BETH EMET THE FREE SYNAGOGUE
Statement of Principles

 This congregation has come into being as the result of a struggle over basic issues.  These issues involved the freedom of the membership, the freedom of the rabbi and the freedom of Jewish self-expression.  In order to safeguard these freedoms for ourselves, our children, and all others who seek to join us, we dedicate ourselves to the following principles:

1.      Judaism is a way of life which offers us personal and group fulfillment, not only in formal worship, but in all of our experiences; not only in the congregation, but in the home and in our daily contacts.

2.      We seek to enrich and to increase the Jewish content in our lives, not to diminish nor to water it down.

3.      We are not content to accept the present forms and practices of Judaism as fixed and final.  To do so would be to create a new Orthodoxy.  In keeping with the spirit of Judaism throughout its history, we affirm the necessity for creating new forms of worship and observance, which will aid us in our search for spiritual growth.

4.      We affirm that a living congregation must experience directly and not by proxy, the joys and responsibilities of Jewish life.  To this end we will build a form of worship in which the entire congregation can participate, and a form of group living in which the talents of all the members are encouraged for the glory of our faith and our people.

5.      We are not content to vest the governing of a congregation’s affairs and destiny in the hands of a small group, in whom all authority resides.  We affirm that our lay leaders shall be truly representative of us, and that final authority on all matters within the province of a congregation shall rest with the congregation.

6.      We shall hold sacred the personal, intellectual and spiritual integrity of our rabbi.  He shall be free in every respect.  He shall have complete freedom to preach and to teach.  While we may at times differ with his views and shall feel free to express our differences, we shall not challenge directly or indirectly his spiritual and intellectual freedom without which he cannot be a rabbi.

7.      We affirm that our congregation should not be a self-contained island, but should be closely identified with the Jewish Community.  A relationship should be established where the community will find moral guidance in the congregation, and the congregation will find a unifying strength in the community.

8.      Our congregation is dedicated to relevant, dynamic and liberal Judaism.  We will stress the all-embracing character of Judaism and the Jewish people.

May God uphold our hands and bless our undertaking.