Leon Morris CCAR Journal, Leon Morris, Spring 2020 One of the most oversimplified and often repeated formulations of Reform Judaism is that “we are not a halachic movement.” What do we mean by describing ourselves in this way? One possibility of being “non-halachic” is this: We are not bound by the Shul chan Aruch, Joseph Karo’s sixteenth-century … Read more
Leon A. Morris Sep 6, 2018 Can Jews care too much about the rest of the world? Or, as Michael Chabon declares, are all boundaries between Jews and non-Jews untenable? And why has the American Jewish conversation on universalism and particularism turned so extreme? Perhaps the most confounding question at the moment for American Jews … Read more
Leon A. Morris Nov 13, 2017 The Federations’ General Assembly will debate the growing gulf between U.S. and Israeli Jews. But each offers the other an important corrective: Israelis’ growing parochialism needs restraining, and U.S. Jews need reminding America isn’t their Zion This week, when the American Jewish community gathers for its contemporary aliyat haregel … Read more
https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/rabbi-leon-morris-has-local-ties-leads-pardes-institute/ Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, August 31, 2017 Rabbi Leon Morris has local ties, leads Pardes Institute At 10 years old and living in Connellsville, Pa., with just 10 Jewish families, he built a sukkah in his back yard. By TOBY TABACHNICKAugust 31, 2017, 1:22 pm When Leon Morris was just 10 years old and living … Read more
http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/saving-books-from-the-fire/ eJewishPhilanthropy, September 10, 2017 I recently was speaking with a prospective donor about our work of bringing rigorous and relevant Jewish study to all, irrespective of practice or affiliation, and enabling Jews of all perspectives to own the the texts and ideas of Jewish life. He is a thoughtful person, highly intellectual, and deeply … Read more
Haaretz, Mar. 26, 2017 I have always been resistant to a Jewish identity primarily fueled by anti-Semitism. When the 2013 Pew Study of Jewish Americans found that remembering the Holocaust is the most central criteria of American Jewish identity, it filled me with deep sadness. 73% of American Jews list this as an “essential part … Read more
מאז ומתמיד הסתייגתי מזהות יהודית המבוססת בעיקרה על אנטישמיות. ממצאי הסקר שערך מכון המחקר פְּיוּ בשנת 2013 על יהדות ארצות הברית מילאו אותי, לפיכך, עצב עמוק – משום שזֵכר השואה אובחן שם כבסיס הזהות החשוב ביותר. 73% מיהודי ארצות הברית ציינו את הגורם הזה כ”רכיב מהותי במשמעות היהודיוּת” – שיעור גבוה משיעורם של מי שהעמידו … Read more
Chapter from Divrei Mishkan Hanefesh: A Guide to the CCAR Machzor (Central Conference of American Rabbis, 2016), Edwin Goldberg, editor Creative Retrieval and Mishkan Hanefesh
יואל לוי וליאון אריה מוריס במאמר מעניין ומאתגר מותח אברהם בורג ביקורת על נשות הכותל כדוגמה נוספת ליהדות שהיא “תמצית העבודה הזרה” (“מה הסיפור שלהן עם הכותל?” הארץ, 16 ביוני, 2016). ישראלים רבים, וגם רבים מיהודי התפוצות הלא-אורתודוקסיים, יזדהו עם בורג האומר כי “אין בי שום געגוע לבית המקדש שהיה, ואף כיסוף לבית המקדש שלעולם … Read more
(Haaretz, June 27, 2016) Joel Levy and Leon A. Morris In his thoughtful and challenging essay, Avraham Burg critiques the Women of the Wall as yet another example of a Judaism that is “the essence of idolatry.” (“What’s Truly Absurd About Women of the Wall,” June 17, 2016). Many Israelis – and many non-Orthodox Diaspora … Read more