Rabbi Sharon Brous
Rabbi Sharon Brous is the founding rabbi of IKAR, "a Jewish spiritual community" in L.A. "that stands at the intersection of spirituality and social justice, a mandate that is integrated into everything we do." Rabbi Brous was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2001, receiving several awards in Talmud and Homiletics. While in Rabbinical School, she studied for and received a Master's Degree in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution from Columbia University.
For the past six years, Rabbi Brous has served on the faculty of REBOOT, a network of Jewish trend-setters, thinkers and activists, and on the board of Progressive Jewish Alliance, where she is involved in several city and state-wide justice-oriented initiatives. She serves as adjunct faculty at Hebrew Union College, where she co-teaches a class on Social Justice and Spiritual Activism to rabbinical and communal service students, and she is a member of the advisory board of Sh'ma: Journal of Jewish Responsibility. Rabbi Brous has been a fellow in the Jewish Life Network's Common Judaism Project, as well as a member of the Synagogue 3000 Leadership Network, a select national group of rabbis, cantors, and artists working to transform and revitalize American synagogue life.
Readers can send questions to rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il.
Hi,
Despite all the descriptions of ethical passion, most suburban Jews I meet simply want to have meaningful personal and family lives. Of course they vote & care about big issues but ... I think that if establishment Judaism would spend more time focused on the basics you would have much more success in getting Jews excited about Judaism.
What about Shabbat? Forget for a second about the Divine commandment to keep this day holy ... what about the family time, etc.?
All the talk about "tikkun olam" that comes out of the Jewish establishment always strikes me as missing the point.
What matters first is what people do when they go home & close their front doors. If Shabbat, Kashrut and other basics are not part of their life ... then "tikkun olam" is simply a political agenda.
So nu...what about the basics?
Sam
Sam,
I'm assuming that by "the basics" you mean how to build meaningful personal and family lives. You are of course right that Shabbat and kashrut, pillars of Jewish observance, are essentially ritualized opportunities to bring meaning into our lives. One of the most inspiring and inspired texts that I've seen on Shabbat comes from the Netivot Shalom, Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky. He writes that the reason that we are commanded (in the Kiddush) to remember Yetziat Mitzrayim, the experience of the Exodus from Egypt, on Shabbat is twofold. First, he asserts that so many of us feel as though we are in exile (far from the Holy One, the Source), but it is Shabbat that has the power to bring redemption to each and every individual in his personal life. "Only on Shabbat is one able to return and bring himself closer to the Holy One - and this is redemption, reliving the Exodus from Egypt (the narrow place)..."
This, I understand, is the sacred pause of Shabbat, the temporary hiatus from the race of our lives in order to recognize the beauty of our world, the blessings of our families, the gift of simply being. It is about allowing ourselves to stop our work, even when the job is not yet done, and affirming that we are not our work. It is about being present. The sacred pause is what allows us to reconnect to the best of ourselves, it is what opens us up to the experience of the Holy in the world. It is what compels us to recalibrate, to reclaim our priorities, to focus on the things most important in our lives, often the very things we sideline in our ambitious rush to conquer, achieve and produce.
The Netivot Shalom goes on to say, compellingly, that every Shabbat also "has the power to bring redemption to the world, ... because it is on Shabbat that the possibility of Yetziat Mitzrayim, (the liberation from enslavement) is renewed." And lest we think that the reminder of the experience of that liberation is so that we might indulge in the memory of our victory from oppression, he goes on to write that "this is not exclusively for the sake of memory, rather it is for the sake of actually doing the work of Shabbat. A Jew must rise up from a place of degradation, and find within himself ultimate freedom ... The essence of Shabbat is the memory of Yetziat Mitzrayim because it is upon every Jew to remember that it is his life's work to leave Egypt, and with the strength of the holy Shabbat, to bring redemption to the world."
According to this understanding of Shabbat, the journey must begin with the particular - in other words, you are absolutely right that it matters what you do when you get home from work and close your doors. It matters how you speak to your kids, if you express gratitude to your partner, if you treat those in your home with dignity and love. But that journey doesn't end at home. Our obligation, as inheritors of Yetziat Mitzrayim, is to recognize, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes, the universality of moral concern. To reignite our passion for justice, to reimagine a world in which human dignity is real, to reinforce the Jewish mission to bring about redemption in world of brokenness and heartache. It is to reaffirm our role as God's partners in bringing light back into our world.
That, I believe, is the transformative possibility of Shabbat.
Rabbi Brous asked to respond to some of the talkbacks at the bottom of the page.
Howard from L.A. wrote:
It is not the leftist political activism in reform and conservative Judaism that is the problem as much as the lack of Torah observance and Jewish education, and the SUBSTITUTION of a political agenda for those things. Plenty of Orthodox have political agendas of varying sorts, but they also have shabbos, kashrus, daily prayer, tefillin, Torah study, and they don't substitute the politics for any of those other things.
Dear Howard from L.A.,
It strikes me that part of the problem here is your assumption that Jews who care deeply about poverty, war and disease are necessarily not serious Torah observant Jews.
It's true - many activist Jewish communities lack an attentiveness to serious learning and meaningful prayer. But I am equally disturbed by the fact that the communities most serious about shabbat, kashrut, tefillah and Torah study are not at the forefront of the anti-genocide and living-wage campaigns.
It seems to me that one of the great tragedies of our community has been our profound inability to articulate the fundamental connection between a halakhic, Torah centered and (as David Hartman would say) God-intoxicated life on one hand, and a serious concern for and engagement in the world on the other. (I recently argued this point in a symposium on the Conservative Movement in Judaism Journal.)
I believe that the work of our leadership is to articulate a relationship with Torah and God that compels Jews to take seriously not only their own spiritual and religious lives, but also their personal and communal responsibility in a global world.
To accomplish this, we need to actively resist a Judaism that makes us choose between religion and politics, as if the two are mutually exclusive. The challenge and the complexity of the emergent Jewish social justice movement is to articulate an ethos that integrates both.
The brilliance of Abraham Joshua Heschel was that he married the possibility of deep personal piety with global responsibility. Not only are the two integratable, but they are arguably impossible without one another. Why did the Rabbis choose Isaiah's "Is this the fast I desire?" (Isaiah 58:5) for Yom Kippur? To teach that to be a human being means to be able to move from religious ecstasy to concrete acts of compassion.
Why do we celebrate the miracle of our deliverance from genocide at Purim by giving unconditionally to the poor? Because our destiny intimately links us to the most needy in our communities, and our greatest joy comes from assisting them (Mishnah Berurah, OH 694:3). Why do we begin the story of our liberation from slavery in Egypt with the words "Ha lahma anya - This is the bread of poverty and persecution? Let all who are hungry come and eat"? Because we know that hashata avdei - despite the fact that we are free from Pharaoh, we remain enslaved as long as slavery and affliction persist in our world.
We need to have the courage to say that there is no authentic religious life without a deep sense of responsibility in the world. Our challenge is to make demonstrably clear that decisions about what we eat not only impact our relationship with God, but also cultivate a wakefulness that makes it impossible not to think about those who have nothing to eat.
Our unique mandate is to prioritize kashrut and hunger, Shabbat and fair labor laws, the problems of the individual soul and the problems of global poverty. A person's ritual observance should directly inform her engagement in the world. This is not ethical humanism or liberalism - it's just Judaism.
Dear Rabbi,
You chose for Ikar not to affiliate with a movement. Why? Is it because you don't believe in organizations or movements - or is it that you don't believe in the existing movements the Jewish community?
Best,
Rosner
It?s not that I don?t believe in movements, I just don?t trust that movement loyalty is helping us address the compelling questions of the day.
So many of us characterize ourselves as either Reform or Conservative, Haredi or Modern, rather than simply as Jews. While the movements have the power to inspire and direct large swaths of people toward paths of Jewish expression and articulation of Jewish ideology, I am concerned by the privileging of the denominational question over the more critical questions of Jewish purpose and direction, particularly given the reality of our world.
It seems to me that the moment demands that we ask not ?How can we ensure a viable future for the Conservative or Reform Movement, for Modern Orthodoxy or Reconstructionism?? But rather, ?What is a religious message of purpose and meaning that can guide us through these terrifyingly tumultuous times?? Our focus should be on helping Jews find meaningful ways to bridge the gap between the excruciating reality of the world and the Jewish dream of what a world infused with God?s spirit and human agency might look like.
The reality is that in an age of global chaos we have lost the luxury of safe and self-absorbed communal agendas. We have neither the time nor the justification to focus attention and resources on the sustenance of institutions for their own sake, and strategies of institutional self-preservation so often fundamentally miss the point.
Our people?s future will depend on our ability to embody an ethic of passionate, committed involvement in the world that flows naturally from, and likewise directly informs, humble and courageous encounter with the Jewish tradition. I want communal leaders to work to articulate the fundamental connection between the religious quest and the pursuit of justice in the world. We need to help people remember how to dance, how to daven with real intention, how to study text with passion and purpose. We need to work devotedly to inspire a new generation to become both actively committed Jews and agents of change on the world stage.
It is this vision, these ideas, that we are loyal to, not the particular movement that stands behind them.
Dear Rabbi,
Why is it in your opinion that so many young Jews choose not to be part of the American Jewish community - not to be affiliated?
Best,
Rosner
The reality is, a significant population of American Jews feels at best uninspired, at worst downright turned off by conventional Jewish life. Why are so many people in this demographic so alienated from established Jewish institutions?
Today, in light of the spectrum of opportunities afforded to young American Jews, many Jewish institutions seem insular and self-serving, and more focused on slick marketing than substance. Young, savvy, well-educated Jews are looking for a sense of connectedness and responsibility that stretches beyond the narrowness that has come to define the American Jewish community's agenda. In a time of war, poverty, terror, environmental destruction and radical social upheaval, people asking the basic question of what it means to be a Jew and a human being in a world on fire are not finding answers, indeed many of them are no longer even looking for answers, in their local synagogue.
The very idea of synagogue - previously the central organizing principle of the Jewish community, is now not even on the radar of many of these Jews. To be clear, it is not as though those people are not interested in matters of the spirit - on the contrary, a study done on Gen Y last year by REBOOT (OMG!: How Generation Y is redefining Faith in the iPod Era) found that the generation that has been described as directionless, narcissistic, and disinterested, is in actuality seeking community and meaningful involvements, just in informal and non-traditional ways.
Three years ago we started IKAR because we believe that Judaism really does have something to say in a world on fire. Rav Kook writes that it is great dreams that are the foundation of the world. I understand this to mean that the whole world stands only because people have the courage and capacity to dream great dreams, even and especially in the midst of tragedy and suffering. We have a great dream, a Jewish dream, a revolutionary instinct that is born out of our experience of the Exodus from Egypt. From this we learn the foundational claims of our tradition - that all people have innate dignity and worth, deserve to be free and can become free; that there is a God who cares about human beings and demands justice in our world; and that God demands human partnership in the work of redemption.
With a mandate like that in the world, it's imperative that we move beyond glossy brochures and gimmiks, and really dedicate ourselves to rediscovering the essence, the ikar, of our tradition.
This is why I believe it is of the utmost importance that we find ways of opening up the Jewish conversation, broadening the contours of our community to include some of the voices that have been side-lined. Doing this, I believe, will not only help us communicate a Torah that is rich, compelling and purposeful to a population that is hungry for meaning and direction, but it will also ensure the vitality of the Jewish community as we continue to reshape and develop, blessed by the wisdom, depth and creativity of some extraordinary folks who are otherwise completely out of the conversation.
Rabbi Sharon Brous
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There is a big problem with IKAR, at first I thought that it was really hip, but that is just an image. IKAR is not really progressive its core is not really left wing either. Its core is composed of a group of left wing Jews who are living an anti-social and alternative lifestyle who are candy coating it with left wing politics so that it can be swallowed by the mainstream. If someone does not fit their criteria then they discriminate against them. If you are not a liberal maniac then your out. Then again they are not really liberals they have just hijacked the term. There are also a growing list of complaints, discrimination against Sephardic Jews, foreigh Jews who are simply unaware or do not adhere to left wing agenda this group follows. This is what my husband so sadly discovered. The rabbi is very charismatic, but again like an actor its just an image Rabbi Brous by being independent is throwing open the largest net for maximum income effect.
Whether the Rabbi gets this message or it will be lost in the sea oyberjibberish I don't know. Sometimes a new arrival to Los Angeles will only have a partial map and so have an esoteric view of the Jewish community. The same can be said for myself when I landed in New York. Its a bloody different country and culture. I am sending this message as a emergency flare, but I doubt it will be seen or heeded. Rabbi Brous your not seeing the whole picture. This will limit and hamper your efforts. This Great Recession is gonna be a Great Depression and when the darkness falls again like it did from 1929-1939 (your a history buff). The Jewsih landscape is gonna be completely different. P.S your more like Rabbi Sonderling thats a complement :)
Dear Philo: I was very saddened to read that you were interested in converting to Judaism, and a rude and censorious rabbi refused to take your interest seriously. On behalf of my fellow Jews, I apologize to you. Please be advised that Judaism is in the middle of a great change, in which we are slowly evolving into a more accepting, conversion-oriented community -- at least some of us are. If you would like help in finding a friendly, courteous rabbi in your geographic area, please contact me at: www.half-jewish.net I run the Half-Jewish Network, an international organization for adult children of intermarriage -- while our concerns are somewhat different from those of converts, we share with them many experiences of rejection from older members of the Jewish establishment, who were raised in an era when Judaism was very excluding. I'd be happy to help you find a welcoming Jewish community. Cordially, Robin Margolis
It is the end of the two state solution and the beginning of the three state solution. Stay tuned for the four state solution and then the five state solution and then...
One of the most pathetic of situations is for a people to believe their own propaganda. Converts to Judaism fully accepted as Jews ? I do not think so! Just like me being an American citizen of Greek birth; a first generation naturalized American citizen. The first thing I am asked every day after being in the USA for 51 years is "WHERE ARE YOU FROM ?" And when I ask "how do you know I am not from here?", the response is always "from your foreign accent"! When this happens always I feel like striking back by saying "because I know four different kinds of Greek (Homeric, Classical, Hellenistic, and Modern), plus Latin, English, French, Italian, and Arabic". Of course, I do not say this because I do not want to be thought of as a rude person. So, I just smile and accept my "otherness". And, I did try once to become a Jew, but that unsmiling, humorless, West Los Angeles-Santa Monica Rabbi rejected me saying he was not convinced my request was based on true theological conviction.
Rosen's columns have become totally irrelevant in this past week of earth-shaking change. Perhaps another format, and a higher ranking position for Rosen in the seats of real power in the USofA?
"In a time of war, poverty, terror, environmental destruction and radical social upheaval, people asking the basic question of what it means to be a Jew and a human being " I wish some Jew would explain this to us human beings - especially your "G_d-given rights" and the "Chosen People" thing. Maybe Conrad Black will tell us.
The narrow-mindedness displayed in this discussion saddens me. Those who are not shomer shabbat lose out on the beauty and meaning of the observance, but are still Jews. Let's not become like the Christians - with sects ranging from Catholics to Mormons, or the MOslems, with blood still being split over theological conflicts dating back to Mohammed.
Dave hit the nail on the head. The main cause of people dropping out of the Jewish community and religion, is the cost. Those who can't afford it simply drop out and melt away. And it's a fair percentage each generation. It also the reason why so many of the newly rich, discover they have Jewish roots, and reestablish them. Since your total number of ancestors by the nth generation back, is 2**(n + 1) - 2, your chances of finding a Jewish ancestor are fairly good, for n within geneological record-keeping range. Madelyn Albright comes immediately to mind. Also, a lot of the newly rich convert to Reform Judaism and join the Jewish community anyways, whether they can find Jewish roots in their family tree or not. In America, the Reform Jewish community has become an upper-middle-to-upper class social club where people drop in when they are making money and drop out when they are not. Ancestry is secondary to solvency.
"Of course it is wonderful being born by a Jewish mother, as the only real way to being accepted as a Jew..." Converts are, by Jewish law, every bit the Jew as those born to a Jewish mother. I'm surprised you don't know that.
Would you believe it i was told by a conservative Rabbi to drive to the synagouge on Shabbat
Rabbi Neil Gillman(Conservative Rabbi)has said that there is no differnce in paraxis between the average Conservative Jew and Reform Jew. An that C judaism is not an halachic movement. By en large most of C Jews are not Shomer shabbat or observe Kashrut! Rabbi Ismar Schorsch and Rabbi Jerome Epstein (Conservative rabbis)have complained that their most commited are leaving Conservative Judaism for Orthodox Judaism. C judaism is hurting becvause the most commited are leaving for Orthodox and most are leaving for Reform or reconstructionist Judaism or renewal
Matt, a 4,000 year old tradition is broad enough to find almost anything you want politically. For Judaism's skepticism of "Big government," see Samuel's speech to B'nai Yisrael when they demanded a king. Rabbi Hillel's admonition "do not do unto others what is hateful to you" is the essence of libertarian thought--if you wouldn't put a gun to someone's head yourself to demand something, is it right to vote for a government policy so that the government will put the gun to the head for you? And where in the Torah, broadly conceived, does it say that a SECULAR government should impose on the people? Tzedakah is required by Jewish law and tradition, but supporting socialistic government initiatives is not. Anyway, I didn't say that rabbis should preach libertarianism, I said they shouldn't preach leftist politics, which is no more or less supported by the Torah than libertarian politics.
"Judaism is a PEOPLE" Wrong. Judaism is a religion Jews (the Jewish People) are a nation, some living in Israel, the others in the diaspora.
I know a lot of non-Orthodox politically conservative and libertarian Jews, especially men. They are totally turned off by the fact that they can`t go to synagogue or Jewish events without having leftist politics preached to them. What does the good rabbi have to say to them? Find me justification for libertarianism in the Torah. It's not there, that's why you won't hear the Rabbi's preaching it.
Philo, your problem is with G*d and His Word. G*d chose the Jewish People and He also chooses individual non-Jews when He draws them to the Jewish Messiah and they are grafted into the Jewish People. Have you ever read a Bible and does not Isra'el have the right of self defense like other people do? Michael
Susan, if over 80% of Jews dont subscribe to the Orthodox stream. Then Orthodox simply isnt Judaism. Not all of Judaism anyway. Judaism is a PEOPLE. If the vast majorty of this people dont subscribe to a belief then the belief isnt representative of the people.
I think maybe you've got it backwards. You said: Orthodox Judaism isnt able to meet the needs of most Jews. Consider this: maybe most Jews are not able to meet the standards of Orthodox Judaism and look for easier sources of spiritual satisfaction with less effort, less commitment, less time to do and to learn.
Judahism is what Christ lived. And more and more Christians are acknowledging the Sabbath He [Christ/Messiah]observed. Jews and Christians have much to learn from one another. The spirit of unity is upon us and we can magnify our praise to the Holy One of Israel! Hallelu Yah!!! He is good and His Love endures forever!!!
You're confusing moral worth with market worth. One's market worth is approximately equal to one's marginal productivity. In a market economy, no one is going to pay you more than your marginal productivity, because that means they'd lose money on you. If they pay you much less than that productivity, you'll find another employer. English doesn't have anything to do with cleaning bathrooms, but it is easier for an English-speaking employer to communicate with English-speaking workers, so they are worth more to him. Please, please, read some basic economics books, written by liberals or conservatives, to understand how a market economy functions.
Tell me what difference you think there is between a hotel worker who is "worth" $7 vs $10...and try explaining why the CEO of that hotel chain is "worth" $12.5 million. Because they work harder? Because they speak English? What does speaking English have to do with making beds and cleaning bathrooms? Would YOU do that for $7/hour? I work hard, speak English, have a masters degree, am quite skilled at what I do, and apparently I am "only" worth $40K. Getting into the issue of what people are worth is a little too much like playing god, when there are so many inconsistencies. People are worth whatever it takes to at least provide a sustainable and dignified life.
Orthodox Judaism isnt able to meet the needs of most Jews. Orthodox Judaism doesnt represent the whole of God's Tora. Orthodox is simply one of many Jewish "streams" decorating Jewish history. (The Haredim are a SECT, and not a form of Judaism.) Any form of Judaism that cant address the needs of ALL JEWS, isnt the sea of wisdom that Judaism comprises, but only a stream flowing toward it.
Zody, You have your stats wrong. Conservative Jews are keeping kosher in larger numbers than before. In addition the Movement is doing extraordinary activities in the area of outreach to non-Jewish partners in an effort of encouraging conversion. Two major efforts at outreach, KERUV and now EDUD are reaping great responses and participation. The Conservative Movement needs to define who they are and what they stand for and then JUST BE THAT.
Being "chosen": the yoke is easy, the burden light. There is only one God. But God has 70 nations. All of God's nations are "chosen" to be who they are. Cultures are very different from eachother, with different strenghts and weaknesses. God wants diversity, and for nations to assert their own distinctive identities. Jews need to be themselves, and to know God chooses them to be the way they are.
Of course it is wonderful being born by a Jewish mother, as the only real way to being accepted as a Jew and therefore a "chosen person" by God. It is very nice, of course, if your father was also Jewish. Beware of matriarchal cultures bearing gifts, as we should say in Greece. But, this allegedly by divine acceptance state of being "chosen", is a very heavy burden with many serious challenges, or problems, attached to it. For example, if you are not very careful it may cause you to act like an arrogant jerk, and even make you a murderer of your fellow semitic first cousins; requiring of course that they strike back, which means that you have to strike back, causing them to strike back , the cycle going on in perpetuity - forever. Respectfully I recommend that Judaism finally rejects the concept of "The Chosen", eliminating the troublesome racist thing that should not be an element of a great religion. This rejection will also help us Christians, members of that offshoot of Judaism.
Howard is right the Conservative movement has drifted towards the Reconsrtuctionist movement. The percentage of Conservative Jews that are shomer Shabbat or keep kashrut by Conservative standards is low! Most of the more commited Conservative jes are now embaracing Orthodox Judaism. The C movement does not care about them and is more interested in those that defect to Reform Judaism
You and your wife toooo late. When the Europe already post Christian, and evrebody laph at the Jesus story written from Dionisius adventures you now in. Why not Buddism. Oooo they are so boring with those chants and Dalai Lama mumbling.
Market salaries approximate marginal productivity, as any basic economics textbook will tell you. If you raise wages to $10, in the long run employers aren't going to hire the people they think are now worth $7, they will hire people who are worth around $10--who are a bit more skilled, speak better English, or what have you. If you want to help the poor, you can do it be increasing their skills and thus their productivity. Artificially trying to raise their wages won't help. What if someone told your employer that from now one he has to pay all his workers 50% more? Do you think you'd be the one to get hired?
David, try feeding your family and paying rent (and forget about health insurance) on $7/hour. Then maybe you'll understand what the living wage campaign is all about - the dignity to not have to work 3 jobs to make ends meet. We're not talking about unskilled teens working at fast food joints, it's about men and women who have dedicated their lives to the service industry (among other places) and are seeking the respect they deserve.
Dear Rabbi Brous, Your response to Howard?s question from L.A. reminded me of the story of Rabbi Hillel. Hillel was approached by a pagan and promised to convert to Judaism provided that Hillel could recite the whole of Torah while standing on one leg. In response Hillel said: ?What is hateful to you, do not to others. That is the entire Torah and the rest is commentary. Go and learn it?. I am a Muslim and therefore believe that Judaism is one of the foundations of my religion and the Golden Rule as articulated by Rabbi Hillel fits well within my tradition. Best Regards, Abdullah Naples, Florida
Sure a service in Hebrew is boring if you don't know the language. Every ortho 9 year old kid can read Torah Hebrew well, and many are fluent in modern Hebrew, because they go to Jewish day schools. The parents value Hebrew and make sure their kids learn it fluently because their clergy impress upon them the importance of it. I see you live in So. Florida. You should check out Aish Ha Torah on a Saturday morning (aish.com , and then link to the So. Fla. branch.) Most of the congregants are in their 20s-40s, with families. They have prayer books in English and Hebrew and a display as to what page they are on at a particular moment in the prayer book. Also, they are very hospitable and can invite you to a shabbos meal. And I dare say that notwithstanding your misinformed comment about orthodox garb, most of the congregants are stylishly dressed in designer clothes and are professionals like doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.
I couldn't agree with you more. You are obviously a learned person, who also has the right vision for a right future. Good religion and good politics are inseparable. As you say, it's only a matter of setting priorities... but first we must create the proper framework in which to facilitate the fantastic change that the world requires... that's Moshiach's job. G-d's job is to create Moshiach. Everyone else's job is to be the instruments of change. Moshiach loves and supports women Rabbi's and greatly admires YOU, Rabbi Brous.
The Rabbi criticizes the Orthodox for not being at the forefront of "living wage campaigns," which mean campaigns to force employers to pay their wages higher than market rates. Any decent economist will tell you that forcing wages above market levels reduces opportunities for those with the least skills, and increases unemployment. The conflation of nonsensical economic nonsense with "Judaism" is a reflection of the tendency of reform and some conservative leaders to identify Judaism with political ideology, not apolitical works for "social justice" (and why do we need the modifier "social" before "justice?") I know a lot of non-Orthodox politically conservative and libertarian Jews, especially men. They are totally turned off by the fact that they can't go to synagogue or Jewish events without having leftist politics preached to them. What does the good rabbi have to say to them?
Perhaps Jewish groups would do better with young Jews if they were not so ambivalent about those with a non-Jewish parent. Half the young Jews I know are "mixed" and they are well aware that they are not considered real Jews by many who are religiously-affiliated. We can continue to drive them away or we can welcome them to the club.
George: "My wife just left (traditional) Judaism for Christianity. .. My wife liked the Christian modern music, the LCD projection TV, the guitars. The nice stories". Well, Reform Judaism has "modern music, LCD projection TV, guitars, and nice stories" too. What is it that Evangelical Christianity has that Reform Judaism doesnt? BELIEF IN GOD!
If there is no God, then Judaism isnt special. If Judaism isnt special, then there is no important reason to struggle to preserve it. But God is. The task of the 21st-century Jew is to describe God and engage God in ways that are relevant to us now. We have clearly outgrown the language and social strategies of our Medieval heritage. Things that made much sense then, make less sense now. God is beyond time and space, and is just as present now as God was then. But we must apply Tora to new circumstances to sanctify our 21st-century experiences, just like our parents of antiquity applied Tora to sanctify their experiences. Halakha is a tool God gives us to sanctify our freewill choices with Gods presence.
Rabbi Brous is admirable but engages a "nonorganized" Jews. The Rabbi eschews "institutions" like her own Masorti stream, to engage the public at large. Thats fine. But without social structure, what defines a Jew? Is a Nonjewish atheist who joins her social justice organization a Jew? Is anyone who does social justice anywhere a Jew? Etc. If there is no structure, then there are no borders. If there are no borders, then there are no definitions. If there are no definitions, then there are no Jews. Unless Rabbi Brous has some criterion that she hasnt yet mentioned, her approach to Judaism seems shortsighted, to say the least. That criticism doesnt take away from the good she does now. There is a need to reach unstructured Jews and to apply Judaism to 21st-century realities.
Man, you are one sad self hating Jew.Why should you expect to feel welcomed and comfortable, understanding and participatory at a service that you didn't appropriately select for your needs at a shul you choose to drop into once or twice a year? Without being learned in any form of Hebrew reading, prepared in the correography of the service or even the least bit practiced you expect to be entertained, plugged in and turned on. Boy have you missed the boat. The ipod generation is not all it is cracked up to be. A 5767 year old tradition has much to offer its people. How dare you show little compassion for your fellow Jew, (smelly or not), who chooses to come to services and participate in a meaningful way. Try an IKAR service. The people certainly smell good,(apparently something that is very meaningful to you since you mentioned it twice) it is youthful, lively, spirited and meaningful for people who choose to make it part of their routine.
My wife just left Judaism for Christianity. In my last Yom Kippur, all the 90 year old smelly men with bad breath and oxygen tanks were having a great time inside the Shul. The scene was ugly, smelly, boring, in Hebrew, and took forever. Every kid who had even the least amount of independence was playing outside in the gardens. So were half the moms, who feared that a 8 hour service might create crisis. The service was long. The Hebrew parts might as well have been in Chinese or Korean. My best friend has spend 15 years in Israel in Alliyah and he tells me that Hebrew is so hard he still sounds like a retarded person in Israel. He is a graduate of Columbia University in NY. The Sidur only said "God is great" 50,000 times. There were no interesting stories. I wanted to grab the Rabbi and show him all the people outside: his failure. All the youth were outside. Now my wife liked the Christian modern music, the LCD projection TV, the guitars. The nice stories about Jesus helelping out and all that. Jews have first and foremost a marketing problem. Their songs are 5,000 years old. The gutural ugly obscure tunes are hard to follow. The leaders are old and ugly. Hebrew makes one feel like an outsider. Separating men and women is not natural and my wife hated that. If I insisted that my kids go to temple now they would spit in my face. I still go and sit in bored dismay. The Rabbi thinks that todays (iPod) youth will sit through 7 hours of Chinese/Korean mumbling and that a 30 minute English story will keep them there. When are the leaders of Jewish religion going to understand they missed the boat? We need those Jewish billionaires to fund an attractive service, put it in English on the Internet. Also put it in the language of each country, like French, Spanish, etc. Why are we losing the youth? Because the language is hard, the service long and boring, and the message small. And don't tell me the Lubabich are doing a come back. If you expect the future Jewish kids to dress in those ridicuolus black outfits and look like Harry Potter's ugly unshaven smelly giant you are missing the point. People don't want to be told they cannot drive on Saturday. People want to be entertained. No entertainment = no future = no money to keep Jewish beauty alive. So far the only thin that has kept Jews together is antisemitism! Without it we would have all dissapeared like the Jews that went to China, who were just swallowed by the accepting Chinese.
Clearly Rabbi Brous is a traditional Conservative observant Rabbi. It is beyond comprehension why some need to cast aspersions and illicit negative innuendo toward a woman who is compelling, brilliant, observant, knowledgeable and increasing awareness about social action and gemilut hasadim. When Jews stop hating other Jews and begin to reach out in love and understanding, surely this will signal the coming of the Messiah. Chaver, YOU have a whole lot of work to do!
Howard, for someone who spends so much effort ranting on this website - per your own fervent proclamations, wouldn't your time be better spent studying torah?
Howard, the places you mention in Los Angeles are fine places to learn an Orthodox approach to halakha. Unlike R. Brous and some others in LA their learning is like a tree without roots, because they show no concern for anyone outside of the world of Orthodox Jews. For some of us, we want a broader approach to learning as well as seeig the mitvot concerning one's hired worker as equal to worrying about whether or not to trust a shatnez certification. I am also not welcome there, since I am gay and do not accept the Orthodox interpretation of VaYikra.
Nachon, I agree completely. Yair
Did anyone sarcastically using the above term ever hear of the story of Noah and the Ark? It seems to me that saving non-human life was a priority in the eyes of God. Most likley it still is. Unfortunatley, Judaism and the other religions have distorted a naturally inclined world-view into a human-centric one in which the natural world is simply a resource to meet our lower urges. What Rabbi Brous and others like her are doing is simply bringing some original spirtuality back to Judaism....something which evaporated from its essence many hundreds or even thousands of years ago. We should all be blessing her for her efforts.
i think the state of Israel should be for very religious and others.In every country at least iniEurope people are living together without all this bla-bla-bla.one should think about the 10 commandmends,and a person is no less in my eyes,if he doesnt puy his tfillim on.much more to be a "mensch"and I think the thorastudents should do some work too.perhaps in hospitals and perhaps they will get better on.
I've looked at many of the books written at making Torah accessible to the tinokei she'nishba. All have serious drawbacks. Some aren't quite pious. Some, like the Artscroll library, have little to say to the college-educated Jew. Soloveitchik is advanced. N. Leibowitz presupposes a commitment to Torah. Steinsaltz is mystical. Many use baby-talk. Y. Leibowitz is far-out. The "19 Letters"--difficult. R' Jonathan Sacks--maybe. Best tho is R' Matis Weinberg's "Frameworks." Too bad he got smeared by persons unknown and unreliable, somewhat like John Kerry. Maybe that's a vote in his favor.
It is wonderful you are observing the mitzvot and I applaud your social activism. But the simple real world reality is that very few conservative Jews under age 50 or 60 are regularly putting on tefillin or doing serious Jewish learning. Indeed, if the conservative clergy taught and created a conservative culture of scholarship and learning and growth, there'd be more than 76 Schechter schools in N. America (because the parents would value sending their kids to them), and you wouldn't have a 37% marryout rate. What you are saying sounds nice but it is sadly inconsistent with the reality.
Not once in my first 30 years did a conserative Jew tell me he/she couldn't meet me for something because he/she was going to a weekly parsha shiur. I raise these examples not to knock conservative Jews but to express that in this context, the conservative clergy need to reevalute how they educate their members. The conserv. clergy has no business being labor organizers, politicians, etc. when their members are so lacking in Jewish education, and given the out of control non-ortho intermarriage rate. When your own house is on fire, you need to deal with it first.
I don't assume that "Jews who care deeply about poverty, war and disease are [per se] necessarily not serious Torah observant Jews." But what I did see from living my first 30+ years as non-ortho is that the CONSERVATIVE AND REFORM CLERGY do not teach their congregants to become serious Torah observant Jews. I saw this when I went to conservative shuls where they served bread but did not have washing vessels to say al natilas yadayim, and none of the congregants complained. I saw this when during my first 30 years no conservative or reform Jew, EVER, told me he/she could not eat with me at a treif restaurant. I see this when there are only 76 Conserv. Schecter day schools in all of N. America, whereas there are probably more Jewish ortho day school kids in Brooklyn alone. I see this when there are no conservative and reform kollels for adults to study Torah, anywhere. I see this from the 37% conserv. marryout rate versus 3% for self-ID'd orthos. CONT'D
I am not Orthodox, but I daven, lay tefillin, study Torah, teach the b'nei mitzvah students at my shul to leyn Torah and haftarah, keep kosher, etc., etc. Just like lots of Conservative Jews. AND... I believe that because I do these things, I MUST pursue justice (tzedek, tzedek tierdof) through social action. And by the way, it's not all "save the whales" stuff, but real situations in which human beings - no less G-d's children than you or I - are suffering. In my mind, and in the minds of lots of devoutly religious (Ortho and otherwise) Jews, our religious observance does not end with ma'ariv prayers or time in the beit midrash. It must infuse everything, and we cannot sit idly by while people are being starved, killed, sold in to slavery, etc. It's not about being "liberal," but about being responsible and not opting for easy, self-absorbed Torah. We are either a light to the nations, or not. We have a job to do. Kol tuv, Yair
Are we all reading the same responses from Rabbi Brous? This has become a reply chain pitting Social Justice against Torah. If we read the article clearly, Brous states that the source of her discomfort comes from the assumption that people who are concerned about social issues in our world are often assumed to be less interested in the study of Torah and observance of Judaism. She rejects that assumption. Howard, before you make character judgements on Brous, you may want to research just how much of her time is spent on speaking and guiding her community to understand that an act of social justice does not define one's Judaism. Instead, the intense study, and learning of Torah will help guide a person to be a responsible human being in the world. So the ortho communities you are describing as focusing on Torah study are not much different than IKAR. The "save the whale activism" crowd may just be getting the inspiration to impact the world from the very same Torah you read.
Judaism is a full-time 24/7 endeavor even without liberal activism. Those that confuse liberalism with Judaism short-change the whole world. Jews that put Torah Judaism FIRST still make time to pursue justice for all nations, even incrementally, will still be there generations from now to continue doing so. THIS is fixing the world. Jews that pursue liberal activism and not Judaism as their religion won't be there in future generations to finish the job. A very short-sighted approach.
In all these discussions about the alienation of young people from Judaism, there is silence about the most significant issue: money. Being actively Jewish, whether Modern Orthodox, Conserv. or Reform, in today's world is extremely expensive with synagogue dues, day schools, camps, charity, let alone the price of houses in "Jewish" neighborhoods. It is easier for young people, especially those with kids, to put off their Jewish communal activities for some vague later date when they can more "afford" to be part of the community. Even worse for many is to have their relative lack of income exposed before a community where it is assumed that everyone thirty year old earns $200,000 or has rich parents.
Spirituality can not be found via a rabbinical (sic!!) guru. Rabbis are like children they may be seen but should never be heard (and certainly not listened to). It is a very weak Jewry that needs instruction on how to obtain a transcendant Judaism using a human agent.
She wouldn't associate with the Conservative movement and call herself "rabbi". She would know that social and political activism must be within the framework of Halacha, and she is clearly not.
As someone familiar with IKAR and Rabbi Brous, I can attest to her devotion to the items on Howard's list: "Torah study, shabbos, kashrus, tefillin, daily prayer etc." The point is that none of these are incompatible with social and political activism - indeed, Rabbi Brous would argue, Jewish practice, properly understood, can and must be linked to social justice work in the world.
it is not the leftist political activism in reform and conserv that is the problem as much as the lack of Torah observance and Jewish education, and the SUBSTITUTION of a political agenda for those things. Plenty of orthos have political agendas of varying sorts, but they also have shabbos, kashrus, daily prayer, tefillin, torah study, and they don't sustitute the politics for any of those other things.
Fighting for the oppressed (at least for those you think are oppressed) and politicial activism are just that-- social activism. But social activism does not equal judaism. Was the labor leader Cesar Chavez practicing Judaism by leading the farm workers? Was MLK practicing Judaism? No & no. Judaism requires Torah observance. Political activism is not a substitute for Torah study, shabbos, kashrus, tefillin, daily prayer etc.
Howard, Isn't it laudable though that lots of Jews who are actually Jewishly literate want to engage in social change? Can we really be an "ohr l'goyim" if we sit in a self-constructed shtetl of Jewish learning? Isn't that akin to a physician who has the skill and motivation to help sick people, but who would rather continue taking courses at University instead, because they are interesting? Just a thought. Your point about the need for broad and deep Jewish learning in Non-O environments (not so much Conservative, but especially Reform) is well taken though, and largely correct. Kol tuv, Yair
Howard, if you haven't learned that saving the whales, fighting for the oppressed and working for political change and social and economic justice is Torah as important as kashrut, then you've been wasting your time, and your learning is for naught.
Perhaps it is because outside of orthodoxy, many of the clergy, like Ms. Brous, devote huge chunks of their time to left wing social advocacy instead of to Torah. Fortunately in LA we have groups like Aish Ha Torah, Chabad, Jewish Learning Exchange (JLE), Helkeinu, etc., who are committed to teaching young Jews the basics of Judaism, like shabbos and kashrus, not left wing save the whales activism
It is refreshing and motivating to read a bit of your vision for what Judaism can offer to both Jews and all the world's inhabitants. Social justice has been a central element of Reform Judaism and yet statistics confirm America's younger Jewish population has not felt compelled to be a part of the organized Jewish community. What has been missing in previous calls for Jewish activism in social justice? And, as social justice transcends religious lines, what makes the social activism of which you speak a uniquely Jewish endeavor?