Must Jews Close Themselves Off to Maintain Their Faith?

The Jewish Advocate is a weekly newspaper that publishes news relevant to Jews of eastern Massachusetts. It’s writers include those of the Orthodox, Conservative, Reformed, and Reconstructionist Jewish movements as well as those of secular or ethnic Jews. The paper also publishes extensive listings of community events. One column in the paper is called “Ask the Rebbetzin.” A Rebbetzin is a rabbi’s wife who, in the orthodox tradition, has some responsibilities in religious leadership, particularly to women and girls. Rebbetzin Korff point of view appears quite orthodox and her responses to readers’ questions indicate the extent to which many Orthodox Jews feel they must distance themselves from secular society in order to avoid challenging the strength of their faith.

In a letter published in the December 10, 2010 issue of the paper, a reader queried whether there was anything wrong with listening to the Christmas carols she loves. The Rebbetzin strongly discouraged listening to the carols because they are a celebration of Christianity. In another recent response, the Rebbetzin stated that a letter-writer should not attend a non-Jewish friend’s wedding in a church because, as a non-Jewish religious ritual, it is prohibited.

I find such defensive responses repugnant. Should it be assumed that the faith of Jews is so weak that to appreciate the art and music of other cultures or to participate in major life events of non-Jewish friends is enough to make one stray from his own religion? I frankly find this abhorrent. Do you think there are any Catholics or Protestants who wouldn’t attend the wedding of Jewish friends? Even priests have been seen at bar mitzvahs. Why must we be so much less secure than everyone else? There is strength in true faith that enables one to experience and appreciate beauty created by those outside the faith without feeling threatened or becoming defensive.

Additional Comments on "Future Tense" by Johathan Sacks

I have finished the book "Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-First Century. I must say that, even though I am a secular Jew and Rabbi Sacks is a religious Orthodox Jew, I have found him to be a towering intellectual who has tremendous knowledge of philosophy, history, and the world's religions. His major points are that: 1) Orthodox Jews have been turning inward, thereby shutting themselves off from communication with the larger world. This process must be reversed to enable Jewish thought to positively influence others and to gain wisdom and friends from other groups, and 2) Non-Orthodox Jews have engaged with the outside world to the extent that their ties to Judaism have weakened and intermarriage and assimilation threaten to greatly diminish Jewish numbers.

Rabbi Sacks strongly supports the right of Israel to exist, but feels that, when the Israeli government took over the charitable and human service functions that had been performed by religious and other voluntary organizations in the Diaspora, the spiritual, religious, and emotional aspects of these activities were greatly diminished. Because Israeli Jews are, in large majority, non-religious, and assume that all they need to uphold their Jewish identity is to be Israeli, deprives them of their heritage and all the spiritual benefits and wisdom about life they can gain from their religion.

Rabbi Sacks feels that Judaism brought hope to the world. Ancient Greek culture promoted fatalism. As in the Greek tragedies, people could not escape their fate, not matter how hard they tried. However, in Judaism, there is always hope for the future, as exemplified by the belief that the Messiah will come, but hasn't come yet, and by the prayer recited over thousands of years for a return of the Jewish People to the Land of Israel.

Rabbi Sacks writes so beautifully that I would be remiss not to include a few quotes from his book:

"... the Jewish people wrote a story of hope that has the power to inspire all who dare to believe that injustice and brutality are not the final word about the human condition, that faith can be more powerful than empires, that love given is not given in vain, that ideals are not illusions to give us comfort but candles to light our way along a winding road in the dark night without giving way to fear or losing a sense of direction."

"Jews have turned inwards; they need to turn outwards. They are conscious of being different, but so is every member of a minority, and in a global age every group is a minority. Our uniqueness is our universality, and it is precisely by sharing our uniquenesses that we encourage the heritage of humankind. Jews are not the only people to seek God, live lives of faith, work for the betterment of humanity or count themselves blessed by God's love. They are not alone. Jews have friends among many faiths, and among secular humanists, and they should cherish them all, making common cause with them in defence of freedom, human dignity and moral responsibility. They should not take every criticism as a form of antisemitism. They should rest secure in their unparalleled past and fact the future with vigilance but without fear."

"I have argued for a Judaism that has the courage to engage with the world and its challenges. Faith begets confidence, which creates courage. That is how Jews lived in the past and should live in the future. For they are the people of the journey to a distant destination, begun by Abraham, continued by a hundred generations of ancestors, and it still beckons, Judaism is faith in the future tense. Jews were and are still called on to be the voice of hope in the conversation of humankind."

Book - Future Tense: Jews, Judaism and Israel

I've gotten about a third of the way through the book, "Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-First Century", by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the main Orthodox Jewish congregations in Great Britain. He is an impressive intellectual who cites from many Jewish and non-Jewish historical and religious sources.

Only partway through the book, I have already been enlightened by many interesting points and historical facts Rabbi Sacks brought up. For instance, he made the point that Judaism is unique among the major religions in accepting religious diversity (what he calls particularism). He states that the Torah recognizes that people of all monotheistic religions worship the same god, can be righteous, and will not have to become Jewish when the messiah comes and brings peace to the earth. This contrasts to the "universalism" of the other major religions, whose basic tenets are that all people should follow the one true faith and that an unpleasant fate awaits those who do not.

An interesting fact that Rabbi Sacks brings up is the German origin of the term, "antisemitism." This has far more than linguistic importance in that early anti-Jewish sentiments among Christians and Muslims were related to Jews' refusal to convert to what were seen as the true faiths that evolved from Judaism. The saving grace of this religion-based anti-Jewish feeling was that Jews could convert to redeem themselves. That left a way out for physical survival. However, the term "antisemitism" refers to a race of people, not a religious group. This distinction is critical, for one cannot change one's race. Thus, the "Jewish Problem" could not be solved by religious conversion. That, of course, led to the Holocaust.

Some recommendations put forth to Jews include:

• Have pride in your religion. Don't let the negative view of others define you.
• Jewish religious observance is necessary for the preservation of the Jewish People. Ethnic Judaism leads to loss of identity within 3 generations.
• Jews must not see themselves as an isolated people with no friends. It is important to establish bonds with other religions and fight discrimination against any of them.

While I don't agree with everything Rabbi Sacks says, his arguments are extremely well thought out and he supports most of them with solid and wide-ranging references. The man is a true intellectual and reading his book would stimulate anyone's mind. For those concerned with survival of Judaism, the book has particular value. I will likely have more to say about the book as my reading progresses.

High Temple Membership Costs Quash Participation

A recent editorial in Newsweek by Lisa Miller, an intermarried Jew, discussed the high cost of leading a Jewish life in the United States. The cost of day school, camp, temple membership, Jewish center membership, kosher food, etc. has been pegged at $50,000-100,000 for an Orthodox family with 3 children. Such costs are staggering. However, many Orthodox families receive financial assistance from philanthropic sources.

The less religious have little help in meeting the daunting costs of Jewish life. One such cost is temple membership, which averages $1,100 annually and can be over $4,000 in large cities, where many Jews live. This represents a large portion of after-tax income, given the median gross family income of 2-child Jewish families in the U.S. of $75,000-80,000 per year. The high cost discourages Jewish families who are interested in, but not strongly committed to participation in temple life. Lisa Miller feels that the Christian church model of inviting participation, then asking for money later, allows people to become involved before making a heavy financial commitment. The success of this approach is paralleled by that of the Orthodox Jewish Chabad centers, which welcome participation without commitment. However, most Jews in the U.S. are not Orthodox and are not ready to accept the restrictions that Orthodoxy imposes on them.

Given that non-Orthodox temple membership has been steadily decreasing, a change in the financial model of temples is needed. People must be welcome to participate in temple life without making a heavy financial commitment. The Catholic model of passing around the donation plate would be a good place to start. It allows people pay what they can afford and to develop a sense of commitment that could eventually motivate them to make a larger financial contribution. The welcome must come first.

Relatively Few Jews Identify Themselves as Religious

A Jan 8, 2010 article in The Jewish Advocate, a Massachusetts weekly newspaper, described a Pew Research Center poll of 35,000 Americans concerning their religiosity. The 6 New England states plus Alaska had the lowest percentages of people (36-44%) who felt that religion was very important in their lives. In contrast, the southern states of Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee had the highest percentages of religious people (72-82%). Jews were lower is religiosity than Americans overall. The following percentages compare Jews to Americans overall:

Certainty of God's existence: 41% vs 71%
Religion is very important in life: 31% vs 56%
Attend weekly religious services: 10% vs 39%
Their religion is the one true faith: 5% vs 24%
Pray daily: 26% vs 58%
College graduates: 59% vs 27%
Family income above $100,000: 46% vs 18%

What this seems to boil down to is relatively low religiosity among Jews. Judaism appears to have a strong strain of rationalism as opposed to spirituality, that probably has some historical basis, with roots in the religion itself. This rationalism has led to some highly influential theorists like Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx, and also led to great achievements in science, medicine, and literature. It has also led to a questioning of religious tenets. That, and the low birthrate of Jews in the U.S. raise the question of whether Judaism will eventually become the tiniest of minorities within the U.S., populated only by the ultra-Orthodox.

Birthright Israel Helps Keep Jews in the Fold

The Jewish Advocate newspaper of October 30, 2009 reported that a study of the Birthright Israel program verifies the program's effectiveness in keeping young Jews in the fold. Supported by charitable foundations, the program sends Jews up to age 25 on free trips to Israel. The Brandeis University study compared Jewish-related outcomes between a group of people who had been on the trip and a group who had applied for the trip but were not able to go for whatever reason. All study subjects were non-Orthodox Jews. Seventy-two percent of those who had been on the program later married Jews compared to 46% if the non-participants. In summary, compared to non-participants, those who went through the program were 57% more likely to marry Jews, 30% more likely to feel that raising children as Jews is very important, 23% more likely to feel very connected to Israel, and 28% more likely to attend religious services monthly or more. For the Jewish member of intermarried couples, program participants were 93% more likely to say that raising children as Jews was very important. The spouses of intermarried participants were 4 times as likely to have converted to Judaism. At its peak, the program sent 45,000 young people on the program annually. But the sagging economy and Madoff swindle of Jewish philanthropists has reduced that number to 25,000.

More Evidence of Self-defeating Attitude Among Religious Jews

An article in The Jewish Advocate newspaper of July 3, 2009 states that Jewish religious schools prefer to exclude students who don't have a Jewish mother, while some allow such students as long as they convert ASAP. What hogwash! One can readily see why Jews are so low in number in the U.S. and represent a rapidly shrinking proportion of the country's population. What is the purpose of this exclusionary attitude? Don't the schools' leaders recognize that any student and his/her family willing to bear the burden of tuition as well as the extra daily school hours needed for Jewish studies is quite motivated to be Jewish. Isn't that enough? The religionists seem to feel that someone is a Jew if his mother was Jewish, even if he knows absolutely nothing about Jewish teachings. But they feel that someone with only a Jewish father is not Jewish even if he/she bears the burden of daily Jewish study. This attitude is maddening!! Judaism would be much stronger and more dynamic if Jewish schools and congregations welcomed those who want to be Jews rather than setting up roadblocks for them.

Rabbinical Schools Bar Students in Taboo Relationships

I just read in the Jewish Advocate weekly newspaper that entry to rabbinical school in all branches of Judaism is barred to people who are married or in a committed relationship to non-Jews. This is despite the fact that intermarried families are now welcome to join, as lay members, all Jewish congregations but the Orthodox. It is also despite the fact that the Reformed and Reconstructionist branches recognize children with Jewish fathers but non-Jewish mothers as Jews, going against centuries of tradition. The reason given for barring entry to rabbinical school, even in the latter two branches of Judaism, to those in hetero-religious relationships is "the importance of family modelling."
It seems to me that Judaism is on a self-destructive path. A recent survey of Americans has determined that a very large percentage have changed religions, although many of the switchers have jumped from one Protestant denomination to another. Catholicism has lost many non-Hispanic whites to Protestantism, but Latin-American immigrants have filled the deficit. Given the large degree of religious fluidity in the U.S., a religion that only worries about people leaving but does nothing to welcome newcomers, or even deters potential converts, will inevitably shrink in numbers. It's like trying to plug a large leak in a swimming pool with chewing gum while closing the intake valve to allow no more that a drip to come in. If Judaism is to survive and thrive, this attitude has to change. Conversion to Judaism should be based on sincerity of motivation and belief and little else.
The basis for matrilineal descent and difficulty of conversion appears to lie in the notion that the Jewish People are a race rather than a religion. This is basically hogwash because a large percentage of Jews cannot be physically distinguished from non-Jews. Too much interbreeding within a group leads to genetic problems as evidence by Tay-Sachs disease that befalls only those of Jewish descent. I say, let Judaism welcome all who have a sincere interest in joining the religion. Let Judaism be a true religion, not a race, and do not try to fight the religious fluidity that characterizes a free society. Yes, Judaism will lose some adherents, but will also gain some. And by being more welcoming, it is likely that Judaism will expand in numbers and regain its vitality.

Can the Jewish people continue with minimal religious involvement?

The Jewish people probably cannot continue as an identifiable group without significant religious involvement. This was not generally the case before the middle of the 20th century because Jews were clearly defined as "different" whether or not they observed any religious practices. They were Jews whether or not they wanted to be and they often lived in enclaves separated from the indigenous population. The inability of Jews to merge into the broader society was made brutally clear when even fully acculturated Jews in Germany, including those who had converted to Christianity, were arrested and murdered if they had a single Jewish grandparent. However, since WWII, and particularly in the United States, Judaism is being killed by kindness. Jews are widely accepted by non-Jews as both friends and as marital partners. Thus, if a person who identifies with Jews as a people, but feels religion is of little importance, marries a non-Jew, their children are less likely than their Jewish parent to feel ethnically Jewish and even less likely to feel they are Jewish by religion. If the non-Jewish spouse is more religious than the Jewish one, the former's religious identity is more likely to be passed on to the children.
Most Israelis are not religious, yet they can easily feel ethnically Jewish because they live in the Jewish state. However, even such Israelis seem to know that, without the religion, Judaism as a peoplehood cannot and will not continue to exist. This is made obvious by the special privileges given to the small ultra-orthodox percentage of the population, e.g. exemption from military service and generous welfare benefits. The non-religious Jews are willing to sacrifice financially and risk life-and-limb to allow the religious core to survive and thrive, because they know that, without the core, the apple will die.