Clifford Librach on the Reform Movement and Jewish Peoplehood

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2018

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On May 14, 2018, the Jewish novelist Michael Chabon strode across the dais, shook Rabbi David Ellenson’s hand, and began to deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony of the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College (HUC) in Los Angeles.

What did he say to the graduates of one of Reform Judaism’s most venerable institutions?

He denounced Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and spoke out against its security barrier. He lamented the outdated particularism of, and the boundaries created by, Jewish ritual. And he spoke in opposition to the longstanding Jewish practice of endogamy—Jews marrying other Jews—calling endogamous marriage a “ghetto of two.”

Chabon’s speech prompted a chorus of criticism from many corners, including from some Reform rabbis. One of them was Rabbi Clifford Librach, who spent many years serving as a pulpit rabbi in Reform temples. In “Paying the Price for Abandoning Jewish Peoplehood,” published in Tablet, Rabbi Librach laments the current state of Reform Judaism, painting a picture of a movement that allowed its fierce commitment to universalism destroy it from within. In this podcast, he joins Jonathan Silver for a discussion of the Reform movement’s history and current troubles, the dangers of repudiating Jewish particularism, and the ray of hope offered by the success of the modern State of Israel.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as Midnight Three by Sirus Music.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Union for Reform Judaism estimates that there are over 2 million American Jews who affiliate with a reform movement,
0:15.0	a movement originally founded in Germany, but one whose principles make it uniquely fitted to American individualism.
0:21.4	Reform Judaism has been at the vanguard of social progressivism, and has led the way in
0:26.9	Jewish gender equality, even introducing radical changes to the liturgy and the text of Jewish
0:33.0	prayer to bring traditional Jewish beliefs into accordance with contemporary ideas. Its religious
0:39.0	progressivism tends to soften Jewish claims of nationhood, particularity, chosenness, as well
0:45.4	as other social boundaries as ethical thinking of an earlier age, whose time has come and gone,
0:50.9	ideas that have been superseded by more enlightened ones. The progressive outlook at the
0:55.6	core of reformed Jewish doctrine is at the center of a controversy that erupted at a ceremony
1:00.9	at Hebrew Union College, the flagship seminary of the movement. At an address there, the invited
1:07.0	speaker, the novelist Michael Sheban, denounced fundamental Jewish beliefs, including the
1:12.4	belief in the moral goodness of Jewish marriage. Welcome to the Tikva podcast and great Jewish
1:17.3	essays and ideas. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. Mr. Sheaubon's speech provoked commentary and
1:23.0	public debate, and on today's podcast I interview Rabbi Clifford Liebrock, a participant in that debate.
1:29.3	His essay, paying the price for abandoning Jewish peoplehood, was published in Tablet on June 18th.
1:35.3	It's an extraordinary essay, for not only does Rabbi Leibroch think about the Sheban Affair,
1:40.2	he uses the Sheban Affair to think back over his career in the reform Rabinet and to
1:45.9	analyze its strengths and as he sees it its vulnerabilities. As you'll soon hear, it's a movement
1:51.7	that Rabbi LeBrock looks at with great worry. If you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on
1:57.2	iTunes or Stitcher where I hope you leave us a rating and a review. And if you'd like to learn more about our work at Tikva, you can visit our website, tikfa fund.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Here now is my conversation with Rabbi Clifford Lee Brock.
2:11.5	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. Thank you, Jonathan. Thanks very much for having me.
2:16.9	We're going to speak today about
	...

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