THE PATH FORWARD
Rabbi Andrue J. (Andy) Kahn
Issues
Fall 2024
THE PATH FORWARD
from Rabbi Andy Kahn
Dear ACJ Associates:
In 1945, Rabbi Elmer Berger wrote in The Jewish Dilemma, “[The American Council
of Judaism] had determined to fight the backward concept of ‘Jewish nationhood’
with an aggressive program of integration. The Council’s validity is based not on
its numerical size, but on its central, motivating idea, the only working concept
born of the hopeful heritage of the historic process of emancipation and
integration.”
This aspect of the Council’s working concept has, in fact, been an ongoing
success for over 80 years. Jewish emancipation and integration in America have
been a historic accomplishment, far beyond the dreams of our predecessors. And,
with that accomplishment, we are now able to take the next step in the central
motivating idea.
Rabbi Berger, in the same book, wrote, “The plight of the Jew was an indictment
of civilization. The degradation of Jews was…symbolic of the evils that would
have to be overcome before all men could be free.” A new generation of American
Jews are experiencing their role in America not as bound up in a nationalistic
fight to defend the separatist rights of Jews in Israel to ethnonational
privilege. Instead, this generation is experiencing the true gifts of
emancipation and integration: They are standing for the rights and privileges of
all people to security, safety, and individual freedom of conscience. They are
embodying Rabbi Berger’s promise that Jews overcoming oppression will lead to the
liberation of all people in their society - and we, today, are working toward
that end.
Many have noted that the erstwhile leadership of many major Jewish institutions
in America have decided to take another road: They mourn what they see as the
necessity of mass murder to maintain “Jewish safety;” they thank our government
for supporting it; they believe they must put “the Jewish nation” first.
The American Council for Judaism has stood for a form of Judaism that fights
against this impulse for over eighty years. Centering the ethical monotheism and
universalistic values that served as the core of American denominational
Judaism’s genesis, the ACJ continues to fight for a Judaism that believes its
value is found in its value for all the world.
As the beloved Rosh haShanah liturgical poem reminds us:
All the world shall come to serve Thee
And bless Thy glorious name,
And Thy righteousness triumphant
The islands shall acclaim.
Yea, the peoples shall go seeking
Who knew Thee not before,
And the ends of earth shall praise Thee
And tell Thy greatness o’er.
In the new year of 5785, the ACJ is committing to reaffirming the core values of
our prophetic heritage embodied in these words. The “Thee” of this beautiful
piyyut is a universal concept - a force promising liberation and righteousness
for all people. Rather than claim a singular and solely Jewish understanding of
God as the necessity for the world to find its way to a triumphant righteousness,
they believed, “in every religion an attempt to grasp the Infinite, and in every
mode, source or book of revelation held sacred in any religious system the
consciousness of the indwelling of God in man (The Pittsburgh Platform of 1885).”
This belief, in the true desire of all humanity to grasp the Infinite, is an
integral point to drive home for the Judaism of our day. No life, based on
nationality, creed, race, gender, sexuality, or any other identity marker, is
inherently more worthy of existence than any other, as each bears a spark of the
Infinite that only they may grasp. In its disregard of these Jewish traditions,
Jewish nationalism has betrayed a core facet of our own attempt at grasping the
Infinite. We American Jews who are committed to the core of our tradition as
embodied by the founders of the Reform movement, are now called by this great
consciousness of the Infinite to stand, and be counted among those who continue
to protest a nationalistic fervor which has created so much harm in the world. As
I begin my tenure as executive director of the Council, I commit to maintaining a
rootedness in these deep values articulated in the Pittsburgh Platform of 1885,
and in the traditions of our own liturgy. Please join me in renewing this mission
in 5785, as we reinvigorate the beautiful history of the Council to bring it to
all who are seeking to know the Infinite.
I would be pleased to hear from you and learn about your interests in and
commitments to the ACJ as we move forward together with the next phase of our
storied organization’s journey. I may be contacted at AKAHN@acjna.org.
Shanah Tovah!
Rabbi Andrue J. (Andy) Kahn
Executive Director
American Council for Judaism, Inc.
AKAHN@acjna.org
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