Friends, over the last few weeks I have been thinking a great deal about the Reform Movement and the ways in which it was rooted, especially when I was younger, in the prophetic vision. That ancient vision was one that called upon leaders to see the spark of God within each person and to act in a manner that reflected that spark. They called for kindness, caring and compassion. And they understood that the road toward fulfilling that vision would be long and, at times, challenging.

I look at the world today and see a greater need for that Prophetic message now than at any time I can remember. And, I believe, the Reform Movement, built on the vision of the prophets, is well positioned to offer a path forward. That path, however, begins with our understanding of what the Reform Movement is, its relationship to the prophetic vision and how that commitment has historally led to a belief that advocacy is the way we, to quote the great Conservative Rabbi Abraham Joshua Hesachel, pray with our feet.

For that reason I am reporting my December Bulletin Article here on the Rabbinic Blog.

Since the election I have been thinking a great deal about the Biblical Prophets and their role in shaping the society in which they lived. The prophets of old were not always popular. There did not always garner the warmth and appreciation of those in power at the time. But they stood up and, to use a term that is quickly becoming overused, spoke truth to power. They spoke against corruption. Thet spoke agains inequity. And they spoke for creating a world in which the holiness of each person is recognized and respected.

It was on their shoulders that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Herschel and countless of their rabbis stood side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior and said, “Enough.” Enough bias. Enough racism. Enough inequality. Their message was not always met with warmth and appreciation. At times some were arrested. But they still spoke out. And they did so because they knew their message was a message of inclusion and wholeness. They knew they were standing on the shoulders of those who came before. And they knew they were excersizing their rights, as Americans, to speak out.

Fast forward to ten years ago. Gun violence was ramping up. The Government was doing little to nothing to address it. A group of women decided they needed to speak out. They stood on the shoulders of the prophets of old and the rabbis who marched in Selma. They gathered hundreds of thousands in Washington and said, “Enough.” One of the key organizers, the driving force behind it actually, was Donna Dees-Thomases. Donna had viewed coverage of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting in Granada Hills, California and knew something needed to change. At the time, Donna was a member of TSTI.

Here’s the thing. In each case the issues that were being addressed were clearly political. BUT, they were not ONLY political. They were also moral issues that were in conflict with the current reality. And, as moral issues, they were also religious issues. At the same time, because many these issues had become polarized, they also became partisan issues. This, in turn, only serves to add to the complexity of how one might address them. But to avoid taking position for fear that some might disagree is not the answer.

The Reform Movement was built on the foundation of the Prophetic Vision. For this very reason, more than 50 years ago the Reform Movement founded the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The Reform Leaders at the time understood that we needed an arm of the Movement that would study the religious underpinnings of issues and teach the community WHY they were moral and religious in nature. They would also produce position statements that would then become the position of the Reform Movement. As the RAC website explains,

“For more than 50 years, the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (or “the RAC”) has been the hub of Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C. As the DC office of the Union for Reform Judaism, the RAC educates and mobilizes the Reform Jewish community on legislative and social concerns, advocating on more than 70 different issues, including economic justice, civil rights, religious liberty, Israel and more. As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, the RAC’s advocacy work is completely non-partisan and pursues public policies that reflect the Jewish values of social justice that form the core of our mandate.

Not only is this approach respected but the head of the RAC for its first 40 years departed the organization because President Obama made him the US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom. Still, the Reform Movement and the RAC, our TSTI leadership and I all understand the diversity of Reform congregations and do not assume that everyone will always be in agreement. That, however, does not mean that positions should not be taken. (In various legal disputes the Talmud recorded the dissenting view for just this reason. They did not assume total agreement and respected those who disagreed even as they rendered decisions.)

And that’s where we find ourselves today. Issues that should be moral or human issues have become partisan in nature. Part of our challenge, then, is to make clear the religious and moral aspects of these issues. And that is what I plan to do in the coming months.