Yoffie Seeks to Convert Intermarried Spouses
I get no pleasure out of attacking Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the leader of the Reform movement. From where I am standing, any possibility of legitimacy of the Reform movement’s pro-assimilation platform went up in smoke during WWII. But Rabbi Yoffie is, for a Reform leader, a relatively thoughtful fellow. He was as responsible during Arafat’s reign of terrorism as can be expected from the notoriously anti-nationalist Reform movement, and he gives nods to tradition and ritual whenever possible, provided it doesn’t threaten the liberal sensibilities of his constituents.
But he is leading people into waters less welcoming than they appear by heading a proselytizing mission for intermarried spouses to convert to Judaism. This is utterly counter to Jewish tradition and history, and it is fooling both the gentile and Jewish partners, and setting them up for future disappointment at lack of acceptance of their status as Jews.
The NY Times reports,
Concerned about what intermarriage is doing to American Judaism, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, the organization of the country’s Reform Jewish congregations, recently called for Reform synagogues to increase their efforts to convert non-Jewish spouses. By welcoming and accepting gentile spouses, Reform congregations have “perhaps sent the message that we do not care if they convert,” Rabbi Yoffie said at the union’s most recent conference, in November.“But that is not our message,” he said.
“The time has come to reverse direction by returning to public conversions and doing all the other things that encourage conversion in our synagogues,” he said.
Let us be clear. Many of us, even if we ourselves are not strictly religious, do not consider a Reform conversion valid in the first place. So too, we do not consider the child of a mother who had a Reform conversion a Jew. This does not mean we think they are bad people. They may be wonderful people. They just aren’t wonderful Jews.
I wouldn’t expect Rabbi Yoffie to accept this intolerant viewpoint as his own, nor would I expect him to cease performing Reform conversions for those gentiles interested in doing so. But he must be aware of the damage to Jewish unity his predecessor created by accepting patrilineal descent, and he is further deepening this split by advocating a position of proselytizing gentiles whose conversions anyway won’t be accepted by the traditional Jewish world, even as he is reversing a long-standing policy of not proselytizing in the first place.
3 comments
It isn’t that simple in my opinion. Religious Jews (especially Orthodox) are always bitching about the declining number of Jews. They may say that they are not interested in quantity, but that is belied by their actions.
The Reform movement seems to actually have a partial solution to this “problem.” The reform movement IS mainstream Judaism, and if a conversion is recognized through it, then that is all one needs to feel part of the community.
As far as I am concerned, if somebody categorizes himself into a certain religion, that is enough for me. It doesnt really make sense to tell somebody that you know better than they do what they believe in. The Orthodox may say that a certain person does not meet their criteria for a Jew, but what they fail to realize is that they are talking about their own definition, not the individuals definition or the reform movement’s definition. They might as well start telling Jose Catholic that he isn’t a Catholic. He certainly wouldnt care. Neither should a reform Jew.
Abu, you write:
“The Orthodox may say that a certain person does not meet their criteria for a Jew, but what they fail to realize is that they are talking about their own definition, not the individuals definition or the reform movement’s definition.”
Herein lies the eternal Jewish question of “do you believe that Torah Law - Halacha - is divine and part of a mesorah from Mt. Sainai.” Since the Torah definition of a Jew is either one born thru Jewish maternal lineage or thru proper conversion, then we must accept that -IF we beleive in the Torah to begin with. If one does not think Torah law is real law then we must consider your thoughts mentioned above as credible. The Orthodox definition is taken from scriptures and gemorah, etc. The question is, do you accept that? AND, if you do, then this argument remains a halachic one and not a theoretical or deloping/changing one that the reform movement puts forth.
As Jews, the issue of belief or lack of beleif in a divine order and law is the most integral peice that will color every Jewish decision we make.
Yup. And I don’t see any reason for the leaders of the Reform movement to kowtow to the fundamentalism of the right.
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