In the small town of Seesen (about 150 miles west of Berlin), a man named Israel Jacobson (see picture) dedicated an agricultural school. In this new school, Jewish and Christian boys studied side by side, a testament to Jacobson's belief that Judaism and Christianity were essentially similar—based on similar values and morals, separated only by different forms and rituals.
Even more strikingly, the school included a chapel for a new kind of Jewish worship. The bimah was moved from the center of the room to the front. There was an organ. Prayers, songs, and even sermons were delivered in the vernacular (German). The changes in the prayer service that have always been the most visible trademark of Reform Judaism had begun.
I want to write more about this anniversary next week, but I'm posting now because of an editorial I read in The Forward yesterday. Pretty much everything I know about the history of Reform Judaism I learned from Michael Meyer, the world's leading expert on the subject and a distinguished professor at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. (He also taught Rabbi Shankman and Rabbi Lustig.) He wrote this editorial, which reflects on Jacobson's reforms and on the evolution and meaning of Reform Judaism.
Please read the editorial and then COMMENT here on the blog. What did you think? Was there anything you had questions about? Let's have a discussion.
P.S. — Jacobson's temple in Seesen included a bell tower. Considered very Christian, that custom was not adopted even by the most radical Reform congregations that followed. Do you think Washington Hebrew should have a bell tower? (We could play Jewish songs.)
A very interesting subject and article, and I hope it will provoke a lively discussion. As I am sure many of you have experienced, many Conservative and Orthodox friends will inevitably comment that playing an organ in the synagogue is -- in their eyes -- comepletely foreign and essentially something that "belongs in church." To me (and, I assume, to our congregation generally), the organ and the overall musical part of our worship service seem both fundamental and indispensible. Yet the suggestion of a "bell tower" atop the synagogue (even if playing Jewish melodies) seems beyond radical and makes me completely uncomfortable (albeit not for any sound reason that I can articulate). I suppose that this is just a natural reaction to change. Perhaps if we could develop a clever Midrash about why synagogues have bell towers, that might ease the way for their adoption.
ReplyDeleteA bell tower? This would surely alinate Reform Jews even more from Conservative and Orthodox Jews. As for the organ, I'm having second thoughts about it. It's not fundamental and it's not indispensable. If there is anything we can do to attract other Jews to feel more comfortable in our House of worship, I say let's do it. In other words, I think we should consider doing away with organ music, perhaps once or twice a month on a trial basis. Just a thought.
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