Major drive to increase Jewish cross-communal collaboration
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Three of the largest synagogue movements within Judaism – representing around a third of British Jewry - have agreed a “Statement of Community Collaboration”, committing them to drive forward cross-communal working and respect each others’ traditions.
The statement is seen as a major shift in the way in which the various synagogue movements representing the UK’s quarter of a million-strong Jewish community behave towards each other. The signatories are inviting the broader community to follow their example and commit to the same values.
The statement says: “Diversity is a reality within the British Jewish community but true pluralism (treating with respect other groups and their philosophies) is not, yet. We believe that British Jewry both needs and deserves better.”
Signed by the Chairs, Chief Executives and senior Rabbis of the Liberal, Masorti and Reform movements the statement says that the Jewish community cannot afford to divide against itself and calls for a new voice, which is open, tolerant, collaborative and respectful.
Its signatories say that the statement is, in part, prompted by growing Jewish fundamentalism which, they say, is exclusive and judgmental. They quote as one example of this trend the exclusion of pupils from JFS (a UK’s largest Jewish school) because of a refusal to recognise Israeli and other Jewish conversions as legitimate.
In contrast, the statement describes the cross-communal educational programme, Limmud – attended by Jews from all sections of the community - as the “most inspiring example of pluralism” and also mentions the UJIA and Jewish Care as “respectful and creative cross-communal partnerships”.
It calls on the whole community to show respect for one another’s leaders by honouring them, where appropriate, with titles such as “Rabbi” and “teacher”, a practice which is currently not universal. It pledges the three movements to respect “the dignity of each individual at sensitive times in the life cycle, including marriage, the celebration of namings, Brit and Bnei Mitzvah, as well as during illness and after death,” all of which have led to distress and confrontations in recent times.
The document identifies three specific areas for increased collaboration in the short term, being: the further development of Jewish schools, such as JCoSS, the UK’s first cross-communal Jewish school; support for students and young people to “avoid wasteful duplication and create a well-resourced programme”; and Jewish ethics, where the three movements have backed the setting up of ResponsAbility, a cross-communal ethics think tank.
Commenting, Chair of the Movement for Reform Judaism, Stephen Moss, said:
“With a falling Jewish population, Judaism in this country needs to be inclusive and collaborative to survive into the 21st Century. We believe that this type of pluralist approach serves the best interests of the whole community and we have a responsibility to provide the leadership to promote it.”
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi of the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues, added:
“This pluralist approach is one with which I believe many people across the community will be able to identify. It is in no way intended to be exclusive to the three signatories and I, for one, am hopeful that others will choose to share our vision for the community and endorse it.”
Rabbi Danny Rich, Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism, said:
“Liberal Judaism sees this as an on-going process and believes that we can do much more together. Of course our three movements have substantive differences of belief and practices and in no way do we seek to diminish them - but as a people our responsibility is to accentuate what we share in common and find areas in which we can work together, rather than to focus on what divides us to keep us apart.”
ENDS
For further information or for interviews, please call Ben Rich on 020 8869 9539 or 07713 509134.
The three signatories together represent over a third of Britain’s Jews, with Liberal Jewish synagogues accounting for around 8%, the Masorti movement 6% and the Movement for Reform Judaism 20%. The three movements span from the progressive to the traditional, both in their practices and their attitudes to Jewish law. For further information please visit www.liberaljudaism.org, www.masorti.org.uk
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