American Religious Liberalism

Twelve: Jewish Liberalism through Comparative Lenses: Reform Judaism and Its Liberal Christian Counterparts

t w e lv e Jewish Liberalism through Comparative Lenses Reform Judaism and Its Liberal­Christian Counterparts Yaa k o v A r i e l In the opening years of the twenty-­ first century, the Episcopal Church in the United States of America faced one of its worst crises. A num­ber of leaders and parishes threatened to secede unless the ordination of a gay bishop by the dio­ cese of New Hampshire was censured and revoked.1 The Episcopal Church eventually underwent a minor schism, when a few dozen conservative parishes in the United States seceded and created their own, more conservative, Episcopal union. By contrast, over the past two decades, the Reform movement in contemporary Judaism has ordained dozens of gay and lesbian rabbis and voted almost unanimously in 2000 to allow rabbis to perform same-­ sex unions, but without undergoing any split like that experienced by the Episcopal Church.2 Reform Judaism also did not face any crises when it decided, in the 1980s, to ordain gay and lesbian rabbis or when, as early as the 1970s, it accepted gay synagogues into the Union of Ameri­ can Hebrew Congregations (renamed, in 2003, the Union for Reform Judaism). There were minor disagreements when the Central Conference of Reform Rabbis decided to allow gay rabbis to perform ceremonies for gay couples, but the very few rabbis who objected to gay unions in 2000 did not lead a movement of protest, much less secession, similar to that of their conservative Episcopal counterparts. 270 Jewish Liberalism through Comparative Lenses 271 In spite of taking a consistently progressive path, the Reform movement has avoided more than strife and splits. Since the 1970s, liberal Chris­ tian groups in America have lost mem­bership and influence. No such demographic downturn has taken place in the Jewish Reform movement, which, during the same period, advocated similar policies but has nonetheless gained in mem­bers and prestige, becoming the largest and most influential movement within Ameri­ can Judaism. A comparison of the effects of social and cultural developments on Reform Judaism and on liberal Christianity, and of the manner in which Reform Jews and liberal Christians have reacted to those developments, can offer a better under­ stand­ ing of where Reform Judaism stands within the larger spectrum of religious views and practices in America. It can give us a better perspective on Reform Judaism and its relation to contemporary cultural and po­ liti­ cal choices. It can also tell us something about the nature of the Jewish liberal mainstream and some of its anomalies. Likewise, such a comparative outlook can yield new and unexpected under­ stand­ ings of liberal Christianity and its characteristics. No less important, such an examination can provide new insights into the relationship between liberal Christians and Jews. That gay Jewish services started in the early 1970s in an Episcopal church tells us, for example , something about liberal Judaism’s sources of inspiration, in spite of the fact that eventually Reform Judaism adapted to gay liberation more smoothly and comprehensively than many Protestant groups. A Long and Complicated Relationship Since its inception in early nineteenth-­century Germany and mid-­nineteenth-­ century America, Reform Judaism has been inspired by liberal Protestantism.3 The interaction with liberal Christianity has affected Reform Jewish thought, congregational life, and liturgical practices. To Jewish antagonists from the Orthodox camp, it seemed at times that the essence of Reform Judaism was the Protestantization of Judaism. How­ ever, this is not to say that the relationship between Reform Jews and liberal Protestants was one of mutual admiration . For Jews, liberal Protestantism offered both a model and a challenge, and an ambivalent relationship developed between the two groups, which included cooperation and rivalry.4 Since the nineteenth century, Reform Jews defined their theological, liturgical, and cultural positions in relation to both more traditionalist Jews and liberal Christians. Many of the polemics pro- 272 Yaakov Ariel duced by the Reform movement during the first generations were intended to confront claims made by Chris­ tian liberals about the originality and authenticity of the Chris­ tian and Jewish messages. Reform Jews adopted lifestyles similar to those of their liberal middle-­class Protestant neighbors, while keeping their own distinctive identity. They sought to gain the Protestants’ respect, while competing with the latter to present a better model of progressive rational monotheistic faith. Reform Judaism shared a great deal with its Protestant counterparts. Like...