CCAR RESPONSA
New American Reform Responsa
92. Reform Support for Orthodox Institutions
QUESTION: Should the members of a Reform Congregation support an Orthodox congregation in the city or Orthodox institutions elsewhere, which do not recognize Reform and are unwilling to accept the pluralism of American Jewish life. lt is the policy of these institutions not to involve themselves in any activities associated with Reform congregations or the Reform movement. What should our attitude be toward providing funds for such organizations and what should our attitude be toward members of such organizations? (Rabbi Morley T. Feinstein, South Bend IN)ANSWER: Through our long history our people have continually sought unity, although it has often been difficult to attain. Bitter struggle among various segments of the Jewish community have occurred in virtually every century. The battles against Hassidism in the eighteenth century led to the opposing forces demanding intervention by the hostile Polish and Russian governments (S. Dubnow History of the Jews in Russia and Poland; Geschichte Des Chassidismus) Eventually, however, the Hassidic movement was recognized as part of Judaism and generally a modus vivendi exists although violence occasionally occurs between groups in Brooklyn or Jerusalem. The nineteenth century saw the herem invoked against the Reform movement in Germany and Hungary (David Philippson The Reform Movement in Judaism; Alexander Guttmann Struggle over Reform Judaism; Michael Meyer Jews of Modernity). Eventually the Reform movement became dominant in Germany and very strong in Hungary and so it was accepted. We should also remember the hostility against the Zionist movement which was long and bitter. A remnant of that is the Neturei Karta which refuse to recognize the Jewish state although its members live in a section of Jerusalem (A. Bein The History of Zionism; B. Halpern Zionism and Anti-Zionism in Orthodox Judaism). We should, therefore, understand the new Orthodox hostility in the light of history. We should not encourage that position. For forty years since the creation of the State of Israel, we Reform Jews have taken abuse along with the Conservative Movement in Israel in order to avoid rupturing Jewish unity. The worldwide unity, which has existed since the second world war has prevailed for a longer periods than ever before. Militant Orthodoxy in Israel, which seeks to change the Law of Return with the support of Orthodox institutions in the United States, threatens this unity in the United States. We must now deal with this new state of affairs and support unity and pluralism. We and our members should not support institutions which are unwilling to recognize pluralism or to work for unity within our community. We should note that Mosheh Feinstein long ago prohibited Orthodox Jews from supporting Reform institutions (Igrot Mosheh Yoreh Deah #149) through the United Jewish Federations which have emphasized unity and pluralism. Their resolution on this subject stressed unity and pluralism: “We reject any effort to divide our people by Israeli state legislation which seeks to amend, directly or indirectly, the Law of Return, which defines Who is a Jew. We associate ourselves with the overwhelming majorities of the Jews of Israel and the Diaspora who oppose any such legislation. While only a few people would be personally affected by this political action, millions would suffer a deep symbolic wound from this insult to our religious traditions and sense of peoplehood. Any such initiative threatens our community at a time when unity is essential to support Israel, still besieged by external foes, facing new internal uprising and fresh world-wide propaganda assaults.” We and they intend to reconstitute pluralism and unity in the worldwide Jewish community. We should not support institutions or congregations who are unwilling to recognize us or our movement. We should discourage any individual from offering such support and we should insist that Federations and other joint fund raising agencies refuse such support. We must distinguish between friendly and unfriendly Orthodox institutions. We will continue to labor for the unity of the Jewish community and will do everything possible to bring it about. Orthodox institutions which disrupt such efforts should not be rewarded. We and our members should not support them.December 1988
If needed, please consult Abbreviations used in CCAR Responsa.