Professor Deborah Moore prefaced her talk with a story: a man presents his perspective to a Rabbi who replies, “You’re right.” Another man presents his opposing perspective to the same Rabbi, who again replies, “You’re right.” Then the Rabbi’s wife exclaims, “What? They can’t both be right!” And the Rabbi responds, “You’re also right, these and these and these are true.”
This story tells us about the concept of pluralism, particularly in Judaism, the topic of Moore’s talk “Pluralism in American Judaism: A Historical Perspective” on October 1. Moore is a professor from the University of Michigan.
In this example, each person who spoke with the Rabbi had a differing, and sometimes inconsistent, perspective. But when the Rabbi confirmed that each person was right, his wife grew unnerved and frustrated, yet the Rabbi claimed that each person was right – multiple truths exist.
Moore gave the talk in memory of Jerry Winter, a professor of sociology at Connecticut College who died this past March.
Former Connecticut College president, Norman Fainstein, introduced Winter as a Lucretia L. Allyn Professor of Sociology.
Fainstein said that Winter served as the “conscience of Connecticut College,” who truly “put truth to power.”
Moore’s talk was given in Winter’s memory because of his multi-faceted nature in the Jewish community. Moore’s own studies were focused in 20th Century American Jewish history.
In the vein of this simple story, Moore named four periods in American history when the nature of pluralism in Judaism changed.
She began by discussing the evolution of Judaism in the United States. What began as efforts to move from simple “toleration” of a minority religion progressed into the acceptance of Judaism as an integral part of American life.
Moore contends that this progression would not have been possible without accepting the positivity that arises from pluralism, or from having diverse perspectives. Oftentimes, these perspectives are contradictory, however Moore contends that “multiple, contrary truths are a good thing.”
One dynamic period Moore discussed was Charleston, South Carolina, circa 1794.
During this time period, Charleston numbered close to 600 Jews, then the largest Jewish population of any US city. A group of Jews established a new synagogue that epitomized the concept of pluralism.
Most of the people who belonged to the congregation were Ashkenazi Jews, or Jews of German descent. They wanted to make Sephardic Jews, or Jews of Spanish descent, comfortable in the congregation.
One of the differences between these divisions is the placement of the Hekhal, or the Torah ark. While Ashkenazim place the Hekhal on the west side of the synagogue, Sephardim place it in the center. The two sects compromised and placed the Hekhal in between these two points.
This is a clear example of a pluralist accommodation, and fostered unity among the Jewish community in Charleston.
Thirty years later, a group of American-born Jews wanted to alter the synagogue.
They were inspired by Catholic and Lutheran services and requested shorter, weekly services in the English.
“They did not want to destroy the synagogue or its traditions, they simply wanted to reform it,” noted Moore.
The synagogue resisted and ultimately did not accept the reform. This example differed in the success of its outcome for pluralistic modern Judaism.
Moore questioned, “Why did triumph and compromise have two different outcomes in the two examples? In the first instance, the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews sought unity, while the American-born Jews sought change and thus, provoked opposition.”
Photo by Kelsey Cohen
