His courage, his insight, yes, even his audacity, enabled him to become the pioneering creator of Liberal Judaism's national religious institutions. No, but if you truly mend your ways and your actions, and if you will truly execute justice between a man and his neighbor, and if you will not oppress the stranger, the orphan and the widow . . . To Reform the Jews were messenger of humanity, charged with disseminating justice among the peoples of the earth, looking to that time when people would dwell together as brothers. One of the hallmarks of liberal religion is that it speaks to the needs of the total personality - its intellectual needs, emotional needs and aesthetic needs. How impoverished we would be without religion's aesthetics - the beauty of music and dance, of art and architecture, of literature and language.
Liberalism requires a poetic imagination.
How barren is life without emotions that bind us in love with family and friends, that compel us to reach out and touch the stranger, that energize our passion for brotherhood and social justice. Liberalism requires a prophetic vision. But the vitality and integrity of the intellectual life that has characterized Liberal Judaism lie precisely in its ceaseless probing and questioning. What will keep Reform Judaism or any world view alive is the capacity to grow and adapt - to welcome all truth. This will require a positive attitude toward new ideas and new knowledge.