Rethinkng Judaisms
July 17th, 2009 | Tikkun Daily
This article has been edited. New text has been added. Some text has been removed.
Mine is not the only progressive Jewish voice in Canada. My close friend David Mivasair is an activist and rabbi in Vancouver. David is both Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal.
There are two Reconstructionist rabbis other than David in Canada, one of whom I know quite well, one of whom I have met; there are two other Jewish Renewal rabbis in Canada — both of whom I know.
So there are six progressive Jewish rabbis in Canada. I’m one of them. I know all the others. (I do not want to slight Elyse Goldstein, who leads Kolel in Toronto, but neither do I know her.)
Reb David and I are both risk-takers. We are activists. David has a profile in sanctuary; I have no single activism, actually – my present major concern is the inclusion of Jewish voice in civil society, but I am a known straight ally and am also involved in a faith-based response to intimate partner violence.
David did the first gay Jewish marriage in Canada and led the first Jewish participation in a gay pride parade in Canada. I have written (but not yet published) on the halakhic aspects of gay marriage.
My progressive voice relies on halakha (Jewish law). This makes me “Orthodox”, I suppose; I rejected being called Orthodox for a very long time and only recently came to reconcile with this description of my mission. Still, I do not like labels.
The halakha I learned when I first became observant was about the basics of Jewish traditional ways. It advanced to the halakha of pious observance. These are the halakhot (laws) of when to pray, how to pray, holy days, and also of commerce, because commerce by its very nature requires piety if one is to avoid cheating people in business.
The halakha I know, and the halakha I teach, are different from the halakha I learned.
Piety is essential but by the time a student comes to me piety, or at least the drive to acquire it, is implied. Being a Hasid means being willing to undertake spiritual development by acquiring a good set of Jewish traditional skills. My Orthodox colleagues agree with me on that. We disagree on how to acquire these skills.
I say the skills are learned from na’ah’seh (doing) and halakha (observance). They say the skills are learned nishma (listening) — learning Talmud.
A committment to progressive ideals is woven into the very fabric of halakha. Some of the progressive ideals learned from the halkaha I teach include:
- The leaders of a community must be known to — and among — the led
- Healing professionals cannot lead the market
- Capital punishment is permissible in some circumstances
- Conduct disorder is defined by the Torah
My philosophy of activism is based on Rabban Shimon, a late 2nd century leader of the Rabbinic guild in Israel. In the Mishna (the 3rd century Rabbinic attempt to reconstruct Jewish traditional memory) he says:
In my opinion, nothing is better for anybody than silence. And the main point is not study – rather, it is action! Too much talk leads to transgressive behaviour.
That’s an interesting assertion. Rabban Shimon is not concerned that too much talk leads to inaction — that’s a common enough criticism 1800 years later! — he is concerned that the talk will become transgressive.
Rabban Shimon’s point, I think, is that personalities replace principles when discussions go on too long. We cross each other’s boundaries in the heat of debate; retreat and reconciliation becomes difficult or impossible.
This is the halakha I teach.
