Aaron Hamburger

Author Aaron Hamburger (his personal web site is here) was awarded the Rome Prize by the American Academy of Arts and Letters for his short story collection THE VIEW FROM STALIN'S HEAD.

His writing has appeared in Poets and Writers, Tin House, Details, Time Out New York, and the Forward, and won First Prize in the David J. Dornstein Contest for Young Jewish Writers. Currently he teaches creative writing at Columbia University. His latest book, a novel about an American Jewish family traveling to Jerusalem titled FAITH FOR BEGINNERS, recently came out in paperback.

We will discuss issues surrounding Jewish life in America and elsewhere. Readers can send questions to rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il

Dear Mr. Rosner,

My question for Aaron, based on the following two statements:

"It seems to me that an honest expression of Jewish identity is to concern yourself with the religion itself, rather than the place where the religion made its first appearance so many centuries ago."

With this, I wholeheartedly AGREE!!! However, there seems to be a hint of contradiction in the next statement.

"Israel is a fine place, but we as North American Jews should recognize that unless we intend to immigrate there, it is not our place."

I say contradiction because the "religion itself" speaks to the gathering of all the Jews to this place. So my question to Mr. Hamburger is... If it is not now "your place", do you believe that it will be one day? I mean, isn't that why Bible believers support Israel from all over the world, whether Jewish or not?

Sincerely,

Virginia

I think we have to make a distinction here between the land promised to Abraham referred to in the Torah and the modern-day state of Israel, founded in 1948. (For one thing, I believe Abraham was promised a much larger country, extending to the Euphrates River, no?) I don't believe that the religious kingdom of Israel we're all supposed to return to someday as described in the Torah is equivalent to the parliamentary democratic state of Israel, a political entity carved out of the British Mandate by the United Nations. Do you think they are the same because they share a geographic location?

(Also, I guess I should confess here that I am one of those pesky liberal types who read Biblical notions of redemption and promised lands in a non-literal way.)

Mr Hamburger seems to have lost his perspective on the Jewish faith if he thinks the needs and fate of the Jewish Community of Mississippi is on equal footing with the needs and fate of the Jewish Community of Israel. The Jewish Community of Mississippi might lack the resources to provide as much of a vibrant Jewish life as NYC or LA, but they don't have to worry about rockets, suicide terrorists or existential threats. Israel is a small, vulnerable sandlot whose only natural resource is Yiddishe Kups; it still needs lots of support before it can be a self-sustaining, secure Jewish homeland. Judaism starts with saving lives, all the rest is Commentary. Mr. Hamburger isn't seeing the Judaism forest through the Commentary trees. Does he want to further clarify his naive remarks?

Alan Feinberg

In the main, I'm not sure where we are in disagreement. I do not say that Jews should not feel a connection to Israel or that they do not have a right to feel that it is politically imperative to support the state of Israel. Many of us do. In fact, I would encourage anyone who wants to support the State of Israel to go for it. (Specifically I recommend they send their donations to the New Israel Fund and help support the gay community center of Jerusalem, which is working to promote tolerance for the LGBT community in a region where such tolerance is scarce.) However, I do say that supporting Israel is not a religious obligation. While there are compelling reasons for Jews to support Israel, in my opinion it's not correct to argue that Jews should feel religiously compelled to support Israel.

Your idea that supporting Israel is a religious obligation because it saves lives is a stretch, based on a conception of Israel that I wouldn't describe as naive, though I would describe it as hopelessly out of date.

Hamburger wanted to try and respond to some other comments made in the talkback section.

This exercise has been an interesting one for me. I'm a fiction writer, not a politician or a journalist or a rabbi. And yet I'm asked to give my opinions on political and religious matters rather than literary ones.

Here's some advice. If you don't agree with my opinions, then form your own. I'm a writer of novels, which in the age of Paris Hilton does not count for very much. Is there really anything so very frightening about what I've written, other than my belief that all people are equal in the eyes of God, that showing love and kindness to all people is central not only to the Jewish faith but to basic human decency? Yes, that's scary alright.

Perhaps the one phrase I've written that people have objected to the most is the idea that Israel is not "our" place, by which I do not mean that we as North American Jews have no right to go to Israel or immigrate there. North American Jews have every right to go to Israel and if they want to stay, God bless them. However, I feel that we as North American Jews are not Israeli Jews. (Apparently this is a shocking notion.) We have a unique cultural and national experience and Israelis have a unique cultural and national experience, and those experiences are not the same. An American Jew who goes to Israel to live would experience culture shock and vice versa. An American Jew who moves to Israel would have to assimilate and get used to a different set of cultural norms. (Wow, now that's really an awful thing to say. Shame, shame) The idea that there are no differences between Jews of different nationalities is absurd, as is the idea that it is somehow heretical to mark those differences and claim that they are important and worth exploring. Understanding the differences between Israeli Jews and American Jews can only bring us closer. On the other hand, insisting on an illusion of idealized Jewish brotherhood (the proof of whose illusory nature is all too evident in some of the out-of-whack responses to my posts on this site) is divisive and in my view counter-productive.

Reading my recent article Where is the center of the Jewish people?, in which both his book and our dialogue are mentioned, Aaron wanted to add some comments.

Dear Rosner,

Thanks for this. I'm flattered by the attention to my novel. I agree
with some of the points you raise about how the current generation of American Jews feel less of a connection to Israel than the generation that came before them. I'm not sure that my generation's "'Jewish' activity" boils down to surfing websites. I don't know if this is a detail you think is true or if you've done research to find that it is
actually true.

There are a few things in your column that I think should be cleared
up. Your sentence "Hamburger himself evinced enough interest in
Israel to stay in the country a few weeks and then write a book set
there," is misleading because it implies that my background on issues relating to Israel is that of a first-time novice. I have been to
Israel more than a dozen times in my life. My family and I rented a
house there one summer. I have cousins there. My brother married an Israeli woman and we visited her family several times as well. In
writing Faith for Beginners, however, I did not rely solely on my own
experience of Israel. I also did copious research and cited a few of
my sources in the back of my book.

I don't know what you mean by "Hamburger has said in the past that he is interested only in Americans." (Maybe it would help if you quoted my words directly.) However, if that statement were literally true, why would I write two books set outside of America, first in Prague, then in Israel? Yes, my focus is on America and Americans and the way we deal with the world in an age when American decisions have such profound ripple effects, but certainly not to the exclusion of all others. Anyway, isn't it natural for me to focus on Americans since I am American myself?

One other clarification I'd like to make is that when I say Israel is
not "our place," meaning the place of American Jews, I don't mean that American Jews have no connection to Israel. Rather I mean that we do not own Israel. Israel is not a sub-colony of American Jews where we can simply appear, take up residence, and feel at home. Israel has developed a unique culture that we as Americans do not share. Some aspects of it we do share, but many others we do not. For example, I grew up in the land of suburban shopping malls and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, not the land of felafel stands and compulsory military service. I could turn this into a long compare and contrast exercise, but I'll leave that for another time.

My question to you, however, is what is your hope for the relationship of American Jews and Israel? Do you want us to all fall into lockstep and robotically drone, "We feel very close to Israel. We feel very close to Israel." Isn't that a bit unnatural, even unreasonable, given that we don't live in Israel, have spent the vast majority of our lives in America, speak English as our native tongue, have grown up being taught in school to pledge allegiance to an American flag, etc. Also, perhaps we need to differentiate between the state of Israel, a political entity created by the United Nations fifty-odd years ago, and the spiritual "Israel," located not on a map but in the Torah. Or do you think that the State of Israel that issues passports and drivers licenses is the same thing as the land Jews yearn for every year at the end of the Pesach seder, when we sing "Next Year in Jerusalem"?

Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this conversation!

Best,
Aaron

A final note, in the novel, it's Jeremy, the younger character, who
ends up feeling an intense connection to Israel and even considers a
second visit, while Mrs. Michaelson, the older character, decides that
it leaves her cold and never wants to return.


Dear Mr. Rosner, This is a question for your guest, Mr. Hamburger. What does he mean when he says that an American Jew should "concern himself with the religion itself"? Does it mean he does not at all recognizes the "Jewish people"? And if he doesn't what is it that makes one Jewish? Keeping Kosher, observing Shabbat, the High Holidays? What is the greater theme of being Jewish in his view? I know these are not one but many questions, but I'm sure he'll get the idea.

Thank you for your time.

Howie Spiegel,

A reader from New York

Thanks for this question. I'm glad for the opportunity to clarify.

The reader asks: What is it that makes a person Jewish? It's a great question, one that Jews have sought to understand for a long time now. For three possible answers, please see my first post, which describes three models of Jewish identity: American, European, and Israeli. My inclination is toward the European model, i.e. a Jew is someone who insists on defining him or herself as Jewish.

I don't understand the part of the question that asks whether I recognize the Jewish people. My guess is what the reader wants to know is whether I think part of being Jewish means making a connection and building a community with other Jews. My answer is, that probably is a part of it. But just as there are Jews in Israel, there are also Jews in Mississippi. I don't feel the need to sustain, visit, and support the Jews of Mississippi. It would be nice of me to do so, but I don't see it as a religious obligation. True, Israel is not Mississippi. Israel has a much stronger economy, health care system, and cultural life. The state of Mississippi is probably in more need of our help (at least on a financial level) than the state of Israel.

When North American Jews support Israel, they may do so because of a deeply-felt philosophical or political conviction. But that's not the question here. The question is, is supporting Israel a religious act?

There is no commandment in the Torah that Jews should travel to Israel or give money to the state of Israel or lobby their elected representatives to support the state of Israel. There is nothing wrong with doing any of these things, (and in fact, I have done them) but I don't think doing them is at the heart of what Judaism ought to be about, at least as I understand Judaism. It is possible to be an exemplary Jew in North America and not lift a finger to help Israel, just as I believe it is possible for an Israeli to be an exemplary Jew and not lift a finger to help North American Jews.

How is this possible? When Hillel was asked to explain the Torah while standing on one leg, he didn't say, "Go visit Israel and donate to the Jewish National Fund." He also didn't say "Light candles on Shabbes,"or "Perform the ritual of appearing in shul on Yom Kippur once a year."According to the legend, he said, "Love your fellow man as you would yourself. The rest is commentary. Go and study."

I can find my "fellow man" right here where I live, and there are plenty of them who need that kind of radical Hillelian love and charity. Some are Jewish and some are not, but I don't think God would mind if I helped both.


Dear Aaron,

My first question will probably be a soft ball as far as you're concerned. Based on your latest book, I'm sure this is something you have already thought about quite a lot: In your opinion, is Israel the canter of Jewish life (and the Jewish people) or just one center?

Best

Rosner


Define Jewish.

I'm reminded of a very sweet Gentile friend of mine from high school who once said to me, "I don't get it. Is Jewish a race or a religion?"

We hear a lot of talk about "Israeli Arabs," but do we ever hear about "Israeli Jews"? How does a Jew of Israeli citizenship define his or her Jewishness? I have not met many Israeli Jews who spent a lot of time wringing their hands over this question. Jews in Israel don't have to "do" or "believe" or even "assert" anything to be Jewish because they simply "are" Jewish. Just being alive and surviving as individuals and as a nation makes them de facto Jewish. People who
hold Israeli passports would have to go out of their way to explain "oh, but I'm not Jewish," because otherwise their Jewish identity is automatically assumed. Therefore, I believe Israel is indeed a center of Jewish life, if you define Judaism as an inherent characteristic that you're born with. Religious life exists there of course, but from what I've seen, religious practices are a matter largely left to tourists or recent American immigrants to Israel who live in Jerusalem, that most un-Israeli (culturally, I mean) of cities.

To be Jewish in America, however, is focused much less on innate and immutable characteristics. Many Jewish Americans would be insulted to hear themselves called a "Jew" or to hear their identity referred to as a "race." I think this is partially because we've been influenced by Christians, who define themselves not by bloodlines, but by their relationship to their faith. For an American Jew, the question isn't so much about how many of your ancestors had Jewish mothers (though that is a part of it), but rather such questions as "What synagogue do you go to?", "Do you keep kosher?", "Do you observe such and such a holiday?" However, these highly common markers of belief are actually not belief-based, but rather ritual or action-based. If to be Jewish in Israel is what you "are," to be Jewish in America is a function of what you "do." (Whereas to be Christian in America is a function of what you "believe.")

For a long while it was widely assumed that after World War II there were only two poles of Jewish life and culture: Israel and America. However, with the recent survival and even resurgence of Jewish life in Europe, as well as the widening gap between political and cultural life in Europe and in America, European Jewry is making a comeback and asserting a distinctly non-American and non-Israeli notion of what it means to be Jewish. These communities are populated not only by those whom we might traditionally define as Jewish, but also Russian immigrants with faint notions of what it is to be Jewish as well as people of partial Jewish ancestry who want to explore being Jewish.

The concept of Jewish identity has necessarily had to expand to include these people, for whom being Jewish is less about what you "are" or "do" but how you define yourself. In other words, to be Jewish in Europe is to say "I'm Jewish." Though what it means to say you're Jewish has yet to be defined. Is it eating challah on Friday nights or going to synagogue or having an Orthodox conversion?

These matters have inspired considerable ongoing debate.

Therefore, I think there are three centers of Jewish life and thought, each with competing identity models. Together they present interesting alternatives for us to choose from as we contemplate the survival of Judaism for the future.

Best,
Aaron


Dear Aaron,

Here's the more difficult question: What is, or should be, the role of Israel in the lives of North American Jews?

Rosner


I don't think Israel necessarily has any role that it "should" play in the
lives of North American Jews. Israel is Israel, North America is North
America. Israel is not a province or colony or tropical vacation
retreat for North American Jews who send money to sustain its existence, though that confusion does I think exist in the minds of many North American Jewish tourists who go there. Israel is not a Bible Theme Park. It's not a place for Jewish teenagers to go wild and let their hair down in the summertime, though again, I know that happens.

Most importantly, Israel is not a pillar of our religious belief, though Israel as well as the Holocaust has served as ways to bind young Jews to the Jewish faith, now that we live in a post-religious age when people are less likely to be bound to the principles of the faith itself. Studying Torah and keeping Shabbat may be a drag, for
example, but sunning yourself on a Tel Aviv beach or going on a Teen Trip to Israel is not only fun but also only lasts a few weeks,
whereas the nettlesome burdens of religion and faith last a lifetime.

It seems to me that an honest expression of Jewish identity is to concern yourself with the religion itself rather than the place where the religion made its first appearance so many centuries ago. Israel is a fine place, but we as North American Jews should recognize that unless we intend to immigrate there, it is not our place. It's the Israelis' place with a unique history and local culture that we don't share, no matter how much money we've raised or how many times we've gone to visit. Certainly we feel some kinship with Israel, and in fact many of us have family there. If we as individuals want to develop that relationship, fine. But I believe that is a choice each of us makes on our own and not a "should" or a "must" for all of us.


Best,
Aaron