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| Reconstructionism founder, Mordecai Kaplan (My Jewish Learning) |
This rather small denomination, founded by Mordecai Kaplan, denies the existence of God as a supernatural deity.
According to Reconstructionist theology, there is no God who performs miracles,
answers prayers, or intervenes in the affairs of man. The god they recognize
is a version of Pantheism. Which manifests in the natural world and in human experience.
And yet Ari quite forcefully suggests that our very Jewish
identity should be rooted in the values of our founding document - the Torah. I
couldn’t agree more with the arguments he makes.
Although the fact that he does not mention God should have
tipped me off, his point is still quite valid. It speaks to where the
American Jewish community currently is - and where it ought to be.
He correctly suggests that the collective hearts of the
American Jewish community are in the right place, but that the environments we
operate in are not shaped by the values that are supposed to guide us. Those
values are marginalized - pushed aside by societal pressures. He rightly blames
this sad state of affairs on what he calls the collapse of Jewish literacy,
recognizing that the only denomination where this isn’t true is Orthodoxy.
I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve said that
the reason 90% of American Jewry is in danger of dying out is due to a lack of
any real Jewish education. Rabbi Witkin clearly understands this as well. As he
puts it:
“We end up relying on vague notions of ‘Jewish values,’ without the language, context or depth of knowledge to anchor them in something real.”
And he isn’t just talking about laypeople. He’s talking about Jewish leadership! The remedy, says Rabbi Witkin:
…requires a relationship with a specific tradition, a specific people, and a specific set of obligations. Without that particularism, the work risks losing its center.
He notes that Judaism is countercultural, that it binds us
together, and that it is unapologetically grounded in obligations that connect
us to one another and to something greater than ourselves.
Considering Reconstructionism’s rejection of a supernatural
God, what could he possibly mean by ‘something greater than ourselves’? But I digress.
One of his criticisms is how the newly embraced ethic of ‘meeting people where they are’ has become the sine qua non of the current culture. In other words, we do not reject people because they fail to live up to our standards. We accept them as they are.
I have long advocated this approach to humanity. The most
prominent example of which is how we relate to people who struggle with sexuality or sexual
identity issues. But like Rabbi Witkin, I see acceptance as a floor, not a
ceiling. Here is how he puts it:
“(Somewhere) along the way, ‘meeting people where they are’ became the goal instead of the starting point. It became a ceiling, not a floor.
And so I think we have to ask: Are we actually helping people grow? Or are we just trying not to lose them?
…meaningful Jewish life requires more than self-expression. It requires substance. It requires context. It requires knowledge.
Our job as leaders isn’t just to accept where people are. It’s to invite them to where they could be.”
If we don’t do that, says Rabbi Witkin, we may be creating a
wider version of Judaism - but also a shallower one, which cannot last.
The remedy is to return to our founding and defining document,
the Torah. While at the same time, engaging thoughtfully with the world around
us. Using its many tools to help us live in the modern world while remaining
firm in our core beliefs and principles.
Indeed, I have consistently been preaching these values.
They are the essence of what Judaism is all about. It is sad, however, that the
wisdom offered by this Reconstructionist rabbi omits the most important
component of our belief system: that there is a God in this world who gave us
the very Torah he says we should follow.
