The Centenary of Liberal Judaism

In November we celebrated the dawn of Liberal Judaism in Britain and the beginnings of our congregation, with a special Shabbat of prayer, study, reminiscences and song.  Exactly one hundred years earlier, in November 1901, Lily Montagu, one of the founders of Liberal Judaism, invited like-minded people to come together to undertake the work of ‘reconstruction’ necessary to ensure the ‘continued existence of Judaism.’  And so it was that in February 1902 the Jewish Religious Union – the forerunner of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues - was established.

 The founders of the JRU committed themselves to ten ‘cardinal and important principles of modern Judaism’ which remain the basis of Liberal Judaism today.  At their heart, is the notion that not only in the past, but also ‘in our own days’, human beings have the opportunity of discovering God’s will, ‘so that this world can move towards a wider and better ideal.’ – which means that Jewish practice ‘should be varied to meet the varying needs of the age and the progress of human knowledge.’ 

 The first Liberal Jews believed that for Judaism to survive and flourish, it must evolve and change. And so now, as we mark the first Centenary of Liberal Judaism, we acknowledge all the developments of the past hundred years – all the ways in which Liberal Judaism has evolved and changed during a century marked by enormous human gains and enormous human losses; unparalleled brilliance and creativity and unparalleled brutality and destruction.  When we conducted our services on that special Shabbat in November with the 1926 edition of the prayer book the founders of our congregation used in 1935, we were aware of significant differences in style and content between ‘then’ and ‘now’, reflecting developments in the wider society during the course of the twentieth century.  Nevertheless the essential message was a very familiar one:  In the words of the Affirmations of Liberal Judaism published a decade ago: ‘Liberal Judaism… seeks to preserve all that is good in the Judaism of the past.  But it lives in the present… It confronts unflinchingly the challenges of our time, welcomes gladly all advances in human knowledge, and responds constructively to changing circumstances…  It is always ready to reconsider, modify and innovate.  It is the Judaism of the past in the process of becoming the Judaism of the future.’  As our congregation celebrates the first Centenary of Liberal Judaism during 2002, we will not only be acknowledging past achievements, but also looking towards the future.  May Liberal Judaism – both locally and nationally – go from strength to strength.