What’s the point of observing Judaism?
We must demonstrate that Jewish practice is a means for becoming a better person, living a more meaningful life, and flourishing as a human being; it’s not just as a way of becoming a ‘better Jew’.
By Rabbi Michael Knopf Tags: Jewish World shabbatIt is no secret that we are living in a new age: an age of openness to new ideas, fluidity of borders, unparalleled access to information, multicultural communities, and easy, speedy connectivity. Rabbi Irwin Kula, co-president of a Jewish think-tank called CLAL, with whom I spent several days learning last week, suggests this milieu provides an unprecedented new context for Judaism. He argues that our religion will only survive if it is demonstrated as a means for becoming a better person, living a more meaningful life, and flourishing as a human being.
This concept is shocking to many rabbis, educators, professionals, and philanthropists, who have consistently couched Jewish behavior as a way of “being more Jewish”. In this commonly held view, the purpose of celebrating holidays, eating kosher food, traveling to and supporting Israel, or having a Bar Mitzvah is to feel more Jewish.
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Ultra-Orthodox Jews commemorating Tisha B’Av. |
| Photo by: Gil Cohen-Magen |
However, the trouble is that Jews have already told us they do not need any of those things in order to feel more Jewish. Ninety percent of Jews, across denominational lines and regardless of affiliation-level, say they are proud to be Jewish, despite the fact that the vast majority of those same Jews are not affiliated with any Jewish organization (religious or otherwise). Even more report that they engage in few – if any – behaviors that are recognizably Jewish, aside from a small handful of ritual practices. Jews feel Jewish enough doing whatever it is they are (or are not) doing.
The argument that Jewish practice serves Jewish identity is thus irrelevant for most Jews. After all, why should one give up seafood when he feels perfectly Jewish even at Red Lobster? Not surprisingly, despite the adamant calls for more Jewish behavior as a means of achieving a stronger Jewish identity, levels of Jewish practice have continued to erode even while affirmations of Jewish identity remain consistent.
This bad medicine has had another nasty side effect: it has led people to perceive Jewish practices as being fundamentally meaningless and trivial. If Jewish practice only exists to make one a “better Jew,” and it is not even essential for that, of what value is it?
Fortunately, Rabbi Kula contends, Jewish wisdom and practice was never intended to be a path to becoming “more Jewish”, though, given the right circumstances, it might also achieve that aim. Rather, it was devised to be a path to living more meaningfully and flourishing as a human being. Maimonides made this claim in his Guide of the Perplexed, saying that the whole of the Torah “aims at two things: the welfare of the soul and the welfare of the body” (3:28), and the Torah itself says that its purpose is to help people live in a way that is “wise and discerning” (Deuteronomy 4:6). Jewish wisdom and practice has always promised to make one better, wiser, and more aware. If our goal is to connect people to the Jewish tradition, we must reclaim its true purpose.
The test, though, is not whether one can formulate clever explanations of the merits of Jewish practices and then “sell” them to people. The test is whether one can sell only what truly works. Throughout history many have crafted creative apologetics for the most obtuse of Jewish practices. This might be enough to convince people to try a practice, but unless it truly works in the way advertised, the “customer” will not only abandon that “product”, he will never buy anything from that “brand” again.
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A woman lighting Shabbat candles. |
| Photo by: Lior Mizrahi |
Rabbis, educators, and Jewish leaders must resist the temptation to hide broken merchandise in attractive packages, simply because they want to sell the product.
This was the challenge Rabbi Mark Borovitz gave me when I worked at Beit T’Shuvah, a Jewish rehab facility in Los Angeles that he founded. As a “spiritual counselor,” Rabbi Mark pushed me to teach Jewish wisdom and practices as life saving. At the same time, he demanded I do not fake it. Either the Torah I was teaching would help an addict recover, or it was meaningless and obsolete.
Rabbi Mark has dedicated his life to the conviction that Torah can save and change lives; that it can bring people back from the depths of self-destruction and help them discover their purpose. Our time calls for Jewish communal leaders everywhere to take hold of and communicate this conviction, too. But we must not fake it.
In our time, when it is easier to be alive and yet, simultaneously, more confounding to know how to live well, people - Jews and non-Jews – are thirsty for guidance, for wisdom and practices that make their lives better. The Jewish tradition was designed to serve that profound need. Can we deliver?
Michael Knopf is the Assistant Rabbi of Har Zion Temple in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, and a recent graduate of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles.
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Read on-line interrputations of the Torah. Where it says alot of negative things about the non-jew ; not human, born to be slave of jews, no soul, jews has a good soul the goy has an evil soul, on and on. You know the message. Meanwhile we Christian will hear that it is missrepresntation of the Torah. And say ALL humans (which includes the non-jew) are equal and are children of God. Next you read a sermon given by a leading Rabbi that says exactly the samething read on line in the Torah. Goyim are not humane..............,........ However the Rabbi and his missage in never condemmed by the government. I'm speaking of Ovadia Yosef, Lior, Shapira etc. What is one to believe.
Every Socialist policy implemented in history has produced genocide, suffering and the horrific downfall of any country that adopted it. As imperfect as our current system of Judaism is, at the very least people can function and prosper with HaShem's guidance.
A good point - one the present leadership of Israel should take into accoount when pressing for acknowlegement of the "Jewish State"
The article failed to clarify what practices are real Jewish. We must always ask ourselves: Had we not left Israel 2,000 years ago, would these particular practices be part of Judaism? In most cases the answer would be No. Just think. No need to ask your rabbi. He does not want to lose his job and does not have the courage to think for himself. Plus, he's not smarter than you in knowledge of real Judaism. What he had studied is diaspora Judaism, which adopted too many Pagan, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim practices and removed individual free contemplation. Think for yourself, You can do it.
What are you reading that form your thoughts on real Judaism ? Your writting skills suggest to me that you are not a hermit living in a cave. Moses, Yahshua, the Elders, Yes, we make interpretations and for that we will be judged. To say I make decisions of worship bases on my own thoughts, suggest that one is still discovering his own limitations. Not to listen to your Rabbi, leads me to ask are you a practising Jew ?
The reason to observe Judaism is because it means following G-d's commandments. The Torah doesn't exist to "make you feel more Jewish". It exists to tell us that G-d wants to follow his laws (kosher, Shabbat,etc.). If you believe in G-d, then you can't "feel Jewish" at Red Lobster. This article is total nonsense.
try *thinking* as opposed to just *believing*
There is no point for any other answer: No one has ever reached salvation by keeping all the Laws, The purpose of the Laws is to point out what is sin, The purpose of Temple sacrifices was to be cleansed temporarily from whatever the latest sin was, Without the Temple, there is no, repeate with emphasis, NO posiblity of redemption because there is no place lawfull to offer a sacrifice except the Temple. Bearing all that in Mind, there is no point to practicing all the peculiar doings of Judaism since they cannot bring salvation. Plainly put, one might as well be a Christian since that is the only way to reach salvation without the Temple. Sorry for the legalistic approach. Hear Oh Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart and mind and strength. And, love thy neighbor as thyself. (Including the A-rabs living in Judea and Samaria!)
We are happy with our religion, and salvation comes to those who deserve it, not those who 'believe' in it.
One who is looking for Judaism with meaning, relevance, and a refreshing approach should look at Rav David Bar-Hayim's website at www.machonshilo.org
to remain in a state of legalistic bondage to a set of man-made rules & regulations rather than to voluntarily and freely obey & worship the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. HE is THE dynamic, living eternal Almighty Creator G-d. He gave instructions (Torah) of how to become "... a better person, living a more meaningful life, and flourishing as a human being". Read Torah. Follow Torah. Don't get caught up in the bondage of "tradition". Faith is much more than tradition. Tradition has its place, BUT it is not to be the focal point of our obedience and worship of our G-d. If it becomes the primary focus, then we are "thumbing our nose at the 1st and 2nd commandments He caused to be written into Torah (Exodus 20) -- "ONE G-d, NONE OTHER, for I, the Lord your God am a jealous G-d." I've always understood that that meant anything I placed as a priority above and beyond the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was "idol worship" and G-d would remove it. Further, tradition is used by the enemy of the spirit of man to strangle people and bring them back into an egyptian-type of legalistic bondage. Tradition throttles the effervescence of the living spirit of G-d, so that man cannot "walk and talk" with his G-d. Once man is trapped in the snare of tradition, man becomes easy pickings for the enemy of the spirit of man -- hope is killed, and man is crushed by cynicism and fear which in the end. So, "... becoming a better person, living a more meaningful life, and flourishing as a human being" requires reading the living, dynamic instructions (Torah) for ourselves, and as G-d prompts our spirit and soul, to voluntarily obey that prompting.
Heavenly Torah by Abraham Joshua Heschel; "A story is told in the Talmud concerning Rabbi Akiva's incarceration by the Romans. Rabbi Joshua ha-Garsi would come to the prison to minister to his needs. It was his custom to bring him ameasure of water for washing and drinking. One day, the prison guard said to him, "You have brought much water today. Are you trying to undermine the prison walls?" He spilled out half and gave him the remainder.When Rabbi Joshua recounted to Rabbi Akiva what had happened, he said sadly that now there was not enough water for drinking, let alone for ritual requirement. But Rabbi Akiva could not be swayed. "I have no choice . To forgo ritual washing is a capital offense. Better I be responsible for my own death than transgress an injuction of my clooeagues." He tasted no food until Rabbi Joshua brought him water for ritual washing. The point "Rabbi Akiva, declared that there is capital liability as well for those who transgress rabbinic injunctions".
And your point is...?
Read it again Larry, and think past the surface.
Pirkei Avos
there is enough wisdom, feeling, philosophy, theology , morality and ritual to help one find his own way to being Jewish. the ritual takes a pounding for being irrelevant, but there is deep meaning in it if you look for it. Being Jewish starts in the home and it doesn't have to be an Orthodox home but one that has the pintala yid as my parents and grand parents said , the Jewish spark-heart
What paths? Being born into the Hebrew tribes or being intermarried into the Hebrew tribe ten generations back or being grafted into the Hebrew tribes by the atoning blodd of Christ Jesus the Messiah? Those are the only three I know. How about you?
Jewish communal energies for the last 6 decades have been focused on rebuilding the Jewish world shattered by the Shoah, and this meant for a large part, identity molding agendas. It is a healthy sign to see us begin to talking about moving in the direction suggested by the author.
I truly enjoyed this article, this is what I was saying all along and could not express it as clear and articulate as this article. There is so much wisdom to learn about Judaism that is endless, yet Rabbis talk about kosher kitchens and still they do not accept each other's kitchens. They are destroying the true meaning of Judaism and that is the reason so many of our youth are pursuing Budaism or Rumi to learn about their purpose in this world.
People like to blame schools, rabbis and society for neglecting what should be their responsibilty first of all: Judaism at home. Parents should learn, then teach. Only then can Rabbis compliment that.