The Chicago Platform: A Proposal for the Intellectual and Spiritual Renewal of Reform Judaism and its Equivalents Throughout the World
For over two centuries, Reform Judaism’s evolution has been guided by a complex web of intra-Jewish, inter-religious, and external cultural influences. In 19th century Europe, it made a bold leap from a crystallized orthodoxy that had become a caricature of centuries of diverse rabbinic Judaism to a rationalist recasting of an ancient faith. On American shores, it became yet more radical, facilitating integration into the very fabric of an increasingly diverse, open, and pluralistic society, challenging the host-culture at times to a yet wider embrace of difference. The spirit of this phase is well-encapsulated in the (in)famous Pittsburgh Platform of 1885 and the first few editions of the Union Prayer Book. In the 1937 Columbus Platform and other documents of the period, such as the 1923 Union Haggadah, 1940 revision of the Union Prayer Book, and especially the 1951 Union Home Prayer Book and 1961 Union Songster, it re-affirmed and clarified its roots in historic rabbinic Judaism, remaining universalistic in spirit, but with renewed appreciation for certain inherited traditions from which earlier reformers had seen fit to distance themselves. This measured, restrained, and informed reëmbracing of tradition was systematic, based on consistent criteria. Beautiful rituals and ceremonies that did not conflict with the qualitatively progressive and universalistic systematic theology of Reform Judaism were re-claimed, and they added welcome warmth to our synagogue worship and home lives.
In subsequent decades, the deepening consciousness of the horror of the Shoah and the new opportunities for positive, primarily cultural Jewish identification afforded by the creation of the State of Israel facilitated the egress of many committed and proud members of the Jewish People from the historic Faith of Israel. Some rejected it angrily, while others simply found it quaint and respectfully left for a secular life, compelled neither by traditionalist nor by progressivist attempts to generate religious meaning in their lives.
A third subset, however, who began to live according to secular assumptions about the universe, nevertheless retained nostalgic connection not just to Jewish ethnicity and culture, but also to the rhythms and institutions of Jewish religious life. They wanted to facilitate and to participate in the continued existence of the synagogue and the rabbinate — of Sabbath and Festival synagogue services, meals and ceremonies at home, and many other rich aspects of Jewish communal life. Postmodern fusion of traditional ethno-cultural expressions with New Age post-theistic spirituality gave birth to a varied spectrum of progressive Jewish life committed to traditional practices for decidedly non-traditional reasons — ironically, a near-total inversion of the original vision of the Reformers for a systematic distillation of the best of (axiomatically theistic) Rabbinic Judaism for our own time, which could be lived out either with or without the aid of traditional Jewish outer forms. This original vision could be lived both by a critical mass of ethnically Jewish community members and by non-Jewish seekers, with or without eventual formal conversion to Judaism.
Guided by a quarter-century of experience moving through diverse Jewish and non-Jewish communities and several years of both institutional and independent study of Judaism, other world religions, and their relationships with each other, my conscience compels me to propose a program of renewal of progressive Judaism that synthesizes the “classical” wisdom of the Reform movement’s founders with two other fonts of knowledge: (1) a fresh look at our broader inherited tradition of Rabbinic Judaism, and (2) the lessons learned in modernity and postmodernity.
God and Religion:
While all human religion is socially constructed and subject to ordinary historical development, the God posited by the Abrahamic monotheistic traditions is the One True God — the Master of the Universe, of all that is empirically observable, of all that we have not yet developed the means to observe, and of anything that we might never be able to observe or understand or taxonomize on this mortal plane. God is ontologically one and indivisible in number and essence. However, God is experienced in many ways by the peoples of the Earth. Humans tend to develop spiritual or religious beliefs when they witness with awe the power and majesty of nature and seek to explain the mysterious. Different cultures or civilizations may develop richly diverse means of explaining the world around them and the uncanny interconnectedness of living beings and natural processes. God can reach out and provide real experiences of belief-confirming holiness through avenues to which a particular group is already receptive, even where these avenues do not involve conscious acceptance of the formal logic of monotheism. Thus, one might question whether religious Jews are free to continue to take an intensely adversarial view of the practice of non-Abrahamic religious traditions, or to deny that they may contain much truth and divine holiness and are thus worthy of significant respect. Over time, God may influence or inspire visionaries in various cultures to refine and reform the deposit of wisdom inherited from their ancestors. The gradual development of monotheism through stages of polytheism, henotheism, and monolatry in the Ancient Near East may be interpreted in this light.
God is the Ultimate Intelligence — the Source of all being, awareness, and knowledge. Therefore, reality has objective ontological existence. The truth of things exists to be known objectively, independently of any thinking being’s opinion. However, exhaustive knowledge about the true nature of things belongs to God alone. Humans have made great strides in matters of the spirit and knowledge of the physical universe, but we must be cautious and humble. We must behave as if all but the most time-tested assumptions are potentially subject to emendation at a moment’s notice. While standing up unabashedly for truth as we discern it with God’s help, we must treat with respect and seek to learn from those who, owing to different experience or environment, see things differently.
Torah and Revelation:
While the above theory of religion may suffice for the general inquiry of independent seekers, the Jewish People are obligated to locate ourselves within an ancient tradition of world-historical import, which we believe is inextricably intertwined with the history and destiny of all of humanity. Central to our self-understanding is our principal foundation-text, the written Torah. Understanding that it constitutes a heavily redacted and harmonized collection of diverse texts of various genres composed in different times and places and subjected to the perils of oral transmission and diverse theological agendas, we affirm that it contains the Word of the Living God — indirect revelation from the Creator. God speaks to us through its narrative, legal, and wisdom material. It chronicles the saga of the People of God, from possibly-mythic beginnings to historical events inextricably intertwined with world history and the archaeological record. This People was of its time and place, reflecting in many ways the norms, sensibilities, and worldview of any other tribal society in the Ancient Near East. But the Holy One worked through us to begin to refine and transform us, and later, other Near Eastern civilizations, leading eventually to the births of Christianity and Islam — our beloved younger siblings and destined partners in healing and perfecting the world under the Sovereignty of Almighty God.
After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism was gradually transformed from an ancient Near Eastern monotheism revolving around a national life with a monarchy and sacrificial cult into a highly spiritualized religion with emerging genres of theology and philosophy that would form, sometimes directly and at other times mediated through Christianity, building-blocks for Western civilization. During this period, hereditary priesthood was replaced by the spiritual leadership of the rabbis, academically credentialed clergy who are masters of the Law of God. The record of their spiritualization of Judaism and application of the Torah to new situations outside of ancient Israel in an ever-developing world is to be found in the Talmud and its accompanying rabbinic writings. These also contain a synthesis of human genius and Divine inspiration, while reflecting their time and place. We affirm that they are, as traditional Judaism holds, an “oral Torah.” But this inspiration has not ended. We are always refining and reforming the Faith of Israel to meet needs that could not have been anticipated by the generations that came before us. We reject the traditional concept of yeridath hadoroth — that each generation of authorized rabbinic interpreters or tradents is farther from revelation than the last, and thus possesses ever-diminishing authority. On the other hand, we must frankly admit that the Enlightenment notion of inevitable, linear improvement is unrealistic. Ancient wisdom remains relevant, even when challenging, and even though its usefulness may be limited primarily to matters of the spirit in light of scientific developments.
Worship and Practice:
While traditional rabbinic Judaism regards our present form of worship as a temporary substitute before the sacrificial cult in the Jerusalem Temple is restored in the Messianic Era, Reform Judaism holds that the offerings of our lips and hearts in prayer constitute a permanent and superior replacement for the animal sacrifices, which were only ever a grudging divine accommodation to the forms of worship to which Ancient Near Eastern peoples were accustomed. Reform Judaism affirms that regular worship according to the basic rubric of the historical siddur is part of normative Jewish personal and communal piety. The siddur can and should be reformed and abridged in various ways, but the core forms of worship must be preserved. Since it is imperative that worshippers intend each word as it is uttered, worship must be offered primarily in the vernacular, especially because only a committed core of non-orthodox Jewish laity are proficient enough in Biblical and rabbinic Hebrew or Aramaic to meet the traditional standards of intention. Some core liturgical responses and iconic verses and prayers should be retained in Hebrew or Aramaic in order to lend an atmosphere of contemplative antiquity and otherworldly holiness to the Liturgy. The worship should be lovingly beautified by the noble complexity of Western choral and organ music as well as contemporary modalities in order to speak to diverse minds and hearts. It may be effective and logical to offer more Hebrew in choral selections designed to be listened to, while using more vernacular in songs, hymns, responses, and readings designed to be offered by the whole congregation. Active congregational participation in many aspects of public worship should be encouraged, but the immense spiritual value of sitting quietly and allowing oneself to be impacted by what one hears should not be underestimated. Listening and adding one’s own intention silently is a profoundly powerful spiritual practice and can potentially constitute the most direct prayerful communication with the Holy One in one’s entire lifetime. Actual revelation can even occur in these moments when a roomful of Jews at prayer join their energies and intentions together guided by skilled liturgical and musical facilitation.
Israel:
While there are excellent reasons to be geo-politically supportive of the right of the modern-day State of Israel to exist and to defend itself against legitimate threats, its religious value for authentic progressive Judaism is narrowly circumscribed. Historic holy sites in the geographic cradle of our Faith — the stage on which our formative sagas unfolded — must be preserved for Jewish pilgrimage. It is only natural to feel a connection to the land because of what happened there millennia ago and because of the holy sites that remain. But the purpose of the State of Israel is primarily to safeguard those sites and to serve as an emergency refuge for Jews in times of trouble in the diaspora. Israel does not activate or fulfill messianic expectations, nor ought we seriously look forward to its eventually doing so. God is everywhere, and God willed the diaspora so that we might live among and befriend other peoples of the Earth and spread love and kindness to them, knowing that they are made in the divine image. We are to be a blessing to other places and people, a light unto the nations. The State of Israel is quite capable of aiding in this mission by bringing the best of Jewish values back to the Near East after many centuries of absence, but it fails to do this more often than it succeeds. Unless and until this changes, it is wildly inappropriate for the State of Israel to occupy a place of central importance for diaspora Reform Jews as a “homeland” with religious significance or as a subject of vicarious secular nationalism or patriotism. However, we should vigorously support progressive Jewish life in Israel and contribute to its upbuilding, and maintain the highest-profile presence there that circumstances allow. This simply should not occupy an outsized priority in the hearts and minds of diaspora Jews, who have our own problems to address.
