I am once again honored to feature the words of Paul Shaviv, a man
widely recognized for his expertise in Jewish education. He has graciously accepted my invitation to
post his response to my thoughts yesterday on what I called the spiritual
holocaust taking place among American Jewry.
Many of the points Paul makes I am in complete agreement with. I didn’t
mention them yesterday, but I have made many of these same points myself in the
past in other contexts. Some of his
points I disagree with and have in the past expressed that as well. Bearing
that in mind, Paul’s words follow.
No-one can disagree with the basic premises of yesterday’s posting
- that Judaism in the USA is being abandoned by a huge number of Jews; and that
mitzvah observance is the most positive and meaningful Jewish practice.
But the rest of the story is, I think, A LOT more complex. Some
comments:
1. When did the "abandonment of Judaism really take place? In
this generation? (ie the under40's) - or in their parents' generation? Perhaps
this generation’s apparently weak attachment is only reflecting the values (or
lack of them) in which they were brought up, and it was the previous
generations – the baby boomers and their
parents – who really gave up their Jewish practice. Those two generations were the generations
who experienced the disruptions of wartime military service, and, later, the
hippy revolutions. There was a
fascinating online article a few days ago relating how residents of Jewish old-age
homes/retirement facilities are now demanding non-kosher food. Even when kosher
options are available, if shrimp is on the menu in the other dining room....
2. Attachment to Israel may be weak today compared to the
post-1967 period. I am not sure if it’s
weaker than, say, the 1950's, when there was still strong opposition to Zionism
in mainstream Jewish organizations. There were fierce battles between Ben
Gurion and Jacob Blaustein, the President of the AJC in the early 1950's. American Jews were terrified of the claims of
Israel to the loyalty of American Jews. Ben Gurion himself was puzzled and
disillusioned by the extremely low Aliyah rates from North America. But there is another factor, which has figured
in this blog often. Let me put it simply:
Why should non-O American Jews feel anything towards Israel when
the Israeli religious leadership - with the silent approval of the Prime
Minister - keeps on telling them that they are not Jewish, they and their
Judaism are worthless ("worse than Hitler"), are not wanted in
Israel, have no legitimacy as Jews etc etc etc? Actually, to be fair, almost the same applies to Modern Orthodox
Jews....... And - even American Haredi/Yeshivish leadership is totally
ambivalent towards Israel. When the
standard Artscroll siddur has no prayer for Israel or its soldiers, the message
is clear.
3. Another factor in attitudes to traditional Judaism must be the
Orthodox/rabbinic leadership crisis. What attraction does Orthodoxy
(representing Mitzvah observance) have for the non-observant? Where to even start??? Scandal after scandal,
nonsense after nonsense, chumra after chumra. I can't even list them all.
But the net result is a growing undermining of the credibility of
Orthodoxy.
As the gap in general education between Haredim and the rest of
American Jewry widens, the credibility of Orthodoxy in the eyes of the general
community will decline further. (“A month is the time the sun takes to go round
the earth”, intoned a yeshivah-educated-only rabbi in my hearing a few months
ago. I wish him luck in impressing the
younger generation.)
4. I agree with you 100% that for the in-community crisis the
approach to individuals, as you suggest and describe, may be the best and most
effective policy.
But what about our non-Jewish neighbours? We all decry the growing anti-semitism in the
USA, and also of course in Europe. But there are actually many non-Jewish
people who have very positive feelings, and positive curiosity, about Jews,
Judaism and Israel. (Christians, Moslems, especially Ahmadiyyas, Sikhs, Hindus,
Buddhists etc) The potential to
positively engage them is immense.
Actually, this would also have significant effect in raising morale and regard for their own faith in otherwise alienated Jews. The striking impact of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in this regard is instructive.
But the sector of the Jewish community who are most qualified to reach out to the non-Jewish world -- the Orthodox - barely, if at all, speak to them! At an interfaith level, Haredim aren't interested (and cannot speak their 'language'). The Modern Orthodox mumble "The Rav’s psak, the Rav’s psak", and also refuse to talk to them. Which leaves us where, exactly? Appearing arrogant, stand-offish and altogether unfriendly. And without friends and allies.
So we need a community-wide change of strategy and attitude; in
short, a mass goodwill offensive directed at Jews and non-Jews. A pro-active reach-out campaign, crossing some
previously taboo boundaries, and proudly and sympathetically showing the world
the riches of our tradition. Do we not open our siddur (more or less) with the
prayer "May the words of Your Torah be sweet in our mouths..."? Did we ever wonder why that comes before
almost everything else that we are commanded to say?
