Who's we, though?

I'm going to use the bigger we.

It's not just the reform movement.

I think it's the non-Orthodox community.

There's certainly a lot of discussion about what does it mean to be connected to this country.

And only 30% of North American Jews use Zionism and Zionist to describe their connection.

But an overwhelming number, close to 90%, say that they believe in Israel's right to be a Jewish democratic state.

How do you square that circle?

[soft music] Beloved friends, colleagues, leaders, builders of our Reform Movement, it's an honor and a joy to be with you in these closing moments of this year's Recharging Reform Judaism Conference.

I feel like we're just waiting for the shofar to be sounded, [laughs] and then we'll go break fast and carry on.

But truly, a gift to be here.

I wanna thank each and every one of you for your deep commitment to our Reform Movement, and to the Jewish future we are building together.

I want to especially acknowledge my friend, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, whose leadership-

[clapping]

... whose leadership, together with that of his father, Rabbi Dick Hirsch, zichrono livracha, has helped shape the movement that we love and that we serve.

Now, we gather at a moment of profound uncertainty, and at the same time, a moment of profound possibility.

I just know the word, I'm Reform." What does it mean?

Well, first of all, the characterization that you offered, which is a standard one, it to me is a cartoon.

It's actually not a description of any of the movements.

Um, and I don't think that one's religiosity is measured only in the number of things that you do, uh, and all of the external trappings.

So I actually think a better description, and again, I'll, I'll leave Conservative and Orthodoxy to, I'm sure, colleagues that you'll talk to and get a better sense.

But for me, Reform Judaism is a, a, a powerful and, and very, very serious expression of how do I live in the modern world? How do I deeply immerse myself in the modern world and at the same time deeply immerse myself in the values and practices of the Jewish tradition? And to me, that essence has to be carried forward.

It, it wasn't just in seventy of the Common Era that all of a sudden, with the destruction of the Temple, we had to go into a whole new way of structuring and living Jewish lives.

What moved you? What moved you?