious Problems

1 / Theological Conference Cincinnati, 1950: Reform Judaism’s Fresh Awareness of Religious Problems If the purpose of the Institute on Reform Jewish Theology, held at the Hebrew Union College on March 20–22, was to formulate a declaration of belief, then it was a failure. The general as well as the Jewish press had carried stories declaring this to be its aim, and the American Jewish community is accustomed to seeing all assemblies of more than two persons bring forth some such statement, tailored to the moment and complete . Yet it can be fairly said this Institute was a success—perhaps just because it did not proclaim a credo. Had there been no serious problems unsolved by the theology that has been current for the past fifty years or so, there would have been no need to convoke this Institute. Had the rabbinate or Reform Judaism as a whole had the answers to the questions perplexing us, had the Institute not recognized the profound seriousness of modern man’s situation, then a platform could easily have been prepared to order and canned for quick mass consumption. Happily, the Institute was neither so shortsighted , smug, nor “practical.” The “religious crisis of our time” is no stock phrase restricted to the theological journals—that it is a sharp day-to-day reality any man knows who ministers to individuals in their hours of need. The unexpectedly large attendance of rabbis at this mid-season conference can be directly traced to congregants—not a few, but very many—who confess they are 7 1950 unable to accept the old replies, who cannot cease questioning, who have no secure goals but a persistent anxiety and a deep, if hidden, fear of the future. Rabbi Levi Olan of Dallas, Texas, in his paper on “Theology Today,” described the situation accurately: “Modern man is in search of a faith that is resourceful enough to give meaning to chaos, and reliable enough to encourage hope for the future. . . . The world seems to have lost its direction. . . . Though we cannot comprehend with precise clarity the nature and extent of the upheaval in Western culture, we are faced with fundamentally radical changes.” As the institute split into its constituent round tables, it became evident that liberal Judaism today is confronted by four basic religious questions. First, is the belief in God as an objective, divine reality indispensable to modern Judaism, or must it be replaced by something more agreeable to the modern temper? The traditionalists insisted that God is either unique, eternal, and absolute, or He is nothing. Faith need not have rigorous proof. Only a God who is Lord of this world can give it universal standards and a universal meaning. Judaism without personal piety, meaningful prayer, and divine sanction, without an immanent and transcendent God, is no Judaism. But some felt that the traditional Jewish belief in a God who exists in His own right, who is independent of man, is too much at variance with modern knowledge to be acceptable. His existence cannot be proved. It must be of an order which is completely foreign to our experience. Moreover the recent tragic course of Jewish history makes it difficult to believe in a God of justice who rules history. Clearly, without a convincing answer to this question, no Jewish theology is possible. Second, is it possible for man to believe that an existing God is active in our world? As modern men we cannot deny the rational structure of our universe. Any incursion of God into the normal operations of the universe is then a miracle—if not of the natural kind, as the dividing of the Red Sea in the Bible, then of the theological kind, as providence, election, and revelation. Everyone conceded the emotional efficacy of prayer, but whether it actually “worked” was a matter for great doubt. While all affirmed that the people of Israel had a moral and spiritual mission , Israel’s choice by God in any active sense was questioned by some. It was generally agreed that revelation was central to Judaism and that revelation involved man’s ability to perceive the ultimate principles gov8 A Glimpse erning his existence, but whether such a perception involved the idea of God was debated. Third, to what extent is there authority within Reform Judaism? From its earliest days Reform had introduced into Judaism the idea that modern man had the right...