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The Curious Relation of Judaism and Unitarian Universalism: An Investigation

Joshua Berg

Originally written as a final paper for

Methodist Theological School in Ohio: Unitarian Universalist History

Dr. Susan Ritchie

The Curious Relation of Judaism and Unitarian Universalism
An Investigation

In attempting to construct a thesis explaining the relation of modern Jews and Judaism to Unitarian Universalism (UU), I was flummoxed. On the one hand, UU originates from two religions of Christian origin, one appearing in the sixteenth century, evolving out of the Protestant Reformation and the other in the eighteenth century, an indirect product of Enlightenment thought. On the other hand, Judaism is over 3000 years old. It is a pre-Christ, orally transmitted, interpreted set of commandments, interspersed with mythology and dogma that is as much an ethnic identity as it is a religion. Yet today, despite the seeming disparities and incompatibilities, Judaism and Unitarian Universalism tread much common ground and there are individual Jews who find themselves more comfortable in a Unitarian Universalist congregation than a Jewish synagogue, including myself. In order to undertake the task of formulating and supporting a thesis that explains this, it is reasonable to start with an investigation – proposing questions and exploring answers. This paper will begin such an investigation by asking and answering two questions and formulating a preliminary thesis.

The association between Universalism and Judaism is comparatively short, given Universalism appeared formally in North America only in the eighteenth century. Since Universalism began as a Christian evangelizing faith practice, it was not a likely candidate for a partnership with Judaism. For these reasons and the fact that connections between Universalists and Jews are not well-documented before 1961 when it united with Unitarianism, I will start my investigation by focusing on the longer and deeper connection Unitarianism has with Judaism.

Question #1: What is the historical relationship between Judaism and Unitarianism before it merged with Universalism, and how does this history influence the connection between Judaism and the united Unitarian Universalism?

 Since European Unitarianism pre-dates North American Unitarianism, I will look to Europe first. The sixteenth-century conflict between Catholics and Protestant reformers, defined by Catholic hegemony and harsh treatment of opponents to the Catholic church, drove most liberal religionists eastward to countries including Poland, Lithuania, and Transylvania. With leaders like Giorgio di Biandrate, antitrinitarianism flourished there, and Unitarianism was eventually recognized as a religion. In Eastern Europe, these Protestant reformers encountered Jews who had also been driven eastward after being expelled from Spain in 1492. At the time, Judaism had been considered a precursor to the “true Word of Christianity.” At the encouragement of intellectuals and polymaths like Michael Servetus, Judaism’s position was re-elevated in the eyes of many liberal Christians, back to the status of an independently authentic religion.

Owing to the kinship felt between Unitarians and Jewish monotheists in their mutual opposition to Catholicism and trinitarianism, a relationship of tolerance and acceptance was forged. According to Dr. Susan Ritchie, professor of Unitarian Universalist history, “They resisted theologies of God that could not be shared across traditions.” (Ritchie 2014) This period saw the adoption of Jewish practices by many Unitarians even leading to the anomalous formation of the first and only instance of an entire community, ethnic Székely Hungarians with no direct ties to Judaism, adopting an entirely Jewish identity.

In the latter half of the sixteenth century, this kinship dissolved. A more adorationist idea of Jesus took hold and forced back the “Judaizers” within Unitarianism, mostly known as Sabbatarians, who humanized Jesus. Also, at this time, anti-Semitism and anti-Unitarianism were spreading further eastward. Each group found it exceedingly more necessary to separate and self-identify for the sake of safety and preservation.

When Unitarianism first appeared in North America at the end of the eighteenth century, what followed was a similar vacillating relationship with Jews. The first Unitarian churches, due to the exclusivity of membership and social positioning, were less inclined to multi-religious border crossing. At the same time, both the Puritans and the Unitarians wanted to adopt the religious idea of “chosenness” associated with Judaism while rejecting Jewish ethnicity. These Unitarians were confounded and upset by Jews’ unwillingness to also give up their identity.

The tide turned again as transcendentalism took hold of the liberal religious imagination in the early nineteenth century. Liberal Jews and Unitarians re-established a bond founded in common transcendentalist sensibilities.

As the nineteenth century progressed, a new movement in Judaism was founded. It was a modern and rationalistic movement labeled Reform Judaism. At the same time, Unitarianism was growing and expanding across the country. Many, if not most of the characteristics of Reform Judaism scanned perfectly onto Unitarianism. They both respected science and modernism, adopted comparative religious scholarship and revolutionary biblical criticism, and were in opposition to the dogmatism of the orthodox contingent of their respective religious traditions.

For a time in the late 1800s, Rabbis like Isaac Mayer Wise and Solomon H. Sonneschein, along with Unitarian ministers such as Moncure D. Conway and Thomas Vickers forged lasting connections, anticipating the imminent arrival of a “religion of humanity” defined by the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. Wise described Unitarians as the “spiritual cousins” of Jews, “who differed from Jewish not in the religious truths which they held but only in the sources from which they derived such truths.” (Kraut 1982/1983) This period was defined by pulpit sharing and friendships that found Jews and Unitarians working together for causes such as separation of Church and State. In addition, the fact that Unitarianism seemed to be distancing itself from Christianity, certainly from the perspective of more conservative Christians, made it a good partner to Judaism. The late nineteenth century also marked the founding of the Free Religious Association (F.R.A.) which went a long way toward unifying the various liberal religions.

The writing, however, was on the wall that this rapprochement would not last through the nineteenth century. Focus on similarities proved, inevitability, to also highlight irreconcilable differences. It became clearer and clearer that only one religion or the other, not both, could host this new theology, this religion of humanity. It was evident that ultimately, although truths aligned, if sources, historical traditions, and identity did not, religions likely would not.

Benny Kraut describes the religious chauvinism that eventually led to the rift between Jewish and Unitarian leaders in his description of Rabbi Isaac Wise’s transformation of mind from partnership to detachment. “Profoundly loyal to Jews and Judaism, Wise countered Christian religious triumphalism with a Jewish triumphalism of his own.” (Kraut 1982/1983) Wise and other Reform Jews eventually distanced themselves from the F.R.A. and Unitarians especially as other Jews, like Felix Adler of The Ethical Culture Society and Rabbi Sonneschein moved to a more radical atheistic theology, and even suggested a joint Christmas and Chanukah holiday. Sonneschein was still a Jewish preservationist but he determined the real task was for Reform Jews and Unitarians both to fulfill their “inner missions” by disseminating the teachings of progress and reason to their separate conservative cousins in faith.

Many Reform Jewish leaders, including Wise, felt Sonneschein’s actions and words were a betrayal of Judaism. Wise did not go as far as some to demand Sonneschein be accused of apostasy even when he considered taking a Unitarian pulpit. After all, Wise still respected Unitarianism, recognizing it as radical, not 100% Christian, and in line with his own values. He also still respected Sonneschein as a man of character. Ultimately, however, Jewish triumphalism overcame Wise and led him to draw a demarcating line in the figurative sand, and accuse Sonneschein of deception of himself and others for his proximity to Christianity via Unitarianism.

Moving into the twentieth century, the pattern of an alternately hot and cold alliance between the two faiths continued. After some alienation, Jews and Unitarians drifted once again into closer kinship. This time, the bond was exemplified by another Rabbi Wise. Stephen S. Wise forged a fellowship and worked toward common causes with a Unitarian leader named John Haynes Holmes.

Rabbi Stephen Wise established the Free Synagogue in New York in 1906, a revolutionary movement in Judaism and religion in general. The Free Synagogue committed absolutely to “first, freedom of the pulpit; second, abolition of any distinction between rich and poor as to pews and membership privileges; third, a direct, full participation of the synagogue in all social services required by the community and fourth, a complete identification not only with the Jewish faith but also with the faith and future of Israel as a people.” (Voss 1964) Although The Free Synagogue had clear identification with Judaism and Israel, its primary focus was on addressing injustices stemming from the current state of society. This too was Holmes’ focus and the clergy preached extensively addressing social reform, including in each other’s pulpits. They were also regular speakers at the famous Ford Hall Forum in Boston from its inception in 1908. Wise’s Free Synagogue and Holmes’ Church of the Messiah even united in 1917 for a joint Thanksgiving service. Often accused of speaking on politics from the pulpit, they answered “It is our duty to take into the pulpit for consideration every problem of public life that involves a moral question (Voss 1964).”

The primacy of one religion over the other as the origin of truth which mattered so much to Rabbi Isaac Wise became less a priority than teaching truth and sharing knowledge for Rabbi Stephen Wise. The latter famously said “The religion of Jesus is not Christianity. Christianity is a substitute for the religion of Christ. I am not an anti-Christian; I am an ante-Christian.” This was in alignment with issues Unitarians had with Christianity as well. Their relationship and parallel path were so copacetic that Holmes used a quote from Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s play, Nathan the Wise to describe his friend Stephen, “Nathan, you are a Christian. Yes, I swear you are a Christian – better never lived.” Wise would reply to Holmes, “Indeed, the very thing that makes me seem Christian to you, makes you a Jew to me.” (Voss 1964).

In 1961, the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association consolidated to form the Unitarian Universalist Association and a newly unified religious identity. As a unified faith, Unitarian Universalism evolved over the next half-century to become even more attractive to Jewish partners and many individual Jews than its independent parent faiths had been.

What does this cyclic love-hate relationship in the history of Judaism and Unitarianism say about the connection between Judaism and Unitarian Universalism today? It is an illustration of the fact that though there have always been common bonds between Judaism and liberal Christianity, and these commonalities are enough to form a mixture, one will never be the solvent of the other. In other words, even with similar goals, ethics, beliefs, and common cause that pull the two religions into partnership, they are likely to never become completely homogenous. Their historical identities and dogmas are simply too disparate. This has certainly proven true into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Despite this fact, individual Jews have found a comfortable home in UU congregations.

Question #2: What draws certain Jews to twenty-first-century Unitarian Universalism?

Given historical precedent has shown that Jews and UUs will work together in harmony but likely never completely unify, what is the attraction of some individual Jews to actually identify as Unitarian Universalists? What incentive do they have to split their identity between religions, even claiming Unitarian Universalism as their primary religious identity, as I have done? To answer this question, I’ve considered my own proclivities and looked to first-person accounts of people of Jewish heritage who claim a Unitarian Universalist label.

Before I delve into these stories for clues as to why UU appeals to certain Jews, it would be informative to look at specific reasons that might dissuade Jews from identifying as UUs. The first is that there are many choices of denomination within Judaism.

I will begin by offering some cursory observations of the different “Judaisms” to illustrate the numerous options open to those who identify as Jewish. The following is a surface overview based mostly on my personal observation.

  • ● Orthodox Judaism demands strict adherence to Jewish law as interpreted by Orthodox rabbis.
  • ● Conservative Judaism loosens many of the restrictions as a response to modernity but is still very traditional. It adheres to Jewish law not by divine revelation but by the assent of the people.
  • ● Reform Judaism is much more lenient in its demands, allowing adherents the freedom to express their Judaism in a more personal way, mostly free from rules and regulations. It also includes a range of levels of belief, as it understands faith is evolving. It prizes Jewish ethics over ceremonial practices.
  • ● Reconstructionist Judaism is determined to commit more fully to traditional Judaism and Jewish law, often more than Reform Judaism, while simultaneously searching within the tradition for contemporary meaning.
  • ● Humanistic Jews are atheists and humanists who still identify strongly as cultural Jews. Their liturgy is reinterpreted through this lens. Their intent is to practice Judaism that is uplifting but reinterpreting the bible, representing scientific truth and history as honestly and authentically as possible.
  • ● Jewish renewal is the newest iteration of Jewish practice whose main goal is to reinvigorate ritual by new and livelier worship including music and meditation. It draws from Kabbalistic and Hasidic traditions as well as other Jewish and non-Jewish sources.

Some of these levels of adherence to Jewish practice would definitely appeal to a more liberal-minded religionist. So, why would someone born a Jew choose Unitarian Universalism over them all?

There are plenty of other things that would seemingly prevent a Jewish person from identifying as UU. In reading first-hand stories of Jewish UUs in the book Jewish Voices in Unitarian Universalism, the following are just some other common areas of friction and detraction.

  • ● First and foremost, growing up Jewish, ecclesiastical terminology is verboten except to describe “the wrong belief.” Many, if not most Jews, have visceral negative reactions to words such as “church,” “Jesus,” “New Testament” and the like, especially when spoken authentically in a worship setting. Sue Magidson talked about how her “parents loved being UUs, though Unitarian Universalism’s Christian trappings could be a challenge.” Rob Eller-Isaacs wrote about his “…vivid memories of standing in my place singing old words to ‘For All the Saints’ and choking on Jesus.” “I felt like a traitor.” Deb Cohen claimed “I can’t join a church. I won’t.” Even Denny Davidoff, the first Jewish moderator of the UUA stated in her essay, Living in Ambiguity, “I have always cringed about labeling myself a church-goer.” She agonized over how she will “tell her family that she signed the membership book in a UU congregation.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014). She preached in a sermon called No One But Us, “I have on at least three occasions stalked out of church and vowed to never set foot in the damn place again. And I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again though I’m not the stalker outer that I once was.” (Davidoff, No One But Us 2002)  Marti Keller wrote in Leaven and Horseradish, “…if there is any one thing that initially keeps Jewish people out…it is the use of the word church…” “Other commonly used Christian words can also be discomforting,…such as ministry, parish, and grace.” “They can stir up a wrenching confrontation with a worldview, ritual system, and a symbolic universe that can be greatly disturbing to Jews…” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014)
  • ● Jews who grew up going to shul, are likely unfamiliar with elements of UU worship altogether and have deep emotional attachments to the Jewish liturgical melodies and Hebrew lyrics mostly absent in UU worship.
  • ● Worship in many synagogues is in Hebrew, a language most American Jews don’t understand. This enables the worship experience to be completely sensory, without the necessity to believe what you don’t literally understand. In a UU congregation, the English-speaking parishioners absorb almost every word, making it more necessary to be in agreement with the overall message.
  • ● Although many Jews celebrate Christmas and Easter as American holidays, bringing them into a religious setting, introduces their original meaning. That is nearly an impossible sell.
  • ● There is a deep sense of tribe, inculcated in Jewish youth, and reinforced into adulthood especially by recollecting the persecution of Jews. “Our sense of ancestry or tribe is key to our identity,” writes Rob Eller-Isaacs in the very first sentence of his essay, Illustrious Ancestors. (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) This sense of peoplehood, in turn, leads to a deep sense of guilt with even the slightest intimation of abandonment.
  • ● Much of the persecution of Jews has been by Christians, the forebearers of many UUs.

These are some of the many reasons why a Jew would not choose a UU congregation. Why, then, can we find relatively numerous Jews identifying as UUs? Attractive elements might draw in a person with no faith tradition, but to attract people with a strong Jewish identity, the reasoning must be more than attractive elements of Unitarian Universalism. Is it rather the result of something very repelling about Judaism?

If Judaism is turning people toward UU-ism, why would that be? Some other common themes found in the stories of Jewish Unitarian Universalists describe the reasons they don’t identify exclusively or at all as Jewish.

  • ● Many liberal Jews are atheists and humanists, much more comfortable in a sanctuary where they are not required to praise and worship God.
  • ● Even though Jews claim to be the “chosen” people, Jewish identity is not chosen, it is assigned at birth based on heritage. It is a label given, not claimed. In the book Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America, Karen McGinity writes “The Jewish label was socially constructed as permanent; it could not be erased by intermarriage or conversion.” Denny Davidoff preached in her sermon, Bach, the Hora, Barnum and Me, “I was taught in my confirmation class at Temple Beth El…that Jews were a religion and a race.” In her Jerry Davidoff award-winning sermon, What’s a Nice Jewish Girl Like You Doing in a Place Like This, Joan Kahn-Schneider preached to Northern Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Cincinnati, Ohio that “To be born Jewish is to be born into a history – a culture – a tradition – ethnicity.” (Kahn-Schneider 2012)

 A powerful commitment to self-realization is the rejection of a label and identity one never chose for themselves in the first place. A powerful commitment to freedom of thought is a rejection of a belief system that has been decided for you, to which you do not adhere.

  • ● Denny Davidoff talked about a “stultifying sexism that ultimately drove me away” from Judaism. “The Patriarchy of my religious community reflected the patriarchy of my childhood home and the combination was toxic.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) Joan Kahn-Schneider preached “The picture of women in Judaic law can best be summarized as that of a legal non-person. This has led to a religion that is patriarchal in its very origins.”
  • ● Practically, it is difficult, if not impossible to inter-marry as a Jew. Even the most liberal Jewish denominations who condone inter-marriage, expect the family to end up identifying primarily, if not entirely, as Jewish. Even Humanistic Judaism, which completely rejects theism, and does not require official conversion, still identifies and worships as exclusively culturally Jewish.
  • ● There are also pro-Palestine and anti-Semitic sentiments in some UU congregations that challenge many Jews.

So, it is also partly a rejection of aspects of Judaism that defines the relationship between Jews and Unitarian Universalism. The complete answer to the question of why there is such a draw to UU-ism by many Jews almost certainly also lies in the fact that they are enticed by something so compelling that it outweighs any discomfort or disorientation and outshines anything Judaism has to offer. What could that be?

Historically, the Unitarian idea of a single god and the Unitarian value of salvation through a commitment to compassionate action was where most Jews located commonalities. We have seen that is not enough to hold modern Jews in covenant with UUs. With further analysis of writings by contemporary Jewish Unitarian Universalists, it becomes clear that the modern incarnation of our Universalist ethics tips the scales. Originally understood as a call for universal salvation by a commitment to Jesus, Universalism has evolved into the idea that all are welcome regardless of belief. Although UU-ism remains creedless, it is committed to the acquisition of knowledge and understanding universally – from all religious traditions, including non-theistic ones. These universalist ideas make Unitarian Universalism inclusive whereas, Judaism, although professing inclusivity, is by definition exclusive.

Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson, in her essay, Erev Rav, a Mixed Multitude writes, “And our Universalist heritage reminds us of the illusory nature of human division: All people are united by a shared destiny. The welcoming, embracing nature of our theology, which comes into effect when we are at our best, has forged us into erev rav – a ‘mixed multitude’ – the phrase used in Exodus to describe the community that left Egypt at the end of the plagues. Those fleeing were not only Hebrew slaves but also Egyptians and others who were connected to that group by bonds of family, marriage, or some other deep sense of kinship.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014)

According to the book Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America, “Being Jewish was something that happened to her [sic] by virtue of birth and had nothing to do with religious observance, whereas becoming a Unitarian was something she [sic] initiated.” In the essay, Authentically Cynical, Paul David Wadler writes, “I struggled with what I perceived as elitism in the exclusionary nature of Jewish community. Non-Jews were Other and I should never completely trust them. Coming out as a gay man through another wrinkle in the equation.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) Judaism welcomes non-Jews only if they are willing to practice Judaism. Sometimes, as within more conservative Judaism, it means denying one’s sexuality as well and living in a world that is defined by a false gender binary. Unitarian Universalism is truly “universal” – welcoming of all, demanding no label, identity, or specific practice.

Judaism also includes strict regulations of how worship is done and how meaning is made, regardless of the committed beliefs of the individual. In her essay, Do I Fit In? Deb Cohen explains “Judaism meant…having to go through the motions, despite my disbelief and my parents’ disbelief, because That’s What We Do.” She sums it up with the old joke “There is only one God, not a Trinity–and we don’t believe in him.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014)

UU-ism is about freedom to worship and make meaning, to hold a single or a pluralistic identity as each individual feels most comfortable. Joan Kahn-Schneider talked of “the basic UU principle that all religions contain truth and beauty, and the freedom within our UU community to search for those truths.” “I take cheerfully the name of Unitarian (Universalist), not because I wish to regard myself as belonging to any sect, but to the community of free minds, and lovers of truth.” Jaclyn Kottman, in her essay, Embracing “And” wrote about the freedom UU opens up. “Eventually, I stopped listening to those who seemed to be stuck on the whats and wherefores. I learned that, by embracing the Who at the center of it all, I could discover beautiful and meaningful traditions that feed my spirit.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014)

Ironically, it is just this freedom of conscience that makes a Unitarian Universalist congregation more conducive to exploring authentic Jewish identity than a Jewish congregation. Again, from Eller-Isaacs essay, he recalled a Jewish UU friend saying “Unitarian Universalists are the only people I know who will let me be the Jew I am.” He goes on to say, “One of the great strengths of our tradition is that we affirm each person’s right and responsibility to construct their own identity.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) According to Dara Olandt in her piece, Tambourines and Teshuvah, “It was Unitarian Universalism that inspired me to re-examine my Jewish roots and helped me to dissolve the negative messages I had earlier internalized about my own Jewish identity.” (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) Paul David Wadler talked about it this way “…when I shed the baggage of my religious past, Jewish rituals take on new meanings within a Unitarian Universalist context.” “In some ways, being a Unitarian Universalist has made me be a better and more appreciative Jew.”

Noach Dzmura explained this Universalist aspect of UU-ism eloquently in his essay, The Mezuzah at the Threshold. He talked of TransThe[ ]logy. The term itself leaves space for Divine gendering. It “suggests that the entire foundation of theological education and public worship should be rebuilt to suit the present-day encounter with theological difference that occurs in our private worship.” “The task of TransThe[ ]logy is to nurture that which grows in an intersectional spiritual landscape.” He applauds UU for moving toward “authentic multi-religiosity,” a term used by Starr King School for the Ministry. (Hart-Landsberg and Keller 2014) Kelly Weisman Asprooth-Jackson explained the freedom UU allows to identify and express all truths, in this way. “Healing the world becomes a project of reorganization and reintegration. That is a lesson that I take from being a Unitarian Universalist by birth and a Jew by choice. Because of my experiences, I could not remain the first without also becoming the second; to do otherwise would have meant betraying the values I was raised with.” Alison B. Miller explained her inter-faith parents’ commitment to UU in her piece, A Home for All Souls. “We found a religion where we can worship together while holding different beliefs.” “In the open-hearted and open-minded setting of Unitarian Universalism, I felt the absence of judgment. In that sacred space, my family was viewed as doubly blessed by an authentic link to two rich traditions.”

In Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America, McGinity elaborated on the acceptance innate in UU-ism, in the context of inter-marriage. “Unitarianism presented an alternative to Christian religions that worshiped Jesus.” “The family then joined the Unitarian Church, where there was an emphasis on diversity, inclusiveness, and acceptance rather than on the New Testament’s ‘Son of God.’” “Unitarian Universalism, the no-dogma, no-creed religion, offered something unique to Jewish women who married Christians. It enabled them to locate a religious middle ground with their spouses, one that did not accuse them of being Christ-killers nor ask them to renounce their inherited faith and adopt another.” “…because everyone has a different background in the Unitarian Church.” (McGinity 2012)

Based on the answers to these two questions which address the historical and the contemporary, a preliminary thesis explaining the contemporary relation of Jews and Judaism to Unitarian Universalism might be this:

A connection lies in the fact that both faiths have been persecuted because of their beliefs. Another connection is their deep and abiding drive to Tikkun Olam, which is the Jewish concept of repairing the world. Historically, these two things have brought Jews and Unitarian Universalists together for periods. These things, as we have seen, have not held them together. They may not have been enough for Jews by birth to identity as, and worship with, Unitarian Universalists. Ultimately, it was the shared experience and common values, along with the UUs universal acceptance and freedom of thought that solidified many Jews’ commitment to Unitarian Universalism first and Judaism second or even not at all.

In conclusion, there is a very fitting description that sums up this Universalist quality in Denny Davidoff’s 2002 sermon to Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden Colorado, No One But Us, wherein she quotes Reverend David Bumbaugh’s Users Guide to the Church.

A church is not a museum, a place where artifacts from the religious past are placed on view once a week to remind the faithful of the good old days. A church is a laboratory where the traditions of the past and the needs of the present, old convictions and new notions are brought into confrontation; where no thought is too radical to receive a hearing and no truth is too sacred to be challenged. To use a church properly, one must learn to listen carefully, to hear the meaning and intention of the words. To use a church properly, one must learn to speak clearly, to proclaim the truth as one is given to see the truth, even and especially, when no one else sees the same vision. To use a church properly, one must be open to challenge, be willing to trust one’s opinions to the marketplace of ideas, and find in those who disagree a source of insight which may change or confirm those opinions, but which is our only shield from broad irrelevance or narrow fanaticism. To use a church properly, one must understand that change is not only inevitable, it may be the only evidence we shall ever have of the diving at work among us.

        Thus, the curious relation of modern Judaism to Unitarian Universalism might be explained this way. A UU church, or, more appropriately, a UU “congregation,” unlike a Jewish Temple, has established itself as a place where liberal-minded Jews can answer their call to engage in social justice and conduct an unrestricted exploration for spiritual meaning unique to them, all while feeling welcome.

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