Daniel Septimus

Daniel Septimus is the Editor in Chief of MyJewishLearning.com, "a personal gateway to Jewish exploration." Septimus is a writer, educator, and book critic and was a founding editor of the site (bio web page here), which defines itself as "a trans-denominational website of Jewish information and education geared toward learners of all ages and educational backgrounds."

We will discuss Jewish education and the state of American Judaism. Readers can send questions to rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il.

Dear Daniel,

My question to you is this: what will be the role of Israel in the new era of Judaism you described, and isn't it a problem that half the Jewish people can't connect with the other half because of language?

Thank you,
Martha
New Jersey



Dear Martha,

I'll start with your second question. There are certainly "connection problems" in the Jewish community, but language isn't one I'm terribly concerned with. When in Jewish history has the entire Jewish people spoken a single language? Perhaps at one point we all spoke Aramaic, but that age is long gone.

There are many things that unite all Jews, but there are a heck of a lot of things that differentiate us from each other, as well. This is a fact. Is it a problem? Sometimes. But sometimes difference can be productive. Which brings me to your first question.

Israel is interesting because in some ways it is a model for a democratized Judaism: every day, non-rabbis - political leaders, business leaders, secular and religious - make decisions that impact the fate of the Jewish people. In this sense, Israel is a paradigm for what it means to empower all Jews to shape the future of Jewish life.

On the other hand, Israel has a more entrenched religious leadership, a leadership that is empowered by the State with control over ritual, lifecycle events, personal status issues, etc. So when it comes to the "religious" realm, the Diaspora is a stronger candidate for democratization.

So, in a sense, Israel and the Diaspora have a lot to learn from each other in this area. This is how it should be. Democracy is, first and foremost, rooted in the understanding that not everyone has the same values and opinions. If we all believed the same thing, there'd be no need to vote, no need to protect minority rights, etc. Difference is not a problem. When we confront difference, we see ourselves more clearly, who we are, what we do well and not so well, what we can do better. Difference keeps us honest.

Thanks for the questions,
Daniel

Dear Mr. Septimus,

Do you think Jewish Americans know enough about Judaism to make their own judgment without rabbis? Most of the people I know - even the more knowledgeable Jews - don't have the necessary skills (they know very little Hebrew, for example). What makes you think this can work?

And by the way, do you think knowing Hebrew is important at all?

Thank you for your comments.

David Blumberg, LA

Dear David,

In response to your questions, my initial reaction was to soften my stance and reassert that I'm not calling for a total eschewal of rabbinic leadership.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized: we do rely on rabbis too much.

This is true across the Jewish religious spectrum. In many Reform and Conservative synagogues, the rabbis are the only members who engage Judaism on a day-to-day basis, so when it comes to holidays or lifecycle events, they're called upon to run the show and make all the Jewish decisions.

But think about the situation in certain Orthodox communities, where the idea of daas Torah gives rabbis authority over social and political matters, in addition to ritual. Consider this: In all likelihood, the contemporary Orthodox community has the most educated laity in all of Jewish history; Torah study has never been so ubiquitous and universal.

And yet, a few weeks ago, a group of rabbis, led by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, decided to establish a court that will grant kashrut certificates to women's clothing stores that sell clothing in line with the rabbis' standards of modesty.

You asked if I think Jewish Americans know enough about Judaism to make their own judgments without rabbis. My answer: When it comes to the interaction between laypeople and rabbis, there are power dynamics at play that have nothing to do with knowledge. Jews in Rabbi Elyashiv's community may be the most knowledgeable in Jewish history, but for the first time in Jewish history, they will not be entrusted to make their own decisions about clothing.

The bottom line: I'm not saying we should dissolve the rabbinate. Rabbis who serve their communities with love and wisdom and help their congregants live more meaningful lives are doing holy work. But I still believe people want and need to take more responsibility for the direction of their individual Jewish lives and the Jewish community, generally.

Do American Jews know enough about Judaism to make their own judgments without rabbis? The better question is: Do they care enough?

(As for your question about Hebrew: Of course, it's important. But I don't think it's a prerequisite for engaging Judaism.)

Thanks for the questions.

Dear Daniel,

So, in this world of a more democratic Judaism, how will the editor in
chief of MyJewishLearning be able to separate the insignificant
from the meaningful, the worthy of the readers' time from the sheer
nonsense? Education is always about hierarchy. If your job is to tell
me what's important to learn - but you don't have any rules, or hierarchy to build on - how will you do it?

Rosner


Dear Shmuel,

Democracies aren't free-for-alls. Just because everyone born in the United States can run for president doesn't mean they will. But whether they run for president or not, they bear some responsibility for the state of their country.

So saying that individual Jews should have a role in shaping their Judaism--and Judaism in general--isn't the same as saying that anything goes, that there are no rules, no standards.

Let's take an example of one successful attempt at democratizing Judaism: the independent minyan movement.

Much has been written about the phenomenon of (usually) young Jews in New York, Boston, San Francisco, etc, eschewing synagogues and creating their own Shabbat services. I have been to three of these minyanim in New York: Altshul, Hadar, Darchei Noam. What do they all have in common? None of them have rabbis. Or stated positively: They were all founded by passionate, educated laypeople. And because they had a more democratic genesis, those involved have higher levels of investment, and stronger senses of responsibility.

That's what I'm trying to encourage.

At MyJewishLearning, we try to provide accessible information from a broad array of perspectives on as many topics as we can. We allow our readers to choose what, when, and where they learn. We establish their universe of options, you're right. We decide what topics we choose to cover. We decide how long our articles should be, how much editorializing they can include. We turn down articles that don't seem appropriate for our site.

But we also exist in an environment with checks and balances. Readers could critique us on our website or on other websites. In fact, we might not be the best website for everyone. And that's fine. It's important that there be multiple places online for people to explore Judaism and Jewishness. But ultimately, on MyJewishLearning, we don't tell people what to do, what to believe. We give them the resources and tools to decide those things on their own.

I'm not advocating any sort of revolution. I'm not throwing out the canon or looking to reject rabbinic leadership. I'm saying: Let's cultivate this democratic spirit that exists online and is emerging offline, as well. Let's harness new technologies that will support and encourage this movement. And let's see where it takes us.

Daniel


Dear Daniel,

Your response was insightful and very convincing on a technical level - online Judaism will change "religious hierarchies and leadership structures." You failed to explain, however, why it is good, or necessary, to change those hierarchies. How will this make Judaism more appealing, or better, than it has been for centuries?

Best

Rosner


Dear Shmuel,

I'm glad you asked the question in that way because, I think, the democratization of Judaism can make Judaism both more appealing and better.

Why will it be better? Because Judaism will be richer, deeper, and more meaningful if it is shaped by a diverse group of people. I have a lot of friends who are male rabbis, but there's no reason why they should be capable of forging Jewish life on their own. If Judaism is shaped by a multiplicity of voices, then it will resonate more broadly.

Why will the democratization of Judaism make it more appealing? Because choice and autonomy are the hallmarks of modern living.

If Judaism is to be more "appealing" for modern Jews, it must be self-made to a certain extent. Again, I don't want to overstate things. Tradition, religious authority, precedent: these are all important. But in a world in which identities are, to a certain extent made-to-order, it's important that Jews feel like they have a role to play in the shaping of their Jewish lives.

Daniel



Dear Daniel,

In an article you wrote on MyJewishLearning you stated that it can "change the very fabric of the Jewish community." Please explain how a web site - as good and insightful as it might be - can do that?

Best

Rosner


Dear Shmuel,

The article you're referring to looked back at some of the things we've accomplished with MyJewishLearning.com, while also examining the website's potential and the future of the Jewish internet, generally.

In the article, I also wanted to highlight the ways in which the internet in not merely instrumental. In other words, when we think about the internet and how it's changed our lives, we usually think about its practical implications, the ways it?s made communication, information delivery, shopping, etc, easier and faster. But the significance of the internet -and the Jewish internet - is not merely pragmatic.

The structures and values of the internet mirror the structures and values of contemporary Western life. The internet is democratic to its core. In my article I quoted Mark Poster, a professor at the University of California at Irvine who put it this way: "The 'magic' of the Internet is that it is a technology that puts cultural acts, symbolizations in all forms, in the hands of all participants."

He wrote that in 1995. If it was true then, imagine how much more true it is today after the rise of blogs, MySpace, and Wikipedia.

Just last week the New York Times published an article about the decline of newspaper book reviews, which have been replaced, in part, by online criticism. In the last year, major American newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have scaled back their review sections. And bloggers have taken over. According to the New York Times, "some publishers and literary bloggers - not surprisingly - see it as an inevitable transition toward a new, more democratic literary landscape where anyone can comment on books."

What does this mean for Judaism and the Jewish community?

Well, if the internet is a force for democratization, and I believe it is, then the internet will help facilitate the democratization of Judaism.

This movement will be forged on multiple fronts. MyJewishLearning.com, for example, will help democratize Jewish learning-a process which began well before the internet was developed.

For most of Jewish history, Jewish knowledge was produced by men in the beit midrash. In the 20th century, women took up serious Jewish study and the university became an alternative venue for Jewish learning. In the 21st century, the internet will push this movement forward: Jewish learning will be accessible to anyone, anywhere.

By empowering laypeople, the internet will also help shape new religious hierarchies and leadership structures.

Consider the case of Yehuda Kolko, a Brooklyn rabbi, who had sexually abused students over the course of two decades. It wasn't until a blog connected former victims that events ensued that eventually led to Kolko's arrest. Here was a case of laypeople, connecting through technology and taking on corrupt leadership, but there will also be opportunities for religious populism that is not merely a reaction to a problematic status quo.

This threat to rabbinic authority has not gone unnoticed.

Prior to their annual convention back in November, Agudath Israel issued a press release mentioning a scheduled discussion about blogs.

"In recent years," Agudah leader Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel said, "due to a variety of factors, the authority of daas Torah has been significantly undermined, even within our own chareidi circles. Most troubling has been the proliferation of Internet 'blogs' where misguided individuals feel free to spread every bit of rechilus and loshon hora about rabbonim and roshei yeshiva, all with the intended effect of undermining any semblance of Torah authority in our community."

I don't mean to be overly idealistic here. There is, indeed, the potential for populism to run amok. There's plenty of idiocy - and yes - sometimes falsehoods online. Universal access to Jewish knowledge won't necessarily improve the quality of Jewish learning. It's important that we continue to cultivate quality leaders and teachers.

Still, I do believe the internet will play a vital role in democratizing Jewish life, and I do believe that this can "change the very fabric of the Jewish community" - and change it for the better. It may be cliché to invoke Marshall McLuhan's famous line "The medium is the message," but I'll do it anyway.

The internet is the medium of the day. Its message? Choice. Empowerment. Democracy. The Jewish internet will help create a Jewish community built upon these pillars.