Mitzvah and autonomy: The oxymoron of Bronstein, Herbert Tikkun; Jul/Aug 1999; 14, 4; Ethnic NewsWatch pg. 41

REFORM JUDAISM Mitzvah and Autonomy

The Oxymoron of Reform Judaism

Herbert Bronstein

o one knowledgeable about Judaism will deny that the terms "Torah" and "mitzvah" N are central to its lexicon, or their role in defining the relationship between God and the community of , the Covenant (B'rit) This interrelated cluster of terms (Torah, mitzvah, b'rit) implies a spiritual mindset that assumes an authority which transcends the individual ego and personal choice, fostering a sense of o bligation to an "Other" beyond the individual self. Torah, mitzvah, and b 'rit, therefore, imply not only a strong sense of obligation to God, but, since God's covenant is with the community of Israel, a communal consciousness as well, a sense of "we" which transcends the individual self. Yet the very opposite of this Judaic mindset has risen to and consistent, and to assert that our actions need not the position of a central credo, if not defining mark, of always begin with our own impulses." Though he never Reform Judaism: the principle of autonomy, personal used the word "authority," at least some degree of amhoriry choice in matters of religious practice. "Autonomy" has is implied by his words. become a "given" of Reform Judaism, a litmus test for We need to follow up on the tension Yoffie hinted at. Reform Jewish doctrinal acceptability. Although little else is WThy should we be afraid to subject autonomy as a religious authoritative in Reform Judaism, without at least giving lip doctrine to as thorough a critique as Reform Jews pride service to the authority of autonomy, one might be consid­ themselves in applying to any other doctrine? Why not con­ ered "outside the pale" of Reform theology. sider it in balance with other religious values which might Increasingly, there has been widespread unease within impose upon personal autonomy limitations beneficial to the Reform community over the tension between autonomy the community and perhaps to personal growth as well? on the one side and the historic Judaic sense of obligation Autonomy is a doctrine salutary for Judaism, for religion, (chovah) to a transcendent authority beyond the self and its and for human well-being, in my view, only if we understand individual choices on the other. This tension was already autonomy as a choice against idols, a modality of autonomy reflected in the opening address Eric Yoffie made as rooted deeply in the Jewish tradition. president-elect of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Atlanta 1995 ). "My goal, " he said, "is a Obligation and Authority movement which is thoroughly Reform ... grounded in the n traditional societies. however else the "self" was con­ principles of autonomy and pluralism." At the same time, I ceived, it was constituted first by a web of relationships however, Yoffie called for "a movement also willing embedded in the ongoing life of a community. This web to talk of obligations, to call for observance that is regular included a relation between the self and a transcendent wholeness beyond the atomistic individual, whether a Herbert Bronstein is senior scholar at North Shore Congregation world-soul, a web of life, or a life process. In primordial Isra el in Glencoe, Illinois. where he served as senior rabbi/or a religious traditions, self-fulfillment was realized by the iden­ quarter of a century. He is editor of a best-selling haggadah and tification of the individual self with this purpose or reality Five Scrolls for the Jewish Festival. beyond the self.

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In contrast, in our time the individual self is thought of the participants themselves-with a sententiously pro­ as a cluster of claims of individual rights and privileges (see, claimed dictum that seems to quell all and every objection: for example, Charles Taylor's book, The Sources of the Sel/J. "This is my personal choice; you do what you want, I do Self-fulfillment, it follows, is viewed as fulfillment through what I want, and who is to judge me?" one's own individual preferential pursuits on behalf of one's "Freedom" is the emblematic blazon of the United individual self. The pride of place that Reform Judaism States, and it is thus not surprising that too today gives to autonomy as per- have embraced freedom as the key sonal choice reflects this contem­ to Judaism. Jews today, for exam­ porary concept of the self. The scriptural text does ple, speak of both Chanukah and Indeed, many a Reform Jew not say ((Let my people go Passover as "Festivals of who is perturbed by the notion that Freedom." But the scriptural text 11 Reform Judaism might teach any does not say "Let my people go that they may be /ree1 set of requirements based on reli­ that they may be free," but rather gious obligation might be surprised but rather ((Let my people go "Let my people go that they may to learn that the doctrine of auton­ 11 serve me." The divine call is not to omy initially came into liberal that they may serve me. freedom per se but away from Jewish thinking heavily weighted servitude to Pharaoh (a god) to the with a sense of obligation to a moral law that is universal service of God. The service of God necessarily implies a and beyond the self. The philosopher who had the most sense of obligation and duties as well as autonomy-all are influence on exponents of Reform Judaism in this respect choices against the service to idols. was Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Kant admirably articu­ lated the essence of the Enlightenment as a morally princi­ Intellectual Credibility pled movement which was to struggle against the ow that the Enlightenment has reached its end, is oppressive rule of others, particularly institutions and Nautonomy based on reason still an intellectually credi­ power structures, over individual thoughts, wills, and ble position in our time? One crucial aspect of modernity actions. For Kam, autonomy was based on the premise that, which Reform embraced is the scientific approach which through reason, the individual person would discover a endeavors to establish factual verity about the material moral law applicable everywhere and equally to the behav­ dimension of existence. Through such a scientific approach ior of all people; it followed for Kant that the individual to the study of history and the social life of human beings, would then become morally obligated to that universal law. we have become aware of how social, economic, political, Just as in Kant, so in early Reform Judaism, autonomy and and cultural influences on Judaism over the course of time morality in the religious sense were linked indissolubly to a have affected Jewish religious practice. But now we must strong sense of obligation. apply the same critical methods to such principles as auton­ Especially because of the totalitarianism of our century omy, showing how such principles can be products equally and the ongoing struggle for freedom and human rights, of historical forces and of horizons. Kant's formulation of autonomy and morality still resonates In his time, Kant, believing that freedom was an strongly with us. European Jews of the nineteenth century attribute of reason, believed that reason could rise above were particularly enthusiastic about Kant's clarion call to the pressure of events and material circumstances in which autonomy, bound up as they were with their own emanci­ we live. We too still must and do expect moral choices of pation into the civil, social, and economic order. Because people. We know, however, that social and cultural condi­ the link between reason, autonomy, and morality was at the tions, our own emotions, or group psychology all affect our very core of what the Enlightenment called "civilization," thinking, our ideas, our reasoning. We now have a huge Reform Jewish advocates could present Judaism as among body of documentation, particularly from the Nazi period, the most rational, enlightened, and moral of all religions on the devilish ways that so-called reason deteriorates into and therefore worthy of a place in progressive Western soci­ rationalization for the most despicable of purposes. ety. It is no wonder that many educated German Jews Further, through depth psychology, we have become aware taught Kant to their children as if it were catechism. of the role of the unconscious in these rationalizations. As a How different the situation is today. Our people do not result, the notion of a sure bond between reason and auton­ live in an overly repressive, morally forbidding, or socially omy has been discredited. The idea of a free, untrammeled, restrictive culture. On the contrary, our culture is one in above-it-all, disinterested reason, fully autonomous, has which many boast of decadent behavior. In the most sensa­ been revealed as an illusion, not only to be distrusted but tionally prurient "wash your dirty linen in public" television methodically so, because of motivations that in large part talk shows, many regularly and passionately defend the have little to do with rationality or "noble principles" or most outrageous behavior-hurtful not only to others but to morality itself.

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Idolatry any authority beyond itself, is no exception. Sacrifice of he history of the concept of Enlightenment in Reform identity out of the desire for acceptance and inclusion falls TJudaism is itself instructive to understand autonomy as within the shadow of idolatry. It is all the more compelling, a choice against idols. In its early history in Europe as well as then, to recall that throughout Scripture, personal choice in in the twentieth century in America, Reform Judaism religious matters (what we would call the exercise of auton­ adopted the categories of the "rational," "civilized," and omy) is linked to the struggle against idolatry: "enlightened" as criteria not only for Jewish social or public Behold I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: behavior in dress and manner, but also for the content and the blessing, if you hearken to the commandments of the form of Jewish religious expression. Changes were made in Lord your God, which I command you this day, and the Jewish forms of worship, in the physical structure of the syn­ curse, if you will not hearken to the Lord your God but agogue, and in prayer texts, not only for the purpose of aes­ turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, thetic refinement, or out of greater commitment to to go after other gods. (Deut. 11:26-28) prophetic moral ideas which early Reformers considered to According to this and numerous other texts, the more be the core of Judaism. In many cases changes were made to we transcend our own self-interest, the more we are free to conform to the aesthetics and forms of Western European choose-or, using our term, the more autonomous we civility because of the drive for Jewish social and economic become. As Chanoch of Alexsandrow (1798-1870), an early acceptance and advancement. A number of particular Hasidic rabbi, said: "Others gain control over you only to Jewish religious practices then considered to be embarrass­ the extent that you have a will other than God's." ing because they were "different" were radically changed or According to the faith of modernity, reason itself would eliminated in deference to the prevailing culture. Sacred inevitably bring about the spiritual and moral refinement of texts like the Kabbalah and halachic commentaries, which human beings and make us more free to choose. According had been cherished by generations of Jews, were deemed to Rabban Gamliel, the spiritual refinement of humanity "backwards," "superstitious," and "benighted" and there­ derives from the practice of mitzvot. fore to be cast aside. Modernizing Jews unconsciously absorbed the ideology Finding a Path of the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon West over the "native any years ago, as a young man, I liked to say that the East," a view that justified colonial conquest and economic M situation of many Reform Jews in the face of Reform exploitation of lands and people. Some Jewish scholars rabbinic refusal to give our people the guidance they are adopted the very words used by Western scholars used to seeking is very similar to the New Yorker cartoon in which describe the "savage" cultures of native peoples in a nursery school child looks up at her teacher and says, order to dismiss many Jewish religious practices and "Do I have to do today whatever I want to do?" texts which Jewish reformers considered noxious Judaism is a halachically structured spirituality; that accretions to the original, pure, moral, and enlightened is, a body of practices that constitute "a way of living." rational core of Judaism. Studies produced by Jews But halachah is a word that is quite foreign to liberal under the aegis of the Enlightenment and even taught Judaism, and to some spokespersons of Reform, it is in liberal rabbinic schools well into the twentieth cen­ anathema. No doubt this is because Orthodoxy has tury treated hallowed Jewish practices such as the use seized and occupied both the word and concept of the shofar, breaking the glass at a wedding, and halachah and some sectors have turned it into a static Havdalah as if they were Western scholars analyzing and oppressive regimen. Once I suggested that the new the relics of ancient barbarous superstitions. Some Reform Reform ' manual be entitled Haltchot, meaning rabbis even claimed to have "led their congregations out of "Pathways." An older rabbi reacted in sheer dismay, "It orientalism." The endeavor by German or Western Jews to sounds too much like halachah," and that, he implied, make clear-cut distinctions between themselves and their would have been totally out of the question. But we see Eastern European counterparts, describing the latter as nothing objectionable in the fact that adherents of Ostjuden (Eastern European Jews), may have been tainted Hinduism call their religion Dharma, which means "way." with the same mentality. Since Judaism itself and Jews are in And, though Buddhism is a remarkable thought-system, its fact from "the East," this was a form of unconscious Jewish founder began his foundational message at Benares not self-hate absorbed from non-Jewish, anti-Semitic, Anglo­ with his theoretical formulations on the nature of existence Saxon Western culture. or our experience of existence, but with specific authorita­ All idolatry is ultimately reducible to the worship of self, tive directions: the Eight-fold Path with which the seeker is or to an aspect of one's self no longer connected to anything taught to align himself/herself. Islam also speaks of religion beyond the self. Autonomy, when raised to the level of a not only as Islam (total self-commitment) but also Al-Din religious principle and detached from the limitations (the actual body of deeds and practices that constitute the imposed by any consideration of other religious values or of religious life). Both the rational, socially-focused aspect of

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Chinese religion and its highly individualistic mystical man­ munity would decisively balance autonomy, we would find ifestation speak of the Tao, "the path." a problem. If we are not to fall into the idolatry of the Many today, hungry for a way of life, are indeed seeking "voice of the people as the voice of God," we cannot liter­ "a way" among these very spiritualities. Their teachers do ally or easily in our current situation accept that the Jewish not say to them as those of Reform Judaism have been apt to people "will know what to do." How can we be certain that do, "You might like to choose this option or that; you might our communal choices are made more on the basis of living find this worthwhile, etc." They do not speak, as we have, of on behalf of the sovereignty of God than out of conve­ personal benefits that might accrue to the individual. In nience or lack of knowledge or other reasons that are self­ doing so, we feed the very narcissism and emphasis on per­ serving and therefore idolatrous? Considering the sonal satisfaction which so drains our common life of coher­ cataclysmic breaks that have taken place in the continuities ence and the individual soul of a purpose beyond the self. of our religious heritage in the twentieth century, and the low level of Jewish knowledge and observance among lib­ Balancing Autonomy eral Jews at present, communal decision-making is a weak hort of abandoning the principle of autonomy, what reed on which to lean in walking the path of God. Scountervailing measures can we apply to avoid a self­ One can understand this turning to community in our indulgent form of idolatry? It is the commendable anxiety situation as a source of authority. But in the absence of a of this question that I believe is behind the dis­ religious, a Torah, core to Jewish identity, this cussions among liberalJews around the question current form of Jewish identity structure has of "limits," "boundaries," and the sources of become in many ways detrimental to Jewish con­ authority in liberal Judaism itself. It is sincere tinuity in the United States. Autonomy as the grappling with this issue that has led Eugene struggle against idols can be found only in a Borowitz to speak of a Jewish covenantal, com­ covenantal community which is immersed in mzmal self. Torah, our religious heritage known and lived. If Because Dr. Borowitz is well aware of the dan - our autonomy can only be considered within a gers to human well-being everywhere of rampant communal covenantal relationship with God, anarchic individualism, as well as the breakdown then we must recall immediately that it is in Torah of "secular messianisms," he endeavors to resolve alone that Jews over the ages have found the the tension between personal choice and the divine encounter and divine guidance. One of the stance of obligation characteristic of Judaism by evoking great benefits of Torah as a way of informing autonomous the needs and aspirations of the Jewish people as a commu­ choices against idolatry is that Torah has emerged over nity with purpose and continuity. On this basis, for which many centuries in so many different cultures and climes that he is indebted to Mordecai Kaplan, he asserts that his theo­ it can become a way par excellence of testing our current logical "move" is "postmodern," a contention that we must culture, helping us to think less reactively and subserviently challenge because he ultimately comes down to the bottom­ to current culture, and to become far more critical of it. line primacy of personal autonomy: "For even in the post­ What is required is that our community regularly, as a modern vision of covenant with its strongly contextualized way of life, study Torah and practice mitzvot in a conscious view of personal individuality, each Jewish self ultimately and conscientious manner. Particularly in Reform Judaism, stands alone before God" (Choices in Modern ]eu·ish however, this is in no way a tenable practical condition at Thought) the present time. In fact, catering to current cultural values Can any system of thought be called "postmodern" and then looking for sources in our texts which seem to which gives such pride of place to a principle or construct, accord with them, much liberal Jewish scholarship and autonomy, so integral to the other elements of modernity many rabbinic sermons have been devoted to showing the such as the belief in universal progress through reason? compatibility of this or that element in the Jewish heritage Thinkers as diverse as Charles P. Taylor (The Sources of the with whatever has been the current "leading edge." They SeZ{). Roger Shattuck (Forbidden Knowledge), and, more have made current culture the standard by which Judaism popularly, John Ralston Saul (Voltaire's Bastards) have measures itself instead of using Torah as the standard to demonstrated the connection between personal autonomy which current culture should adhere. and moral relativism, with its atrophy of the sense of regard It's time to stop defining the center of Jewish life as a for other human beings and the diminution of a sense of geographic location, as some central office, as communal community, which together threaten us, to give examples, fundraising, or as the collected impulses of "autonomous" with escalating social violence, environmental deterioration, individuals, and to return to what has been the center of the and the deterioration of civility. people of Israel through the ages, our bond, our reason for Even if we took Borowitz' emphasis to be an implied being and the means and purpose of our continuity, namely, obligation to the Jewish people. so that obligation to com- Torah, our religious heritage known and lived. 0

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Jewish moral autonomy: Responses to Herbert Bronstein Yoffie, Eric H;Dorff, Elliot N;Feldman, Emanuel;Fishman, Barack Tikkun; Jul/Aug 1999; 14, 4; Ethnic NewsWatch pg. 45

REFORM JUDAISM

~-

Jewish Moral Autonomy

Responses to Herbert Bronstein

of the opportunities it represents. Let it be plainly said: Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie individualism and autonomy need not be a barrier to President of the Union ofAmerican Hebrew Congregations increased Jewish commitment. In many ways, in fact, they abbi Bronstein is correct to warn Reform Jews against enhance the search for Jewish engagement. R''rampant, anarchic individualism." He is right that the Speaking personally, I believe in a God who gave Torah principle of autonomy can easily become a cover for indif­ to the people of Israel in a process of revelation beginning at ference to Jewish practice, for the naked pursuit of self­ Sinai. But I know that the Torah in its current form is a com­ interest, and even for the embrace of immoral, decadent pilation of both divine command and human response: it is behavior. He is right that no legitimate form ofJudaism can a record of God talking to Jews and Jews talking to God. permit itself to be judged solely by the standards of con­ \X'hen I examine the writings of Torah, how then do I know temporary culture. what is divine revelation and what is human interpretation? He is right as well when he refers to the obligation of As a Reform Jew, the only option that I have is to decide Reform rabbis to give clear direction to Jews who are des­ for myself what binds me. I will study Torah and seek guid­ perately in search of guidance and meaning. When Reform ance from my rabbis and teachers, but ultimately the decision Jews ask us rabbis, as they often do, "What is expected of rests with me alone. The autonomous individual deciding for me?" it is not sufficient to respond with the language of himself or herself is both a central precept of Reform Judaism autonomy, choice, and individualism. Reform Jews do not and also an objective description of reality in American need to be told that they are autonomous individuals and Jewish life. For us and the great majority of American Jews, that they have choices; they know this already. What they there is no leader or institution with the authority to impose need to be told, in the clearest terms, is how their rabbis Torah upon us; we can only impose it on ourselves. understand the teachings and values of Torah. The burden of making such a choice is often intimidat­ But there are passages in the article which seem to imply ing, but it is also exhilarating. I cherish the freedom that my that we are in need of a Reform Halachah and that we should tradition extends to me. Indeed, that is precisely why I am a i2 urge Reform Jews to accept an external source of obligation Reform Jew. ffi and authority that will supplant individual choice. On this I realize, of course, that I am a good deal less free than ~ point, I believe that Rabbi Bronstein is wrong. Yes, Reform some might suppose. I am a product of my upbringing and CJ) iii Jews should immerse themselves in the study of Torah and my education, of my family and community. I have learned i:i the practice of mitzvot, but such behavior will not resolve the from them that nothing in Torah must be foreign to me; I CJ) Q dilemmas of autonomy to which Rabbi Bronstein refers. must study it all and try it all. And whenever I study Torah, ~ Rabbi Bronstein writes convincingly of the dangers of I am drawn toward a sense of obedience to the divine word. ~_J autonomy, and the widespread misuse of the principle. But Whenever I perform a mitzvah, I feel awe and humility in he seems insufficiently aware of its positive dimensions and the face of mystery. Whenever I am immersed in the work

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of the Jewish people, I experience, on some level at least, of the First Temple God wants us to discern the divine will the sacred energy of Sinai. A feeling of obligation over­ through arguing about how the Torah and tradition should comes me at these times, limiting my freedom, almost be applied (see, for example, J. Sanhedrin 22a). against my will. And as a Reform leader I do my best to Thus Rabbi Bronstein is right in refocusing us on the involve the members of my movement in these same experi­ Torah, but we must not do that as fundamentalists. We ences of Jewish learning and doing, hoping that this must instead understand that proper use of the Torah to involvement will shape and constrain them, just as it has govern our lives requires knowledge, methodological and shaped and constrained me. philosophical sophistication, communal debate, and, yes, But in the final analysis, I insist on freedom for myself even individual conscience. and for them. I will not forego my autonomy, and neither While I applaud the direction in which Rabbi Bronstein will they. I insist on the right to evaluate each and every and other traditionalists within Reform Judaism would take mitzvah and to accept or reject it, according to my under­ it, I think that any talk about post-denominationalism standing of Torah. Because, as anxious as I may be for the among the non-Orthodox forms of Judaism is neither desir­ advice and guidance of others, there is no coercive power in able nor real. One of the real strengths of American Judaism Jewish life that can make our Jewish decisions for us. 0 compared to that oflsrael is the pluralism that we have. Jews need to find their own ways to their heritage and to God; one size definitely does not fit all. Moreover, although sur­ Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff veys indicate that Reform and Conservative laity are not far Rector and professor of philosophy at apart in some parameters of thought and action, the institu­ the University ofJudaism in Los Angeles tions they choose to create and support are very different. s a committed Conservative Jew, it clearly pleases me Compare Conservative and Reform institutions on, for Athat Rabbi Bronstein argues against the classical example, the amount of Hebrew in services, the kashrut of Reform principle of individual autonomy and instead for a the synagogue's kitchen, and the sheer number of hours of Torah-centered approach with explicit duties. But I worry Jewish instruction. Rabbi Bronstein's call for more tradition that he has jumped from one extreme to the other. within Reform Judaism is to be lauded, but it does not rep­ Rabbi Bronstein wants us to replace individual auton­ resent in any way a post-denominational reality or ideal. 0 omy with the will of God as expressed in the Torah. But how are we to know the will of God? Even the Orthodox would tell you that we cannot sim­ Rabbi Emanuel Feldman ply read the Torah: we must, to be Jews, read it through the Editor of Tradition magazine lenses of the rabbis over the centuries. But no rabbi can be abbi Bronstein's questioning of the "authority of auton­ assured that his or her opinion is anything more than that. Romy" within Reform is an important step back from the Thus the only way that we can even hope to know God's precipice. Our people cannot afford the loss of moreJews­ will-the way that the rabbis of the Talmud devised a long this time to the self-inflicted destruction perpetrated by our time ago-is that the rabbis as a group in each generation love affair with anything that is in step with the prevailing must apply the Torah and tradition to their generation's culture. We have seen where this has led. So the Bronstein concerns. This will most often mean carrying on the tradi­ statement is courageous, helpful, and welcome. tion as it has been, but sometimes it will mean applying it Several caveats, however, are in order. To step back from in new ways, and sometimes, contrary to the Orthodox, it a precipice is instinctive; only a fool \villfully self-destructs. will even mean challenging its forms, concepts, or values, But this does not, on its own, represent a conscious intellec­ just as the rabbis of the Talmud themselves did. tual and spiritual decision. The wise man is not satisfied with Groups of people, including rabbis, can err. The Jewish a narrow escape. Instead, he turns around and sets off in a tradition therefore encourages vigorous debate among the new direction, one that leads not to the pit but to renewal. rabbis and places significant authority in the individual Are we seeing here the first movements of a new direction rabbi acting as the teacher for his or her community ( mara within Reform? The answer will come in the fullness of time. d'atra). Moreover, the laity themselves influence the content A nagging doubt, however, keeps surfacing, and I trust of Jewish law through their own customs and through their that my articulation of it will not be considered petulant. own reactions to rabbinic decrees, sometimes downright Reform, from my perspective, has historically demonstrated ignoring them. These factors in traditional Jewish law make, an inability to resist the seductiveness of Western culture. in my view, for a healthy balance of perception and power. Thus, when autonomy was king, Reform found itself on That might be logically messy and theologically unsatisfy­ that bandwagon. And now that the culture around us is re­ ing; one hankers after a clear, divine mandate. The wisdom assessing autonomy and its handmaidens of personal free­ of the Jewish tradition, though, is that we human beings are dom and rejection of authority, we find Reform stirrings in not privileged to that information, that after the destruction that direction as well.

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Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. One hopes against hope, therefore, that what we are reading here is more than just another shibboleth borrowed from the contemporary catalogue of goodies; and one prays that in another generation, when the cultural wheels of soci­ ety turn ever so slightly once again, that Reform will find the will to resist yet another bandwagon. Reform leadership would do well not to dismiss Rabbi Bronstein's words, but instead to drop anchor, and, no mat­ ter what the S\v1rling waters do, to remain fettered to certain the Kingdom of Heaven" should be rejected because it robs immovable principles. And to drop anchor means to move Jews of moral autonomy-has long since been subsumed beyond the terminology of mitzvah, Halachah, authority, and into the belief system of most American Jews. covenant-as welcome and refreshing as it is to hear such ter­ Conducting focus group discussions with U.S. Jews, I minology from Reform thinkers-into deeds like mitzvah per­ found that free choice, that birthright of individualism, is formance, observance of Shabbat holiness, intense and not perceived as being in any way a departure from histori­ regular prayer, and a return to the study of classic Jewish cal Judaism. Instead, across denominational lines, Jews see texts. To be content with words alone is to guarantee that autonomy as the intrinsic axiom of Judaism itself. As one before very long the anchors \Vill be pulled up again. Reform woman in Atlanta declared: Enough of theological cant and mantras and slogans The best part about being a Reform Jew is that it stresses that emanate from lexicons not our own. Let us use new the most important part of Judaism. It stresses free words that are old words-discipline, avodat haShem (ser­ choice. Free choice is the basis of Judaism. Who vice of G-d), study of Torah-and, using them, let us try to Maimonides was, or what little rituals people choose to live with them. And, after living with them, let us see if we perform, those are just little details. You can always pick can live by them. those up later. And if theological cant grinds to a halt, can political For this reason, the challenge which Bronstein has posed sloganeering be far behind? Perhaps the time is also to the Reform movement is even more difficult than he approaching when Reform leadership will re-assess the suggests. Orthodox-bashing that has become de rigueur in its circles. American individualism has been thoroughly coalesced A Reform Jew once told me that he would rather his into the value systems of many American Jews. Liberal Jews daughter marry a non-Jew than have her bring home a continue to worry that they not be ghettoized. In my Hasid with peat, black hat, and long black coat. As long as research I encounter Midwestern Jews, sprinkled lightly such deep anti-Jewish prejudice informs our communities, throughout a so-called "Jewish" neighborhood, worrying as long as Reform leadership aids and abets such attitudes that they may be perceived as "clannish" if the new Jewish by its Orthodox-bashing, words such as Bronstein's, while community center is built in the general proximity of their welcome, remain only words. homes. Similarly, I frequently hear accusations that Jews Perhaps Reform leadership should consider that it is work too hard for Jewish causes and not enough for non­ precisely to the Orthodox-especially to the "ultra" whip­ Jewish causes, for what one woman called the "whole world ping boys-that Reform owes a great debt. For it was this and global group." Ironically, statistical studies such as the type of Jew who historically has kept alive the concepts of 1990 National Jewish Population Survey demonstrate discipline, mitzvah, Torah study, Halachah, and covenant so resoundingly that the opposite is true: Jews today are much that Reform would have something to return to ultimately. more likely to work for non-sectarian than for Jewish causes. The next time these Jews are referred to in the most horrific Bronstein's challenge is also formidable because piety is negative stereotypes, it would be most becoming if Reform often derided in liberal American culture. Jews have been leadership would rise up to protest the name-calling and deeply affected by what Stephen L. Carter calls "the culture would express some thanks to these Jews for preserving the of disbelief," a kind of reflexive suspicion of religious devo­ sacred heritage that most Jews had tossed overboard. :J tion, leading to the idea that piety of any kind is irrational and irrelevant. Non-observance, for many American Jews, is con­ fused with modernity, because they see religiosity as tanta­ Sylvia Barack Fishman mount to backwardness and fundamentalism. Many fear Co-director of the International Research Institute on even excellent Jewish education, worrying that increased Jewish Women established at Brandeis by Hadassah knowledge levels lead to increased Jewish practice and from erbert Bronstein convincingly argues that our very thence to a fundamentalist mindset. H concept of Judaism has been transformed by sus­ This bias against Jewish education and a "too Jewish" tained intimate contact with Western values. The Kantian lifestyle creates a tragic situation. My recent research critique of historical Judaism-that the prescriptive "yoke of (continued on page 56)

RESPONSES TO HERBERT BROKSTEJN 47

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SIMPLY JEWISH (continued from page 54) TORAH OF MONEY (continued from page 55) include meditation and healing modalities within the con­ to "try to raise all decision-making regarding money to the text of congregational life. Just as every synagogue has highest Jewish ethical level." Rather than "borrowing" from a school for its children where they can study toward b'nai vendors by delaying payments, for example, the synagogue mitzvah, so every synagogue should have a school for paid its debts with a bank line of credit, and the board adults to train them in basic Jewish meditation and healing made real its policy of not excluding anyone from member­ techniques. The level of teaching and practice in these ship based on inability to pay. By enlarging its stakeholder schools would be far less intense than in the residential cen­ boundaries, the community has regained its pride. ters, but they could provide most Jews with the level of Davis concludes: "By becoming unbalanced in our con­ guidance they desire, and function as a conduit to the resi­ cern about financial obligations, we can forget the commu­ dential centers for those who desire nity aspects of belonging. And the more we forget, the more more. The teachers working in these estranged we become, which further distances us and our synagogue programs should be stu­ resources from Jewish institutions." 0 dents of the meditation masters, but need not be at the same level of spir­ Fix (continued from page 32) itual attainment. He then flew posthaste back to the White House, and Third, we must train interested made basically the same speech upon his arrival. On and psychologically qualified rabbis, Martha's Vineyard, he covered his mouth. At the White cantors, Jewish educators, and others House, he coughed. Any psychologist or, better, any cop will in the art of spiritual mentoring. The tell you that these are pretty good signs of a man telling a lie. role of a spiritual mentor is to help Nothing will change in boxing, and we go on with our people develop and maintain a per­ illusions: "Yes," we say, "it surely looked fixed to me-but sonal prayer life and meditation surely the fighters couldn't have known." Nothing will practice, and to guide people in exploring the role of the change in the Defense Department; we will fund yet divine in their lives. This is very different from pastoral another useless, pointless behemoth program. counseling, which is essentially psychotherapy with a twist We may scream "fix," "infamy," and "Blue Ribbon of Torah. Spiritual mentoring does not deal with personal Panel," but we love, or must love, the pageant-of which psychological problems except insofar as they directly the perfidy and corruption is not an unfortunate, exciseable impact ontological questions of meaning and life purpose. infection, but the motive force. 0 Spiritual mentors focus on prayer and meditation as a means for recognizing the presence of God in you, around JEWISH MORAL AUTHORITY (continued from page 47) you, as you. demonstrates that Jewish formal and informal educational Training in spiritual mentoring can be done through experiences are both critical in enabling American Jews to existing rabbinic seminaries, through the residential medi­ access their own cultural heritage. Ethnic memories fade tation centers, or through independent programs created with the passing of the generations. Spiritual questions, in specifically for that purpose. Spiritual mentors must be contrast, feel fresh to each new generation of individuals licensed and must renew their license regularly as a means facing life's existential mysteries. of protecting people from egomaniacs and messianic pre­ As an Orthodox Jew who finds profound meaning and joy tenders. Spiritual mentors could be hired by synagogues to in the demanding dailiness of Jewish living and learning, I enhance their offerings to their members, or could work hope that Herbert Bronstein convinces his readers to independently in the Jewish community, helping those who approach the concept of obligation and commandedness wish to find God's presence in their lives. earnestly and-quite literally-in good faith. However, as a If we honor Jewish meditation's demand for serious Jewish feminist, I would sound one word of concern, as commitment and support regional centers; if we then seed regards the role of women in Jewish life. Jewish feminists communities with the taste of meditation, drawing upon have struggled to insure that within our communities today, these regional centers for authenticity and depth of experi­ and within the imagined community of the past, Jewish ence; if we add meditation and healing to the agenda of the female matriarchs, heroines, and role models play meaningful synagogue, shaping programs to meet people's needs and and equitable roles. As liberal American Jews rediscover the not expecting them to commit to full meditative discipline; deep value of traditional Judaic texts and rituals, one "tradi­ if we provide those Jews who desire more with a place to tional" attitude which does not need to be revived is the ten­ learn more; and if we add spiritual mentors to our list of dency to marginalize our girls and women. Reform Judaism Jewish professionals, then the future of Jewish meditation is has led the way in bringing women to the center of Judaism, rich, for it will enrich the lives of the Jewish people who, in and bringing Judaism to the center of women's lives. This too turn, will see to its survival into the future. 0 is a precious legacy, and not one to abandon. 0

56 T!KKGN VOL. 14. No. 4

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