Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
09/09/2026 | Press release | Archived content
When Ideals Become Idols
In this new essay for TheTorah.com's "I Changed My Mind" symposium, President Andrew Rehfeld Ph.D. reflects on what happens when our beliefs harden into something we're no longer willing to question. Drawing on his own changing views over the past three decades, he makes the case that being willing to revise our beliefs - what he calls "revisability" - is itself a virtue, not a weakness. He brings that same focus to Hebrew Union College's own history, and to the harder questions facing our community today.
"Revisability is not the abandonment of principle. It is the discipline and often the courage, to remain faithful to our purposes while remaining open to different ways of achieving them. Practices endure not for their own sake but to pursue enduring aims embodied by the Source of All Being: The Good and the Sacred, the Beautiful, the Right, and the Just."
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