THE BELIEVER Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch believes unapologetic Zionism is the key to Reform Judaism’s survival. His new initiative just may save it!
https://mailchi.mp/406400cf4e07/krd-news-the-believer?e=9365a7c638,
ARMIN ROSEN profiles RABBI AMMIEL HIRSCH, Senior Rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in NYC. Rabbi Hirsch holds that unapologetic Zionism is the key to Reform Judaism’s survival:
Hirsch explained, Reform Judaism had grown out of a rejection of the particular. “I think there is a risk in our movement that we will revert to the default position of liberalism, which is the elevation of universalism at the expense of Jewish peoplehood, not as an extension of Jewish peoplehood,” Hirsch said. He now fears that the movement could be in the course of a swing back to its original historical grounding, overlooking both the tragic and near-miraculous aspects of the Jewish experience of the 20th century. “It wasn’t that the anti-Zionist period of classical Reform Judaism was the exception that had been relegated to history,” he theorized to me. “It was the 20th century that was the exception, that forced the Reform Movement back into the embrace of Jewish peoplehood.” Without peoplehood, and without commitment to a shared purpose and destiny, liberal Judaism risked losing its ability to stand for anything recognizably Jewish.
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is a true liberal in the classical sense (as opposed to a progressive illiberal). Many of us understand it is classical liberalism that is in danger right now:
Here’s what I learned from decades of studying and embracing liberalism: The liberal mindset is one of openness and doubt. True liberals are never so sure of themselves. We acknowledge and embrace complexity. It’s why we rely on science and evidence. Every place where people live requires repair. One of the key insights of liberalism is that I could be wrong. And I am open to being convinced.
He has given truly remarkable sermons on anti-Semitism and the dangers of what’s happening in our schools. More recently, he addressed an open letter from 93 American rabbinic and cantorial students (28 of them from the Reform Movement’s Hebrew Union College) in which they excoriated Israel during the May 2021 conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror groups based in the Gaza strips:
How is it possible for current and future leaders of the Jewish people to write an open letter to the public in the middle of a war with missiles raining down on Israeli civilians—our people—without ever mentioning Hamas, the instigator of the war? How is it possible to write of ‘tears that flow’ without weeping for our own brothers and sisters, killed, maimed, and scrambling to underground shelters at all hours of the day and night? Even our closest liberal allies in Israel were shocked and dismayed by this letter. We have a right to insist that some values and beliefs held by some American Jews are inconsistent with our values. We are entitled to accept students to the rabbinic program based on values that we’ve defined for ourselves, and if somebody doesn’t accept those values we’re entitled to say go somewhere else to study rabbinics.
When did Rabbi Hirsch begin thinking the Reform Movement needed saving? Remember when the American Embassy was transferred to Jerusalem and Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of the Reform Movement, opposed it?
It wasn’t just the letter from Reform rabbinical students, or what he viewed as the movement’s disappointingly muted response, that worried Hirsch. “Nagging suspicions” about the movement’s direction began “about 10 years ago,” around the end of Barack Obama’s first term in office. The urgency accelerated when the Union for Reform Judaism, which is headed by Rabbi Rick Jacobs, opposed the 2017 decision to transfer the American Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, a statement that seemed to prioritize party-line opposition to Donald Trump over what had been a longstanding and uncontroversial movement objective for half a century. The movement’s reaction to controversy over alleged antisemitism among leaders of the 2017 Women’s March also troubled Hirsch. “That we were not willing to critique our social justice allies … began to really disturb me,” he explained, “in particular when we refused even to criticize, let alone pull out of those Women’s Marches where the leaders were all anti-Zionists and BDS supporters, and a couple were Farrakhan supporters.”
And that’s not all. Rabbi Jacobs and other leaders have essentially turned the Movement into a political arm of the progressive left. This issue flows top-down, as many Reform Jews who have sat through political sermons in their synagogues know well:
Other Reform rabbis in other cities voiced similar concern when I contacted them for this article. They claimed that both the [Union for Reform Judiasm (“URJ”), led by Rabbi Rick Jacobs,] and [the Reform Movement’s] Religious Action Center, led by Rabbi Jonah Pesner, had turned into milquetoast liberal advocacy groups whose main public function appeared to be showing unqualified support for the Democratic Party. “There are a lot of congregations where it’s problematic to even send out emails and stuff from the RAC because they’re so politically partisan,” said David Kaufman, a Reform rabbi in Ohio and longtime pro-Israel activist. The RAC worked for the passage of President Joe Biden’s divisive election reform bill; its website homepage currently cheers on the House of Representatives’ passage of the Build Back Better act and asks Reform Jews to “Urge your elected officials to cosponsor the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act (S. 1083/H.R. 40).”
“The theater of liberal American Zionism is all there,” as the leader of one large Reform congregation put it… While the movement officially remains Zionist, and its leaders aren’t afraid to be seen alongside Israeli politicians, the rabbi wondered what it all really counted for. “I think I have felt that in recent years that sort of Zionist identity has become largely symbolic in ways that I feel nervous and uncomfortable about … Ultimately if we’re a Zionist movement, we should be producing Zionist rabbis.”
I personally know Rabbi Hirsch (my family recently joined Stephen Wise Free Synagogue because of him), and I can tell you that I believe he is the best hope to save the Reform Movement. I also urge you to read the entire piece here (set aside some time as it is long, but very much worth it).
NOTE – RABBI HIRSCH IS STARTING A NEW AND EXCITING INITIATIVE TO PUSH BACK WITHIN THE REFORM MOVEMENT.
There are many exciting things coming, including a podcast. If you are interested in supporting this important initiative or learning more, please email me at kimrd19@gmail.com.
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