Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Why I Write about Jews
When this topic came up for me, I wasn’t sure who my audience would be. Was I writing to clarify my own ideas? Was I writing for the gentile population? Or was I writing for other Jews? The result, I think, emerged as a worthwhile endeavor, at least for me. I hope you find it informative.
First, this is not like some of my other posts about Judaism. It’s not about my personal practice of Judaism, nor is it about anti-Semitism, per se, or Torah study. But I began thinking about how I was drawn back to Judaism, and why it matters.
As a Jew who had left Zen Buddhism after a 20-year practice and returned to Judaism, I discovered a meaning and connection to a history that was bigger than me, and better for me. The teachings, ethos, and practices allowed me to connect with G-d in visceral and poignant ways. For those of you who came to any religion late in life, or returned to your roots, you have a sense of what I experienced.
In spite of my unwillingness to fully immerse myself in Orthodox Judaism, ironically those were the people with whom I most closely identified. It didn’t matter that some of them dressed in special clothing and kept kosher homes; but Judaism was a way of life. In many ways, my Jewish identity is precious to me; I don’t just hold onto it as one label among many. Perhaps most importantly to me, I do not practice as only an ethnic or secular Jew: G-d is at the center of my life.
Why does my connection to G-d matter? I think it’s important, because as an ethnic Jew, my practice quite frankly was superficial. I had heard that Jews were the “chosen people,” but it wasn’t until my return that I realized being chosen implied serious responsibilities, primarily that we were to serve the rest of the world as positive examples of what it meant to be a good person in the world.
As an ethnic Jew, I not only didn’t know much about G-d’s expectations, but I realized for many ethnic and secular Jews, they had conflicted ideas of what those expectations were. Many Jews today have adopted the Left’s agenda, thinking that is the only way to live as a compassionate, generous person. That belief, for example, manifests as providing government entitlements, which have greatly increased over the past year. It means infantilizing people. It means delegitimizing people’s agency. One only needs to know about the part of the Torah that commands the Jews not to completely collect their crops, but to leave some of them on the boundaries of their fields, allowing those who are not as prosperous to work to collect a portion for themselves. Even the poorest Jews are commanded to offer donations of some kind, even if they are poor; they are called to remember that others are also in need, and that they have something to offer them. G-d knows that maintaining our self-worth is a key to living a productive life.
So, those Jews who don’t have G-d and His expectations at the center of their lives are wearing the mantle of Judaism very lightly; sometimes they even forget when they have it on, particularly when it conflicts with another ideology. It’s a spiritual gesture to light Chanukah candles or have a mini-seder; I’ve come to believe that G-d is happy to see us do anything that acknowledges Him.
But I want to remind you that I am also writing this post for gentiles. Historically, Jewish communities that assimilated have been those who were targeted as “other” in the gentile community. Isn’t that odd? Assimilation jeopardizes our very existence, not just as Jews, but as human beings.
I understand very well the desire to be different and yet fit in. For me, that has come to mean being a pretty conventional Conservative, but when the opportunity presents itself, I let people know I’m a Jew. It’s the reason we put up a Chanukiah outside when the rest of the street is blazing with holiday lights. It’s the reason I love to answer people’s questions about Judaism, because they are less likely to reject or criticize that with which they are familiar. (I’m also a teacher at heart.) In most of the gentile communities of which I’m a part, I feel included and embraced.
But I would suggest to my Jewish friends on the Left (and I believe most of you are not Orthodox): take a closer look at your belief systems. Check out whether they are in harmony or in conflict with each. Rather than ignoring the differences, explore them; see what they have to teach you. Ask yourself: am I serving two masters, two G-ds? What does that say about the integrity of my life? Do I want to serve G-d according to my own standards and preferences, or do I want to honor Him through my beliefs, actions, and faith?
These last questions can be addressed by anyone, Jew or gentile? Whom or what do you serve?
The choice for each one of us is ours, and ours alone.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Again, I’m not trying to persuade, but merely to explain.
Thank you, and I understand.
Not sure which of to which of you to reply…I think both comments miss my point, so I need to be more clear. Perhaps my mere aside was so shocking as to obscure the actual question, as FSC started there instead of where I did.
My question in the bold that was presumably unclear was about assimilation and “the region” and I still don’t understand what is meant by assimilation if Israel is the locus, ie. the region. How can Jews assimilate in Israel if Israel is the Jewish nation-state? Or do you mean the broader Middle East? That’s where I’m confused. The comment about Israel and Jews not being interchangeable was in that context, and that one alone, as Jewish assimilation in the US or Europe, putatively Christian-majority countries, or a Muslim majority country is a very different thing and the one to which I think Susan was referring in the OP.
What Susan says here is a very sad commentary on Jewish assimilation in America. Jews have become disconnected from their source and very much to their detriment. There is a saying that when the Jews forget to identify as Jews, the non-Jews will be sure to remind them. On the surface, it seems odd that antisemitism seems to increase as more and more Jews assimilate. Funny how that goes…
As far as Israelis not being religious, there is certainly a perception of that being the case and they certainly don’t feel connected to the liberal semi-Jews of the rest of the world. In reality, secular Israelis know more about the holidays and biblical history than do many liberal American Jews, simply because they grow up steeped in it. When they do observe, Israelis are for the most part very traditional. It’s joked that they synagogue they do not attend is Orthodox and when they do practice, it’s with a much more Orthodox (compared to Reform) flavor. They’ll say they don’t believe in a Supreme Being, but invoke his blessing in every-day speech. It’s not quite so black and white. Ben Gurion, famous Socialist and atheist that he was, is quoted as saying, “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” It’s kind of like that there.
And fully divine G-d, all at the same time!
Yes, of course. I was addressing the idea that the Messiah would be a man, and Jesus was fully man.
A beautiful post, thank you.
A person whose soul craves a relationship with G-d will have one, as deep and as broad as that person wishes.
I’m not there yet, but get a load of the latest photo, @stad
Indeed she is.