Reiner is an articulate spokesman for social justice and the Reform tradition of Judaism, and for good reason: He has spent his whole life thinking about it. Reiner grew up in a Reform family in Chicago, surrounded by a mostly Conservative Jewish community. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, he studied to become a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. After serving congregations in Topeka, Kan., and Chicago, he and his wife arrived at Temple Sinai in Northwest D.C., where Reiner was senior rabbi for 25 years until his retirement in 2010. His new book, “Standing at Sinai: Sermons and Writings,” offers snapshots of those 25 years of thought and scholarship.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
The word “faith” is not necessarily a word we would use in the Jewish world. We would say that we’re part of the Jewish religion, or we’re part of the Jewish people — in part because we view Judaism as more than just a faith. We view it as a way of life. We view it as a set of practices. Calling Judaism a faith is really a Christian understanding of it, which we wouldn’t use. But if you’re asking me, “Do you consider yourself to be Jewish?”, I would answer, “Absolutely.” And within that I would consider myself to be part of the Reform movement. Reform’s hallmark is that within a responsible methodology, we’re able to interpret Judaism in our own day, in our own communities and make it a living religion for us.
What did you learn in 25 years of your rabbinate at Temple Sinai?
I’ve learned about the struggle that people have making sense out of their lives and finding principles by which to live. Within the Christian community, it’s a matter of belief. But the Jewish community may not feel itself to be faith-full. An individual Jew may say, “Well, I don’t believe that, but it’s really important for me to do this ritual,” or “It’s really important for me to be actively engaged, as a Jew, in fighting for social justice.” And while the end result of a Jewish congregation and a Christian congregation may be very similar, I think the people approach it a little differently.
Two sermons in your book address the issue of interfaith marriage in the Jewish community. At the time, more than two decades ago, you were alarmed at rising number of Jews marrying non-Jews. What are your thoughts now?
The rate of intermarriage in the Jewish community has gone up and continues to go up. We don’t know exactly, but probably half of all Jews getting married in a given year marry someone who’s not Jewish.
The traditionalist response is: “Don’t let it happen. Break up the marriage.” That is unworkable in the community that I served.
So our response needed to be, and it was within the Reform movement, an outreach program that said we need to open our doors. So the issues came up: Are our non-Jewish members full members of the congregation? How do we make them feel comfortable? If we have a family that’s practicing two religions, how do we deal with it? At Temple Sinai we had interfaith couples groups over the years, and they worked very well. One place we drew a line, consistently during my tenure there, was that we were not comfortable with families raising children in two different religions. If they were going to bring their children to our religious school, we needed to make clear that those children were being raised as Jews and nothing else.
What effect do you see on the next generation from interfaith marriages? Is Jewishness being lost?
It’s really hard to tell. Most of the people who convert to Judaism at Temple Sinai are people who’ve been members of the congregation for a number of years. They’re married to someone who’s Jewish, and after living Jewish lives and raising Jewish children, they say, “This is something that I should do myself.”
I think many of those children were deeply impressed with the commitment of one of their parents to convert to Judaism. I’d like to think it sticks.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I believe in the equality of all people before God. I think that religiously speaking, in my mind, men and women are equal. There are many paths to God. I happen to follow a Jewish path, but I don’t think it’s the only path. I feel that we’re all brothers and sisters in the human community, and we stand as equals before God.
– Liz Essley
