Author: Shirley Idelson

Publisher: University of Alabama Press

Published: 2022-08-30

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 0817321314

"In 1922, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, a leader of the Zionist movement as well as many Progressive causes, established a non-denominational rabbinical seminary in New York City. Having already founded the thriving Free Synagogue movement and the American Jewish Congress, he now turned his energy toward opening the Jewish Institute of Religion (JIR) with the same ambitious aim: revolutionizing American liberal Judaism. He believed mainstream American Jewish institutions had become outdated, refusing to relinquish a nineteenth-century mindset. In championing the new Jewish nationalism and fighting alongside America's leading proponents of social and economic justice, Wise had developed a mass following. But he recognized that he alone could not bring about the change he sought; he needed a new cadre of young rabbis who shared his outlook and could spread his vision. We Shall Build Anew tells the little-known story of how Wise changed the trajectory of American Judaism for the next century. By opening the Jewish Institute of Religion, he began to train that new cadre of young rabbis, charged them with invigorating and reshaping Jewish life, and launched them into positions of leadership across the country. We Shall Build Anew explores Wise's vision for the Jewish Institute of Religion and the central role it would play in shaping twentieth-century American liberal Judaism. Conflict lies at the heart of this story. Wise faced hostility from across the denominational landscape, including attempts to quash the school before it ever opened. The national Reform leadership, weary of Wise's unceasing criticism and worried that a new rabbinical school would create competition for their own seminary, Hebrew Union College (HUC), opposed the endeavor. There were weaknesses in the JIR model and in Wise's leadership, too. Faculty fought bitterly, and the discord contributed to a constant rotation of scholars. Some eventually moved to more prestigious secular institutions, like Harvard and Columbia, which established the first two academic chairs in Jewish studies in the nation in the 1920s. And the students fought. From a wide range of backgrounds, they fiercely debated their Zionist, political, and cultural ideals. JIR also admitted several highly accomplished women, designated as "special students" who could sit in on classes but were barred entry into the rabbinical program. Despite years working on behalf of women's suffrage and civil rights, Wise would not be party to women's entry into the rabbinate. Finally, Wise's failure to generate a sustainable funding model created further instability for the school. Still, the JIR flourished and sent rabbis to congregations throughout the United States. JIR's non-denominationalism did not last, though. In the late 1940s, JIR's fiscal problems became insurmountable, and as Wise approached his death he reluctantly agreed to merge the Institute with Hebrew Union College, forfeiting the school's independence and bringing it under the umbrella of the Reform movement. And despite Wise's early aim to break down barriers between American Jewry's various factions, the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements continued to carve out separate identities. In the early 21st century, however, Wise's vision for liberal Judaism and non-denominationalism has gained traction, and distinctions between the non-Orthodox denominations have begun to collapse. Whether or not Wise's ideas about non-denominationalism will continue to flourish remains to be seen. But it is clear that his blend of Jewish nationalism and American progressivism, which made him and his congregation objects of contempt within the world they sought to change, took hold. Today, it is impossible to think of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements without their core commitments to Zionism, Jewish peoplehood (now called klal yisrael), and social and economic justice (commonly referred to as tikkun olam). The story of We Shall Build Anew has greater importance now than ever. With Orthodox Jewry moving increasingly to the right on the political spectrum, and a growing number of secular Jews joining the left in challenging the legitimacy of Zionism and the idea of a Jewish state, the Conservative and Reconstructionist movements in the middle are grappling with significant contraction. This leaves the Reform movement, the most direct heir to Stephen S. Wise's legacy, as American Jewry's hub of resistance to the radical right, and a stronghold of support for progressive forces in Israel. In creating JIR, Stephen S. Wise acted on his convictions-and thanks to his prescience as well as his efforts, ultimately the American Jewish community came around to his ideas, fulfilling Wise's most ambitious goal: A reinvention of modern American liberal Judaism"--