Reconstructing Yiddishkeit 12 Ben Weiner

Among recent attempts to define “a yearning for a more authentic way “Jewish authenticity,” I find one of being Jewish.” Here, for a move- characterization of its absence most ment founded to diminish ritual for intriguing. In an essay titled “The the sake of a socially palatable ideal- Imaginary Jew” that appeared in ism, authenticity means combating an The Nation three years ago, literary identity crisis with a dose of authorita- critic William Deresiewicz analyzed tive tradition – solidifying a tenuous the failure of contemporary Jewish core by wrapping hoary leather straps fiction to produce hard-nosed explo- around arm and head. In contrast, Jay rations of the present, and noted its Michaelson, an author and spiritual- tendency to rely instead on whimsical ity teacher, struck a cautionary note exoticism. This, he claimed, could be in the Forward last year. “Meaningful contextualized as part of a larger social authenticity isn’t about an old reli- trend. “Over the past three decades, gious form,” he wrote. “It’s about when the dense particularity of American a religious, literary or cultural form Jewish life has, outside the Orthodox speaks to the depths of what it means community, largely disappeared,” he to be human.” Advocating “a personal- contended. “American Jewish experi- ized notion of authenticity measured ence is now, by and large, simply by integrity and individual coherence,” American experience.” In other words, Michaelson also warned against the the lack of a coherent Jewish present kind of nostalgia that distorts history to serve as the basis for, among other and handicaps the present, arising, for things, a compelling novel, bespeaks instance, out of repeated screenings of an American Jewish community “beset . by a deep banality and inauthenticity.” Others have worked the issue dif- Judaisms ferently. A Reform rabbi recently Although Michaelson and the Reform explained his denomination’s growing rabbi effectively represented two embrace of Jewish practices such as primary definitions of “authentic- laying tefillin by telling me it reflects ity” – compliance with tradition and this milieu, which others might call call Yiddishkeit might others which Without milieu, this meaning. Jewish of ation cre the in involved is mass critical a which in one – “dense of particularity” phrase, Deresiewicz’s in environment, an in immersion formative of measure identity,a embedded deeply is of signs other or literature forceful in mani festing whether is, that authenticity, Such letters.” American of rank the front to them brought that virtuosity and power a “with upon drawn later distinction of source a them afforded or cradle This anti-Semitism. persistent neighborhood Jewish geneous homo the whether experience, Jewish cohesive by (or maimed) shaped were argues, he Ozick, Cynthia and Roth Philip like writers Twentieth-century seemed to be offering something more. Deresiewicz – soul the to adherence of Judaism as the evolving civilization civilization evolving the as Judaism of description Kaplan’s Mordecai of Rabbi lens the through material Jewish viewing meant approach, historical the second, The symbols. of heritage belongingclustered aroundcommon a behavior, and belief, of structures ping overlap – “Judaisms” of plurality a of spoke we Instead, normative. mately ulti as Judaism of form one any ing interrelated points. two The first was the offallacy hold stressed training a rabbi. as Reconstructionist position my also is experi This ence.” “American simply is ence” My Reconstructionist rabbinical rabbinical Reconstructionist My , “American Jewish experi Jewish “American , ------parents’ postwar generation. generation. postwar parents’ my for open wide burst which of both anti-Semitism, of barrier lingering the gated by residual communal bonds and miti though followed, grandparents English-speaking my of assimilation The 1905. in America to immigration great-grandparents’ my to eventually led that destabilization prolonged a in ushered overdetermined, largely was life Jewish where communities, tional intergenera semi-autonomous, these of implosion The Europe. medieval of the in identity, Ashkenazi stable of period extended last the in beginning trajectory a on disintegration. and coherence of moments its to ing accord history Jewish of analysis preclude an not does it “corrupt,” and “normative” like terms inapplicable render may this Though hand. at als materi sur the with and working origins roundings, our to relation in live we will, untainted of extensions being than Rather context. social of out emerges experience personal emphasizing that goes,” “anything that notion the around limits placed also it But today. of circumstances the ing confrontlatitudein own our tojustify served history.This of undulations the to response in occurred that variations demonstrating by claim “Judaisms” the proving present, the to era biblical the from progression the on centered curriculum Our people. Jewish the of I plot facets of my own existence existence own my of facets plot I kehillot (communities) ------

13 Reconstructing Ben Weiner Yiddishkeit 14 Reconstructing Ben Weiner Yiddishkeit men bunched around an outdoor “D outdoor was This an table. around bunched men young serious of group a screen: the across splashed photograph and-white black- a Vilna, in program summer a at hall lecture a in sitting was I later, as years few A period. secular prolonged a during outlet Jewish satisfying a be college,in ingYiddish todiscovering it entirely different source. I began study an from came intimation provocative more a But deny. to impossible was cohesion greater whose communities, traditional more to visits during often encompassing, more be Judaismcould buffet. Chinese a of plate crowded the on succulent, most the necessarily not and morsel, one seems Jewishness sum Zionism. Slouched in the middle, middle, the in Slouched Revisionist of Zionism. laureate the poet as Hebrew and a as fame to on went who TzviGreenberg, Uri and Singer), B. I. legendary the of brother (older Singer J. I. Warsaw, including in poets avant-garde of circle a Gang,” “ calls Bleyer Jennifer founder what of category the towardgravitated I self-expression, for opportunities of riot not unprecedented time an in same age of Coming organic. the entirely at but viable, reasonably it render enough to by life-support sustained Judaism my Ramah, Camp and school day Jewish a in raised was renewal, I Jewish of arc an into Born Di m From time to time, I grasped that that grasped I time, to time From Su Jews,” a demographic for whom whom for demographic a Jews,” m J ews havurah i Khalyastra i Magazine and sent to sent and ,” “The “The ,” dim dim - ruins of something. of ruins the in up grown had I that time, the first for really me, to occurred it and paltry, comparatively seemed Judaism Mysemi-optional authorship. of modern sake the for tradition abandoned his beingand aspirations even after shaping he had 1920s, early the in still, was that Jewishness the of totemic as instantly, almost me, struck expression his of intensity disdainful The purge. Stalinist a in later years thirty killed Markish, Peretz poet Russian-Jewish hair,dark was curly of shock beneath a ety that makes a Reform Jew put on on put Jew Reform a makes that ety anxi or desire same the of out arising – disintegration 20th-century with do to much as had have may and validity, lacked have not may lament particular this But become. we benighted more the Sinai, from are we further the that which Talmud, the declares to back stretches generations), the of decline of doctrine the present. inadequate seemingly a of traditional point vantage the from and privileged old the distortion, nostalgic of charge vulnerable Michaelson’s to statement a was Here etc.How recapturewe can thatspirit?” sermons, choirs, synagogues, our of all than emotion and depth more carries niggun “A bohemian: Jewish single young a of exhalation the 1970s, early the from a in quotation lowing fol the reading after on, later lously I parsed this epiphany meticu moreparsedthis I This is actually an ancient trope: trope: ancient an actually is This (wordless song) of an old Jew old an of song) (wordless yeridat ha-dorot yeridat Mussar manual manual (the (the - - -

the past is inherently superior. The The niggun superior. inherently is past the revelation. own its sustain to diffuse or soulless too present a as activists number spiritual a of by excoriated been have synagogue mid-century the of mons ser and choirs The past. idealized an tefillin yisrael Tending emphasize to spirituality. with “ the for characterized by a renewed enthusiasm world, Jewish progressive the in oped redevel has traditionalism of strain A T suspect that they were thicker. were they that suspect to began I but mine, than better tably inevi were past the of Judaisms the believe not do I holiness. innate not and particularity” “dense of quality, than rather quantity of authenticity an was sense, a in His, side. other the a in immersion an from resulted His Jewishness thorough literature. Yiddish of campaign short-lived) tragically (and lutionary revo the in soldier foot a but tionalist, tradi no afterwas himself, Markish all, Markish. Peretz of countenance wry the in connection esoteric such any perceive I beyond did neither core and reach, our primal a to closer ily that left corpses and and corpses left that cataclysm a of verge which the on itself language, was and culture of ity r This does not mean, however, that that however, mean, not does This ans beit-midrash pluralism, called either trans- or or trans- either called pluralism, – as the congenital worship of of worship congenital the as – of an old Jew is not necessar not is Jew old an of - den niggun o m i na of an old Jew,” along along Jew,” old an of Yiddishkeit study and Hasidic Hasidic and study tio dim sum dim nal i sm , a viscos a , Jews on on Jews klal ------Judaism with with Judaism has liberal goal re-infusing as articulated been programmatic its scene, American the of divisions ideological the against post-denominationalism, Heschel’s Abraham Rabbi Joshua by exemplified Yiddishkeit a vote, not a veto” – demonstrated a demonstrated – veto” a not vote, a has past “the – dictum famous most his and America, early-20th-century of trends intellectual and social opportunities the of out arose assimilation, identity after the ravages of science and Jewish of persistence the concern, ing overrid His America. by formed be to over was came he when but enough young Heschel, like country, old the in born was Reconstructionism, decline. constitutional a of symptom the as read and fiction Jewish current in noted Deresiewicz that of exoticism kind the exhibits so doing in and experience, Jewish the of strand alized ide this on tolean seemrather heavily does value, of much offers it although neo-traditionalism, present The elegy. heart-wrenching a obviously so not it Heschel’s of bulk the searing to contrast (in the hackneyed call book to appropriate be would It thievery. horse and let fornication alone revolution, political and erature lit Yiddish to reference a nary with engagement, spiritual transcendent of one as exclusively experience Eastern-European Jewish the portrayed What is meant is a particular particular a is meant is What d e d n u o f o h w , n a l p a K The Earth is the Lord’s the is Earth The , however, perhaps best best perhaps however, , Yiddishkeit . oeuvre , which which , ), were ), - - -

15 Reconstructing Ben Weiner Yiddishkeit 16 Reconstructing Ben Weiner Yiddishkeit eosrcins sitd rm a from own shifted Kaplan’s Reconstructionism by volunteerism. replaced soft been demands have the identity of of which crisis in a diffusion, suffering culture a for terminology exaggerated somewhat Deresiewicz’s inauthenticity,” and ity “banal into Judaism American of tion deteriora the forestall not did centers maintained. be could life Jewish of particularity dense the habitat, of where, even ecosystem in the face of the rapid loss artificial an for plans the community center, or, colloquially, “the colloquially, or, center, Jewish community the space, gathering of kind new a for proposal his in and tations, manifes secular and religious both for made room under a common umbrella Kaplan civilization, a as Judaism ing altogether. kept splintering Infrom redefin be to had people the vibrancy, its ensure to order in so, and people, Jewish the of power creative the of uct toward Judaism the divine, was a prod reached it when Even community. in place took election the that essential was it but past, the outvote could ent pres the generations), the of decline radical contrast in to process, this In relevance. porary authenticity – in the quest for contem– quest for in the authenticity and traditional and heritage personal – innovation between mediating self-consciously, change confront to Jewry American to invitation an was brazenness. democratic The advent of Jewish community community Jewish of advent The At the heart of Kaplan’s philosophy Kaplan’sphilosophy of heart the At shul with the pool,” the with formulated he yeridat ha-dorot (the ------of the the of nothing say to poetry, Yiddish of lions youngambiencethe the of or borhood neigh Jewish old the of thickness the to comparison in pale may it Though personal. or traditional, secular, gious, reli spiritual, them call we whether shards, in heritage our carry we tury, cen early-21st the of Jews liberal As meaning. Jewish creating of project the into mass critical a drawing of – particularity and density of matter a is authenticity Jewish that awareness his com and thought, of his in itself primacy munity the by inspired remain I uncertainty, and flux this of time at precisely labor my for vision a seeking rabbi a as But, spirituality. emotive for yearning a by surmounted was and century, the of flow bloody and anxious the lost in force also its of much thought his undergirded that varying positivism rationalist The widely. commitment and their literacy of self-expression, and blending the tradition for environment noncoercive a seeking were who Jews for catchall a toward thinkers free knowledgeable highly of cadre our our of font the be will sing, to delight less the not and This, own. our of Judaism particular densely a into pieces these fusing with experiment to latitude the give we ourselves where is it, understand synagogue, I as Reconstructionist pool, the own our afford to able be not Yiddishkeit. kehillah niggun , and although we may we although and , we may nonethe may we dim sum dim ------