Thanks for the shout-out.
"Reform Judaism is not halachic" is a common claim among people both inside and outside the Reform movement, but it is not an official movement position -- the CCAR Responsa Committee, for example, certainly claims to be doing halacha (even if their conclusions "provide guidance, not governance"). When I was in NFTY in the 1990s, "Understanding our Halachic Choices" was a study theme.
In the debate at the end of the Responsa, item 2 of Meyer's rebuttal to Mihala is particularly interesting. Although framed in terms of this specific constitution, I wonder if it can be extended to a more general principle. Does there exist a set S of religious and philosophical beliefs, ethical views, and ritual practices, such that if someone is already a Jew and then chooses S they will remain truly Jewish, but if a gentile holds S they could not become Jewish?
(I don't mean "may not", I mean "can not" in an essential sense. Obviously this question can't be fully and rigorously expored without revisiting the "are there exact boundaries of Judaism" issue, but even if you don't think there are exact boundaries, you might still find the other question interesting.)
And what's with these rabbis using the term responsum (pl. responsa), and then peppering it with phrases such as inter alia? Whatever happened to Hebrew, or even Aramaic? Surely the meaning would be preserved if this document were not English and Latin, but instead, mutatis mutandis, English and Hebrew.
F., 02/06/09
The average Reform "rabbi" couldn't compete successfully in any high school Yeshiva's annual Bible contest. They are obsessed with being loved by the Goyim, hence their extensive interfaith activities.
What a strange (frightening, ignorant?)comment:
"They are obsessed with being loved by the Goyim, hence their extensive interfaith activities."
Firstly Goyim simply means 'nations' (do you use in some derogatory sense?). If you study your Talmud you will learn that to make Shalom (peace) amongst the nations if the highest good and holiest task a Jew (or anyone can achieve).
ALL mankind (all nations) are made b'tzelem elokim (in the image of Hashem).
Aren't we supposed to be a light unto the nations (Isaiah 42 & 60). Do you propose or advocate total separation? If other nations never see us, or never know us, how can they ever be expected to love us?
And, by the way, being Reform doesn't say much about one's level of observance, or whether one is living a Torah life. Just because one might belong to an Orthodox shul doesn't automatically mean that person observes more mitzvot.
The Reform movement has some great Rabbis (no inverted commas needed) who not only know the Halakha well, but also know its wider context (historical, sociocultural).
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