‘The principle is to be inclusive. We want to put a welcome sign on the Beit Din’

It will be another few months before the embryonic Progressive Judaism, born of the union of the Movement for Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism, will formally take its place among British Jewry’s denominations at the beginning of 2026. A few legal and administrative niceties remain to be cleared before the new movement, whose birth was approved by members of the two synagogue bodies at special meetings last month, is fully up and running.

But while MRJ and LJ agree on principles, their practices are not identical. When the head of the Liberal Beit Din Rabbi Mark Solomon returns from sabbatical in Australia, he will resume talks with his Reform counterpart Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain to discuss differences in procedure in one or two areas.

There are no longer substantial divergences, as there were 40 years ago when merger was last floated. Reform then used matrilineal status to determine who was a Jew, whereas the Liberals were willing to accept the child of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. The Reform youth movement was Zionist, whereas the Liberals were not; now both belong to the worldwide Progressive Zionist movement, Netzer.

Reform have followed the Liberals in recognising equilineal descent, conducting same-sex marriages and enabling rabbis to give a blessing at mixed-faith wedding ceremonies. Romain recalls that when he and Solomon first started talking about details, they found “our practices were much more closely aligned than we thought. That is one of the reasons the merger succeeded, we are already on the same page. I was pleasantly surprised by how little we are going to have to do to bring the two systems together.”

The new movement will clearly want the rise in conversions enjoyed by both Reform and Liberals  over the last couple of years to continue. There is little to distinguish in their requirements – new converts typically have to study for a year to 18 months. “What we are looking for is sincerity, knowledge and integrity,” Romain said. “Those are replicated in both movements.”

The main difference is that a visit to the mikveh is mandatory for a new Reform convert, but not for the Liberals. However, as Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, associate head of the Liberal Beit Din observes, “It is recommended and very much the norm. Most people find it a meaningful ritual and transformative for them.”

Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain (right), convenor of the Reform Beit Din at a session[Missing Credit]

The Liberals began recognising patrilineal status some 70 years ago – it took Reform another 60 years to adopt a similar policy. “The defining principle,” Romain explained, “is to be as inclusive as possible. If people have a Jewish parent, we are pleased they want to honour their Jewish heritage. We want to put up a ‘Welcome’ sign. We want to change the narrative from lost Jews to returning Jews.”

If a person has had no Jewish upbringing, “we would suggest they undertake a a course of adult education. There is no point in having the label without understanding what it means.”

But in practice, he said, “those who want to reclaim their Jewish identity usually start by attending a course on Jewish life and then making that request, so it happens anyway.”

No one applies simply to acquire a certificate of Jewish status, he observed. “They want to be integrated into a Jewish community.”

For the Liberals, the position is “we accept people as Jewish if one parent is Jewish and they have had a Jewish upbringing.” Jacobi said.

What counts as a Jewish upbringing will be decided on an individual basis and after a conversation with a rabbi. “If the person had been brought up in another religion, they would have to convert,” she said.

But each movement will recognise those who are accepted as Jewish by the other – for example, for the purposes of marriage.

Where there is a slight difference between the two movements is what happens in a divorce. “Reform requires a get for remarriage,” Romain said. But in the case of a woman whose husband has refused her a get even though they have obtained a civil divorce, there is “no good reason” to deny a religious divorce, he said. In which case, the Reform Beit Din will “award a get over the husband’s head” – which an Orthodox rabbinic court would generally not do. “An unethical law cannot be a Jewish law,” he said.

Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi, associate head of the Liberal Beit Din[Missing Credit]

The Liberals do not require a get in the case of divorce but offer a sefer kritut, a document of separation – a term found in Deuteronomy. “It is for the couple who want to mark the end of their marriage in religious terms rather than it being a legal document and we don’t require it for remarriage,”Jacobi said.

But, she explained, they would not remarry a divorced man who had refused his ex-wife a get and so prevented her from remarrying (in an Orthodox synagogue) until he had granted her the document.

Reform too, in a similar instance, would make the granting of a get “a prior condition” of any remarriage, Romain said.

While differences currently remain between the two movements on the technicalities of divorce, he believes “it will be quite easy to come to a common position”.

And while those differences may stay over an interim period, he believes that ultimately it would be “daft to have two batei din”.

For Jacobi, the differences are “more about nuance than anything. There are small issues of procedure we can work out. ”It will be, she suggests, an “evolving situation. I think eventually we will have a single beit din. But I don’t think there is a rush about it. It has to be something where we have to work with our colleagues to make sure they are all on board.”

Image: Liberal Beit Din head Rabbi Mark Solomon welcomes new converts at his Edinburgh synagogue