search for a religious community

The search for a religious community that satisfies both the spiritual needs of the soul and the intellectual demands of the mind is a challenge for the 21st person. The Jewish community has been all over the spectrum in this endeavor over the millennia. As the community of Jews who make of the Reform Movement has changed...

The search for a religious community that satisfies both the spiritual needs of the soul and the intellectual demands of the mind is a challenge for the 21st person. The Jewish community has been all over the spectrum in this endeavor over the millennia. As the community of Jews who make of the Reform Movement has changed over the past several decades, both the leadership of the rabbis at the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the leadership of the congregations at the Union for Reform Judaism have moved in step with what they perceive as a growing demand for more food for the soul.

This new direction has, sadly, in my opinion, meant less food for the mind. It has not always been an either or situation. The Prophets of Biblical times knew the importance of both in equal measure. The rabbis of the Talmudic era were devout in their intellectual pursuits even as they were diligent in their ritual commitments. Medieval philosophers and poets sat side by side in the synagogue. The earliest Reform Jews distinguished themselves in their renewed pursuit of a meaningful religious expression that compromised neither head nor heart.

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayetse (Genesis 28:10 – 32:3), we find Jacob waking up in the wilderness from a dream in which he has a great realization. He is amazed by his realization and states: “Surely God is in this place and I, I did not know it.” (Gen 28:16) The Biblical authors are attempting to teach us a profound truth about the God of Jacob: there is no place where God is not. Despite his earlier beliefs that God is only in the land of Israel, only with him when he curries favor with God, or only there when goodness is present, Jacob comes to understand that his God is not a sometimes here, sometimes absent deity. Such a belief can transform how we conceive of religion, too. It can be present in every moment of life if only we open ourselves to it.

This Shabbat I encourage you to dream a bit. Perhaps the God you will discover in those moments will surprise you, too. And most surprising of all may be discovering a God there for those who hope, those who reflect, those whose needs are for a God of reason and those whose faith is reassurance enough.