UK’s liberal Jewish streams merge into unified ‘Progressive’ movement
Resolving ideological differences, the new movement represents about 30% of the country’s affiliated Jews
Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.
Two liberal Jewish movements in the United Kingdom have voted to merge, creating a new national organization called Progressive Judaism that will represent about 30 percent of the country’s Jews who are affiliated with synagogues.
The Liberal Judaism and Reform Judaism movements both voted to approve the merger by margins of more than 95% each, after 125 years as separate movements, the parties said in a statement Sunday. The merger, first announced two years ago, will take about six months to complete, with a brand launch and fundraising event planned for November.
While the two movements have clashed on ideological differences in the past, there is now very little daylight between them, a spokesperson for the combined movement explained. The combined Progressive Judaism will have a stronger presence within the UK, and will share resources for greater benefit, he said.
“We have heard firsthand how Progressive Jews all around the country want to take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to create something new and intentional,” said Reform Judaism head Rabbi Josh Levy. “A Progressive Judaism that has something to say to the world can help more people have more fulfilling religious lives.”
The merged movement will include around 80 communities, making it the UK’s largest Jewish movement by number of synagogues, the organizations said. The movement also hopes to reach thousands of unaffiliated Jews who share Progressive values, it added.
The UK is home to more than 270,000 Jews, according to the 2021 UK census. That makes it the second-largest Jewish community in Europe, after France.
Progressive Judaism will embrace same-sex marriage, mixed-faith couples, female rabbis, and services with mixed-gender seating, and accept as Jewish anyone whose father or mother was Jewish. Many of these values stand in stark contrast to those of traditional Orthodox Judaism, which is practiced by the vast majority of synagogue-affiliated Jews in the country.
This is believed to be the first time two Jewish denominations have formally merged in this way. It is also the first unification of religious streams in the UK since the formation of the United Reformed Church in 1972, the movement said.
A similar merger was attempted in the 1980s, but was undermined by differences in religious beliefs, the spokesperson noted. A 2015 decision by the UK’s Reform movement to accept Jews of patrilineal descent removed one of the major remaining differences between the two movements.
A warm relationship between the leadership bodies of the two movements also helped smooth the path this time, he noted.
The two chief executives of the two organizations, Levy and Rabbi Charley Baginsky of Liberal Judaism, will continue to guide the formation of the new organization, the new movement said.
The new movement said it will focus on four core missions: strengthening and connecting communities; promoting Progressive Jewish values; supporting younger generations; and improving access to Jewish life.
“We are now seeing the fruition of the next iteration of Progressive Jewish history,” said Rabbi Baginsky. “Through this vote, our members are both standing on the shoulders of all those who came before us and creating something long and lasting for our children and the generations who come after us.”
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