Streams of Judaism Tiyuul/
Today, Kitat Maayan went back to Hebrew Union College (HUC) to learn about the different streams of Judaism. Only this time, we had our parents with us. To sum it up, today's tiyuul was one of emotion, questions, and learning.
We have been to HUC a few times, and each time I go, I am able to discover something new there, such as the rooftop or a cafe. I personally love going to the HUC campus because of the welcoming and loving community that I see there. The campus of HUC has a lot of importance. Before 1967, the land that the current HUC Jerusalem campus resides on was a war zone. The Jordanians would fire on this land; it was a no man's land. As we know, the six day war happened in 1967, and with this we conquered the old city. As a result, this land became very desired and wealthy. This can be seen with the King David and David Citadel hotels.
We had the opportunity to interview three different Jewish leaders, each from from a different stream of Judaism. First, we met with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the head of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). With Rabbi Jacobs, we focused on the clash between reform Judaism (and non Jews) with the Hassidic community in Israel. A few of these include the Kotel (Western Wall), division of religion and state, and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). The thing that interested me the most of Rabbi Jacob's was his response to a few of our ideas. When he agreed with an idea or thought it was empowering, he said that we should "tweet it." But I will get back to this point later on.
(Rabbi Rick Jacobs (I did not want to offend him by taking a picture, so I took one off of the internet
The our second interview was with Yehoshua and Bracha Weinberger. I'm sure you all remember this interview quite vividly, and many emotions were brought up. One quote that Bracha said that truly reached out to me was, "we are not extremists, we are ordinary people." We then got to asking questions. We asked questions, and of course argued, on ideas such as evolution, feminism, and IDF.
Our final speaker was Rabbi Paris Rodman, representing the conservative community. The rabbi started out by talking about the differences between the conservative movements with the other two. For example, they still follow halakah, and they still keep kosher. The conservative movement is also different from the orthodox community in that women are allowed to have aliot.
I enjoyed today because it gave me a safe place to ask questions and to state my mind. It is very difficult to have a conversation with someone who disagrees with you on key ideas, but the fact that we were able to debate, share our minds, and hear another perspective was truly amazing. I gained more understanding and respect for the other streams of judaism, along with my own. Of course, I still had many questions, since the idea of religion cannot be answered within three or four hours. I want to know if they view converts as full Jews, and if they consider people who converted out of Judaism Jewish as well. I also want to know how the conservative movement choses which commandments they do and do not follow, such as kosher laws and laws for dress.
I understand that this tiyuul was one with a lot of emotion. For that, I wanted to state how proud I am of my peers for going out of their comfort zone, and sharing their personal stories. It takes a lot for one to share their opinion, especially when they know that it is most likely to be contradicted.
I would like to go back to Rabbi Rick Jacobs idea of a tweet. In the comments, I would like for all of you to create a hashtag for a social justice movement that you believe has to do with Judaism and what we talked about today. Please explain why you chose this hashtag. Also, if you want to continue the discussion, there is another blog post entitled "forum" so that we can continue our conversations and feelings on our time at HUC
#Judaismforall
ReplyDeleteI said this because it really hurts me when people say that Jews who aren't biologically connected aren't Jewish. I feel like this is 100% wrong and that orthodox and even conservative Jews need to be made aware that you can be a Jew in whatever way you choose to be.
#equalitylieswithjudaism because when people let their beliefs on equality influence religion it really bothers me. A lot of people influence their lives around religion and they can't form their own beliefs because they go with what the torah says. I'm only using the torah as an example because this is about Judaism but religion is just praying, we should all be able to practice what we believe in together and not feel like we threaten one another...
ReplyDelete#streamsofjudaismunited
ReplyDeleteI chose this tag because I think that all 3 streams are different and special in their own way and they should be able to all get along with each other (for the most part) as well. I align my personal beliefs with some parts of Judaism from each sect (some more than others) there are communities in which orthodox, conservative, reform and secular Jews live together peacefully and I just wish all of us could have that.
#wearealljewish
ReplyDeleteI chose this because I think no matter if your mom isn't Jewish or you converted or whatever it doesn't matter. If you say you are Jewish and believe in the religion, it doesn't matter your background, only what you are now.
#jewmakethechoice
ReplyDeleteI chose this hashtag because I was upset by the orthodox couple's view on what it means to be jewish. For me, being the daughter of liberal parents - especially with a mother who converted to Judaism with s reform rabbi - I believe that anyone who wants to be jewish can be. Not only can they be jewish, but they should be allowed to practice the religion as they wish. If someone wants to be a reform jew, I totally understand where they are coming from as I love my form of Judaism and will accept them with open arms and try to educate them as best as I can. If someone wants to be conservative or orthodox, that is great too, as long as they are fully comfortable with everything they are committing themselves to. I believe that religion was invented to explain things that science once couldn't explain, or still can't fully to this day, so it's base purpose remains to make people more comfortable in the world around them. Any form of any religion, or lack of, is fine by me as long as it is right for the individual.
Another reason I chose this hashtag is because I really dislike it when people are against something because it is a sin in whatever book they follow. I noticed it during the Islam tiyuul and again during this one. For example, personally the ultra orthodox couple have nothing against homosexuality, but from a religious standpoint it is a sin. I do not believe I could ever gain a set of morals and beliefs from a book, especially if it isn't how i generally feel about the topic. Nearly every religious book for all kinds of religions are outdated, and people pick and choose what to follow from it. I believe that your beliefs should be something you choose yourself rather than have a book tell you, and you should decide what you believe from accumulated knowledge from many sources.
#wejews
ReplyDeleteI chose this hashtag because it shows that we are all united as Jews. It doesn’t matter whether you observe all 613 mitzvot or if you have a Jewish mom or even if you believe in God. What matters is your own identity and how you feel about Judaism. Secular or Orthodox we are all apart of the same community. I think the diversity we can find in the different sects of Judaism is truly special. The more we learn to accept this, the closer we’ll become as a community and as an עם. Expecially during the talk we had at HUC, we saw arguing over different ideals of what we thought to be right and what they thought was right. It’s important to keep in mind that no Jew is the enemy. We were all slaves in Eygpt and we were all there when we received the torah! The more we embrace what we have in common (our Jewish heritage) and accept our differences, the better things will be.
#YesAllJews
ReplyDeleteI chose this because it represents that all Jews are Jews, no matter the opinion of another. Although there will be parts of Jewishness that disagree with the other, all Jews are Jews, no matter how they practice.
#Jewsstandtogether
ReplyDeleteI chose this hashtag because I feel that one of the biggest issues within Judaism as a whole is the divide between the different sects of Judaism and the issue of reform Judaism not being recognized. This is also an issue for those who convert and for those without a Jewish mother. Once I leave Israel I plan on being more of an advocate for this issue because it's something I found surprising when coming to Israel.
#whatdoesitmattertoJEW?
ReplyDeleteI chose this hashtag because I have one question for the ultra-orthodox who so vehemently oppose the more liberal streams of Judaism: what does it matter to you? Why do you care how I practice Judaism? I don't prevent you from being recognized as Jewish, so why shouldn't you extend the same courtesy to me?
#makejudaismgreatagain
ReplyDeleteI chose this not to poke fun or support our president, but to establish the fact that Jews do not always get along. During this tiyul I felt the atmosphere change severely when the two Hasidim were talking. It became stressed, passive aggressive, and almost hostile. I believe we tried to prove their opinions wrong and not accept them even though we do not agree with them especially since the Hasidim are notorious for not changing. On the other hand, they should respect our rights and views the same way we respect theirs regardless of how "Jewish" anyone is. After respecting their views and them returning their respect, we can start to build toward a unified, but diverse Judaism.
#weareonepeople. I chose this hashtag because even though many of us, liberal Jews, do not necessarily agree with orthodox views, we still have to remember that we are all one nation and the way other people practice Judaism should not make us hate or be mad at them because that is their lifestyle and we should accept that and not judge them for the way they want to live their lives.
ReplyDelete