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

June 26, 2026

Over the last several weeks, I have spent time writing about the various Reform Movement platforms. You can read my reflections on the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform, the 1937 Columbus Platform, and the 1976 Centenary Platform on my blog. I want to pause briefly this week and next from that series to focus on two different, unrelated aspects of American Jewish history.

For the past two weeks, I have had the honor of serving on faculty at the URJ 6 Points Sports Academy in Asheville, NC. Three of our Beth Tikvah kids are campers there this session, and others will attend later in the summer. The URJ camping movement has played a significant role in the development of Jewish identity since the 1950s. Michael Meyer writes in his book Response to Modernity that following World War II, religious schools wanted to create a more immersive Jewish experience for their students. They rented camp facilities for a weekend and created Shabbat and educational programming. This immersive time-built community through an experience that could not be accomplished during a few hours a week. The Union of American Hebrew Congregations purchased land in Oconomowoc, WI, and then Saratoga, CA, to create Jewish summer camps that would come to be known as OSRUI and Swig, respectively. Land purchases followed in every region of the country, and the URJ camp movement began.

Tens of thousands of young people attend Jewish summer camp every year. This summer is my 23rd summer at a Union for Reform Judaism camp. At 6 Points Sports, campers play sports, but they do so while learning different values every day, including sportsmanship, teamwork, pride, intention, leadership, and growth. Each of these values is taught and reinforced through Jewish wisdom and tradition. Perhaps the greatest part of the camp experience is the community being built through mishpachot (what we call cabins, because 6 Points is located at a boarding school and the kids stay in dorms). Even though the camp is centered on playing sports and improving, what the kids truly love is the Shabbat experience.

Tonight, they will enter the Holy Stadium. Last week, I shared these words with the 6 Points Sports community:

When Shabbat arrives this evening and the sports and competition settle, we enter our Holy Stadium, where we pray and enjoy the blessing of the sacred community we are building. A stadium is a place for competition, the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. A Holy Stadium is a place of prayer, connection, song, and celebration. It is a space where hopes ascend and where we are sheltered with a blanket of peace. When we enter the Holy Stadium, we bring the values that guide us. This week focused on hesed, kindness. It is our foundation. We tell our friends “good try” or “great play,” or we express our concern if they fall or are struggling. We learned about sportivut, sportsmanship, as we focused on less “me” and more “us,” emphasizing the importance of working for the collective. This morning, we learned about kavanah, intention, as we reflected on how we prepare to play on the field and live our lives each day. While the Holy Stadium is a sacred place, it also brings us into one of the most sacred times at camp—a time when we build the most wonderful memories with our friends: making s’mores, singing at song session, and Israeli dancing together.

Whether our kids are at:

• GUCI (our URJ regional camp in Zionsville, IN)
• 6 Points Sports
• 6 Points Creative Arts
• 6 Points Sci-Tech
• Camp Wise
• Camp Livingston
• Emma Kaufmann Camp
• JCC Day Camp

Or any other Jewish summer camp experience this summer, we know that Jewish summer camp is one of the leading experiences that helps build Jewish identity and Jewish community. Studies have shown that time at Jewish summer camp creates connections for Jewish youth that lead to lifelong, enduring commitment to Jewish life.

At Beth Tikvah, our Brotherhood has helped support Jewish youth attending Jewish summer camp each summer through the annual Chicken Souper Bowl. Jeff Wasserstrom has led this effort year after year. He has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, and our Beth Tikvah campers have benefited from his efforts for many years. Thank you to Jeff and the Beth Tikvah Brotherhood for making camp possible for so many of our youth.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Rick Kellner