Scholar in Residence Virtual Program with Rabbi Lance Sussman, PhD

30 Mar @ 10:30 am - 11:30 am

200 YEARS OF AMERICAN REFORM JUDAISM, 1824 – 2024, SINK OR SWIM: THE HISTORY AND FUTURE OF REFORM JUDAISM

Part 4: Reforming Reform Judaism: Zionism, Social Justice and Gender

During the course of its history of over two hundred years, the Reform movement in Judaism has constantly been re-forming itself. In part, this state of flux is a function of “reform” as a verb and not a noun as in Reformation. Beyond changes in worship, three areas of change stand out: Zionism, Social Justice and Gender. The debate over Zionism reflected a shift in Reform self understanding from being a religion to ethnicity. Social justice was a result of the repositioning of ethics from the individual to society. Finally, gender is a subset of social justice, and in particular the result of of the rise of feminism beginning in the 19 century. This process of constant change continues today, including technology. On the other hand, Reform also has to ask itself about what is constant in Judaism.