To Leon Morris, what the non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism need more than anything is a cultivation of the sort of capacity for “deep commitments” that has been lost in an age of individualism. He writes:
While we liberal Jews may remain unable and rightfully unwilling to submit to the claims of classic or traditional religious authority, I believe we must nonetheless embrace notions of obligation and duty, and hold them dear alongside the much more frequently touted value of personal choice. The time has come to use our freedom to choose to feel commanded.
In our affluent capitalist culture, choices proliferate in every area of life. Such choices—from where we live, to what car we drive, to how we spend our free time—provide us with meaning and self-definition. But in our religious lives, having endless options at our disposal is a mixed blessing. Flexibility and accommodation, qualities that exemplify liberal religion, can also become a refusal to surrender. The proliferation of Passover seders held on the most convenient day in April rather than on the holiday’s first night, whenever it might fall in our work and social lives, is a well-documented example of this trend.
Morris finds, through a careful reading of talmudic sources, a firm basis for the sort of religiosity he advocates. Take, for instance, an ancient midrash on the verse in Exodus that describes the Ten Commandments as engraved (ḥarut) on the stone tablets given to Moses:
By playing with the vowels to change the Hebrew word ḥarut into ḥerut [freedom], that which at first appears as the polar opposite of freedom—the binding law engraved on the tablets—is seen anew as the basis of freedom. Commandment and freedom are not polarities. Rather, freedom expresses itself most fully through the opportunity to hear and live commandments.
Read more on Sources: https://www.sourcesjournal.org/articles/in-defense-of-surrender-in-liberal-jewish-life