By Rabbi Josh Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky,
Co-Leads of Progressive Judaism
We have travelled thousands of miles and we have drunk a terrifying amount of coffee. It has been amazing to be welcomed into communities and to hear first-hand from our membership what really matters to you about movement and its relationship with your community.
While every community is different there are some common themes that we have heard around the country: The first is that ‘Movement Matters’.
This is something that we hoped would be true, but not something we took for granted. We have been overwhelmed with how clearly it has been articulated. There is a strong desire to see an effective movement working on behalf of communities and members, and a recognition that it is essential that we amplify our voice.
We have heard very clearly that there are certain things that we can only do or do better when we do them together. There is a shared sense of the core work of movements – be that outreach, students and young people, voice and representation – and also a clear sense of what movement is not for. It is not there to dictate community traditions or sense of self, it is not there to choose a community’s name or focus.
We have seen how vital movement is to our smaller communities, providing services and resources and an ear, but we have also seen how vital it is to our larger communities – representing them on the national stage or facilitating the Beit Din or looking after their students when they are away from home.
Photos: Community Forums were held all around the UK
Movement must support and uplift the things that make communities special. In each community, we encounter a keen sense of individuality, culture and offerings, and hear why that is important to the members of that community. This needs to be celebrated and shared. Movement has a specific role in protecting and celebrating our diversity because it is what gives us our strength and beauty.
Movement is not about imposing uniformity on community culture. At the same time, we need to have shared behaviours to protect one another – the role of movement is to support this. To achieve this, we know we must be deeply in relationship with communities, so this journey of engagement needs to be just the start.
We have also heard that movement needs to be effective and cost effective. It has to be focussed and accountable, clear about what it is trying to deliver and much better at communicating with communities about successes and challenges. It is important that there is clear and measurable benefit for membership. To be considered a success, the coming together should achieve these things.
This has been a vital time – listening to all the questions and the possibilities. When discussing the building of the new movement, we have been pleased that the questions we have been asked have been ones of ‘how’ and ‘when’ and not ‘whether’, from a shared position of ambition and passion for Progressive Jewish life.
The coming together is not just possible but it is the preference.
We can embrace the diversity of practice that exists within our movements, and build a new organisation that reflects our ambition for our voice and Progressive Jewish life in the UK.