Update since the last time I blogged about this: Eilu V'Eilu week 3 (in which we respond to "questions" from readers) has been posted, completing the set.
To address the questions (no scare quotes this time, since he got actual questions) that Larry Kaufman answered:
I totally agree with his answer to the first question, especially the sentence "To retain that which you miss from the Classic period, you have only to assemble a community of those who shares your preferences," which is a much more polite way of saying "The reason it's not around anymore is because nobody wants it, and if you disagree, then quit whining and do something about it."
As for the second question, I agree with Larry Kaufman's reasons for why a merger probably won't happen. However, I think I would support such a merger precisely because the combined movement would contain so much diversity that it would become impossible to set policy and practice at the national level, freeing individual communities to set their policies locally, and thus leading to far greater diversity than the current bimodal distribution, while retaining the institutional advantages that the pro-movement people claim exist.
Do you really believe that you're shielded from contact with American Christian society? When you are in America, the people you interact with on a daily basis may be "secular," but you read the newspaper, watch television, participate in our culture and politics, and trends Christian religion are present in all these.
ReplyDeleteMy Reform congregation went a long way toward solving the issue of some people greatly preferring the Classic Reform style of worship. A rabbi from a "classic" congregation retired to our city and offered to do a Classic Reform service once a month. It draws a very nice, but older, crowd. They seem very happy with it.
ReplyDeleteHW - don't you think that's a bit ludicrous? People with enough of an education to have an opinion, and yet not one of them can conduct a service? What do they do at these classical services, transubstantiation?
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