Intentional VS. Change

I was reading Rafi's blog this morning and he made an interesting statement when discussing the Reform movement moving the Bimah in their temples from the middle of the room to the front and that Rabbonim fought hard to make sure Orthodox shuls did not go against the time-honored custom of having the Bimah in the middle of the shul (or, at least, the men's section):

Case in point is that the Reform movement changed the location of the bima and many other time honored customs fell in its wake as well, and many things that were halachic in nature and not just custom.

No offense, Rafi, and I mentioned this in the comments section of your blog, but this way of thinking about change has a serious and fatal flaw. The Reformers of then INTENTIONALLY wanted chuck EVERYTHING out the window. They started with something small, like moving the Bimah to the front of the shul, and went on to bigger things.

I know you weren't necessarily talking to me with all my desire for change, but my desire doesn't come from a need to chuck everything out the window. And to be honest, this wasn't Mendelssohn's intentions either (remember he lived AND died a frum Jew, regardless of what happened to his grandchildren).

I'm saying I think many minhagim and chumrahs, NOT halachas, should just go away. They were made at the time they were made for reasons pertaining to the times in which THOSE rabbonim lived. Many minhagim that were brand new were simply chumrahs that spread and became popular. It doesn't mean they are correct. In fact, even the RAM"A says in many places throughout Shulchan Aruch that there are places where the people do X and shouldn't be. He OFTEN says they are NOT doing the right thing.

Well, anyway. That's my say. I think there's a huge difference between a group of people who intentionally WANTED to chuck out anything halachic about Judaism, as the Reform Movement did, and people today who enjoy, or used to enjoy, being Orthodox but find the heaping of minhag on top of chumrah on top of more minhagim on top of more chumrahs is just off-putting and makes being a Orthodox a burden rather than a joy.

And when that happens, is the appropriate answer "tough luck, deal with it, and move on and be unhappy and burdened?" Or is the answer "Let's see what we can do to make this religion enjoyable again without breaking actual Halalcha and not only keep people in the fold, but maybe even bring more people into the fold."