Reform Judaism Promoting Politics?
By Inthemoment contributor Larry Kessner
A few years ago, not long after my daughter's Bat Mitzvah, I was talking to a good friend who had attended the service at our large, Washington DC-area Reform temple. My friend, whose politics are similar to mine, was raised Baptist in South Carolina and educated at Princeton and Georgetown. He is funny, very well-informed and culturally aware (meaning discard any preconceived notions you may have about Southern Baptists) I asked him what he thought of the service, which was the first he had attended at a Reform synagogue.
"Interesting," he said. "I half expected Ted Kennedy to march up there any minute. The sermon sounded like the Democratic Party platform. Is that what your religion is about?"
"Good question," I responded.
In the current issue of Moment, several rabbis discuss the role of...