July 24, 2026

We are still crafting the chapters of the book on Reform Jewish life. We can attest, however, that there is no question that Reform Judaism has had a profound impact on the Jewish community. While a new platform is unlikely (as CCAR president, I won’t be calling for one!), we know that we continue to be nurtured by the multifaceted tradition we have inherited. What we can say in 2026, perhaps even more so than in 1999, is that we have been influenced by the vast wisdom provided by our past in more ways than we could have imagined. As the internet has grown, we have been able to access more resources, opening us up to diverse traditions and the sea of Jewish textual tradition through sefaria.org. Access to wisdom has deepened our connection to Jewish tradition and Jewish life.

I embarked on this retrospective of Reform Jewish history to help guide us in our understanding of how we might respond to the challenge posed by the Re-charging Reform conference in late May. During that gathering, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch articulated his hope that Hebrew Union College would not ordain any anti-Zionist rabbis. In recent months, surveys have been conducted in Boston and Milwaukee examining the beliefs and perspectives shaping Jewish life today. The Boston survey showed that 38% of adults between 18 and 29 identified as anti-Zionist. While a third of those who identified as anti-Zionist believed that Israel should remain the nation-state of the Jewish people. Over 80% of adults in the survey believe that Israel should be the nation-state of the Jewish people. The Milwaukee survey results were similar, and the numbers don’t seem to make sense. While the numbers of anti-Zionist Jews are certainly concerning, what the survey tells us is that terms take on different meanings. When I use the word Zionism, I define it as a belief that the Jewish people have a right to self-determination in our ancient homeland and that Israel should be the home of the Jewish people. Anti-Zionism, in my view, is a call for the destruction of the Jewish state. Other young Jews, who feel disheartened and frustrated by the current makeup of the Israeli government, might call themselves anti-Zionist, even though they believe in the Jewish nature of the State of Israel.

Jewish leadership in a post-October 7th world requires that we hold many different values, which sometimes may come into conflict with one another. Those values include a commitment to the Jewish people; a commitment and connection to Israel and our family there; a belief in the enduring value of Torah, which includes the recognition that every human being is created in God’s image; a commitment to transmitting our tradition to the next generation; and more. Our lives are ongoing journeys in which we walk the pathway of life carrying all these values in the rucksacks of our souls. These values both guide us and carry us through the journey.

I recently read Returning by Nicholas Lemann, who describes his family’s history living in the South both before and after the Civil War, their experience as “Pittsburgh Jews” (referring to the 1885 Platform), and how that guided their family and community well into the next century. One lesson Lemann offers is the dissonance felt in Reform Jewish circles, which is tied to our European origins. German Jews in the 1800s were products of the Enlightenment and had been part of the “promise” that if one eschewed the traditional structures of Jewish life, one would be accepted into society. As a result, many German Jews were cold to the idea of a Jewish state. Conversely, Jews who descended from Eastern Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, and Poland, and who had faced numerous pogroms, were more likely to embrace Zionism and support a Jewish state. German Jews arrived earlier in the United States than Eastern European Jews. The arrival of these Eastern European Jews, along with their belief in a Jewish state, changed the debate in America. World War II and the plight of millions of Jews sealed the change in ideology. Lemann, though he was born after the war, was born into an anti-Zionist Reform family and underwent profound changes in his life, developing a deeper connection to tradition and the Jewish people. His personal story is a singular example of the changes that have shaped American Jewish life from 1850 until today.

Returning to the question at hand, earlier this month several Reform rabbis who serve on the HUC Board of Governors wrote a piece in eJewishPhilanthropy entitled, Zionism and the Future of Liberal Jewish Education: Love, Not Litmus Tests. In this piece, they state:

“Our faculty and staff regularly evaluate how best to cultivate enduring commitment to Israel and Zionism in the next generation of rabbis. There are positions that have no place in an institution committed to the flourishing of the Jewish People. Anyone who advocates for the destruction of the State of Israel, or for the removal of the Jewish People from their homeland, has no place at Hebrew Union College. Anyone who promotes the displacement of any people from their historic land has no place here. Anyone who calls for the destruction of a people — any people — has no place here.”

It seems to me that everyone is saying the same thing. Let’s hope this ends the debate and that we can focus on the best ways to nurture support for the Jewish people, work for the safety and security of Jews around the world, and, to quote the 1999 Pittsburgh Principles, “We are committed to a vision of the State of Israel that promotes full civil, human and religious rights for all its inhabitants and that strives for a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rick Kellner

July 17, 2026

In the winter of 1998, Rabbi Richard N. Levy z”l, then President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, appeared on the cover of Reform Judaism Magazine donning a kippah, tallit, and tefillin. For those who have a full understanding of the Reform Movement’s history, you might have heard about that or seen it and recognized it as sacrilegious. To see a Reform Jew wearing these ritual objects was anathema to the Confirmation photographs appearing on the walls of Reform synagogues. In those images from the 1980s and earlier, one would rarely have seen a rabbi in a tallit or kippah, let alone tefillin. If Isaac Mayer Wise and his colleagues who founded Reform Judaism in America had seen such an image, they might have rolled over in their graves. Their fierce rejection of Jewish ritual life had been completely turned on its head.

I had the honor of being one of Rabbi Levy’s students during his tenure as Director of Hebrew Union College’s Rabbinic Program on the Los Angeles campus. He was a close mentor who helped shape the rabbi I have become. As President of the CCAR, he championed the establishment of a new set of principles. In 1999, the CCAR returned to Pittsburgh for its annual convention and adopted what has become known as A Statement of Principles of Reform Judaism. They had hoped Pittsburgh would become associated with a new way of Jewish living, much like it did over a century prior.

Much had changed in Reform Jewish life between 1976 and the Centenary Perspective and 1999. In 1976, there had only been three women rabbis ordained by Hebrew Union College. It was only four years since Rabbi Sally Priesand’s ordination. By 1999, there were 250 women rabbis ordained. With the growth of women’s influence on the Movement, the rise of intermarriage, and the embrace of patrilineal descent in the 1980s, Reform Jewish leaders saw the conclusion of the 20th century and the onset of the 21st as an opportunity to create a new set of principles that would guide the future. This commentary on the principles helps to provide a full picture of the background and impact of the 1999 Statement. This commentary tells us that the CCAR committed to deep conversation with its entire membership and lay people for two years prior to the statement. Like the 1976 statement, it was divided into three sections: God, Torah, and Israel.

Inherent in this document are three essential themes. First, at its core is a desire to incorporate the notion and aspiration of holiness. As we learn from the commentary to the document, through a commitment to living a life filled with Torah and Jewish practice, we draw closer to God and encounter God’s presence. “Bringing the Godly into our lives can transform us from creatures defined by a secular, material society into those who can fulfill our destiny as being shaped b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God.” The commentary also teaches us that dialogue is a key theme. The use of words and phrases such as “encountering God’s presence,” “responding to God daily,” referring to the Torah as a record of our ongoing relationship with God’s presence, and the notion of reaching out to all Jews in the Israel section reflect a relational vocabulary, which means we are in dialogue with Jewish tradition. Lastly, this document wanted to guide us in the transformation of our lives. With a foundation in Jewish learning and Jewish practice, the 1999 principles wanted to instill a desire among Jews to aspire to a new, holier plane of existence.

While each section includes a series of affirmations, encounters, and strivings, the sections conclude by saying, “In all these ways and more, God/Torah/Israel give meaning and purpose to our lives.” These three punctuation marks on each section serve as a reminder of the diverse ways in which Reform Jews are in dialogue with the core values of each section. They recognize that by their very nature, words are limiting. The ways in which we relate and connect to these core pillars of Jewish life are quite diverse.

These sacred words have guided us for the past quarter of a century. Even though they have aged, their openness to diverse religious practice still provides us with much guidance. Living our lives committed to Jewish learning, infusing holiness into our lives through Jewish ritual practice and holiday observance and connecting with the wider Jewish people and the people and State of Israel help to enrich our connection to Judaism and Jewish life, while at the same time recognizing the diversity inherent within the Movement.

We continue to connect to Jewish tradition in diverse ways. As the 1999 Statement of Principles concludes, we pray:

בָּרוּךְ שֶׁאָמַר וְהָיָה הָעוֹלָם.

Baruch she-amar ve-haya ha-olam.

Praised be the One through whose word all things came to be.

May our words find expression in holy actions.

May they raise us up to a life of meaning devoted to God’s service

And to the redemption of our world.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rick Kellner

July 10, 2026

After a couple of weeks diverging from reflections on the Reform Movement’s various platforms, I want to return to a historical look at the documents that have shaped Reform Jewish life in America and around the world. As we have explored, the Movement’s platforms have responded to complex challenges and questions facing the Jewish world at the time in which they were written.

In 1997, 100 years after Theodor Herzl convened the very first World Zionist Congress, which was the nascent step in calling for Jewish statehood, the Central Conference of American Rabbis gathered in Miami to adopt “Reform Judaism & Zionism: A Centenary Platform.” This platform focused exclusively on Zionism, whereas earlier platforms and one subsequent set of principles focused on a diverse set of issues facing the Reform Jewish world. This platform, nearly fifty years after the State of Israel was born, came between two tumultuous periods for the State. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the challenges of the First Intifada, while the early 2000s saw the beginning of the Second Intifada. These violent uprisings sandwiched a period of great hope that saw the signing of Oslo I and II in 1993 and 1995. For a brief period, both Israelis and Palestinians believed peace might be on the horizon. Those hopes crashed like a tidal wave with the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995.

The document itself looked back at prior statements and recognized the shift that occurred vis-à-vis the Reform Movement’s relationship with Israel. What began in 1885 as no longer “expecting a return to the Jewish homeland” shifted in 1937 toward “building up [British Mandate Palestine] as a Jewish homeland, endeavoring to make it a haven for refugees and a center of Jewish culture and spiritual life.” Then, in 1976, our Movement declared our deep connection to the newly reborn State of Israel and a responsibility in building it up, assuring its security, and defining its character. The ties between Diaspora Jewish life and Israel run deep. The statement acknowledges that the questions facing Jewish leaders in each of the prior generations still faced Jewish leadership in the late 90s. I would argue that we still face those questions today.

In 1997, our Movement affirmed the eternal covenant established at Sinai, which created a unique purpose for Am Yisrael, the Jewish People. They declared, “Medinat Yisrael, the Jewish State, is therefore unlike all other states. Its obligation is to strive towards the attainment of the Jewish people’s highest moral ideals to be a mamlechet kohanim [a kingdom of priests], a goy kadosh [a holy people], and l’or goyim [a light unto the nations].”

The document recognized that the Jewish community, after facing centuries of persecution, experienced the risks of Jewish powerlessness throughout history. In this platform, the Reform Movement stated, “We, therefore, affirm Am Yisrael’s reassertion of national sovereignty, but we urge that it be used to create the kind of society in which full civil, human, and religious rights exist for all its citizens. Ultimately, Medinat Yisrael will be judged not on its military might but on its character.”

The 1997 Statement on Zionism also recognized that each community shared in the responsibility for the fate of Jews everywhere. They saw that the State of Israel and the Diaspora Jewish community were intertwined and that “by deepening the social, spiritual, and intellectual relationship among the kehillot worldwide, we can revitalize Judaism both in Israel and the Diaspora.”

There was a profound recognition that enhancing Jewish peoplehood and promoting a deeper understanding of Israel required an investment in educational programs. The platform called on Reform Jews to make regular visits to Israel and also “encouraged Aliyah [immigration] to Israel.”

The platform also recognizes the diversity of Israel and the Jewish people. The document calls on Israel to be a pluralistic, democratic society, and it seeks a “Jewish state in which no religious interpretation of Judaism takes legal precedence over another.”

As you can see, the vision delineated by the Movement nearly thirty years ago is still applicable to the current moment. We dream of a pluralistic Israel that can fulfill the vision of living up to the highest ideals Judaism brought to the world. We need to enrich Jewish education, and we need to encourage more travel to Israel. This document is an incredible call for what Reform Zionism can and should look like. It carries with it a vision and hope for peace with Israel’s neighbors and a desire for full civil, human, and religious rights for all its citizens. It is an aspirational document, one that requires continued work and effort on a daily basis. With these words, questioning the Movement’s commitment to Zionism falls flat. Every Reform Movement institution is deeply committed to Israel, Zionism, and helping to bring about the vision set forth in this document.

As the writers of this platform concluded, “When God restores the fortunes of Zion we shall be like dreamers. Our mouths will fill with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.” It is up to us to bring about the day when our dreams will become reality, and we will sit under our vine and fig tree, filled with laughter, and the young will dance in the courtyards.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rick Kellner

July 3, 2026

This Shabbat converges with July 4^th, and this year’s celebration is the semiquincentennial anniversary of our country’s birth. 250 years invites us to reflect on the key lessons we have learned. Throughout the year, Congregation Beth Tikvah has been part of an interfaith collaboration with Worthington-area congregations to mark this anniversary with a program entitled Faith250. Envisioned by Rabbi Michael Holzman, a Reform Rabbi in Northern Virginia, and his colleagues, Faith250 was created to elevate this year’s special anniversary. They selected four core American texts that help us think about our country’s founding and the 250-year journey we have been on.

The core texts included Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus, The Declaration of Independence, America the Beautiful, and Frederick Douglass’s speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July.

The Declaration of Independence’s most famous words begin: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”

Though their vision was bold, the dream of equality expressed in it was limited to men, excluding women and enslaved Black people. As we studied this document, we reflected on its aspirational nature, and we wondered how we have upheld the vision or where we have fallen short of it. The struggle to achieve this vision endures each day. So many new Americans have faced challenges as they tried to settle here, and the effects of slavery are still felt by many in the African American communities. Attempts to curtail rights have been met by protest. Perhaps it is this built-in possibility for change that helps us understand that we are constantly trying to improve the society in which we live. Governments are established with the consent of those governed. This is the bedrock of our democracy. The right to vote and to have a voice in our government is the fabric of who we are as a nation. Preserving this is tantamount to our democracy’s survival over the next 250 years.

When we studied Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus, the poem that appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty, we reflected on the following words:

“‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she

With silent lips. ‘Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Studying these words, we were moved by the contrast between the ‘storied pomp’ of ancient lands and the ‘tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free” emerging from those same lands. The storied pomp was not for everyone, and many who came to America were persecuted, poor, or searching for opportunity in a place grounded in equality. Of course, we know new immigrants to America were not always met with open arms, but with hard work and commitment, many of those new immigrants would find new life. Many of us recall stories passed down through our families about those challenging times. The lamp greeting us was a beacon to the future.

The fabric of the American story continues to be written and rewritten. The vision held by our founding generation inspires us to continue to build for a better future—a future that sees the equality of every human being and creates structures to ensure that equality. As we build this vision, may we also build a future that is not grounded in the fear of scarcity but one that recognizes the abundance of opportunity.

We hope you will join our interfaith communities at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Worthington on Sunday, August 9 at 5:00 pm for an interfaith service to culminate in this learning partnership. More details will be shared very soon.

Shabbat shalom and Happy Fourth of July!

Rabbi Rick Kellner