Why I Am A Liberal Jew
‘She [Lily Montagu] was a true pioneer, with the courage of her convictions. She was one of the first women magistrates and factory inspectors. Her youth work is still cited in youth work courses. She was a campaigner for the Jewish women’s suffrage movement at the beginning of the 20th century and the abolition of the death penalty in the 1950s…The movement she built had as its foundation a belief in integrity and the centrality of ethics. For her, Judaism touched on every aspect of life. It gave her faith in humanity. Even in the darkest of times, after her centre was bombed during the war, she remonstrated with a man who expressed a wish for vengeance on the Germans. She believed in the value of each individual and the possibility of their reform and redemption. She trusted in ‘her girls’ in the youth group and encouraged them to believe they could make more of their lives. As a youth magistrate, she saw the needs of the children in front of her. She supported young women who became pregnant, at a time when it was usual to condemn them’.
Lily, My Father and Me - Lily's Legacy Project
2022 is the 120th anniversary of Liberal Judaism, which Lily Montagu was fundamental in creating and is the movement that we as a Chavurah decided should be our home when we were established 11 years ago, in 2011. We chose this denomination because it was a welcoming place for all families, no matter their religious or non-religious mix, and we decided early on that every household member could become a full member whether or not they have Jewish status, and can be part of the committee. We also chose it because of the place ethics have at its core, modelled by Lily, as she was called by many. The anniversary poses an interesting question for us, for what does it mean to be a liberal Jew today? What does it mean in your life and in mine? And what does it mean for our community?
So, why am I a Liberal Jew?
Well, I didn’t grow up as one. I grew up in an Orthodox community in Denmark, and until I was at university I had never heard of any other way of being Jewish. Either you were in the community, which meant abiding by Orthodox rules on who you could marry, with gradients of how kosher you lived, or you were on the outside, mostly on your own.
As I grew up I realised that there wasn't space for me as a young Jewish woman, who wanted to participate and question. When I was asked, I was told it wasn't my place to query or change things. A seminal moment happened when I was a young teen and I asked the rabbi why we girls weren’t allowed to participate in prayers and sit downstairs, near the rabbi, cantor and Torah scroll? The answer he gave has become my clarion call, but not in the way he could ever have imagined it. He said “Will you be here every morning at 6am, to pray and participate?” I was not old enough to know how to question that answer. Could my older self step back in time, my answer would have been; ‘Frankly, neither are the boys, so why is that a barrier?’ His words became the thread that led me to Liberal Judaism, for I realised as a young adult that Judaism and full participation is not a privilege, it is our right.