This article in the Jewish Daily Forward captures the problems within the liberal denominations of Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism as they reconfigure of a new era. With so much rapid change in the world- how we do the “business” of religion has changed but our institutions have not changed that much.
The denominational structure is still important. And having the resources for congregations that a denomination provides is a good thing but service delivery and that content may be different. Just as the Jewish family structure has changed we have to reflect those dramatic changes as well.
Liberal Denominations Face Crisis as Rabbis Rebel, Numbers Shrink – Forward.com.
But institutions are slow to change. And people’s turf wars sometimes make it nearly impossible to get to the task of re-imagining. I think the Reform movement is in process and good changes have been made but they haven’t gone far enough yet. And I hope that the leaders will be bold in thinking out of the box. But that kind of thinking isn’t their strong suit.
I am ready to re-imagine. Are you?