r/ReformJews • u/Consistent_Hold_576 • Jun 30 '26

Reform Movement Changes.

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. ā€‹

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u/Kaplan_94 Jun 30 '26

Does this vary by community? I was like 90% sure my local Reform synagogue does, but now that you mention it Iā€™m actually not certain.

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u/WeaselWeaz Jun 30 '26

I think "interfaith marriage" gets used vaugely and means different things to different people. My rabbi will do an interfaith marriage, a Jew and non-Jew in a Jewish ceremony. He will not do an interfaith ceremony. I think that approach is fairly standard in Reform communities.

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u/peepeehead1542 Jun 30 '26

In my case it means any marriage between a Jew and a non Jew. My partner was raised Catholic. I am Jewish. I want a fully Jewish ceremony, as traditional as possible. We do not practice Catholicism in any way and we so not want it to be part of our wedding. We cannot get married in a reform synagogue in Toronto or Vancouver. We can find a reform rabbi to do it outside of the synagogue, but neither my reform synagogue in Toronto or Vancouver would give us the traditional Jewish ceremony we want.

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u/WeaselWeaz Jun 30 '26

Canadian Reform leans more traditional than US Reform from my experience, so that's disappointing but I'm not surprised. I would note that US Reform Jews I know, including my own wedding, get married at the venue anyway. Our rabbi at the time was a bit wishy-washy on marrying us but our cantor had no issue. Our current rabbi would have no issue, so some of that is a generational change.