[HANASHIR:3560] Re: This List

[Joel Siegel <siegeljd...>]

I'll add my $0.02 to this thread.

I would not presume to tell someone else what they should or shouldn't
do.... unless they ask.  Even then, I probably would hedge and give
information rather than commands.

But I think we also recognize that for any religious/spiritual tradition
to make sense it must set some boundaries, limits beyond which one would
not go and still say that one was within that tradition.

The trick about Reform is, we are in a process of negotiating where
those boundaries are, and although the more "halakhic" movements are
doing so as well (even Orthodox halakha evolves, although much more
slowly), our "rules" are different.  Call them meta-rules if you like:
rules for making rules.  Heck, we are still working on what *those*
rules are.

I think it's valuable for the Reform movement to look at what the
"tradition" has said.  "Halakhically," it is prohibited to kindle fire
on Shabbat.  Reform (IMHO) should take that seriously and not jettison
it out of hand because it's not "modern."  Early Reform (again IMHO) did
far too much of the latter.  But of course neither should Reform take
the position that it's forbidden, period, end of story.  There are other
movements that do that (more or less) and Reform would lose its place in
a pluralistic Judaism if it did not struggle with the concept a bit more
than that.  In a sense, it would be a cop-out to what Reform is supposed
to represent.

So if someone asks what the halakha says, I'll answer if I know (or have
a decent guess).  If someone asks "is this OK" I'll probably give
several answers, one grounded in halakha (if I happen to know it) and
others grounded in other considerations (whatever might be
appropriate).  This happened to me last week when a friend was deciding
whether, and *how*, to be in the redwoods with a bunch of environmental
activists over the Yamim Noraim.

B'qitzur, I would like the room to be available on this list to talk
about what the halakha says about something, but I don't expect too many
people here to (pardon the expression) take it as gospel :-)

btw, I recognize that not everybody on this list identifies as "Reform,"
but I also recognize that Hava Nashira is rooted in the Reform movement,
and I think this list ought to reflect that (somehow!).

Sorry about the somewhat fragmented thoughts... too many waking hours,
too few sleeping ones.

Joel

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