|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Reform Judaism - Some Questions and Answers
|
 |
15. How does Reform Judaism get on with the other strands of Judaism in Britain?
|
 There are, in Britain as in other parts of the Jewish world, small but visible numbers of Jews whose response to the modern world has been one of great suspicion and who strive for a lifestyle which separates them significantly from society at large. Some of these groups are Hasidic and some not. By and large they regard the majority of the Jewish world, including ourselves, with suspicion, regarding change as dangerous and even as betrayal. There is little contact between us. We try to retain deep respect for the faithfulness and learning that they maintain though we regard the political role that they play in Israel as dangerous and divisive.
With mainstream Orthodoxy, the United Synagogue and its Chief Rabbinate, we have a much easier relationship. There are still tensions and deep divisions on a rabbinic level, particularly over status matters, but the respective institutions – the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain and the United Synagogue – understand that we have many common concerns and a shared responsibility for the welfare of the British Jewish community.
We have cordial relations with the small Masorti Movement and one of its leading synagogues is located at the Sternberg Centre, the national headquarters of the Reform Movement in Britain. The majority of its rabbis are graduates of our Leo Baeck College.
The Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues is our sister organisation. We share many institutions (Leo Baeck College, Day Schools) and stand side by side on all issues. Many rabbis move freely between RSGB and ULPS and we try to model how related organisations should behave in a pluralistic community. There are differences between us over status matters but we endeavour to ensure that these differences do not become causes of conflict.
We are proud of how many leaders of the community and its cross-communal institutions, both lay and professional, are Reform Jews. This is true of the United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA) with whom we have a creative and mutually supportive partnership. It is true of Jewish Care where one of our senior rabbis is chaplain. It is true of Norwood Ravenswood and many other of British Jewry’s important welfare institutions. We take our responsibilities to these organisations seriously, encouraging our members to give voluntary and financial support and we always seek to work in harmony with the other branches of Judaism in so doing. It goes without saying that the same holds true for the Board of Deputies, British Jewry’s ‘parliament’, where our deputies from each of our constituent synagogues play a vital part.
Acknowledgement: ‘What is Reform Judaism' by Rabbi Tony Bayfield.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
