tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9123924743583572207.post3918057219452228208..comments2023-11-24T03:47:26.226-05:00Comments on A Good Question!: (Reform) Judaism: Politics or Values? Rabbi Yair Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12509035332105271598noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9123924743583572207.post-31507962130460600122017-02-20T10:53:24.625-05:002017-02-20T10:53:24.625-05:00Intriguing note, and probably a dilemma for a lot ...Intriguing note, and probably a dilemma for a lot of reform rabbis. Not only reform rabbis, by the way, since Israel support depends on Christians whose view of kavod ha-briyot is often a lot different than ours.<br /><br />Torah is not exclusively American Democratic progressive, by the way. Later in Shemot there is a requirement of strict financial accountability, a regressive tax is next week's Maftir. Gerim are not exactly treated identically to Hebrew slaves. Since the immediate issue politically is refugees, Torah is pretty clear about treating Gerim kindly. It is the most frequently repeated of the 613 Mitzvot, 36 times, partly because of its importance and partly because of the high likelihood of it being violated by the Trumpkins of the Torah era. <br /><br />Part of the dilemma of non-Orthodox Judaism in applying Torah and Commentary to daily lives and public issues it that the congregants really do not read it in its primary source. The Rabbi makes an interpretation that a congregant does not like and has no Torah means of accepting the statement or challenging it so they just reject what they don't like and take it out on the messenger. <br /><br />If I might offer a suggestion, I think the best option for the Reform Movement, either through individual rabbis or as a movement, would be to have sessions on application of Torah with primary texts on current issues. They could be simple things like Sukkot Torah reading where the description of sacrifices is interrupted in the middle for laws of leket and payot, then resumes sacrifices. The OU site www.yutorah.org is replete with these discussions. One that stands out is Rabbi Jeremy Wieder's discussion of Gun Control which happens to take a Jewish view against hunting and against suicide, without directly supporting or opposing related legislation. There are a lot of others from mandatory reporting of child abusers, to misrepresentation, all Torah based, mostly falling on the politically Democratic side, though not exclusively so.furrydochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14556282999141152154noreply@blogger.com