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Comfortable
June 30, 2008
Religious Life | The Future (6 comments)

By Mary Hofmann
I think comfort is based on a perception of competence . . . you can't feel comfortable when you don't understand what's going on and don't know how to act appropriately in a given environment.

People come to Judaism with great trepidation, intimidated by the enormity of what they don't know. Often worse, Jews born to Judaism but raised in a totally secular environment, feel even more intimidated by all they think they should know in their very genetic structure, and don't - so they stay away, embarrassed and defensive. We want to be welcoming, but the sheer amount of knowledge the aspirant lacks might well be forming an insurmountable wall for many.

I'm a teacher, so I'm immersed (sometimes drowning) in a sea of frameworks and standards. For all the shortcomings of current educational philosophy (another whole topic), the idea of developing some sort of framework of the knowledge and skills a competent Reform Jew might aspire to, is intriguing to me. And it might provide a guide for the novice Jew (to say nothing of the rest of us!)

It seems to me that one of Reform Judaism's greatest strengths (and maybe its perceived weakness) is its emphasis on individual choice within an almost transparent framework of acceptable norms--and I mean transparent with all its positive and negative connotations. Could we not, by way of consensual agreement, come up with a framework of those things one might strive towards to feel comfortable and competent as a Reform Jew?

Judaism is SO big and there's so much to learn--the very reason I love it so. I want to be at least conversant in so many areas . . . how such and such came about, how and why we do this or that, how to act appropriately within environments I might never have experienced--of which there are many. And so my life is an ongoing Jewish education that I also use to try to educate others. A succinct frame or guide for focusing would be enormously helpful--and possibly a lifeline for many.

Tags: Education

Comment

Comments

Marty Graffman said:

What is the minimum framework you recommend/ What do you mean by "framework"?

June 30, 2008 8:17 PM

Doris Penndorf said:

I totally agree and recently sent an email elsewhere on this very topic with a couple of suggestions.....

Perhaps Temples could offer Adult Ed classes for those interested in learning/relearning some of the basics as a way of reconnecting with their faith and know that other attendees are of similar desire (no intimidation by more learned people.) Perhaps 2 sessions could be spent on each topic; order of the shabbat service, the hebrew titles and their meaning; the various Holidays and common customs of expression (home, Temple); Yiddish expressions (I just read a fiction series that for every expression they followed it with an english translation!)

Secondly, I wondered if Weekend retreats (locally even at the Temple) might offer a similar experience. Most adults work full time, cannot always take weekdays off. Sort of a reintroduction to Reform Judaism as it is today.

What I do not want is 'Conversion Class' type of education...

June 30, 2008 9:41 PM

Mary Hofmann said:

I'm not recommending a specific framework so much as wishing for one. What I mean by "framework" is an outline of basic things one could strive to know and be able to do to feel minimally proficient as an educated Reform Jew, such as: Be able to read in Hebrew and translate the prayers in Mishkan Tefillah. To have a fundamental grasp of Jewish history at various times and places. To know when in the service to bow, to face east, or to do any of the other "choreographic" things we do. To be able to describe the background and practices of the different Jewish holidays. To be able to describe the ethical responsibilities of Judaism. Learn the basic melodies of Reform liturgy.

Imagine yourself coming into a Jewish congregation for the first time. What would YOU want to know and be able to do to feel comfortable? Mary Hofmann

June 30, 2008 11:00 PM

Larry Kaufman said:

Here's a chance to learn from Chabad, with their theory that one mitzvah leads to another. They start with tefillin for men, Shabbat candles for women...and note that both are individual acts, which can be practiced in the home, not community acts where the spectre of embarrassment apparently looms.

Or we can paraphrase AA's One day at a time to one step at a time in the accumulation of comfortable religious practices.

If we're going to have a Reform framework, it has to cover three arenas -- the home, the synagogue, the community. So let's start with a Step One for each:
1. A mezuzah on the door
2. Membership in a congregation that will take you from where you are, but not let you stay there.
3. Tzedakah -- charitable contributions beyond the synagogue, with contributing to the Federation campaign as central to the Jewish tax-payer as contributing to the IRS

Note that #1 and #3 can be done by the individual alone, but #2 requires reciprocity -- Jew joins synagogue, synagogue welcomes and teaches.

I have heard rabbis express reluctance to teach liturgy as part of worship lest it bore or insult those that already know. And the absence of stage directions in Mishkan T'filah makes it worse.

How about discreet signage, and a visitor's guide -- as well as a few words of explanation from the bima?

As I have said elsewhere -- the synagogue is a house of prayer, a house of study, and a house of gathering -- and those are not three things, they are one.

July 1, 2008 3:55 AM

William Berkson said:

The idea that mitzvah leads to mitzvah is just Judaism:

"Ben Azzai said: Run to do a small mitzvah, and flee from sin, for mitzvah leads to mitzvah and sin leads to sin. For the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the wages of sin is sin." (Avot 4:2)

But it is clear from the context that what is the target of this saying are the ethical mitzvot. A failure to do a ritual mitzvah is not ordinarily called a "sin", I believe. For example in the vidui prayer, the confession at Yom Kippur, there is no statement asking forgiveness for failure to perform ritual mitzvot; all relate to ethical mitzvot.

This all relates to the great mitzvah muddle, that I will get to eventually in my posts.

As regards a framework, I think there are a lot of different issues: understanding the basics of Jewish history; understanding of liturgy; understanding doctrines of Judaism; understanding the classic texts.

There is so much to learn that nobody can learn it in a lifetime, even if they wanted to. I think the most important thing is first of all to recognize that we are all 'students of the wise', including the rabbis. And no one needs feel bad so long as they are devoted to learning. Then we are all colleagues--chaverim--helping one another.

I do think that Larry's suggestion of always having a basic framework of the service is a good idea. Some congregations to this for B'nai Mitzvah ceremonies, but it should probably be there all the time.

And it is not enough now. For example, it helped me a lot when I read that the basics of the Jewish religious service are: 1. The declaration of faith or 'shema'; 2. The Prayer (Amidah); and 3. The reading of the Torah. Everything else is supplementary, and optional from a Talmudic point of view. Of course not every service has the reading of Torah, but they all have the first two. If you don't know this "skeleton" the service can seem a bewildering succession of unrelated prayers.

July 1, 2008 5:03 PM

M. B. said:

Most of us should not have to learn Hebrew (even performance Hebrew) to understand and practice Reform Judaism. That was one of the most fundamental reforms. By translating the Bible and the prayers into English, the comprehension problem is solved. The Mishkan T (neo-orthodox style) prayer book makes it difficult for most us us to participate in services by hiding the meaning of the prayers in a foreign language. It is much harder to follow than the other Reform prayer books, like the Union Prayer Book or the new Sinai version of the Union Prayer Book used by some progressive congregations. The language in the Union Prayer Book is more poetic, lifting the spirit. Most importantly, everyone can participate fully in the service again, not just the handful fluent in Hebrew.

I question whether a talmudic view is relevant to Reform Judaism. Wasn't the Talmud one of the main problems for Jews living in modern society which led to the Jewish Reformation? And wasn't the Talmud one of the first things jetisoned in order to get to the heart of the Bible, the prophetic and ethical teachings?

Reform Judaism is not that hard to understand, at least the progressive form of it isn't. There is very little legalism or arcane rules to untangle. Key provisions like the Ten Commandments, for example, are remarkably straight forward. Prophets like Micah or Isaiah tend to pretty understandable to the common people. The challange of Reform is not so much in knowing what the Lord wants us to do as actually doing it.

July 8, 2008 11:09 PM