Does a reform rabbi do anything other than attend funerals?

She is the spiritual leader of the community.

A reform person has said to me that she had a lady rabbi and she said that i should become one because i like learning ( i had to explain to her that as a religious jew we dont allow for lady rabbis)!!! So i guess they do whatever our rabbis do just everything wrong.

I once asked a Reform woman, who is very active in her “temple”, what her Rabbi does all day (and they make huge salaries).

The answer I got: “I wonder that all the time…”

OP: Yes. They perform mixed/assur marriages and safik conversions.

jewish feminist – are you a religious person?

Joseph – no matter how much i agree with you i cant treat them like that. i can only try bringing the jewish reform rabbis back to yidishkeit.

Popa, and some of those weddings may not be recognized in every state…

@DY What? Perhaps not in the state of Israel, but if by “state” you mean the US, they are valid everywhere.

The funny thing is that I am often asked by my reform friends what Orthodox rabbis do as everyone in an orthodox temple knows how to daven etc…

Everyone has their own perspective.

What is the point of his role… if everything is permitted and nothing forbidden (except maybe… yearning for the geulah)???????

If you really want to know, why don’t you just call one up and ask?

The Wolf

As a side note, if someone gets married to someone of the same gender and then decides they want to marry someone of a differnt gender, they need to get divorced from the first party . even though halacha does recognize the first marriage, the state does and if you marry someone of a different gender without a divorce its bigamy

Being a cantor or rabbi in Reform is incredibly easier than in Orthodox. They’re getting paid far more money to do less work. They only leyn a few pesukim out of the parsha and they retained maybe only 20% of the siddur.

Sparkly: Yes, I am a “religious person”. Why do you ask?

Joseph: When you say “treated as such,” what do you mean exactly?

dovrosenbaum, that is false. Leining and davening are not the primary job duties of a rabbi, so it doesn’t make the job “incredibly easier” that they’ve modified the liturgy. Incidentally, 20% is a gross exaggeration and they also add English stuff, so it’s not actually as short of a service as you seem to think it is. (Actually, their services typically go an hour longer than the standard Young Israel service…)

“For instance, they do chessed extremely well. “

I am not sure if much what they do is actually chessed.

In addition, any Rov who I have known is constantly involved in chesed of all types.

There is a reason why people are constantly speaking to them, it is not only matters of Halacha.

I would say even Avi Weiss, who is a problem, still does more chessd than reform rabbis, although it is tempered by the michsholim he causes.

(Some of his activist talmidim, on the other hand, do no chessed at all, they actively seek to harm frum yidden and communities)

jewish femnist – because the way you responded did not make you seem like your anti the reform movement and most frum people are anti it.

Joseph, you’re evading the question. Please explain what exactly those “requisite halachic stipulations” would be.

nishtdayngesheft: Most of the chessed that they do (not all, but most) is true chessed. They call it tikkun olam, which my husband finds hilarious because apparently that’s not at all what tikkun olam actually means in the Gemara. I agree with you about Avi Weiss: yes, he is “a problem,” and yes, he does chessed just about as well as Reform rabbis do (I don’t know about more, but about the same). I have to disagree about his talmidim, though; I know many of them, and they aren’t “actively seeking to harm frum Yidden”. To the contrary, they bring warmth and sincerity and Torah to MO communities. I have a great deal more respect for them than I do for him, in fact. Yes, most frum rabbis have some sort of chessed operations in place, but they aren’t public about it. Reform communities really integrate chessed into their ongoing activities and get the entire congregation involved. It’s a model we can certainly learn from.

Sparkly: It depends what you mean by “anti the Reform movement”. I wish that it didn’t exist and I wish that all Jews in the world would return to frumkeit. BUT, since I don’t live in a world where that’s true (yet), since Moshiach hasn’t come and the majority of Jews are NOT frum, I have to live with that reality. And I just don’t see how pushing away the not frum population is helpful or productive in any way. I see no reason to criticize their beliefs. I already know that I don’t agree with them. I already know that I believe their interpretations of Torah to be wrongheaded. I already know that I believe that the way they practice Judaism leads to assimilation, and to people who are not halachically Jewish growing up in Jewish communities. Those are all problems that I have with the movement and its leadership. But let me be clear: I have zero problems with the PEOPLE who identify as Reform. They are lovely people, sincere people, people who are part of Klal Yisroel just like you and I are, people who will be judged by Hashem eventually and need no judgment from you or I in the meantime. And, yes, I also believe that I can learn something from these people, because I can learn something from everyone. I treat them warmly, with respect and dignity. I invite them into my home, I listen to their Torah, I don’t attend their services or eat in their houses, but neither do I make fun of them behind their back. I count many of them as friends, and I refrain from discussing my beliefs with them unless they ask me, in which case I am happy to have the conversation. But I will not actively push Orthodoxy on them, just as I would never want them to push their beliefs on me.

I believe that every frum person should make an effort to treat non frum people with compassion, for two reasons. First of all, because that is what will bring the Geulah, and second of all, because derech eretz is derech eretz no matter who you are.

People need to be careful not to confuse compassion with chanifa, or worse, approval.

jewish feminist – yes and thats what kiruvs about but saying that their better than frum jews thats taking it to the next level being like i wont judge and i dont agree with them is another thing. you shouldnt tell someone whos reform that their better than frum jews chasvichallila.

Sparkly: who said anything about Reform Jews being “better” than frum Jews? I certainly didn’t.

nishtayngesheft: I’m not sure what your distinction between “chessed” and “true chessed” is, but either way, in my experience, Reform synagogues do a lot of social service projects, like feeding the poor, for instance. That certainly qualifies as chessed.

apushatayid: I feel genuine warmth towards Reform Jews. Certainly not chanifa. It depends what you mean by approval. I certainly don’t “approve” when they tell me that they are going on a road trip next Saturday, but I don’t say anything against it because that would not be productive. But I do “approve” of them as people.

yserbious has the pbest post on this thread so far.

Jfem.

We should learn from Reform how to do chesed?

That’s cute.

GO to virtually and major hospital in the tri-state area, it has a fully stocked Bikur Cholim room that is re-stocked with fresh food everyday.

Stick around to see who does the “re-stocking”- Community volunteers.

When you hear the sirens of an ambulance in any orthodox jewish population center look up. There’s a good chance that you will see a Hatzolah ambulance on the way.

Driven by who – Community volunteers.

When you see a jew with a flat tire or locked out of their car =, in need of a boost or other small emergency ask them if they have Chaveirim’s number, and a frum jew will show up who is that- A community volunteer.

When you hear about a jewish family in a tough financial position and you wonder how they get food fro Shabbos or yom tov when it costs so much remember about that thing called Tomchei Shabbos with weekly food drop offs run by- community volunteers.

When you find out about a couple with fertility issues and wonder how they are affording the huge expenses involved and navigating the wide array of options, or someone with a medical problem trying to find out the best hospital to go to, or someone faced with battiling the machla r”l and all the associated expenses, recall the multi-million dollar orginazaations called RCCS, Echo, Refuah, Atime, Bonei Olam and more all funded and ran primarily by- community volunteers.

When you have a halachic problem in many communities and don’t know what to do your rabbi is in unavailable you can call something called a Bais Horah ran by – Rabbi’s volunteering.

So now what exactly are we supposed to be learning from the Reform?

Frum Jews live an many other places other than just New York. And many have Chaplaincy positions in many “Out of Town” communities.

It seems the Chaplin at Massachussetts general and The Cleveland Clinic, both in areas with frum populations and top hospitals in the US have hired someone named Shulamit Izen as their chaplin

Chaplain, not chaplin, unless you’re talking about Charlie. ZD, what’s your point? Hospitals and the like probably don’t put much weight on how frum a potential hire as a chaplain is, so there are Reform chaplains in areas with and without large frum communities. With a few exceptions, areas with large frum communities also have large numbers of non-frum Jews.

brisker 26 – you should be nice to goyim. there people too. its a huge kiddush Hashem. imagine if their was a non jew who was anti semitic and you and a number of other jews were being nice to them slowly and surely maybe theyll start liking jews and change their mind!! basically rashi is stating do be nice to non jews so that way you cause a kiddush Hashem and have less anti semites.

Why is anyone at this site interested in Reform rabbis?

huju – this is true.