My introduction to the UK came through Limmud. Accordingly, I came to believe that the UK Jewish community contained special expertise in creating passionately pluralistic communities. In fact, I was so inspired by Limmud UK that I returned to the USA and immediately began working with a group of people to create Limmud NY.

Who knew that my life journey would later give me the opportunity to live here and contribute something from my own experience of creating passionately pluralistic communities in the USA to this wonderful UK community? My fervent hope is that I can transfer and adapt some of this expertise for the benefit of the UK Jewish community.

The Reform Movement, my present place of work, is one of several institutions open to passionate pluralism. Not only does it embrace pluralism within its ranks by encouraging each individual to pursue his or her own Jewish journey, but it also pursues pluralistic dialogue with other denominations who embrace these values.

The round-table discussion that I mentioned at the beginning of this article was convened to celebrate the publication of the Reform Movement's new siddur. Interestingly enough, that siddur, which was 10 years in the making, embodies the four factors outlined above - not that I can claim any of the credit for that. Indeed, many people devoted countless hours to the siddur's preparation before I was on the UK scene.

The siddur is relevant not only to Reform Jews, but to any serious Jew, and that is because it embraces my four principles of passionate pluralism. It requires the individual to make choices about how he or she prays (personal choice); it includes material from a vast range of sources, written by both men and women, always in gender-neutral language (egalitarianism); it invites people in by providing transliteration of the Hebrew, rather than raising barriers to people trying to participate in prayer (inclusivity); and it returns to the traditional matbeah (framework) of Jewish liturgy, with commentary, so that people can deepen their understanding of Jewish prayer (engaging deeply with Jewish texts and tradition).

Not for a second do I believe that a prayer book can change the world. But I do believe that a community of people who embrace these four values can. I also want to create more initiatives in the UK Jewish community that promote passionate pluralism. I want to nurture a "middle way" - multi-denominational and allowing all passionately pluralistic denominations to collaborate on issues of shared concern. That's why Jeneration.org, a website sponsored by the Reform Movement, is proud to promote any event for young adults that ascribes to the four values outlined above. So long as the event holds to our shared values, we want to support it as a valid option. The goal is not to compete with each other, but to create a vibrant community where a pluralistic discussion is the source of our passion.

My interfaith friends sitting around the table expressed concern about fundamentalism. Personally, I lose more sleep about its flip side, apathy. Let's combat both by creating more initiatives like Limmud, Jeneration, and Jewish Book Week. Let's create pluralistic schools like JCoSS and pluralistic ethics societies like ResponsAbility, so that passionate pluralism becomes the mainstream voice of British Jewry. I am convinced that the majority of UK Jews are not only passionate about Jewish people and ideas, but are also committed to maintaining openness to diversity and multiple truths. If I am right and Limmud is not just an anomaly but an ethos, then let us work together to create the co-operation between institutions that would make passionate pluralism a reality.