וַתַּכִּירֵנוּ לַעֲמֹד לְפָנֶיךָ: אתנוגרפיה של ריטואלים לציון הימים הנוראים בקהילה רפורמית

Contemporary religious communities re-define the boundaries of entering and exiting them, deal with universal cultural events while simultaneously responding to political local power relations, and also seek to provide changing identities for their members, including recognition of gender diversity. In Israel, Reform Judaism is a fertile ground for examining the interface between religiosity and liberalism, given the fact that it is a non-Orthodox community that sanctifiesgender equality.In this study, based on an ethnographic analysis of two rituals for Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) in an Israeli Reform Jewish community (the Tashlich and the Kol Nidre prayer (“all vows”), I examine how the rituals are performed and interpretedin the Reform community by women and LGBTQ people. I argue that, theirparticipation embodies a political choice to mark gender and sexual identities andto construct feminist-queer politics in the public space. The presence of a lesbianrabbi, creating new ritual prayers and gestures, produces a wide variety of gender,religious and political interpretations in relation to Jewish ritual; those that challengehetero-normative norms and patterns. The Reform community, thus, emerges as anagency of resistance against phenomena of social exclusion and discrimination notonly based on a liberal religious background, but on a gender-sexual background inthe religious arena in particular, and in the public sphere in general.Religion in the postmodern era is undergoing significant upheavals andchanges. Contrary to predictions of its decline in social importance due to thesecularization thesis, religious communities continue to play a vital and activerole in the social order. The practices they propose have political, cultural,and psychological effects. The classic model of the religious community hasundergone conceptual and structural transformations, leading to the emergenceof new religious and spiritual identities and communities in Israel. These newentities often face bureaucratic oversight and control mechanisms. An example ofthis is the Reform congregations, which position themselves as an alternative toOrthodox communities by offering a variety of religious practices based on liberal values to those not seeking a halachic Jewish practice or definition. This ideologyis characterized by a bottom-up approach, where the community’s policies andreligious practices are shaped by identifying and responding to the needs of itsmembers. This dynamic demonstrates the changing power relations betweenthe individual and the religious system, highlighting the community’s role as aprovider of social services.Compared to the research on Orthodox Judaism and its various sectors,sociological and anthropological studies on Reform Judaism are still scarce andlimited. In this article, I present an ethnographic analysis of two rituals marking theHigh Holy Days: Tashlikh and the Kol Nidre prayer, within a Reform congregationthat I studied for three years. I argue that the way women and LGBTQ people performand interpret these rituals reflects polar experiences: both the hiding and suppressionof their identities, and their gender and sexual fulfillment and empowerment. Thespace in which the ritual is performed, the inclusion of alternative texts (includingnew prayers), the presence of a lesbian rabbi, and the composition of the participantsallow for a personal feminist and queer interpretation of the religious practice.The Reform community emerges as a haven for the realization and reflection ofreligious individualization, promoting individual freedom of choice and creativityrather than cultivating a transcendent commitment or devotion to the sublime. Theinterpretive freedom in performing the ritual reflects the worshiper’s sovereigntyover tradition, highlighting the desire to assert authority and validate participationin customs based on personal life experiences.Admittedly, sociological and anthropological research on the intersection ofreligiosity, gender, and sexuality has been expanding in recent years. Even withinthe Israeli-Jewish context, studies have shown interest in the intersection betweenreligiosity and LGBTQ. However, unlike previous studies that provide importantempirical information and outline the experiences of LGBTQ people within theOrthodox world, my research specifically focuses on a non-Orthodox religiouscommunity. Some may argue that this focus is unnecessary since Reform Judaismis inherently liberal and inclusive, and therefore lacks elements of resistance andstruggle. However, this assumption is fundamentally incorrect: the acceptanceof LGBTQ people within the Reform movement has evolved over the years,involving both inclusion and exclusion. The sociological and anthropologicaldiscourse around this topic remains underexplored and deserves attention.Therefore, the fieldwork, which included participant observations of rituals andinterviews with community members, demonstrates how participation in religious rituals and their performance can illuminate the ways in which women andLGBTQ people integrate into religious practice in Israel. The Reform community,as a liberal religious denomination, advocates for gender equality and provideswomen and LGBTQ individuals with all the organizational, administrative, and liturgical conditions necessary to create a safe prayer space.The performance—in a space that is not a synagogue—neutralizes thesacred space of any ontological meaning and turns the spotlight on theparticipants themselves. It is the moment of occurrence that is sanctified, theindividual performing their religious work, rather than the space or its attributedrepresentations. This postmodern religious practice presents a Jewish liturgywith gender as a central element. The prayer is proposed as an essential actionfor achieving self- and communal recognition regarding non-heteronormativegender or sexual identities and experiences. Although the Reform implementationoften encounters difficulties and internal contradictions in the tension betweenpreservation and renewal, this bipolar movement is not merely a postmodernexpression but an inherent part of the character of Jewish tradition itself. Theinterpretation of the rituals is shaped by recognizing the locality of the Reformcommunity, which navigates relations of exclusion and inclusion. This communityexists within the Jewish sovereign space, which discriminates against ReformJudaism, and within the Tel Aviv space, which allows for the inclusion of diversegender and sexual identities that also face discrimination, such as the LGBTQcommunity.While this micro-research is based on specific case studies and personalnarratives, it unveils a social trend surpassing mere “self-creation.” It suggests thatfeminist and queer principles are integral to the social, cultural, and even marketinginfrastructure of Israeli Reform Judaism. This trend mirrors developments inthe Reform movement overseas but is nuanced by local complexities. In Israel,these complexities are steeped in local constructions and characterized by powerdynamics that foster minority consciousness rather than majority consciousness.For instance, the rarity of women blowing the shofar in Israel underscores theOrthodox sanctification of Orthodoxy as the sole authority. This holds theoreticalsignificance for comparative studies exploring Israeli phenomena adopted and assimilated within the region.