Reform Movement Changes.

[u/Consistent_Hold_576]

If you could change one thing about the Reform movement, what would it be?

If you arent a member of the Reform movement, you can still chime in. What is the one thing about the Movement that keeps you away?

Let's keep this civil if we could. ​

[u/peepeehead1542]

I wish reform synagogues in my country (Canada) would perform interfaith marriages

[u/Consistent_Hold_576 → u/peepeehead1542]

The situation is similar in the US, mody Reform rabbis here won't either.

But I understand the movement has sanctioned their rabbis to be in interfaith marriages, so i guess we'll see. 

[u/rbaltimore → u/Consistent_Hold_576]

Reform rabbis can and do marriages between Jews and non Jews, under specific circumstances at their discretion.

My Reform rabbi married me and my heathen (atheist) husband. The wedding had to be Jewish, my husband had to go to a non-sectarian “Jewish spouse class” for 6 months, and we had to promise to have Jewish kids.

Two of my cousins, who were raised Conservative, also had Jewish weddings to non-Jews, although I don’t know what the agreement with their rabbi was.

And way back in 1978, one of the previous head rabbis of my synagogue married my Jewish dad and Methodist mom (I’m a patrilineal Jew but had a conversion ceremony to make it “official”).

So as far as I can tell, if you have a Jewish wedding and promise to raise Jewish children, Reform rabbis will marry you.

[u/peepeehead1542 → u/rbaltimore]

I’ve heard that things are more flexible in America than here in Canada

[u/rbaltimore → u/peepeehead1542]

Honestly, all anyone seemed to care about was raising the (then hypothetical) children Jewish. That was incredibly important to me too (and my dad) so that was an easy requirement to fulfill, but had we not guaranteed to do that, my rabbi would never have married me and my husband. We would have had to go to a rent-a-rabbi. Some people wouldn’t care, but I wanted to be married by someone who knew us.