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| Mamdani's interfaith breakfast (JTA) |
“With Mamdani, progressive Jews are now agreeing instead
of protesting at mayor’s interfaith breakfast.”
That led me to ask the obvious question: Is it possible
to be both progressive and authentically Jewish at the same time?
For me, the answer is clear. Progressive values, as defined
by self-described ‘progressive Jews,’ are decisively not Jewish values.
This is not to say that none of those values contain any Jewish elements at
all. It is to say that the overall philosophy of progressivism has little, if
anything, to do with the values of the Torah. No matter how much the progressive
heterodox rabbis who inhabit that world insist that they do.
The Torah sets forth some very strict parameters defining
who we are, how we should act, and what kinds of behavior we must reject. Parameters
outlined in the Torah itself and interpreted by the sages of every generation.
That progressive Jews support the Mamdani agenda says far
more about their progressive values than it does about their religious values.
That said, it isn’t entirely their fault. Most of these
progressive Jews had little or no Jewish education to speak of. They know
little, if anything, about their Jewish heritage or the values of authentic
Judaism. What they do know, they tend to dismiss as archaic and irrelevant to
their lived values of universalism. The idea of Jewish exceptionalism is not
only foreign to them - it is considered evil and self-centered.
Progressive values insist on the absolute equality of man.
Differences are ignored. Differences in lifestyle – no matter how aberrant -
are celebrated as morally positive. To a progressive, sexual orientation is in
no way a factor in God’s eyes. One’s choice of same sex sexual intimacy is
viewed as just that—a choice with no inherent moral content.
This is the ‘Judaism’ of the progressive. This is how they
define it. Which is why Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, rabbi emerita of the LGBTQ+
synagogue Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, was so happy to attend the mayor’s
interfaith breakfast. There is nothing for her to disagree with him about.
What does she consider a Jewish value...
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