The Reconstructionist

The Reconstructionist Volume 68, Number 2, Spring 2004 Table of Contents 2 From the Editor Challenges and Responses 4 Rachel Adler, “To Live Outside the Law You Must Be Honest” — Boundaries, Borderlands and the Ethics of Cultural Negotiation 16 Ilan Peleg, Israel as “Jewish and Democratic” — Revising the Sacred Formula 26 David Fox Sandmel, Who Is Israel? 34 Shaul Magid, Rainbow Hasidism in America — The Maturation of Jewish Renewal, a review essay of Wrapped in a Holy Flame: The Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi 61 Ellen Bernstein, Rediscovering Israel 65 Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, Once Upon a Time — The Rabbi as Storyteller 70 Dayle A. Friedman, Everything .I Need to Know I Learned in the Nursing Home — Torah for Confronting Fragility and Mortality

Book Reviews 82 Seth Goldstein, Membership, Identity and Status, a review of The Jewish Political Tradition, Volume 2, “Memership,” edited by Michael Walzer, Menachem Lorberbaum, and Noam J. Zohar; co-editor, Ari Ackerman 87 Shai Gluskin, Seeking a New Way for Jewish Education, a review of Visions of Jewish Education, edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler and Daniel Marom FROM THE EDITOR

As the Jewish community moves well beyond the time when the impact and issues of modernity first called into question issues of interaction with surrounding cultures, we find ourselves facing ever-more complex questions of identity and boundaries. Where earlier generations could assume a com- monality of ethnic-religious identity, Jews of the 21st century face a whole range of questions unanticipated by our ancestors. Among the most challenging issues are those that focus on what exactly it is that people who are identified as or who identify as “Jews” share in common. A related issue is what the various versions of "Judaism" are able to identify as being held in common, when so many of the assumptions, as well as the content, of those versions are at odds with each other. Add to this the ever-expanding challenge of how “the Jewish community” and “Judaism” intersect and interact with other ethnic groups, cultures and religious traditions — when we cannot always identify our own place in the world, let alone understand that of the Other — and we are increasingly aware of having entered uncharted waters. In this issue, we offer several perspectives on different dimensions of these issues. Rachel Adler analyzes the area she labels “the borderland,” places where Jews and non-Jews are enmeshed with each other, and traditional concepts and categories may not be adequate for negotiating issues of relationship. Ilan Peleg raises thoughtful and complex questions about how, and if, the old assumptions about the State of Israel being easily “Jewish” as well as “democratic” can hold in a time of increasingly complex relations with Arab Israelis and with Palestinians. In a related essay, Ellen Bernstein offers a more personal perspective on the impact of Israel on Jewish identity. The encounter with Judaism’s most significant theological Other, Chris- tianity, is examined by David Sandmel through the prism of the contested theological title of “Israel.” Shaul Magid uses the work of Zalman Shachter- Shalomi to raise provocative questions about the future of Jewish theism, and of the impact on Judaism of eastern religious traditions as well as of Islam. Seth Goldstein reviews a new book that surveys the political history of Judaism’s attempts to work out issues of identity, status and membership. In addition to these essays, we are privileged to offer two important reflections on innovative approaches to Jewish spiritual life. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso challenges us to (re-)discover the opportunities inherent in the art of storytelling, using narrative to support spiritual discovery. Dayle Friedman, a pioneer in lifting up the sanctity of the spiritual that can be found in the lives of the older members of our community, shares some of the Torah she has learned from her work with that community.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 2 And as education is always a topic of interest, Shai Gluskin reviews a new volume on visions for Jewish education, and shares some of his own visions for Reconstructionist Jewish learning.

In the Movement

Our readers will want to know about: · The upcoming convention of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation (JRF), November 11-13, 2004 in Portland, Oregon, at which the JRF will celebrate its 50th anniversary. For more information, see www.jrf.org or call (215)782 8500. · Readers in the greater New York area should mark their calendars for December 5th for the annual New York Reconstructionist Rabbinical Col- lege event, with a luncheon to be held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. For more information see www.rrc.edu or call (215) 576 0800. We wish our readers a relaxing summer, and early wishes for a Shana Tova.

— Richard Hirsh

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 3 “To Live Outside the Law, You Must Be Honest” — Boundaries, Borderlands and the Ethics of Cultural Negotiation

BY RACHEL ADLER

live in Los Angeles, a city in love guage, ideas, and practices ooze across with cultural negotiation: on the cultural boundaries. My concern is, I west side, strictly kosher sushi rather, with how people of integrity, bars and Asian-French fusion cooking, people who value their Judaism con- and at the east end of town, pastrami sciously, conduct cultural negotiations burritos and my favorite shop, strad- in a diverse environment. What I pro- dling Korean and Salvadoreno neigh- pose to present is a theological ethics borhoods, Hacienda Oriental Foods. of boundary negotiation informed by L.A. culture, with its fusion cuisines, feminist insights into this issue. its natty metrosexuals, and its constant- When we talk about diversity, we are ly mutating and mingling argots from talking about the positioning and tex- the film industry and rap music, attests ture of boundaries — the boundaries to a phenomenon some find frighten- different religious or cultural groups ing: the porous boundaries that allow maintain with one another and the for flow among communities. boundaries religious groups maintain with the pluralistic secular cultures in Cultural Negotiations which they are embedded. A group’s boundaries are eloquent about how I am a theologian and an ethicist and easy or difficult the group finds it to not a social scientist. My focus is not maintain its distinctness and its integ- cultural diffusion in general, how lan- rity. Can anyone participate, or are Dr. Rachel Adler holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Thought and Judaism and Gender at the School of Religion, University of Southern California and at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Reli- gion in Los Angeles.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 4 there strict membership requirements? tects the distinctions that demarcate the Is it forbidden to watch TV or to listen creation from the erosions and erasures to popular music? Are there special that could uncreate the world and re- clothes or dietary laws that maintain turn it to undifferentiated chaos. the distinctness of group members and What is more remarkable about bind them socially to one another? Fea- Leviticus is that conjoined with rules tures like these attest to the extent to whose symbolisms no longer resonate which the group feels at home or at for us are others we would characterize odds with an inevitably homogenizing as ethical.2 Leviticus constitutes a code larger environment. for how to construct boundaries that For Jews, boundaries have always will maintain not merely boundary in- been a vexing issue. The ancestors of tegrity but the integrity we call justice.3 Judaism, the ancient Israelites, inhab- To the extent that justice is a legal as ited a narrow strip of land between the well as an ethical value, it is not static desert and the sea that offered the only and absolute, but must take into ac- access between great rival empires north count the specific social and historical and south of it. Empires competed to settings in which it is situated.4 annex it; armies tramped through it, Even if P and H and their hypotheti- seeking to transplant their gods, their cal colleagues did not realize that their words, their visions. Israelites were exiled understanding of justice as a form of or immigrated to surrounding lands, holiness would introduce contextuality where other tongues and other ways pre- and contingency into their social vi- vailed. Small wonder that fears of in- sion, that is just what they did; for jus- undations and pervasive anxieties about tice occurs in the realm of time, the the boundary integrity of this permeable world of human societies in which social world have marked Judaism! people and their boundaries are end- lessly mutable. And therefore, despite Anxiety at the Boundary the lasting Jewish concern for boundary maintenance, and despite the last- The anthropologist Mary Douglas ing fear of having our distinctness sees this anxiety about the social body erased, of being flooded by other cul- inscribed in rules governing the indi- tures and uncreated as a people, there vidual body as well.1 Hence, Leviticus can be no pure Jewish culture unsul- legislates what is to be taken in or cast lied by outside influences. out, pure or impure, permitted or forbidden. Categories such as tevel, that Encounter and Influence which creates chaos in the natural world, and toevah, that which imitates A nostalgia for such a time is a nos- idolatrous cultic practices or under- talgia for what never was. There never mines definitive IsraeIite practices, map was a time when ancient Israelite reli- the boundaries of the natural and so- gion or the Judaism that succeeded it cial worlds. This boundary map pro- were not being influenced by the cul-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 5 tures and religions they encountered. become an Israelite, and an Assyrian And there were many, many encoun- city doomed to destruction can turn ters.5 If the boundaries of Judaism in- in repentance and be saved. evitably change with changing historical-cultural settings, if our Judaisms are, Trespassing and Transgressing as David Myers claims, “radically hy- bridized,” what does boundary integ- The slipperiness of boundary main- rity mean?6 Is there a difference be- tenance is matched by a similarly pro- tween porous boundaries and outright tean problem about boundary crossing. inundation? And how will we deter- Sometimes, I am supposed to be a mine what kinds of boundaries pro- boundary-crosser, an ivri(a), to go forth mote justice? Boundary maintenance, as Abraham and Sarah did to a land then, turns out to be a much more slip- they did not know. But this same root, pery affair than it would have been had a-v-r, can mean to trespass, to trans- there been a single, pure and static set gress. This is the dilemma that con- of boundaries to maintain. fronts me in cultural negotiations. To complicate matters still further, When, where, and how am I called this motif of boundary maintenance is upon to trans/pose, trans/act, or trans/ counterbalanced by a narrative motif mute, and under what circumstances of boundary crossing. Some biblical would my act be a trans/gression, an narratives represent the Israelites as the averah, an unmaking of some bound- people other peoples called the He- ary that maintains a distinct and irre- brews, the ivrim, literally, the crossers- placeable meaning? over, those whose progenitors Abraham When should I guard the boundary? and Sarah came from the other side of When should I cross the boundary? the river Euphrates.7 Indeed, Scripture When should I resituate the boundary uses ivrim only when Israelites inter- or perhaps uproot it altogether? These act with non-Israelites. Ivri-narratives are questions of halakha in the root affirm a deity who transcends bound- meaning of that term: going, making a aries and localities altogether, a God path. How do I make my path so that who through covenant bridges even the I am mindful of the One toward whom boundary between divinity and hu- I walk, and of those who walked be- manity. fore me, those who walk with me, and To be an ivri is to know that there those whose path is adjacent to mine are other places, other perspectives. To and who may have something to teach remember having been an ivri is to me? know what it means to be an Other. These questions are complex, be- What I term ivri -narratives are narra- cause religions and cultures are not tives that transfigure the moral possi- fixed or static, nor are they completely bilities of boundaries by demonstrat- separate from one another. Religions, ing the possibility of crossing over. A after all, imply, reflect and create cul- slave can become free, a Moabite can tural worlds and are embedded in cul-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 6 tures. Cultures have environments — complexities of our humanity and natural, social, historical — to which glimpses of the intricate universe of they are constantly responding. This which we are a part. These discoveries being so, the contents and boundaries can move us to reevaluate our obliga- of both religions and cultures are con- tions to one another and to the rest of tinually being renegotiated. creation and to rekindle our sense of Being conscious of this reality car- awe. Opportunities like these are worth ries a sobering obligation: If the bound- a risk. aries and content of our Judaism are I do not mean to suggest that boun- fluid, and if they are altered by cultural dary negotiation should be an easy or negotiation, then we have a responsi- painless process. That would be true bility to be aware when we are negoti- only if what we were negotiating did ating and a responsibility to figure out not matter to us very much. I am only how to negotiate with integrity. And suggesting that if we were able to see that requires answering the slippery ivri religious cultures and the cultures in questions I have posed. which they are embedded as contigu- ous rather than as antipodal, and if we Opportunities for Growth were able to see ourselves as conscious and competent negotiators rather than The nehemta. (consolation) is that as defenders of the Alamo, we would along with dilemmas posed by cultural be more responsible participants in the and religious diversity come enriched ongoing recreation of nomos, universes opportunities for spiritual and moral of meaning to be inhabited. growth. When religions and cultures are imaged as shifting territories whose “A Leaky Community” boundaries are constantly in flux, culture becomes more than a medium This is not to minimize the anxieties through which revelation is mediated. of American Jews about boundary re- Cultures themselves are sources of rev- lations with other religious and ethnic elation; new truths are born out of their groups and with an imperialistic popu- struggles and dilemmas. lar culture. In her path-breaking study, For pluralistic societies where people Prayer & Community, Riv-Ellen Prell of many races and ethnicities share citi- describes American Judaism as a “leaky zenship, the relationship between jus- community,” one whose boundaries are tice and an ethics of difference is newly so porous that there is some risk of in- illuminated. Post-industrial societies, undation.8 Because there is no total where rigid distinctions between gen- Jewish experience differentiating Jew- der roles are eroding, offer unprec- ish American cultures from the cultures edented opportunities to accord full around them, American Jews make humanity to women. A culture’s cre- their chief concern the preservation of ativity in shaping and describing its Jewish identity. world can offer new insights into the Not surprisingly, many Jews tend to

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 7 regard the Jewish enterprise as a fragile Reconstructionist, Conservative and one. Suspicious, they patrol Judaism’s Renewal Judaisms, and there are per- leaky boundaries, sounding the alarm. sistent rumors of Orthodox women be- Every innovation is a potential Arma- ing secretly ordained. There has been a geddon in which Judaism’s ultimate revolutionary loosening of the bound- redemption is at stake. Each intermar- aries between men’s and women’s roles riage is a nail in the communal coffin. in Judaism. Every outside influence is a hole in the dike through which the surrounding A Jewish Nun? cultures may pour in as an annihilat- ing flood. Not so long ago, feminism The yearnings that drove this revo- was accused of being just such an in- lution came out of confrontations with fluence. In some Orthodox circles, the the gender assumptions of other cul- accusation is still current. Yet the trans- tures, religious and secular. A case in formation of gender boundaries has point is a story my mother used to tell been the most successful cultural rene- about me. I was five years old, taking a gotiation to occur in American Juda- walk with her, and she said, “So what ism. do you want to be when you grow up?” A little more than thirty years ago, Without skipping a beat, I said, “A in no form of Judaism did women have nun.” My mother was appalled. “You equal access to communal participa- can’t be a nun. You’re Jewish. Jews don’t tion, leadership, or religious education. have nuns.” “Well then,” I replied, “I In no branch of Judaism could women will be the first one.” be rabbis or cantors. There were no When I ask myself why I wanted to women Judaica scholars teaching at be a nun, the answer is clear. I lived in seminaries or universities. No women a mixed Jewish-Catholic neighbor- were high officials in Jewish commu- hood, and in that other religious cul- nal organizations, although women ture, I saw a model I did not see in my were their largest source of volunteer own community: a way to be a woman labor. Jewish law was invoked not only and also be holy. My mother saw me in Orthodoxy, but also in other branch- looking across the boundary and, hor- es of Judaism to exclude women from rified, pulled me back: This isn’t what the minyan, and hence from leading Jews do, she was telling me. worship services. Most women had Because our boundaries are perme- never been near a Torah scroll. They able, we can be moved by desires or were usually told (contrary to halakha) troubled by problems that enter from that because women menstruate, they the outside. Cultural negotiation with would defile the sacred object. integrity demands that instead of Today, women are represented in all uncritically sucking in what is foreign the structures and institutions that sus- to our Judaisms — founding an order tain and reproduce American Judaism. of Jewish nuns, for instance — that we They are ordained as rabbis in Reform, engage thoughtfully with Jewish tradi-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 8 tions and the experiences of concerned entering the conversation previously re- Jews about the matter that needs to be served for men about the texts, values, addressed. The innovation that emerges and practices of Judaism. Jewish femi- from such a process is less likely to be nists brought to this conversation a re- mere bricolage. I did not become the newed emphasis on the historicist first Jewish nun. I became one of sev- premise that distinguishes all non-fun- eral feminist theologians, which is an- damentalist Judaisms: that societies and other kind of “first” for Judaism. And their institutions, including gender, are happily, there isn’t even a celibacy re- human constructions, contingent upon quirement! specific historical and cultural contexts. Jewish feminisms were connected to Their insistence on the contingency the larger secular American feminist and, hence, alterability of gender ar- movement, not only borrowing from rangements challenged non-funda- its theoretical formulations and benefit- mentalist Judaisms to act on their his- ing from its social impact, but also ben- toricist principles. In concert with post- efiting from Christian feminism. Jew- modernist Jewish historians and cul- ish feminists learned new modes of tural critics, feminists have stressed the feminist critique and new modes of fluidity of Judaism and the cultural, spiritual expression at interfaith femi- ethnic and social diversity of Jews, nist conferences. Thus, Jewish femi- breaking up the monolithic assump- nisms undermined not only rigid gen- tions of the normative conversation. der boundaries but also rigid bound- The concern with Otherness that aries with the non-Jewish world. feminism brought to Jewish thought has piqued curiosity about Jews who Defending Deviance deviate from the popularly assumed norm: non-Ashkenazic, racially mixed, I do not mean to suggest that these homosexual, working class, disabled, borrowings were promiscuous or un- unmarried, intermarried, children of critical. As early as 1979, the deviations intermarriage, converts to Judaism who of Jewish feminists from the categories, for one reason or another do not as- methods and concerns of Christian and similate fully, converts to other reli- post-Christian feminists were suffi- gions who retain some Jewish bonds. ciently marked to require an explana- Ironically, when added all together, the tion from the editors of a pioneering deviants outnumber the so-called nor- religious feminist anthology, Woman- mative, but this is not unusual. How spirit Rising.9 These deviant concerns many American families consist of a included the critique and reconstruc- homemaker mother, a wage-earner fa- tion of Jewish law, the interpretation ther, and two children? of classical texts, and the creation of new rituals for women’s life cycle. Borderlands What is perhaps most distinctive is the emphasis Jewish feminists put on Some of these Jews inhabit a social

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 9 location that, borrowing a term from narratives of lesbian rabbinical students the Chicana feminist Gloria Anzaldua, at the Jewish Theological Seminary or we might call “the borderlands,” the see the film Trembling Before G-d to be vague transition points on the margins reminded that in Conservative and Or- of the Jewish world where other worlds thodox Judaisms, gays and lesbians in- merge with it or intersect it.10 Those habit a particularly brutal borderland.13 who view the boundary between Juda- A feminist critique can demonstrate ism and other worlds as clearly defined systematically that these interdictions and non-porous would deny the very enforce patriarchal hegemony and sex- existence of borderlands, while others ual hierarchies that do not promote jus- would deny at least their legitimacy. tice.14 An example of a resituated bound- Indeed, the questions of whether the ary would be the Reform movement’s denizens of the borderlands count as decision to count as Jews those who Jews and, if so, how they are to be claim Jewish descent through their fathers counted, are controversial among de- but not their mothers. mographers.11 These borderlands of the Jewish domain, illegitimate, fluid, shift- Boundary Integrity ing, fraught with tension and ambivalence, harbor those whose identities are But that leaves us with the paradig- marginal or transgressive. matic case of people who opt for the The existence of borderlands sharp- borderlands: the couples who transgress ens the questions we posed earlier: In the most basic of Jewish boundaries, the presence of borderlands that attest the boundary that encircles the people to the fuzziness or ambiguity of Jewish Israel and distinguishes Jew from non- boundaries, what does boundary integ- Jew. If we removed the boundary en- rity mean and how should we enforce tirely, we would be inundated; Jews and it? When should we guard the bound- Judaism would become indistinguish- ary? When should we cross the bound- able from the external environment. ary? When should we resituate the Even a biological cell has at its perim- boundary or perhaps uproot it alto- eter a membrane that keeps the inside gether? and outside from merging and governs Boundaries that Reform and Re- exchanges between the two environ- constructionist Judaisms have already ments. uprooted include those that divide the The late Lionel Trilling once re- mamzer from other Jews; those that for- marked, “Some people are so open- bid the union of a kohen with a divor- minded that their brains fall out.” The cee, a convert, or a hallal;12 those that same is true of voluntary organizations. involve the unions of gay or lesbian If everyone is already a member, there’s Jews; and those that distinguish be- no need to join, much less to meet tween Jewish women and Jewish men membership requirements. Boundary in matters of witnessing and commu- integrity would require a definition in nal prayer. We have only to read the which Jewishness has particular con-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 10 tent and substance. bers of the group, Rebecca studies, Perhaps the question for the trans- prays with a community, keeps a ko- gressors and those who help them sher home, and, with her partner, cel- should not be, “How do we avoid the ebrates Sabbath and festivals. She and transgression?” but rather, “How do we Jay wanted a child, and agreed that the commit the transgression thoughtfully child would be brought up as a Jew. and in good faith?” That would require But just as Jay honors Rebecca’s Juda- acknowledging that intermarriage is a ism, Rebecca honors Jay’s desire to transgressive Jewish union. Any ritual maintain his difference from it. Jay does celebrating such a relationship is extra- not have a conflicting faith commit- legal. There are Reform and Recon- ment, but he feels that to become a Jew structionist rabbis who will perform an would be to assume an inauthentic iden- intermarriage using the classical Jew- tity, one that does not belong to him. ish wedding liturgy, but is this not a The question, then, is not whether dishonest use of Jewish language to but how Rebecca and Jay will wed. The normalize what is in truth not normal? corollary questions are both whether and I am talking here of religious norms how Rebecca’s study community will rather than sociological ones. Intermar- engage with them in their efforts to find riage may be common, but no branch an experimental language for this wed- of Judaism embraces it as a positive ding that is in dialogue with Jewish texts good. What I would like to argue is that and values. As Bob Dylan sings, “To live people who are intermarrying can en- outside the law, you must be honest.” rich Judaism by modeling how to trans- Rebecca is not asking for a Jewish gress in a way that retains integrity. ceremony to normalize the difficult choice she has made. She knows her Case Study choice to be transgressive. What she is asking for is to be taken seriously in At this point, I would like to offer a her attempt to articulate a sanctifying case history about some people who language she can bring to the border- chose to settle in the borderlands and land where she is establishing her par- the friends who helped them. There is ticular Jewish household. Beyond for- a perfectly clear ruling in classical Jew- bidding her act, Jewish legal tradition ish law on the case we are about to con- is interested neither in the specific char- sider, and this ruling is going to be vio- acter of Rebecca’s situation nor in help- lated. All of the participants, including her to find a language with which ing the transgressor, have a deep com- to remain in communication with Ju- mitment to the study and praxis of Ju- daism. But Rebecca and her study part- daism. Rebecca, a member of a Talmud ners groped for such a language. study group to which I belong, an- nounced her upcoming marriage to Theological Reflection Jay, her delightful non-Jewish Chinese- American partner. Like the other mem- Meanwhile, I was doing some of my

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 11 own boundary crossing. I talked about model needs to ask the broader ques- our dilemma to friends who are Chris- tion, “What does this mean?” while the tian educators. They suggested to me a theological reflection model must also field-education process called “theo- address the question, “Now, what ought logical reflection,” designed to help I to do?” What I find most useful about seminarians reflect critically and cre- the theological-reflection model is its atively on the connections between text potential for keeping open a conversa- and context.15 The seminarian brings tion with tradition that the legal model in a “critical incident” she has experi- closes off. As such, it offers a way of navi- enced. She is encouraged to give the gating transgressive situations. experience a theological name. This theological renaming serves as a bridge Covenants with Non-Jews back to the appropriate classical texts. In the final stage of the reflective pro- In Rebecca’s theological reflection, cess, the seminarian brings the critical she focused on the language of cov- incident into conversation with the enant and noted that there are biblical texts, determining both what the tra- covenants with non-Jews. Among the dition says to her experience and what various legal and theological sources the her experience speaks back to the tra- study partners explored, the group di- dition. rected Rebecca and Jay’s attention to What is most appealing about this narratives that challenge or destabilize process-model is the way it links sacred the legal norm regarding marriage with text and real-world experience. It bears non-Israelites: Judah and Tamar in some resemblance to the case-law pro- Genesis 38; Joseph and Asenath in cess of the Jewish responsa literature, Genesis 41:45; Moses and Zipporah in which also juxtaposes text and con- Exodus 2:21; and, most notably, the text.16 The legal process asks how an book of Ruth, in which Ruth, Naomi experience is legally categorized in or- and Boaz pass from one to another der to determine how one ought to act lovingkindnesses that leap the boundary in that context. Theological reflection between stranger and Israelite. Together, asks what an experience means to a par- they conspire to undermine the legal rules ticular person of faith when placed into of inheritance and thereby paradoxically the theological categories of tradition. bring about the possibility of redemption. Each model locates the experience Transgression, then, is not always a nega- within traditional categories. Each gives tive. It is a risk for which the transgres- the experience an opportunity to re- sors must assume responsibility, and the valuate or reshape those categories, motives are important, but it can be a although in the legal model this de- source of blessing. Jay was particularly pends more heavily on the authority drawn to this text. and the vision of the decisor. Rebecca said she was searching for a The two models might usefully language of dialogic transgression, a complement one another. The legal language that was both responsible and

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 12 responsive. It had to affirm both the joy and about the borderland nature pressure she was putting on Judaism’s of their relationship. The huppah,. held boundaries and the vitality of her en- by families members and friends, was gagement with Judaism’s content. embroidered with the Chinese charac- Within this framework, she and her ter for double happiness, and the partner, with the support of her kiddush cup from which they drank studymates, reconsidered every rite and was a wedding gift inscribed with the symbol and weighed every liturgical double happiness symbol. expression related to wedding ceremo- Rebecca and Jay are not a typical in- nies in their effort to shape an honest termarrying couple, but they represent trans/action. a growing number of couples in which That trans/action was clearly ac- one partner has a strong Jewish com- knowledged as a boundary-trans/gres- mitment. The tendency of communal sing commitment in their ceremony. Jewish institutions is to ignore differ- Moreover, as Rebecca thankfully ob- ences between kinds of intermarriages served, neither the process required to and to lump all of them together as formulate the wedding ceremony nor failures and betrayals that threaten to the liturgical results lend themselves to doom the Jewish people to extinction. mass production. They can be brought But drawing the boundaries sharply to birth only through a rigorous en- without allowing for borderlands is counter with tradition within the con- simply an attempt to extrude non-context of a community. formers rather than to live as a whole community with the ambiguities pre- Shaping a Ceremony sented by porous and intersecting social worlds. The ceremony Rebecca and Jay de- When Jews do not live in ghettoes signed was held at a private home.17 or in the 17th century, intermarriages Rabbis were present as friends, but not will sometimes occur. Same-sex mar- as leaders. Non-rabbis facilitated the riages will occur. There will be Jews ceremony. Instead of kiddushin, Rebec- who do not look or act the way insti- ca and Jay used a variant of the B’rit tutional Judaisms expect. They will be Ahuvim legal partnership I propose in transgendered or have black or Asian Engendering Judaism, drawing up a faces or fierce nostalgic longings for b’rit document that enunciated the spe- barbecued pork and Christmas trees. cific commitments they were undertak- They will view with puzzlement the Re- ing.18 constructionist movement’s gift of a The texts on which Rebecca and Jay recipe for kugel in a holiday mailing. had reflected were incorporated into various parts of the ceremony. Repre- Guarding and Crossing sentatives from Jay’s Chinese family, Rebecca’s Jewish family, and friends of And they and all the rest of us with both spoke to the couple about their them will face the ivri questions again:

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 13 When should I guard the boundary? serious, thoughtful, respectful dialogue. When should I cross the boundary? When should I resituate the boundary On the Outer Edges or perhaps uproot it altogether? New communal consensuses will form While it is not an easily replicable and the borderlands will shift. But the model, Rebecca and Jay’s marriage does borderlands will not cease to be inhab- demonstrate a cultural negotiation with ited. integrity on the outer edges of the bor- While some Jews want boundaries derlands, a wild and lawless place. Do without borderlands to exclude all non- such trans/gressions threaten religious normative Jewish identities, others cultures? They do, but they also re- want to argue that borderlands are un- vivify, suffusing religious content with necessary because there are no norma- new perspectives and new urgencies, tive Judaisms and no trans/gressions. I new visions. Jay and Rebecca’s son, with consider these equally disastrous his Asian face and his happy chatter in moves. Although Judaism is not mono- English, Hebrew and Mandarin, incar- lithic, and there are now and have been nates these hopes. many credible or defensible Judaisms, When we treat religious cultures as I would contend that it is also possible too fragile to withstand any stress, we for the Judaisms of individuals or com- behave as if they were dead, as if they munities to be intellectually and spiri- were brittle as dry bones. We can pre- tually impoverished, untenable and serve them as artifacts, shielding them inauthentic. from the battles and negotiations that And as long as I am being cantan- compose our real lives. But only if we kerous, let me add that not everything prophesy over them will these bones people do has to be stamped OK (or live.19 OU) in order for them to have self-es- teem and to feel cared about by rabbis or Jewish communities. I fear being 1. Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger, sec- part of a community in which there is ond edition (London:Henley, NY: Rout- no way to sin because everything one ledge and Kegen Paul, 1976). does is just fine. Mindless relativism is 2. Jacob Milgrom, ed., Leviticus 1-16, The a great a menace as mindless orthodoxy, Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, because it leaves no way for people to 1991), 42-51. 3. Mary Douglas, “The Forbidden Animals be reflective about what they believe in Leviticus,” JSOT 59 (September 1993), and do and to be responsible for what 3-23. they choose. Rebecca and Jay would 4. Robert Cover, “Nomos and Narrative” argue for the recognition of border- Narrative, Violence and the Law: The Es- lands and against patronizing or in- says of Robert Cover, edited by Martha dulging the people who choose to dwell Minow, Michael Ruan and Austin Sarat in them. What is needed, they would (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan say, is not automatic affirmation but Press:1993), 95-172.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 14 5. Gerson D. Cohen, “The Blessing of As- 14. Rachel Adler, Engendering Judaism similation in Jewish History,” commence- (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, ment address, June 1966, Hebrew Teach- 1998), 125-133. ers College, Brookline, MA. 15. I am indebted to Pia Moriarty for her 6. David N. Myers, “The Blessing of As- description of this model and to Emily similation Reconsidered: An Inquiry into Click for a workshop on its theory; I am Jewish Cultural Studies,” From Ghetto to belatedly aware that there is an extensive Emancipation: Historical and Contemporary literature about it. As an example, see Rob- Reconsiderations of the Jewish Community, ert L. Kinast , What Are They Saying About David N. Myers and William V. Rowe, eds. Theological Reflection (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist (Scranton: University of Scranton Press). Press, 2002). 7. Rachel Adler, “A Question of Bound- 16. David Ellenson, “Jewish Legal Inter- aries: Toward a Jewish Feminist Theology pretation: Literary, Scriptural, Social and of Self and Other,” Tikkun 6 (May/June Ethical Perspectives,” Biblical Hermeneu- 1991): 43-46, 87. Reprinted in Tikkun tics in Jewish Moral Discourse, Peter J. Haas, Anthology, edited by Michael Lerner. (Oak- ed. Semeia 34 (1985). land and Jerusalem: 1992). For a histori- 17. On the implications of constructing a cal discussion of the term ivri, see Nahum rite such as this, see Vincent J. Cheng, In- Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary Genesis authentic: The Anxiety over Culture and (Philadelphia:1989), 102-103, Excursus 4, Identity (New Brunswick: Rutgers Univer- 377-379. sity Press, 2004). 8. Riv-Ellen Prell, Prayer & Community: 18. Adler, Engendering Judaism, Chapter 5. The Havurah in American Judaism (De- 19. Thanks to the Reconstructionist Rab- troit: 1989), 60-65. binical Association for inviting me to de- 9. Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, eds. liver the paper on which this article is based Womanspirit Rising (San Francisco: Harper (2003). The article also incorporates an and Row, 1979), 194. earlier presentation, “A Question of 10. Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/La Fron- Boundaries: Women, Judaism, and the tera (San Francisco: Aunt Lute Books, Complexities of Cultural Negotiation,” for 1987), 1-13. a conference ,“The Changing Face of Jew- 11. For example, the National Jewish Popu- ish Identity,” jointly sponsored by the lation Survey of 2000 generated controversy University of Southern California and over its criteria for defining categories. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of 12. Hallal(ah): the offspring of a forbid- Religion, Los Angeles (2000). den priestly relationship. If a male, he is Many friends helped and taught me considered unfit for the priesthood. If a while I was preparing this article. Special female, she may not marry a priest. Adin thanks to Pia Moriarty, Robert Hurd, Steinsaltz, The Talmud: A Reference Guide Maeera Shreiber, and David Schulman for (New York: Random House, 1989), 92. much assistance and to David N. Meyers, 13. Lesbian Rabbis: The First Generation, Isa Aron, Tamara Eskenazi, and Rabbis edited by Rebecca T. Alpert, Sue Levi Elwell Laura Geller, Bridget Wynne, Noa and Shirley Idelson (New Brunswick: Rutgers Kushner, Catherine Nemerov and Peter University Press, 2001). Levi for valuable input and critique.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 15 Israel as “Jewish and Democratic” — Revising the Sacred Formula

BY ILAN PELEG and “particularists” among early and ne of the most significant ten- late Zionists has been somewhat over- sions faced by contemporary emphasized by liberal interpreters of O Israel is between the commit- Israeli politics. Although this often was ment of most Israelis to the Jewishness part of an effort to demonstrate that of the state, on the one hand, and their their camp was less nationalistic than commitment to the democratic prin- it actually was, the distinction between ciples of the country (as they under- the two approaches has at least some stand these principles), on the other merit. hand. The legal scholar David Kretz- Thus, the dual commitment to the mer summed up this dilemma suc- principles of democracy and to the Zi- cinctly: “As a democratic state Israel must onist agenda has been incorporated serve the needs of all its citizens; as the into official documents forming the state of the Jewish people its function is Israeli state. The foundational Decla- to pursue particularistic goals.”1 ration of Independence of May 1948, This tension is at the center of what for example, asserted that Eretz Yisrael could be described as a full-fledged Kul- was the birthplace of Jewish people, turkampf, a political struggle about the and declared a Jewish state in Palestine, very essence of the state fought in Is- promising that it would be open to the rael for the last three decades.2 In some immigration of Jews from all countries ways, this tension between loyalty to of their dispersion. At the same time, the demands of universalistic democ- this document promised the develop- racy and the tenets of a particularistic ment of the country for the benefit of nationalism (that is, Zionism), has been all its inhabitants, and committed the present in the Zionist movement from new state to the “full social and politi- its very beginning. cal equality of all its citizens.” Several Israeli Basic Laws explicitly enshrined Universal and Particular the notion that Israel is “Jewish and democratic,”as did a number of rulings The contrast between “universalists” by the Israeli High Court of Justice.

Dr. Ilan Peleg is the Dana Professor of Social Science at Lafayette College and on the faculty of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 16 There is hardly a question that the dent judiciary, and allowed vibrant and tension inherent in this dual commit- open debate on most political issues. ment will continue to dominate Israeli Despite those significant democratic politics for many years to come, and achievements, recognized by some of that it will affect the most important the most prominent political analysts,6 questions facing the state. These in- Israel’s democracy has been problem- clude the future of the West Bank and atic in several areas, mostly because of Gaza, the relations between Jews and its particularistic commitments. The Palestinians inside Israel, and the sta- largest minority within the state, Pal- tus of organized religion (particularly estinian Arabs who are Israeli citizens Orthodox Judaism) within the Israeli (or “Israeli Arabs,” as they are often polity. known), have not been able to achieve full equality, either as individuals or as The Israeli Duality a group. Systematic discrimination has been noted in numerous areas, includ- The dual commitment inherent in ing education, employment, housing, the Israeli political reality has led Israel land purchasing, immigration and citi- to adopt, since its establishment, both zenship.7 “Jewish” and “democratic” policies. Such policies, however, have often col- Civic Equality lided, and are likely to continue to col- lide even more severely in the future. Despite some improvements in the Acting Jewishly, the state sponsored the conditions of the Arabs,8 it is hard to immigration of millions of Jews under maintain that Israel is moving deci- a controversial Law of Return (1950), sively toward civic equality. Although acquired lands specifically in order to the Supreme Court recently decreed “Judaize” the country3 and especially that road signs must also be in Arabic areas inhabited by Arabs (e.g., the Ga- (an official language in Israel, along lilee), developed an educational system with Hebrew), and on occasion has designed to inculcate Jewish values,4 taken even more meaningful positions, adopted Jewish myths and symbols,5 majority-minority relationships have and granted special status and recog- deteriorated since the outbreak of the nition to Orthodox Judaism. Al-Aqsa intifadah and the riots that Acting democratically, the State of resulted in October 2000. Israel established an elected legislature Israel’s dual commitment to Jew- and conducted orderly elections at reg- ishness and democracy impacts not ular intervals, adopted most (although only on Arab-Jewish relations, but also significantly not all) Western freedoms, on relations within the Jewish major- enacted Basic Laws (although, signifi- ity. Many so-called secular, non-reli- cantly again, not a constitution or a bill gious or non-observant Jews deeply of rights) to regulate important aspects resent the continuous interference of of public life, recognized an indepen- the Orthodox establishment in their

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 17 lives, interference rooted in the so- cratic” meets the minimal requirements called Status Quo Agreement of 1947 of democracy, we need to identify an and enshrined in several pieces of Is- acceptable balance between these two raeli law. In terms of Western standards value systems. and, increasingly, worldwide standards, • Is the real choice for Israel between religion is unusually intrusive in Israel. being a fully democratic Western state, If freedom from religion, along with where religion and ethnicity are priva- freedom of religion, is one of the fun- tized and all citizens are treated equally damental values of modern democracy, (both as individuals and as groups) and Israel’s democracy is flawed indeed. being an ethnonational polity or, un- Moreover, since the establishment of der the best of circumstances, “ethnic the state, some ultra-Orthodox groups democracy”?9 have enjoyed special privileges in vio- • If religion is not privatized, as it is in lation of democratic principles, par- democracies that have not established ticularly equality before the law (see state-religion separation, how can it be below). Thus, not only have yeshivot “contained” in a manner that guaran- received generous financial allocations tees equality to those citizens who do of public funds, but in 2002 the Knes- not belong to the majority? set approved, officially and legally, the exemption of their students from mili- Political and Scholarly Camps tary service. Insofar as the Israeli public is con- Critical Questions cerned, three major camps are discern- able in relation to the “Jewish and The frequent, ongoing collision be- democratic formula.” The first camp, tween the state’s commitment to de- on the particularistic end of the spec- mocracy and the Jewishness of the trum, believes that Israel ought to be majority — defined religiously, ethni- committed primarily or even exclu- cally or ideologically — raises several sively to its Jewishness. While it gener- critical questions as to the relationships ally recognizes democracy as a desirable between the two: common good, it views it as second- • Is the dual commitment itself oxy- ary.10 moronic in the sense that Israel cannot This position is common among na- possibly be truly democratic while its tionalists, and especially in religious majority is loyal to its Jewish agenda, circles. The position of the particular- especially in view of the existence of a ists can be summed up by two propo- large non-Jewish minority? sitions: a) the requirements of democ- • If we reject the proposition that Is- racy and the interests of the Jewish rael cannot be both democratic and people are sometimes incompatible; b) Jewish, the question is, how can it if and when such incompatibility oc- achieve both goals? If we assume that curs, the interests of the Jewish people not every mix of “Jewish and demo- and their state (Israel) should prevail.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 18 While the State of Israel has never is shared by the two national groups. formally accepted this position — in This camp includes Arab intellectuals fact, it denied it by consistently main- such as Azmi Bishara, Asad Ghanem, taining its equal commitment to both and Nadim Rouhana, but also Jewish Jewishness and democracy — most Is- analysts such as Baruch Kimmerling, raeli governments to date have argu- Ilan Pappe, Yoav Peled, and Oren ably adopted this position, most of the Yiftachel.11 time. Steps toward a more balanced ap- The largest camp in Israel endorses proach have been hesitant at best, al- the definition of the state as “Jewish though the Supreme Court’s March and democratic” on the basis of three 2000 ruling on the equal rights of land- main arguments: a) Israel’s commit- purchasing by Arabs in Israel consti- ments to Jewishness and democracy are tutes a significant move toward a more fundamentally compatible; b) Israel balanced approach. has, in fact, kept both of its commitments; c) the “formula” is a reasonable Either/Or? compromise between two competing forces.12 The second camp among Israelis argues that Israel must decisively and Necessary Conditions openly choose democracy over Jewish- ness. While people who belong to this My thesis is that while historically camp agree with their right-wing op- Israel’s democratic record has not been ponents that democracy and Jewishness particularly good,13 especially in regard constitute often incompatible value sys- to the broad and substantive require- tems, they prefer democracy to Jew- ments of modern, Western, liberal de- ishness on the grounds of universalism. mocracy (see below), in principle, “Jew- Within the second camp, we find, ishness” and democracy might be com- in fact, two political solutions to the patible — but only if the ethnonational Jewishness-democracy tension. Some nature of the Israeli state is significantly analysts support the transformation of curtailed, and the democratic require- the “Jewish and democratic” state into ments are maximized and enhanced “a state of all its citizens,” a formula even more fundamentally. that would presumably turn Israel into My inclination is to endorse a solu- a typical Western liberal democracy, tion by which the old formula of the with equality of all citizens as individu- Israeli state — often called “ethnic deals and state neutrality toward all of its mocracy” — is completely discarded ethnic and religious groups. Other ana- and replaced by a new formula based lysts within the second camp would on symbolic attachment to the state’s support full equality of individuals Jewishness, but with the elimination of (“liberalism”) but insist that, in addi- all material manifestations of ethnic tion, the state must become an Arab- discrimination. Put differently, only Jewish binational entity, where power substantive equality of all citizens as

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 19 individuals and groups can guarantee mocracy does a polity have? Secondly, Israel’s future as a genuine democracy, we should adopt a broader position on a condition that has not been achieved what constitutes democracy. Thus, I to date. am uncomfortable with approaches I believe that my proposal for change that identify democracy with a set of is required in view of the fact that the “liberties” that are guaranteed through old formula has demonstrably failed, formal procedures and institutions, and that it is even less likely to main- despite the fact that this is the essence tain stability and enhance justice in the of the position taken by some promi- future. The violent clashes between nent analysts.15 Third, my approach to Arabs and Jews in October 2000 are, democracy is hierarchical: it identifies possibly, a sign of things to come. the requirements for democracy by Moreover, intellectual and liberal circles going from lower (that is, less demand- in Israel (including the state’s Supreme ing) requirements to higher (more de- Court in its Katzir decision of March manding) levels. Such an approach 2000 and other rulings) have now allows one to deal not merely with the come to recognize that new ideas for issue of whether a country is or is not strengthening Israel’s democracy are democratic, but to what extent it is needed. democratic. It thus facilitates a discussion of the quality of a country’s de- Defining Democracy mocracy. This three-pronged approach leads All arguments about the compatibil- me to offer this definition of democ- ity of Israel’s Jewishness and its democracy: A fully-fledged democracy must racy depend, to a large extent, on what meet the following progressively precisely one means by “democracy.” tougher requirements: As “an essentially contested concept,”14 a. Conduct regular, fair and free elections “democracy” is open to numerous defi- in order to establish the rule of the ma- nitions. A particular problem in regard jority (a minimalist requirement); to Israel’s democracy is that many ana- b. Legally protect the fundamental free- lysts do not define precisely what they doms of all citizens, including speech and mean by democracy. The discussion on assembly, as well as freedom of and from how democratic Israel can be despite religion (a mid-range requirement); its Jewish commitment is not very fruit- c. Guarantee equality of all individual ful unless we are clearer as to the re- citizens and social groups before the quirements of democracy and apply law, as well as in practice (a maximalist those requirements rigorously to the requirement). Israeli case. First, it is important to view democ- Mixed Record racy not as an absolute (that is, a polity either has it or not), but as a continu- In the case of Israel, the record has um. The question is, how much de- been rather mixed. Moreover, most of

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 20 the problems in terms of the quality of “private sphere.” The requirement for Israel’s democracy stem directly from Orthodox marriage under the supervi- the country’s adherence to its “Jew- sion of the state-supported rabbinate, ishness.” In terms of the first require- for example, violates the worldwide ac- ment, since its establishment, Israel has ceptance today of civil marriage. conducted, on the whole, regular elections freely and fairly. Nevertheless, the Seeking Full Equality tension between Jewishness and democracy has been manifested when The most difficult situation, how- parties judged to be running against the ever, arises in regard to the third re- Jewish or democratic nature of the state quirement of democracy, equality of all were banned by the Supreme Court, citizens before the law and in practice. by the Knesset, or by the Central Elec- In terms of equality, particularly be- tion Committee. A recent decision by tween national groups and their mem- the Supreme Court allowing two Arab bers (that is, between Arabs and Jews), parties to run in the 2003 elections de- the Israeli democracy has proven to be spite allegations that they have chal- flawed indeed. The main forms of le- lenged Israel’s “Jewishness” suggests gal discrimination are to be found in that Israel might be liberalizing in re- regard to the acquisition of citizenship gard to the first requirement of democ- (where Jews are given an advantage racy. through the Law of Return) and the In regard to the second requirement acquisition of land, where non-Jews are of democracy, the Israeli record is sig- prevented from purchasing land held nificantly weaker. First, the various by the state, roughly 93 percent of the freedoms and liberties given to Israeli total area.16 The lack of full collective citizens are yet to be codified in a con- rights to minority groups impacts nega- stitution, a bill of rights, or any other tively on the individual rights of their such comprehensive and protected members,17 as shown in detail in sev- document. Secondly, while the state has eral books.[18] Chief Justice Aharon progressed enormously since 1948 in Barak has called publicly for full equal- terms of certain freedoms (e.g., free- ity for Arabs, stating that there can be dom of speech, enshrined in the Su- no true democracy in Israel without preme Court decision known as Kol it.19 Ha’am), in regard to freedoms related The lack of equality stemming from to the state’s Jewishness, as perceived the state commitment to “Jewishness” by Israel’s Founding Fathers and ever is, however, not limited to Arab-Jew- since, the democratic record has not ish issues. Thus, the imposition of Or- been satisfactory. Thus, the State of Is- thodox halakhic law in Israel leads also rael is today extraordinarily intrusive to the discrimination of women as a in regard to issues defined by it as “re- group and as individuals, and the state ligious” but viewed in most other coun- has systematically privileged the Ortho- tries as matters belonging to a citizen’s dox population, a discriminatory prac-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 21 tice toward the secular population (e.g., within the highly diverse Jewish ma- special exemption from military ser- jority and they could be expanded to vice, autonomous educational system, the Arab minority. generous allocations to yeshivot, etc.). Autonomy and Stability Moving Toward Democratic Inclusion Thus, Arabs could be given full- fledged personal autonomy,[20] grant- If, in its best interests, and in order ing them direct control over the most to enhance long-term stability and important aspects of their communal democratic justice, Israel must change, lives (e.g., education). In fact, in the how could this change be achieved? interest of political stability in Israel, Can the traditionally sacred formula “functional autonomy . . . may be nec- “Jewish and democratic” be salvaged, essary to counter . . . support for terri- or does it have to be completely dis- torial autonomy or total separation.”21 carded as inevitably undemocratic? Arabs should also be given a propor- In principle, if the Jewish majority tional share of the national wealth; their decides to create a more inclusive Is- more moderate parties could be invited rael, it can move in two distinct but to serve in the government; and their practically linked directions. First, Is- symbols might be incorporated into the rael can move in what might be called country’s civil religion, so as to create a an integrative-liberal direction, dis- common Israeli identity that is civic mantling all discriminatory policies and overarching. toward the Arabs as individuals and While liberal and consociational establishing a genuine liberal democ- changes could ease the interethnic clash racy. Under this formula, Arab citizens within Israel, they are unlikely to turn would be able to buy land anywhere in Israel into a binational project, a result the state, obtain jobs (including gov- that the Jewish majority would never ernmental positions) in accordance accept. Such changes will merely rec- with their skills, and so forth. More- ognize the already existing binational over, discriminatory practices directed reality of contemporary Israel and in- against Arabs, such as organized cam- corporate it into the country’s govern- paigns against selling them apartments, mental structure, thus increasing con- would be eliminated. gruence between society and polity for Second, Israel could move toward a the benefit of long-term stability. more inclusive democracy by going in A decisive action of the type dis- a “consociational direction,” which cussed here could possibly give Israeli would involve enhancing the recogni- Arabs a reason to identify with the state. tion and the protection given to the The continuation of a policy of dis- Arab minority as a distinct national crimination and exclusion would ne- group. Consociational arrangements gate such a possibility. The role of the and public recognition already exist Israeli leadership in bringing about

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 22 such a change is crucial. To date, we The Material and the Symbolic have witnessed insufficient attention to this problem. On the basis of what principle could such a transformation be effected? I Prospects for Change would argue that a polity might define itself particularistically (as many poli- The definition of Israel as “Jewish ties indeed do) only insofar as such and democratic,” heavily used by Is- definition does not result in the sub- rael’s political institutions and accepted stantive and material discrimination of by the majority, has not worked well members of the polity (that is, its citi- over the first 56 years of the state. The zens). Self-definition that results in sys- term “Jewish” has been translated into tematic discrimination is, by definition, exclusivist, hegemonic control of the democratically unacceptable. majority in all areas. Short of declar- Inherent in my position is the arguing Israel a halakhic state, the term ment that in the case of Israel, as in “Jewish” has been interpreted as broad- numerous other cases, we need to ly as possible. The term “democratic,” maintain a distinction between the on the other hand, has been applied symbolic level (where the majority’s rather narrowly: majority rule and fun- particularism may prevail without se- damental liberal freedoms to all citi- rious injury to democracy) and the zens, but pointedly not political equal- material level, where particularist fea- ity for minorities in what has become, tures of a regime result in real discrimi- in effect, a “Jewish Republic.” There is nation. still no full recognition or protection of An Israel that eliminates all the par- minorities, and lack of equality on either ticularist features that result in the dis- an individual or a group basis persists. crimination of non-Jews would still be If the Israeli majority is determined “Jewish” in several important ways. The to maintain an Israel that is both Jew- Jewish majority would be sustained, the ish and democratic, the existing bal- dominant language would remain He- ance between those two components brew and the culture Hebraic and Jew- might have to change so as to increase ish, and most of the symbols accepted decisively the weight of the state’s dem- within the Israeli society would con- ocratic qualities, and proportionately tinue to be rooted in the Jewish tradi- decrease the state’s “Jewishness,” espe- tion. cially in areas where such an overtly Even the controversial Law of Re- particularistic definition is injurious to turn could survive the type of recon- the democratic quality of the state. struction suggested here, especially if a Such a transformation could be imple- Palestinian state with its own law of re- mented in a balanced and measured turn is established side-by-side with manner, so as to maintain some, but Israel. Not only could the Law of Re- by no means all, of the traditional turn be defended as a historical, col- formula’s components. lective act of affirmative action taken

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 23 by the international system toward the Alpaiim 19, 2000, 78-105; Oren Yiftachel, Jewish people, but on the level of prin- “The Concept of ‘Ethnic Democracy’ and ciple, one can defend discrimination in Its Applicability to the Case of Israel,” Eth- admitting people to the polity (a prac- nic and Racial Studies 15, January 1992, tice used by many nations). It is im- 125-136. possible, on the other hand, to defend 4. Yuval Dror, “From “Negation of the discrimination against individuals or Diaspora’ to ‘Jewish Consciousness’: The Israeli Educational System, 1920-2000,” groups once they are already citizens: Israel Studies Forum 18(1), Spring 2003, Such discrimination negates the most 58-82. important principle of democracy. 5. Yael Zerubavel, Recovered Roots: Collec- The transformation of Israel into a tive Memory and the Making of Israeli Na- genuine liberal democracy via the tional Tradition (Chicago: University of elimination of all forms of material dis- Chicago Press, 1995). crimination could be achieved without 6. Robert Dahl, Polyarchy, Participation and endangering the overall Jewish charac- Observation (New Haven: Yale University ter of the state. Numerous countries all Press, 1971); Arend Lijphart,Democracy in over the world, after all, have an estab- Plural Societies, (New Haven: Yale Univer- lished dominant culture, side-by-side sity Press, 1977); Arend Lijphart, Democ- with minority cultures, but with no racies: Patterns of Majoritarian and Consen- sus Government in Twenty-One Countries substantive (let alone formal) discrimi- (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984). nation against minorities or their mem- 7. Kretzmer, op.cit.; Nadim Rouhana, Pal- bers. If the reform offered here is imple- estinian Citizens in an Ethnic Jewish State: mented, the sacred formula “Jewish Identities in Conflict (New Haven: Yale and democratic” could survive, a re- University Press, 1997). Discrimination minder of an archaic, ethnically based toward and neglect of the minority have discrimination that has been passed on been recently noted by the Orr Commis- Israel’s way toward genuine democracy. sion, appointed to investigate the violent events of October 2000, as well as by other official Israeli bodies. 1. David Kretzmer, The Legal Status of the 8. Sammy Smooha, “Types of Democracy Arabs in Israel (Boulder: Westview, 1990), and Modes of Conflict Management in 176. Ethnically Divided Societies,” Nations and 2. Ilan Peleg, “Epilogue: The Peace Pro- Nationalism 8(4), 2002, 423-431. cess and Israel’s Political Kulturkampf,” in 9. Sammy Smooha “Minority Status in Ilan Peleg, editor, The Middle East Peace Ethnic Democracy: The Status of the Arab Process: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (New Minority in Israel,” Ethnic and Racial Stud- York: SUNY Press, 1998), 237-263; Ilan ies 13(2), July 1990, 389-413; Sammy Peleg, “Israel’s Constitutional Order and Smooha, “Ethnic Democracy: Israel as a Kulturkampf: The Role of Ben-Gurion,” Archtype,” Israel Studies 2, Fall 1997, 198- Israel Studies 3(1), 1998, 230-250. 241; Sammy Smooha, “The Models of 3. Oren Yiftachel, “Ethnocracy, Geogra- Ethnic Democracy: Israel as a Jewish and phy and Democracy: Comments on the Democratic State,” Nations and National- Politics of the Judaization of Israel,” ism 8(4), 2002, 475-503.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 24 10. Yehuda Cohen, Who’s Afraid of a Jew- 14. W.B. Gallie, “Essentially Contested ish State? A Constitutional and Ideological Concepts,” in The Importance of Language, Perspective (Tel Aviv: Lishkat Orchei Ha’din, Max Black, ed., Prentice-Hall, 1962, 121- 2001 [Hebrew]). Representing this line, 146. the late Chief Rabbi, Sholomo Goren, used 15. Dahl, op.cit.,1971. to remind his listeners that “democracy is 16. Baruch Kimmerling, “Jurisdiction in not mentioned in the Torah even once!” an Immigrant-Settler Society: The ‘Jewish 11. Gahnem, Asad , Nadim Rouhana and and Democratic State,’” Comparative Po- Oren Yiftachel, “Questioning ‘Ethnic De- litical Studies 35, December 2002, 1120. mocracy’: A Response to Sammy Smooha,” 17. Ibid., 1124. Israel Studies 3(2), 1998, 253-267. 18. Lustick, 1980; Kretzmer, 1990; Rou- 12. Ruth Gavison, “Jewish and Demo- hana, 1997. cratic? A Rejoinder to the ‘Ethnic Democ- 19. Freedom House, Freedom in the World: racy’ Debate,” Israel Studies 4(1), 1999, 44- The Annual Survey of Political Rights and 72; Ruth Gavison, Israel as a Jewish and Civil Liberties, New York, annual. Also: Democratic State: Tensions and Chances (Tel Freedom House Country Ratings at http:/ Aviv: Hakibbutz Ha’meuchad, 1999 [He- /www.freedomhouse.org/ratings. brew]); Ruth Gavison, “A Jewish and 20. Sammy Smooha, Autonomy for Arabs Democratic State: Political Identity, Ide- in Israel? (Givat Haviva: The Institute for ology and Law,” in Barak-Erez, ed., 1996, Israeli Arab Studies, 1999 [Hebrew]). 169-222. 21. Alan Dowty, “Is Israel Democratic? 13. Ian Lustick, Arabs in the Jewish State: Substance and Semantics in the ‘Ethnic Israel’s Control of a National Minority (Uni- Democracy’ Debate,” Israel Studies 4(2), versity of Texas Press, 1980); Kretzmer, Fall 1999, 1-14, 12. 1990; Rouhana, 1997.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 25 Who Is Israel?

BY DAVID FOX SANDMEL

raditionally, both Jews and cording to our tradition, God has given Christians have considered us a specific land, the land of Israel. T themselves to be the heirs of In English and in most other mod- biblical Israel, God’s chosen people. ern languages, we refer to ourselves as Perhaps more than any other difference “Jews” (French, Juifs; German, Juden). between Judaism and Christianity, this The word “Jew,” however, is not the claim to be God’s covenantal partner original name. “Jew” occurs rarely in has defined the tragic history of rela- the Tanach or in the siddur.1 Our old- tions between Jews and Christians. It est name is Yisrael, Israel; we call our- is also the single aspect of Christian selves am Yisrael,“the people of Israel,” theology that has changed most radi- and benei Yisrael, “the children of Is- cally since the Shoah, as a result of the rael.” process of Christian self-examination, In non-Orthodox prayer books, one of the dialogue between Jews and of the first benedictions to be recited Christians, and of advances in critical in the morning is “Praised are You our scholarship concerning religion in the Eternal God, Sovereign of the Universe Greco-Roman world. who has made me Yisrael (an Israel- After a brief look at the meaning of ite).”2 Similarly, in the Talmud we find, “Israel” for Jews, I will examine some “a Yisrael, even though he [or she] sins classical and contemporary Christian is still a Yisrael.”3 The fact that most understandings of what it means for translators render Yisrael in both the Christians to be Israel. morning benediction and the talmudic dictum as “Jew” underscores the point. Jews as Israel Indeed, the Shema doesn’t make sense to some Jews until it is rephrased as For Jews, the word “Israel” has three “Hear, O Jews! The Lord is our God, interrelated meanings. First, it refers to the Lord alone.” We, and others, may use a people descended from the patriarchs the word “Jew,” but our name is Israel. and matriarchs. Second, this people Israel has a special covenant with God, An Open Family first established with Abraham and sub- sequently renewed at Sinai. Third, ac- As the children of Israel, we are the

David Fox Sandmel is the rabbi of K.A.M.Isaiah Israel Congregation in Chi- cago. This essay is adapted with permission from Christianity in Jewish Terms, edited by Tikvah Frymer-Kensky, David Novak, Peter Ochs, David Fox Sandmel and Michael A. Signer (Boulder: Westview Press, 2000).

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 26 descendants of our ancestors: Abraham ish state, also called Israel, has made and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; and the connection to both the land and the Jacob, Leah, and Rachel. Jacob was state an integral part of what it means for given the name Israel during his en- contemporary Jews to be Israel. counter with God described in Gen- esis 32. And Jacob had twelve sons who, Christians as Israel in turn, became the twelve tribes of Is- rael. Thus, Israel is a people, an ex- The Christian understanding that tended family in which all Jews are re- the church has become God’s covenan- lated. But the family is open. Those tal partner — has become Israel — can who become “Jews by choice” are be divided into three stages. The first adopted into the Jewish people and stage was quite short, lasting only a gen- become indistinguishable members of eration or two after Jesus’ execution, the family.4 and can be found in the writings of “Israel” also refers to a particular Paul. During this stage, the earliest fol- event, since we are the people who en- lowers of Jesus, both Jewish and Gen- tered into the covenant with God at tile, saw themselves as part of, or at least Mount Sinai: in relationship to, the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition. Israel encamped there in front of The second stage began as Christian- the mountain, and Moses went up ity started to develop an identity inde- to God. YHVH called to him from pendent of Judaism, as early as the the mountain, saying, “Thus shall composition of the Gospels, and con- you say to the house of Jacob and tinued into the modern period. In this declare to the children of Israel: stage, Christianity came to view itself ‘You have seen what I did to the as the “new Israel.” Christians are part- Egyptians, how I bore you on ners with God in a “new” covenant eagles’ wings and brought you to through Christ, and God’s covenant Me. Now then, if you will obey Me with old Israel, with the Jews, is no faithfully and keep My covenant, longer in effect. you shall be My treasured posses- As a result of their unfaithfulness to sion among all the peoples’”(Exo- God, as recorded in the Tanach itself, dus 19: 2-5). and culminating in their rejection of Finally, as Israel we have a deep emo- Jesus Christ, the Jews are disqualified tional attachment to a particular place from continuing as God’s covenantal that we also call Israel. The phrase “land partners. In its extreme and most dan- of Israel” is much older than the mod- gerous forms, the church as “spiritual ern State of Israel; it is found in the Israel” is diametrically opposed to the book of Samuel, and is used regularly Jews as “carnal Israel”; the church is the by Ezekiel. In the light of a history “true Israel” and represents God and marked by persecution and genocide, good; the Jews are the “false Israel” and the existence of an independent Jew- represent Satan and evil.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 27 During the third stage, in the years Covenant and Choice since the Shoah, official church bodies and Christian theologians have been Paul begins by affirming God’s cov- reconsidering what it means for both enants with the people Israel. He then Christians and Jews to be “Israel.” I will suggests that God's promise is not lim- now briefly examine each of these ited to the physical descendants of stages. Abraham, that is, to the Jews. Rather, the essential aspect of God’s covenant Paul’s Perspective with the Jews is not the Jews per se but the fact that God made a choice and Christianity began as one of many that God continues to have the power groups within the complex religious to choose whomever God wants. Paul world of Second Temple Judaism. As states, citing Exodus 33:19, that it is the movement that evolved from the God’s choice, or God’s grace, that ulti- followers of Jesus grew, it attracted rela- mately determines whether mercy is tively few Jews, but was taken up by bestowed upon a person or not. Like- many Gentiles. By the middle of the wise, and here Paul cites Hosea 2:23, second century of the common era, God can choose other covenantal part- Christianity and rabbinic Judaism were ners if that is God’s will. well on the way to becoming separate In this section of Romans, Paul also religions. discusses the place of Jewish law in the One of the challenges for emerging new covenant. Paul believed that the Christianity was defining the relation- law by itself was insufficient to ensure ship between an increasingly Gentile redemption or salvation. Faith in the risen church and Christianity’s Jewish roots. Christ is essential: “If you confess with What did it mean to be a Gentile who your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in believed that Jesus as the risen Christ your heart that God raised him from the was the Messiah promised to Israel by dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). the God of Israel, especially when most Thus for Paul, although God’s Jews — Jesus’ own people — did not choice of Israel is a historical fact and accept Jesus? How could Gentiles share remains valid, God retains the freedom in God’s promise to Israel and worship to choose whomever God wills; God’s the God of Israel without being Israel? salvation is not restricted to Israel sim- Whereas the Gospels portray the ten- ply because God has a covenant with sion between Judaism and emerging it. “There is no distinction between Jew Christianity in the harsh rhetoric of reli- and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of gious polemic, it is the apostle Paul who all and bestows his riches upon all who first tries to provide a theological resolu- call upon him” (Romans 10:13). tion for the question of the relationship of Christianity to the God of Israel. This Continuing Covenant attempted resolution is found most suc- cinctly in Romans 9-11. As a Jew, Paul was greatly distressed

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 28 that Israel had not heeded God’s mes- is an essential part of God’s plan for sage of salvation brought through Jesus Israel. (Romans 10:14-21). Nonetheless, Paul Paul has described a “new” or, more steadfastly proclaims God’s continued accurately, “true” Israel consisting of covenant with the people of Israel as those who have faith in Jesus Christ. well as his own allegiance to them. This true Israel is not made up of the descendants of Jacob/Israel (though I ask, then, has God rejected his they are not necessarily excluded from people? By no means! I myself am it); rather it is the community of both an Israelite, a descendant of Abra- Jewish and Gentile believers, that is, the ham, a member of the tribe of church.6 Benjamin. God has not rejected Paul understood the relationship his people whom he foreknew between the old Israel (the descendants (Romans 11:1-2). of Jacob) and the new Israel (the Indeed, Paul’s mission to the Gen- church) to be reciprocal; each needed tiles is, in part, an effort to bring Israel the other in order to achieve final sal- to faith in Christ by provoking their vation. At the same time, Paul believed jealousy(Romans 11:13)! that God’s promises to the old Israel At this point, Paul invokes the fa- were irrevocable and would be fulfilled, mous metaphor of the olive tree from although admittedly, his understand- which some branches have been bro- ing of that fulfillment — inasmuch as ken and onto which other branches it required faith in Jesus as Christ — have been grafted (Romans 11:16-24). was not one that his contemporaries The tree, both roots and branches, is among the Jews would have accepted. Israel, the people with whom God made an everlasting covenant. The bro- The Church as the True Israel ken branches are those of Israel, the nation that has rejected the gospel of The first and second centuries were Jesus Christ. The grafted branches are years of self-definition for both Juda- those of the nations who have accepted ism and Christianity. As Christianity the gospel. grew and spread through the ancient world, it had to assert its own identity. Old and New Israel As part of this process of self-definition and differentiation, each tradition Gentiles who believe in Jesus be- drew distinct boundaries that excluded come part of Israel — that is, God’s the other, and each claimed to be the covenantal partners — and are able to exclusive heir of biblical Israel. share in the salvation brought by the The Christian understanding of the Savior who comes from Israel. In Paul’s church as the “new” Israel came more view, it is Israel’s rejection of Jesus that and more to exclude the “old” Israel. has made possible the election of the This exclusion is found even in Gos- Gentiles, and the faith of the Gentiles pel documents, which often portray the

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 29 Jews rejecting Jesus and Jesus (and/or some post-Holocaust Christians have God), in turn, rejecting the Jews and reexamined aspects of traditional turning to the Gentiles.7 Whereas Paul Christian teaching, especially the con- saw a new Israel that included both cept of the church as the “true Israel,” “Jew and Greek,” later Christianity saw and have offered new definitions that (and some Christians today continue differ from those of Paul and classical to see) the new Israel (Christianity) su- Christianity. Among the fundamental perseding the old Israel (Judaism). questions probed by theologians such Justin Martyr (c.165 CE), an impor- as Paul van Buren, Rosemary Radford tant early church father, uses the term Reuther, George Lindbeck, and Frank- “true spiritual Israel” in referring to the lin Littell are: church in his Dialogue with Trypho. • What are Christians to make of the Justin argues that since the God of Is- persistence of the Jewish people? rael acted in Jesus Christ, it is in the • Is the church the new Israel? If so, church rather than in Israel that the who are these people? If not, what hap- God of Israel is now found. pens to the doctrines of promise and An important difference between fulfillment, law and grace? the position of Justin and the one ar- • Is Jesus of the people Israel? For whom ticulated by Paul in Romans 9-11 is is he the Messiah? that Paul affirmed the irrevocable na- • What of Israel’s land and state? ture of God’s promise to the people of In addition, many official church Israel. Justin, and thereafter most of bodies have issued public statements Christianity into the modern era, that reflect these concerns. In the docu- viewed God’s relationship with “Abra- ments of Vatican II, the Roman Catho- ham’s physical descendants” as tran- lic Church reassessed its teachings sient, at best.8 The historical conse- about Jews and Judaism; it has contin- quence of this theology was a growing ued this reassessment in subsequent antipathy to Jews and to Judaism in documents. most of the Christian world. Protestant churches have made similar pronouncements. For example, in Christianity Reconsiders Israel 1987, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ adopted a resolution We now come to the third stage in titled “The Relationship Between the the development of Christian identity United Church of Christ and the Jew- as Israel, in which the Shoah becomes ish Community.” It stated: a defining moment for Christianity. The long tradition of Christian anti- The United Church of Christ af- Semitism made the Shoah possible.9 firms its recognition that God’s Many of the people who carried out covenant with the Jewish people has Hitler’s Final Solution considered not been rescinded or abrogated by themselves Christians. God, but remains in full force, in- In confronting this stark reality, asmuch as “the gifts and the call of

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 30 God are irrevocable” (Romans 11: The Place of Jewish History 29).11 The realities of history are also the Rejecting Triumphalism starting point for Kendall Soulen’s book, The God of Israel and Christian The moral imperative to disavow Theology. In his critique of traditional triumphalist teachings that have led to Christian theology, Soulen argues that atrocities in the past is the driving force it has essentially omitted the history of behind the Christian theological re- Israel/Jews from its telling of its own evaluation of Jews and Judaism. Hans story. In his reconstruction of what he Kung, a Roman Catholic theologian, calls “the standard canonical frame- examines the history of Jewish-Chris- work,” there are four stages of history. tian relations and states: First, God creates the world and humanity. Second, humanity, through the Only one thing is of any use now: sin of Adam and Eve, disobeys and falls. a radical metanoia [reorientation], Third, “lost humanity” is redeemed in repentance and re-thinking; we Christ. Fourth, God brings the final must start on a new road, no longer redemption of the world at the “end of leading away from the Jew, but to- time.” 12 ward them. The church (that is, those who be- Kung concludes that the church’s lieve in Jesus as Christ) is Israel inas- opposition to the Jews is tantamount much as it has become the people of to opposition to God. Furthermore, the God through its fidelity to Jesus Christ, church “must seek in every way to en- not because it is descended from a ter into sympathetic dialogue with the single ancestor. Its status as a people is ancient people of God.” Kung also ar- not defined solely by the promises of gues that the church and Israel are two Sinai, nor does it necessarily entail a distinct peoples of God: connection to any particular land. Noticeably missing from this rehearsal Like Israel and following Israel, the of the Christian sacred story is any Church sees itself as the journey- mention of what we Jews would con- ing people of God, constantly be- sider the core of our history. In this ing delivered from bondage, con- view, the Jews and their story are irrel- stantly wandering through the wil- evant to the story of the new, true Is- derness of this age, constantly rael, Christianity. maintaining the tension between Soulen notes, however, that signifi- thankful commemoration and cant parts of the Christian church to- hopeful expectation and preparing day reject supersessionism and affirm itself for its entry into the prom- God’s fidelity to the Jewish people. ised land, the messianic kingdom, From there we ask: What are the im- the goal that always lies in the fu- plications of this new development for ture.13 the rest of Christian theology?14

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 31 Soulen offers his own answer: Above and beyond this basis for exchange, however, we ought to ask an- Christians should acknowledge other question: Does this new shift that God’s history with Israel and among Christians have theological im- the nations is the permanent and plications for Jews? Does the recogni- enduring medium of God’s work tion on the part of some Christians that as the Consummator of human we Jews continue to be Israel in cov- creation, and therefore it is also the enant with God require that, in turn, permanent and enduring context we must acknowledge the legitimacy of the gospel about Jesus.15 of the church’s claim to identify with the name “Israel”? Rather than viewing the history of As I have tried to show in this brief Israel and the nations as preparation for essay, Jewish and Christian definitions the gospel, Soulen argues that this his- of what it means to be Israel are quite tory “surrounds the gospel as its con- different from one another. Jewish tra- stant horizon, context, and goal.”16 He dition already recognizes and affirms suggests that Christianity cannot un- Gentiles who acknowledge the oneness derstand itself unless it posits an Israel of God. Jews can recognize Christians whose covenant with God coexists with as people who believe in the God of and informs the new covenant. Israel. From a Jewish perspective, how- Scott Bader-Saye, another Christian ever, that belief, in and of itself, does theologian who has considered the not make Christianity part of Israel, as meaning of election for contemporary we understand Israel, that is, a people Christianity, refers to the church as that has a special covenant with God “God’s chosen people with Israel.”17 who has given us a specific land. Although Christians can acknowl- Along with/Instead of edge that Israel’s covenant with God is eternal, fidelity to Jewish tradition pre- The concept of the church as the cludes our recognition as Israel of those people of God along with the Jews, a who do not meet our definitional cri- concept that does not depend on de- teria. This is but one of the enduring nying Jews our identity and covenan- differences between Jews and Chris- tal legitimacy, is a radical shift in Chris- tians, and we must not only accept but tian thinking. This step has required also affirm this difference if we are truly painful soul-searching and theological committed to supporting each other’s courage on the part of those Christians integrity. who have taken it. The Jewish commu- Changes in Christian theology re- nity should view this shift positively; it garding Jews and Judaism, however, do signifies a real change in Christian un- challenge us to find new ways to relate derstandings of Jews and Judaism and to Christians and Christianity. Now creates a profound basis for coopera- that some in the Christian world af- tion and exchange. firm God’s continuing covenant with

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 32 the Jews, we need to consider the theo- “anti-Semitism,” despite its shortcomings, is logical implications of their claim to now understood to encompass both “reli- be in covenant with that same God. gious” and “racial” Jew-hatred. It is also important to stress that although Christian anti-Semitism made the 1. The Hebrew word yehudi in its various Shoah possible, “Nazism was not a Chris- forms appears twenty-four times outside tian phenomenon,” to quote “Dabru Emet: the book of Esther, where it is used regu- A Jewish Statement on Christians and larly. Though most often translated into Christianity,” in Christianity in Jewish English as “Jew,” in context the best trans- Terms, edited by Tikvah Frymer-Kensky, lation may be “Judean.” David Novak, Peter Ochs, David Fox 2. In the Orthodox prayer book, the same Sandmel, and Michael A. Signer (Boulder: benediction is found in a negative formu- Westview Press, 2000), xix. lation: “who has not made me a Gentile.” 10. See Peter Ochs, “Jewish and Christian 3. See B.T. Sanhedrin 22a. Theology,” in The Modern Theologians: An 4. Thus a Jew-by-choice is given a Hebrew Introduction to Christian Theology in the name reflecting the family relationship — Twentieth Century, second edition, edited X the son/daughter of Abraham and Sa- by David Ford (Cambridge: Cambridge rah. University Press, 1987), 607. Ochs’ article 5. Paul uses the plural “covenants,” prob- provides a good synopsis of this trend in ably a reference to successive covenants contemporary Christian theology. with Abraham as well as to the covenant 11. For more on this resolution and its at Sinai. It should be remembered that implications, see Denise Dombkowski what we have of Paul’s writings is a collec- Hopkins, “God’s Continuing Covenant tion of occasional letters, not an organized, with the Jews and the Christian Reading worked-out theology. All interpretations of of the Bible,” in Prism: A Theological Fo- Paul are, by necessity, constructions. rum for the UCC 3, no. 2 (Fall 1988), 60- 6. Cf. Galatians 3:7, 9, 14, 29; 6:19. 75. 7. See, for but one example, Matthew 12. Hans Kung, The Church, translated by 22:33-41. Ray and Rosaleen Oekenden (London: 8. Much of Christian anti-Semitism can Burns and Oates, 1967), 138. be traced to the view that the Jews (“car- 13. Ibid., 148. nal Israel”) had rejected Jesus, indeed, had 14. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and crucified him. Christian Theology (Minneapolis: Fortress 9. The term “anti-Semitism” is problematic. Press, 1996), 3. It is important to differentiate between reli- 15. Ibid., 110. giously based and racially based prejudice 16. Ibid., 176. against Jews. Some consider only the latter 17. Scott Bader-Saye, Church and Israel to be “anti-Semitism.” Nonetheless, although After Christendom: The Politics of Election it is important to distinguish different types (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1999), of “Jew-hatred,” it seems to me that the term 148.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 33 Rainbow Hasidism in America — The Maturation of Jewish Renewal

A Review Essay of Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003)

BY SHAUL MAGID

“Sometimes legends make reality, and with Havurat Shalom in Somerville, become more useful than the facts.” MA and continuing with B’nai Or — Salman Rushdie, (later changed to P’nai Or) in Phila- Midnight’s Children delphia, PA, Reb Zalman’s vision of creating a modern and countercultural “When Kabbalah came, it made of God American “post-Hasidic” Hasidism has a human; when Hasidism came, it expanded into a national and interna- made of the human, a God.” tional phenomenon. Annual confer- —Rashbatz ences and kallot (gatherings) are commonplace, and scholars of religion are “The primal danger of man is ‘religion.’” beginning to take an interest in Jewish —Martin Buber, "Spinoza, Sabbatai Renewal as a unique dimension of Zevi, and the Baal-Shem Tov” American religion. This essay is not only a review of a ver the last 35 years, Rabbi new book by Reb Zalman, Wrapped in Zalman Schachter-Shalomi a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of the O (Reb Zalman) has developed Hasidic Masters. More specifically, it is what is arguably one the most creative about the way Wrapped in a Holy Flame and influential movements in America is a lens through which one can view Judaism in the past half century. Now the maturation of Jewish Renewal. As known as Jewish Renewal, this move- is well known, the organizational, comment has made an impact on all exist- munal, and ideational vision of Reb ing Jewish denominations. Beginning Zalman’s Jewish Renewal arises out of

Dr. Shaul Magid holds the the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair in Jewish Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he is associate professor of Jewish studies.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 34 the Hasidic movement in Eastern Eu- Jewish Renewal has become the pan- rope and its transplantation to America denomination of contemporary Juda- initiated by Habad Hasidism in the ism, recently adding to its organiza- early decades of the 20th century. Ha- tional structure a decentered course of sidic teachings, devotional practices study toward rabbinical ordination and lifestyle (tapered to fit the particu- mediated through the Internet and a lar needs and values of countercultural network of devoted mentors around America) are the foundation of Reb the country. Zalman’s ongoing project. Practical guidebooks, such as the The First Jew- Trilogy of Major Works ish Catalogue in the early 1970s were the first popular manifestations of his Although Reb Zalman has been new approach to Hasidism.1 quite prolific (his works include translations of Yiddish poetry as well as of Writing and Teaching Hasidic literature, theology and spirituality), to date two main works stand Reb Zalman’s writings were not as out: Fragments of a Future Scroll (1975) widely influential as his public teach- and Paradigm Shift (1993).2 The first ing and mentoring. Although he served is largely selected translations of Ha- as a professor of Judaism at several uni- sidic texts accompanied by Reb Zal- versities (University of Winnipeg, Tem- man’s modest commentary. It is a work ple University, and now at the Naropa that breaks the ground for what will University in Boulder, CO), he rarely become a more mature statement of chose academic venues for his publica- Jewish Renewal in Paradigm Shift al- tions. In the spirit of Habad Hasidism, most 20 years later.3 the source of his own Hasidic training, Before Wrapped in a Holy Flame, Par- Reb Zalman’s early works were in- adigm Shift was the most comprehen- tended for a young, estranged Jewish sive statement of Jewish Renewal. In audience, many of whom were travel- it, Reb Zalman addresses the major ing the country and globe in search of themes of his humanistic, universal, an alternative lifestyle that was organic, ecumenical, yet deeply ritualistic Juda- joyful, non-materialistic and spiritual. ism. Paradigm Shift is a collection of His later work widened this narrow lens previously written essays, interviews, and contributed to the burgeoning meditations, theology, practical advice new-age religiosity of contemporary (e.g., “transcending the Sefer Barrier”) America. and even politics (e.g., “An Open Let- Reb Zalman is a master organizer, ter to the Honorable Teddy Kolleck”). creating a network of Renewal groups The book has a stream-of-conscious- that have started to become part of the ness (some would say disorganized) existing American synagogue structure, feel, but I have always thought at least as well as creating their own grass-roots part of this was intentional. Reb Zal- prayer and ritual centers. In some way, man’s Judaism is one that seeks to chal-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 35 lenge the linear and scholastic way of ism. This work moves far beyond pre- thinking about religion. In this sense, vious similar exercises (for example, in the literary style of Paradigm Shift ac- the works of Aryeh Kaplan or Adin curately reflects the literary style of Steinsaltz)5 because there is no reso- many Hasidic works, although many nance of apologetic thinking. Hasidic texts import the order of the Reb Zalman is not trying to present Hebrew Bible or the yearly cycle as a Hasidism, and by doing so, to defend structure.4 Paradigm Shift’s non-linear it. As he puts it, “Jewish Renewal dif- trajectory moves from theology to fers from Restoration, which seeks to prayer to ritual to politics to the Holo- hold on to a dying or former para- caust almost inadvertently. It does not digm.”11 In fact, at moments he is quite seem to be a book that is intended to critical of Hasidism and is quick to be read cover to cover. point out areas where a particular Hasidic value or teaching simply can- Hasidic Spirituality not be salvaged. It is in this sense that it is post-Hasidic and neo- The final piece to Reb Zalman’s tril- Reconstructionist. (A chapter in Para- ogy is Wrapped in a Holy Flame. This digm Shift entitled, “Reconstructionism book is much better organized, struc- and Neo-Hasidism: A Not-So-Imagi- tured as a collection of Hasidic teach- nary Dialogue” addresses this issue di- ings and stories according to Hasidic rectly.) masters. However, underlying this seemingly non-ideological guise, it is a Creative Reconstruction radical reconstruction of Hasidic spirituality. It seeks to do what Paradigm For readers interested mainly in the Shift and his other works do not — it tales and teachings of the Hasidic mas- is Reb Zalman’s attempt to place him- ters as retold by Reb Zalman, the first self in a particular modern trajectory chapter, “A Renaissance of Piety,” as a Jewish theologian of Hasidism. In might seem merely prefatory. However, short, it is his personal summa of Jew- this chapter is one of the most impor- ish Renewal. In this work, one can most tant in the book. Without it, one can readily discover Reb Zalman’s “project,” easily overlook the underlying purpose although it is easily missed if one reads it of Reb Zalman’s retelling and recon- only for the retelling of Hasidic teach- structing these Hasidic teachings into ings. something useful for the new age. This Reading this book, one can under- creative reconstruction is scattered stand how Jewish Renewal is both an throughout the book, and is largely an outgrowth of, and also an impetus for, extension of this chapter, where Reb a radical reconstruction of Hasidism. Zalman reflects on the trajectory of That is, Jewish Renewal’s success be- modern interpreters of Hasidism and yond its own cultural context requires finds his place among them. The chap- an unambiguous revaluation of Hasid- ter also contains some important au-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 36 tobiographical material in that it traces their respective theories. And, Buber Reb Zalman’s thinking over 30 years adds, each failed by overextending his on the two fundamental questions that respective critique: Spinoza by elimi- this book attempts to answer: “What nating the personal God completely, is Hasidism?” and “How can one be a and Sabbatai Zevi by overextending the Hasid?” universality of Jewish messianism by In order to analyze this important converting to Islam. chapter, I have taken the interpretive The historical, or theological, accu- license of dividing it into four distinct racy of Buber’s argument is not at is- parts: the situational, the psychologi- sue here. What is relevant is that Reb cal, the theological and the method- Zalman claims that, in a similar way, ological. In each part, Reb Zalman both Buber and Heschel paved the way demonstrates how Hasidism has and for Jewish Renewal, but could not take can continue to survive the test of time, their theological observations into the as well as create and carry us to a new realm of a devotional life. Each con- paradigm. tributed to a revaluation of Hasidism, but neither answered the fundamental Reb Zalman and Buber question, “How can one be a Hasid?” Reb Zalman understands Buber’s Martin Buber and Abraham Joshua neo-Hasidic project and agrees with it Heschel are the two most influential up to a point. Yet for Reb Zalman (and figures who introduced Hasidism to a this is still his early thinking, c. 1960), modern, North American audience. Buber gives us the individual “I,” and Reb Zalman engages both thinkers in even gives us a systematic philosophy/ a way that resembles Buber’s analysis theology of the “Thou,” but he doesn’t in his essay, “Spinoza, Sabbatai Zevi give us a human other who can point and the Baal Shem Tov.”6 There, Buber the way. For Buber, at least as Reb Zal- argues that Spinoza and Sabbatai Zevi, man reads him, the Rebbe is not an both of whom waged their critique of integral part of the Hasidic experience. normative Judaism in the mid-17th cen- And Buber would agree with this — as tury, each had the right idea (albeit an existentialist, it is the individual who manifest differently). Yet each lacked points the way; it is subjectivity that cre- something to enable that idea to ma- ates the possibility of living authentically. ture and blossom — more specifically, For Reb Zalman, Buber got it right to become a full-blown devotional life. about the subject, but he was afraid The Baal Shem Tov came along in “that the word would become flesh,” the mid-18th century and served as a that dialogue would yield to obligation. corrective — not that the others were Buber’s fear of “objectivity” made “be- “wrong” in principle (in fact, Buber coming a Hasid” impossible. He could argues, both offered accurate critiques not submit to a devotional life (even of Judaism), but they simply did not in the non-Orthodox way Reb Zalman go far enough in what was right about constructs it), because his commitment

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 37 was principally to the moment alone. pick up again some 25 years later. And he could not commit to the cen- Much has happened: the ’60s, the Viet- trality of the Tzaddik or Rebbe, be- nam War, psychedelic drugs. Reb Zal- cause, for Buber, the individual was the man has left the Lubavitch movement ultimate authority. and Orthodoxy; Far Eastern religions have saturated the American land- Reb Zalman and Heschel scape and Reb Zalman’s imagination. If Judaism can survive these seismic For Reb Zalman, Heschel comes changes, Reb Zalman believes, it will closer, but he still does not give us what be because of Hasidism. we need for a new paradigm. He gives But what about Hasidism? What us a theory of “radical amazement” and about the Rebbe? The Rebbe model, “divine pathos,” models whereby ha- he concludes, must stay, since being a lakha can survive, where we no longer Hasid necessitates having a Rebbe. But need to respond to Buber’s fear of in- the old hierarchical model of reb- carnation as the destruction of the sub- behood, one person around whom a ject. Heschel gives us a Judaism that community gathers and submits itself, can be lived, an alternative piety that cannot and should not survive — it will not submit the subject to the het- must undergo a transformation. The eronymous dictates of the law, but nei- Rebbe can no longer be a specific per- ther will it make the law inoperative. son. The hierarchical nature of com- Heschel can teach us a lot about Hasid- munity that this requires has not sur- ism, suggests Reb Zalman, but his the- vived the progressive movement of con- ology is just that — a theology of temporary culture. Hasidism. It cannot teach one how to Yet relation, what used to be the re- become a Hasid.7 lation between the Rebbe and the Reb Zalman’s critique of Heschel is Hasid, must survive. “Relation is fill- quite undeveloped, even transparent. ing the space between a subject and an He never explains what he means by object. It is the process bridging the Heschel’s limitations, implying only two. Renewal is always a process of that for Heschel, like Buber, God is ‘togethering,’ of partnering with some- mediated through the experience of the thing else. For in truth there is noth- individual alone. In short, Reb Zalman ing in the physical world that is not of ends his “old thinking” (here refracted a dependent nature” (85). Re-envision- through an abbreviated critique of ing the Rebbe is perhaps the first seis- Buber and Heschel) with the procla- mic move Reb Zalman makes from mation that to be a Hasid, one needs a Hasidism to Renewal. Rebbe. If the Rebbe does not survive in some manner, all we are left with is a Renewing the “Rebbe” “theology of Hasidism,” but not a lived devotional practice. That is, we are left With Wrapped in a Holy Flame, we with Buber and Heschel. Part of being

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 38 a Hasid is an act of submission, the feel- quasi-apostolic claim, a reconstruction ing of being less rather than more, in of origins, attempting to revive a gene- need rather than in command. And alogy of the internality (penimiut) of here we are introduced to Reb Zalman’s Hasidism as expressed by its great mas- “organisimic” model of rebbe-ing (13). ters. And yet, its apostolic claim is but- Rebbe-ing is a function whereby we all tressed by a positivistic claim of cre- serve each other at different times and ative progress. for different purposes. “The Rebbe” is Reb Zalman does not claim to have no longer a title but a station; I can rediscovered the past, but only to have serve the community as a Rebbe and viewed a dimension of the past through then walk away and resume my ordi- the lens of a new future, making extra- nary life. It is a type of “playing Rebbe” neous all that does not cohere to the (Reb Zalman even uses that language, internal message of Hasidism as he sees 14). “So I’ve come understand that the it through his contemporary eyes. This Rebbe of the future is not going to be new vision of the Hasid directly con- ‘the Rebbe’ we knew in the past. For nects to the second theological piece some time, the Rebbe will serve as the of his introduction, the new theologi- Rebbe, and when that’s done, the per- cal paradigm. son will have dinner and go to see a movie and not necessarily be a Rebbe” (14). From Deism to Pantheism Becoming Expansive Hasidim One of the advantages of being trained in, or at least conversant with, In other words, we teach one an- the study of religion more generally is other to be Hasidim, not Hasidim of the ability to employ categories in or- one person, but Hasidim in the wide der to explain the internal movements sense, that is, living Judaism, or sim- of specific traditions. Reb Zalman em- ply living, in an expansive way (24). ploys the language of the study of reli- “So, to be open and fluid, ‘walking’ is gion (albeit a language that is now the way of the Hasid. When one is somewhat dated in the academy) to static and certain of life’s limits, when place Hasidism within a certain spiri- one stands still, one is closed to the joy tual trajectory. of endless possibilities, even on a spiri- The theological component of this tual path” (31). prelude is to view Hasidism as moving Reb Zalman attempts to substanti- from deism (the old paradigm) to pan- ate this claim — that Hasidism’s origi- theism (the new paradigm), using bib- nal intent was not about the Rebbe per lical and post-biblical characters. In this se — in portraits of Hasidic masters. reading, biblical and rabbinic figures The Rebbe/Tzaddik model was a par- embody or represent world views ex- ticular, and necessary, instantiation, pressing certain theological positions. given the religious and cultural climate Again, the historical accuracy of this of the time. Thus, this book makes a exercise is not an issue, as it wasn’t for

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 39 Hasidic masters who thought similarly, gues stands at the center of Beshtean albeit without Western theological cat- Hasidism.12 This suggests a new model egories. When we no longer look at of leadership whereby we all contain Jewish tradition as a seamless tapestry within us both the Rebbe and the where there is essentially no theologi- Hasid, depending upon the situation. cal difference between Abraham, Moses Each person contains a manifestation of or Rabbi Akiva (and here the histori- the divine that can serve another, whose cal method does plays an important divine nature lies elsewhere. role in Reb Zalman’s thinking), we can posit how different epochs (the biblical Seeking God period, the talmudic period, the Middle Ages) offer different and contesting world For Reb Zalman, his new-fangled views.8 Hasidism is the Jewish “philosophy” of Historical events (the destruction of this new pantheistic age. The Baal the Temple or the Holocaust, for ex- Shem Tov already did much of the ample) also serve as markers for para- work by chipping away at the hierar- digm shifts, making the God of the old chical structure of classic theism (here paradigm (or the particular way God Reb Zalman is in full agreement with is envisioned and served) obsolete.9 In Buber). “Where may God be found, if some way, the success of a new para- not in space or time? In person, because digm is the extent to which it can read it turns out we are not doing so well itself back into the old paradigm with- with time today; time is not shared as out succumbing to the theological limi- much as it used to be. . . . First we tations of that paradigm. That is, to sought God in space, in olam. The new transform the old into the new with- started to look for God in time. And out detection.10 now we are looking for God more in Without giving us a detailed account person” (21).13 of “why” (this can be found in Para- This, of course, is Reb Zalman’s take digm Shift), Reb Zalman suggests that on the triadic division of worldly ex- the new theological paradigm of our istence in Sefer Yetzira; olam (space), age is pantheism, that is, that every- shana (time), nefesh (person). Instead thing is God. He rightfully discounts of a description of existence more gen- panentheism (God is in everything) as erally, Reb Zalman presents this triad basically meaningless and, I would add, as a developmental description of how a kind of uncourageous pantheism human beings envision God (“where (20). Pantheism undermines the hier- we find God”). Taking Hasidism’s re- archical structure of classic theism and, direction of kabbalistic metaphysics to by extension, threatens the theological the person, Reb Zalman offers us a suppositions of classical Judaism.11 For model tracing God-consciousness from Reb Zalman, pantheism’s most useful classical theism to pantheism.14 dimension is the notion of the divine New theological epochs, as it were, in the person, something that he ar- are never clean. “Primitive” polytheis-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 40 tic elements remain in all religions as demic weakness that lie at the heart of civilization moves to different theologi- monotheism — the tendency toward cal positions. To soften apologetically irreconcilable divisions between good the edge of these polytheistic-like ritu- and evil, yielding fundamentalist theo- als in Judaism is not aligned with para- ries that are presently threatening our digm-thinking. Rather, Reb Zalman civilization. This is manifest in many acknowledges that these rituals ways, including patriarchal language, emerged during a different theological intolerance toward the other, hatred of epoch and thus they are seen for what nature and human desire, and “ethnic they, in all their limitations, are, and cleansing” as a religious precept. “One not viewed negatively. thing people don’t like about religion is the hierarchical and patriarchal lan- Abandoning Old Paradigms guage, the antifeminist sentiment that goes all the way through the Vatican This does not mean that everything to the Taliban, Meah Shearim to the in the past, practically and theologi- Laws of Manu, and that is a big part of cally, must remain. What can be sal- the problem” (293). vaged should be, and what is too deeply The equating of Meah Shearim with rooted in the old paradigm should be the Taliban is intentional — it is to state abandoned.15 It was Hasidism, after all, that, rooted in monotheism, both paths that took us away from the more dual- are susceptible to the same dangers. To istic constructs of good and evil that argue for a disanalogy between the two, dominated classical Kabbala and of- arguing that one is more susceptible to fered a more dialectical model of the distortion than the other, is simply to good in the evil (Buber’s “hallowing the misunderstand the problem.17The mundane”). While this surely existed problem of the Taliban isn’t Islam per in earlier Kabbala (e.g., in Moshe Cor- se (although it surely manifests there); dovero and Isaac Luria and even the it is a corrupted deism endemic to all Zohar), what Hasidism added was the monotheistic religions.18 centrality of the person, the nefesh, as The rise of Far Eastern religions the new paradigm where God is most (e.g., Buddhism, Hindusim, Shin- readily found.16 Implied here is that toism) in the West plays a positive role apologetic thinking, a part of the old in the correction of corrupt versions of paradigm, impedes theological prog- monotheism. These non-monotheistic ress. For Reb Zalman, to reconstruct religions do not share the particular unapologetically Hasidism is both to dangers of monotheism (although they bind us to it and liberate us from it. have their own vulnerabilities). For Reb Or, perhaps, to make it useful by free- Zalman, the appearance of these a-the- ing us from having to defend some of istic or non-monotheistic religions is a its outdated values. sign that Western civilization has en- Accompanying this, Reb Zalman tered a new paradigm, a more “organ- readily admits the fissures and the en- ismic way of looking at the universe.”

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 41 Hasidism Anticipates computer terminology so common in New Paradigms Reb Zalman’s later writings, Hasidism needs to be reformatted. That is what Those committed to a particular Wrapped in a Holy Flame attempts to monotheistic faith (and Reb Zalman do. is, in the end, deeply committed to Judaism) are challenged to search out History and “How to Read” dimensions of the old paradigm that can be reformatted, transformed, even In order to contextualize what I un- reconstructed, to fit this new organistic derstand has happened in this new model.19 He views Hasidism as a move- book, I want to suggest four major ment that contained fundamental com- trends in reading Hasidic texts in the ponents of this new paradigm. Here, modern period: the traditional, the he is in full agreement with Buber’s as- quasi-scholarly, the scholarly and read- sessment of Hasidism as a “Jewish ing for renewal. The traditional reader Orientalism.” The problem with tra- studies these texts as sacred canon. ditional Hasidism is that, given the fact Their sacrality prevents historical or that it was living in a world still wed to critical analysis and denies, or at least the old paradigm, it oftentimes lacked ignores, contextualization or the im- the courage of its convictions. pact of foreign influences. The texts are Among the last great religious move- read solely for inspirational purposes, ments in that second religious age — that is, to understand “how to be a and not only for Judaism — was Hasid- Hasid.” (As stated above, this is also Reb ism. Coming on the very eve of mo- Zalman’s concern, which is why reading dernity, it represents the second age for renewal is, in a sense, closing a circle.) of religion trying to transcend itself; it The quasi-scholarly has two sub- steps forward and peers beyond the groups. The work of the first subgroup blinders of its age, but then moves back constitutes a kind of scholarly apolo- again out of understandable fear or getics, presenting Hasidic material to hesitation. Its original claim, that ka- a wider audience, not necessarily Jew- vannah (inwardness) is what true reli- ish, applying a critical and historical gion is all about, was still too revolu- method but still viewing the texts as tionary for its day (213). sacred, although the intent of their pre- Hasidism thus becomes the model, sentation is not purely devotional. but cannot be the solution to Reb Zal- Buber falls into this camp, although his man’s project. Without significant ref- interests were more philosophical, as ormation, Hasidism remains stuck in does Samuel Abba Hordetzky, Zalman cultural, ideological and even spiritual Shargai, and, to a certain extent, Hillel values of an old paradigm, even as it Zeitlin (who, interestingly, Reb Zalman may have felt the confines of its own includes as a Hasidic master). This world and, at moments, tried to expand group was popular in Europe in the first beyond it own limitations. To employ part of the 20th century, but has not

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 42 really reproduced itself either in Israel affiliated, some are not even Jews, and or the Diaspora.20 their intended audience is primarily academe and not religious communi- Making Hasidism Accessible ties.

The second subgroup is more openly Reading for Renewal apologetic and less wed to scholarly discourse. This group has flourished in These three groups all have perme- the latter part of the 20th century, con- able boundaries, especially the latter sisting largely of Orthodox thinkers two. Many academics also have more who translate and comment on Hasidic theological interests, just as some in the texts as a way of making them more second group live and write in the acad- accessible to a wider Jewish audience. emy. Many write for multiple audi- The purpose of this group is largely ences, either simultaneously or via dif- inspirational (kiruv), geared toward ferent venues of publication. My point fostering the religious life, but it is more is simply to present a map of Hasidic knowledgeable of scholarly method readers in order better to situate where than the first traditional model, al- Reb Zalman, his literary oeuvre, and though scholarly method is only super- his emerging school fit. ficially deployed. Examples include Reb Zalman’s reading of Hasidism Aryeh Kaplan (although I think his exhibited in this book constitutes the agenda is a bit more complicated), Adin fourth group — reading for renewal. Steinsaltz, Nissen Mindel, and Jacob His intended audience is both Jews and Immanuel Schochet of Lubavitch, and non-Jews (the distinction is, in fact, ir- Chaim Kramer and Avraham Green- relevant, as Reb Zalman’s quasi-syncre- baum of the Breslov Research Institute. tistic theology makes all spiritual lit- In many ways, this group is a direct erature useful for all traditions). He outgrowth of the kiruv movement in writes with the hope that the reader will North America. be inspired but not necessarily return The third group consists largely of to tradition (i.e., Hasidism or conven- academics whose interests are more tional Orthodoxy).21 He does not read critical and less theological, reading Hasidic texts as an academic, yet freely Hasidic literature in order to under- employs scholarly terminology and cat- stand how and why it emerges when it egories when it suits him. The reading does. Many are historians interested in is not historical in any conventional Eastern European Jewish culture more way, but utilizes, and even needs, a generally, and some are scholars of Jew- historical/critical approach. He does ish mysticism who view Hasidism as not read apologetically, but does read the “latest phase” (to borrow Gershom theologically. Scholem’s phrase from Major Trends in More crucially, I suggest that Reb Jewish Mysticism) of this genre. These Zalman reads “paradigmatically.” That individuals are not necessarily Jewishly is, he assumes that Hasidism was the last

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 43 vestige of an old paradigm and sometimes from the old paradigm is the abandon- touched on the first stage of a new one. ment or at least attenuation of the Reading for renewal looks for the para- proof-text. “We don’t treat proof-texts digm shift in these texts. He also readily the same way nowadays. What does a acknowledges that Hasidism’s para- proof-text mean to us? If I want to say digm has progressed and therefore the something is really so, we mean that it contemporary world cannot use all of corresponds to a pattern that sits very what Hasidism has to offer. deep in the reality map. So by referring to scripture, we want to say, this is Finding the Fissures a very strongly shared thing” (121).22 When scripture was the fundamen- In some way, Reb Zalman’s reading tal reality map of a community and is always looking for the fissure, the truth was determined solely through it, break — not to exploit it but to show the proof-text was the strongest case how these fissures serve constructive one could make for truth. This is com- purposes and productive ends toward mon in pre-modern Judaism.23 When serving God. He bridges the historical other reality maps emerged in the and the ahistorical. “If I try to judge Middle Ages (e.g., philosophy), the use the paradigm of the past with my un- of proof-texts began to change. Taking derstanding of the present, I am going Maimonides as an example, both to find myself in trouble.” And, “. . . I sources (philosophy and scripture) are believe that we still need to understand used to argue for truth, but the under- how to learn what they were saying, to lying assumption was that both were look at things through their eyes and essentially expressing the same truth.24 to apply their method” (23). Our need Maimonides would sometimes use a to understand their world (the histori- proof-text to illustrate a philosophical cal) is not because that is the best or point in his Guide for the Perplexed and most accurate way to read (the aca- other times he would not. In fact, there demic approach) or because we need are cases (e.g., Guide II: 25, on creation) to mirror their world in our world (the where Maimonides acknowledges that traditional approach), but simply be- he can make the text (here, Genesis 1:1) cause "theirs was a unique approach to support any position he finds philo- God and to life” (23).While it is often sophically most viable.25 And, when he correctly argued that historical recon- does cite a proof-text, it is legitimate struction can weaken a text’s inspira- to assume that the point in question tional potential, Reb Zalman holds that was not true for Maimonides because of while it does reveal the weaknesses of the proof-text but independent of it. the theological position, it also provides the necessary material to reenvision New Reality Maps what is valuable for a future paradigm. An example Reb Zalman gives of Reb Zalman’s point exists along this how reading for renewal is a departure trajectory; however he takes it one step

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 44 further. What happens when there are Sarfei Torah, Shmuel of Shivaneh’s other reality maps (for example, Freud, Ramatayim Zofim to Tanna d’b’ Eliyahu, neuroscience, other metaphysical sys- and various examples in Bratslav litera- tems) that are so far removed from the ture). But this book is a kind of radical reality map of scripture that citing a anthology, one where Reb Zalman’s proof-text to justify a point from these commentary is not meant to clarify a reality maps becomes futile?26 Reb text or present a coherent statement of Zalman writes that in the old paradigm a Hasidic school, but to turn, re-shape, (even in its last stages in Hasidism) “the in some cases transform the texts be- text is proof of what you are saying” ing retold from their original paradigm (121). to the present paradigm.28 However, today we have accepted Below, I will discuss what I see as things as truth that are not founded in the central method utilized to accom- scripture and are often a contradiction plish this. Here, I just want to point to scripture. How do we then read out the way in which Reb Zalman ap- scripture as a reality map; that is, what plies the distinction he draws between are we looking for in an era of conflict- earlier readers of Hasidism, between ing reality maps? Or, more strongly, theologians of Hasidism (i.e., Buber how do we read when the new reality and Heschel) and himself. The latter maps upon which we build our lives two were writing books, Reb Zalman undermine the reality map that is scrip- implies, about Hasidism, whereas he is ture? Regrettably, Reb Zalman never writing a Hasidic text by reading other gives us any detailed discussion on this texts and retelling older stories. Where- important matter. as Paradigm Shift delineates the archi- tecture of Jewish Renewal, Wrapped in Hasidism as an Approach a Holy Flame is its applied dimension. It is only here where the genealogy of Finally, Reb Zalman concludes this Renewal is revealed, albeit in a largely chapter with an important observation. implied fashion. “This book is not a book about Hasid- ism. I don’t want to talk about Hasid- To Retell and to Interpret ism as a static thing; Hasidism is an approach. It is an approach to Juda- As a Hasidic anthology, Wrapped in ism” (24).27 What Reb Zalman does a Holy Flame is trying to accomplish not tell us explicitly is what exactly this two things: to retell and to interpret. book is really about. My suggestion is But what is interpretation? This age- that this book is an attempt to create a old question stands at the center of this Hasidic text in English, an example of book, but it is never explained in any Hasidic anthology with a very specific systematic way. Conventionally, one agenda. We have numerous examples could say that to interpret is to explain, of this in Polish Hasidism (e.g., Yo- to explore, or to understand a text. Or, akhim Kim Kadish’s three-volume Siah. to interpret could be to make a text

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 45 one’s own, to manipulate or massage a the meaning garnered through inter- text, to enable it to speak to you. But pretation changes the way we (the there are limits; anarchic interpretation reader and the listener) live in the will always evoke ire among more con- world. Textual interpretation as reality ventional readers. The great talmudic modification is quite compelling as a scholar Saul Lieberman once warned a Hasidic theory of reading, especially student who was offering a far-fetched when put in the mouth of the Baal reading of a talmudic text, “You can Shem Tov. seduce a text, but you can’t rape it.” The hagiographical literature of the Philosophers interested in herme- Baal Shem Tov is replete with instances neutics, such as Martin Heidegger, Paul where his “interpretation” of a text Riceour, Georg Hans Gadamer, E.D. changes someone’s life, in fact, creates Hirsch, Wolfgang Isser, Jacques Der- disciples. The most well-known in- rida, Stanley Fisch, et al., always at- stance is the story (extant in numerous tempt to navigate between text and versions) of the Dov Baer of Mezritch’s reader, between exegesis and eisogesis, first meeting with the Baal Shem Tov, between what a text says and what it in which the Baal Shem Tov explained can say, or, whether a text says anything a passage from Isaac Luria’s Etz Hayyim. at all. Reb Zalman offers his under- that transformed Dov Baer’s life, in- standing of interpretation through the stantly making a devoted disciple. voice of the Baal Shem Tov. “All right, There are many similar stories in Hasidic let’s take a little detour. I am the Baal literature related to other masters. Shem Tov, and I am about to interpret Reb Zalman’s notion of interpreta- Torah. What am I trying to do by in- tion as reality modification suggests terpretation? I am trying to modify re- that truth is created through reading, ality . . . How we interpret something not the truth of the text but the truth will make a difference in reality. It is of reality as lived by the reader.30 Is this almost as if to say that this interpreta- what Reb Zalman is trying to do in this tion that I am going to give determines book? That is, instead of showing how how the world will come out”(40). Hasidism reflects and serves as a foundation for Jewish Renewal (this would Bringing the Text to Life still be a book about Hasidism), he is interpreting Hasidic texts to modify To interpret here is not to under- reality, to bring about and not just il- stand the text at all — in fact the text lustrate a paradigm shift through these (once read) loses all meaning until it is texts. given new meaning by the reader. More importantly, it is not the text here that Fusion of Soul and Mind is ultimately important; it is how the reader brings it to life and, by so do- Our world is no longer the world of ing, changes the life of subsequent read- miracles or of tzaddikim traveling long ers.29 The claim made here argues that distances in a matter of seconds. That

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 46 is an old paradigm, where fantasy and Guide for the Perplexed, Bahya. ibn reality were blurred, a method popular Pakuda’s Duties of the Heart, or in Yiddish storytelling and also cap- Abraham Maimonides Treatise on Be- tured in the description of Gabriel atitude — Hasidic literature rarely, if Garcia Marquez’s novels as “magical re- ever, offers a positive assessment of alism.”31 Our paradigm, teaches Reb other spiritual paths.32 The non-Jew is Zalman, is more mind-oriented, where depicted as inferior at best, demonic spirituality has been psychologized, at worst. Other religions, when not de- where miracles are phenomenological scribed as idolatrous, are deemed infe- and not ontological, where the soul/ rior to Judaism in both substance and spirit and the mind have become fused. form.33 Psychology plays an important role It is surely the case that contempo- in Jewish Renewal. The work of Carl rary constructive Jewish thinking, even Jung and Vikor Frankl and contempo- in a more traditional context, employs rary figures such as Edward Hoffman other religious traditions. However, in and Ken Wilber serve as models for Reb most cases, these sources are employed Zalman’s theory of reality modification. pragmatically, that is, to entice the He takes these new models and applies reader, who has likely been exposed to them to the interpretation of texts in other traditions, into taking Hasidism, general and Hasidic texts in particular. or Judaism, seriously. In other words, To read is to create — not only to cre- it is a tool of kiruv.34 While this may ate meaning in the text but to create have also been true in Reb Zalman’s worlds into which one can then enter early writings (he begins his career as and live. New religious schools and an emissary of the Rebbe of Lubavitch communities begin with reading, and in the late 1940s), I think his more recreating through rereading, old texts. mature works, and this work in par- This seems to me Reb Zalman’s first ticular, has a different end in mind. lesson for the new paradigm. Misunderstanding the Other Encounter with Other Religions It is appropriate that Reb Zalman begins his discussion of the other with Someone comparing this volume as an admission of guilt. That is, he feels an anthological Hasidic text in English compelled to undermine popular to other classical Hasidic texts will no- Hasidic apologetics by acknowledging tice that Reb Zalman offers us frequent, Hasidism’s (and Judaism’s) past failure in fact almost constant, references to in understanding the non-Jewish other, masters and teachings of other religious both as person (the Gentile as neigh- traditions. While this is not uncom- bor) and thought (Gentile religions). mon in classical Jewish literature — for The following is another good example example, in medieval philosophical and of how Reb Zalman expresses his own pietistic literature, such as Maimonides’ ideas through the mouth of another, a

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 47 tactic that filters through this entire him as a Hasidic master. He is viewed book and is quite common in Hasidic as a proto-advocate of Renewal, a vi- literature more generally. Speaking sionary of a new paradigm that would about Hillel Zeitlin, a fascinating and only arise from the ashes of the Holo- complex personality from early 20th caust, from his own ashes. Reb Zalman century Eastern Europe who was mur- views the lifting of that cloud as an dered by the Nazis on the road to opportunity (one part of a paradigm Treblinka, wrapped in phylacteries and shift) once again to confront the fis- a prayer shawl, Reb Zalman writes, sure Zeitlin described, a blemish that prevents us from moving forward and For Jews, Christians were expend- meeting the shifting paradigm of post- able. Often they were only seen as war reality. And so the attitude toward useful expedients — Shabbos the non-Jew must be addressed and the Goyim — and the rest were super- incorporation of non-Jewish religions fluous. This was the attitude that must be programmatically employed to they took. We are finally emerg- create a new Hasidism for the future. ing from that attitude. But there he was in his time (1930s), and Ending Isolation how was he going to say that? Zeitlin reached into what people Comparisons with other religious have called the second Isaiah and traditions serve an essential function in that universal vision, and he real- this reconstruction of Hasidism. While ized that nobody can be redeemed the comparisons are not detailed or par- without everybody else being re- ticularly sophisticated, they function to deemed. When a person becomes open the mind of the reader, who may fully aware of that, it ushers in a be accustomed to viewing Judaism in whole new way of thinking (283). isolation. Reb Zalman’s comparative exercise is not academic, that is, it is How bizarre yet powerful to make not historical, nor is it polemical in any such an admission of guilt about the way. Rather, it implicitly suggests that Jewish attitude toward the non-Jew when one views Judaism refracted through someone who was brutally through the lenses of the other, even murdered for no other reason than his one that is/was your enemy, one’s vi- own Jewishness! It is true, as Reb Zal- sion of Judaism is both attenuated and man recounts, that Zeitlin saw a deep deepened. That is, Judaism becomes and corrosive fissure in Judaism’s an- smaller because it is severed from its tipathy toward the non-Jew. How- myth of exclusive superiority. Yet it ever, surrounded by the dark cloud of becomes deeper because it is now un- Nazism and baseless anti-Semitism, derstood as one very creative and of- Zeitlin had no audience, and no pro- ten profound way of addressing peren- gram, to correct this. nial issues of human existence. But this is why Reb Zalman includes Such comparative analysis also di-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 48 minishes (although it does not erase) no longer, “Is it permitted to study the propensity for exclusivist and fun- other religions?” — a question that damentalist readings. When these com- reaches back to the Mishna and served parative readings of religion are as the foundation of many internal contextualized within the secular via medieval Jewish debates. For Reb psychology and science, what emerges Zalman, that is a question of the old is a Judaism that is both usable and paradigm. The new question is, “Is it malleable. permitted not to?” For example, when Reb Zalman explores Shneur Zalman of Liady’s theory Undermining Tradition of the animal soul (nefesh ha-behamit), in conjunction with the Sufi concept This raises another important di- of nafs (“the soul seeking its own plea- mension of paradigm-shift thinking sure”) (119), he is not suggesting any that needs further exploration. Reb historical confluence. He is also not Zalman’s broadening of the Jewish dis- using Sufism as a foil to show how the course through the necessary incorpo- “Jewish” idea is superior. He is simply ration of non-Jewish sources and tra- arguing that Shneur Zalman’s theory ditions and the implicit belief that these of the animal soul is not original, and “external sources” (seforim hizonim. ) its very unoriginality is an indication can deepen one’s understanding of Ju- of Shneur Zalman’s deep thinking (the daism, undermines an important con- Hebrew saying barukh sh’kavanti, cept in traditional Judaism — “the de- “thank God I have independently un- scent of the generations” (yeridat ha- derstood an already existing observa- dorot), one fundamental component of tion,” is quite apt here). That is, by iso- rabbinic authority. While it is true that lating the nefesh ha-behamit and trying this doctrine does not appear before the to understand its place in the human geonic period in the work of Sherira condition, Shneur Zalman enters into Gaon and was, as Menahem Kellner one of the great perennial spiritualist has argued, likely rejected by figures as struggles.35 And further, Sufism’s long seminal as Moses Maimonides, it has tradition of struggling with the issue become a dominant trope in traditional of human desire and the human spirit Judaism.36 can, and should, be a resource for Jews Most non-traditional modern trying to make sense of Shneur Zal- Judaisms, including Zionism, have man’s thinking. largely rejected this notion, even as I would go even further to say that some try to retain it by bifurcating le- the logic of this argument suggests that gal (halakhic) and non-legal (aggadic) utilizing Sufism in this case may en- dimensions of Judaism. However, Reb able us, in this new paradigm, to have Zalman is constructing his Judaism a broader sense of what the nefesh ha- from the ultra-traditional sources of behamit means than Shnuer Zalman’s Hasidim and Kabbala, traditions that own contemporaries. The question is prima facie accept this idea. I think

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 49 paradigm-shift thinking unapologetic- place. This is exhibited through its in- ally undermines “the descent of the ability to engage seriously in, among generations,” and it would be a desider- other things, the question of gender atum for Reb Zalman to weigh in on and the truth of non-Jewish religions. this. It shows, on my reading, an un- By freely exhibiting both, Reb Zalman derlying positivism in Reb Zalman’s opens up a treasure chest containing thinking, a kind of spiritual reconfigu- jewels and charcoal and asks his reader ration of Auguste Comte’s foundation not to discard the former for the latter for secularism. or to deny the existence of the latter in Here again, I think there is an inter- order to salvage the former. esting, yet still unexplored, correlation between Reb Zalman and Mordecai Creative Act of Translation Kaplan. How does one create a life of devotion and piety wed to a traditional In the broadest sense, Reb Zalman’s body of classical literature while espous- deconstruction and revaluation of the ing a positivistic theory of civilization? Hasidic legacy is enacted through the While Kaplan has much to say about creative act of translation. By transla- this, it remains largely undeveloped in tion, I do not mean simply rendering Reb Zalman’s work, yet constitutes and a word or phrase from one language important part of the Renewal project. into another. Rather, I refer to an act whereby a value expressed in a word or Stretching the Paradigm phrase is subverted to mean something other than what it has come to mean More generally, what this book at- (what it was intended to mean, no one tempts to do, and I think does so quite really knows), yet the initial term re- successfully, is to rend the veil of the mains, albeit in a new state. so-called traditionalist mind-set of This is perhaps captured in the Hasidism — not by arguing that zoharic phrase milin itin haditin (new Hasidic masters were overt heretics, but ancient words).37 If successful, tradition that they were, in a sense, engaged in is transformed but not effaced. In many stretching their own paradigm to its cases, especially in esoteric literature, limit. In some cases, they may have the transition of translation is not be- broken momentarily into the next para- tween one term and another, one lan- digm and then quickly retreated, fear- guage and another, even one culture ing the sociological consequences of and another — it is between language, marginalization and exclusion from tra- any language, and the experience it ditional society. seeks to express. This is a common To illustrate this, Reb Zalman shows theme in translation theory from both the radical underside of Hasidism Dryden to Benjamin and appears in a as well as the instances where Hasidism different form in Gershom Scholem’s fails to remain true to its inner drive attempt to define Jewish mysticism in and becomes a product of its time and the beginning of his Major Trends in

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 50 Jewish Mysticism. Reb Zalman is sim- ‘selfness,’ your ego, and you anni- ply applying it to Hasidic teaching. hilate it, you ‘bash’ it, that is going to take you closer to the love Translation and Experience of God. But today I don’t even think it is a good strategy to bash For example, writing about the He- the ego. I think a better strategy is brew term bittul ha-yesh as “the anni- to make the ego transparent(171). hilation of the self,”he notes: “It is not that it is a poor translation of the He- “Transparency” is not set in stone. brew, but the words are a bad transla- and Reb Zalman seems open to other tion of the experience” (76). I do not possibilities. What is accomplished here read this claim to be transhistorical. is simply that the open engagement That is, at one time, and under certain with the conscious act of revaluation historical and ideational circumstances, creates a new strategy for the aspiring bittul ha-yesh could very well have paradigm-thinker. meant “the annihilation of the self.” That is, at one time this could have Generosity, Not Fear been an accurate description of a human experience that was deemed a Hence, while creative translation is positive part of the devotional life. In a classic exercise of all religious systems, this time, given the paradigm shift of Reb Zalman’s self-conscious and open postwar postmodernity, Reb Zalman deployment of this method offers his claims the annihilation of the self is not readers a transparency that is both re- an experience we deem healthy or use- freshing and productive. In Reb ful. (Perhaps the brutal program of Zalman’s Hasidic text, the reader is in- annihilation of “the other” in Nazism vited to evaluate, accept, expand, or re- destroyed any positive value of annihi- ject a particular translation precisely lation more generally?) Hence the because she becomes part of the very translation, once appropriate, now be- act of translation. The hidden agenda comes obsolete. of creative translation in tradition, of- Looking for a concept that better ten protected through the concealment represents what we may be trying to of its method, is a reflection of the old achieve, Reb Zalman suggests “becom- paradigm. The new paradigm, built on ing transparent” to express a notion the principle of generosity and not fear, whereby distance between the self and unity and not polarity, pantheism and God is narrowed without the efface- not deism, can abandon the protective ment of the self in the process: garments of hidden translation, since progress and change become positive And so the Hasidic masters are us- values for religion and not ones that ing old language about the body threaten to undermine it. to talk about the ego. If you do The best way to illustrate Reb Zal- bittul ha-yesh, if you take your man’s tools of translation is through a

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 51 series of brief examples. In them, I hope as “One-ing” or “sticking to God”), to show that translation is the core to which is a classic kabbalistic way of Reb Zalman’s thinking. I will begin translating. with a simple list of seven translations and briefly explore how I think these Saving Torah translations function. On the other hand, one could sug- 1) olamot — usually rendered as gest that what Reb Zalman is doing “worlds”; Reb Zalman suggests “genres” here is classic Maimonideanism. In the (154). first part of his Guide for the Perplexed, 2) sinat ra — usually rendered as “ha- Maimonides engages in a lengthy ex- tred of evil”; Reb Zalman suggests position of biblical terms, translating “aversion to evil” (151). and defining them as a necessary pre- 3) tumah [related to niddah, menstrua- lude to the remainder of his philosophi- tion] — usually rendered as “spiritual cal treatise. Maimonides, of course, uncleanliness”; Reb Zalman suggests believed he was actually telling us what “aversion-therapy” (161). the term “really” meant; that is, phi- 4) bittul ha-yesh — usually rendered as losophy was employed as the hand- “self-nullification”; Reb Zalman sug- maiden of philology, but that is beside gests “transparency” (172). the point. 5) aimeh — usually rendered as “fear” In one sense, there is a Maimoini- or “trepidation”; Reb Zalman suggests dean strain throughout Reb Zalman’s “paralyzing anxiety” (166). thinking, perhaps in the trajectory of 6) kelipot — usually rendered as “ex- Maimonides’ more spiritualistic dis- traneous matter” or “demonic forces”; ciples, his son Abraham and his grand- Reb Zalman suggests “energy systems” son Obadia. Yet Maimonides was ar- (150). guably looking for synthesis between 7) devekut — usually rendered as “com- philosophy and scripture, whereas Reb munion with God”; Reb Zalman sug- Zalman has no such illusion. He is not gests “One-ing” or “sticking to God” seeking to merge “reality maps,” but, (53). in fact, to make a new reality map of Reb Zalman never suggests that his Torah (here exemplified in Hasidism) new translation is what the term actu- by reenvisioning it through a series of ally means. This would render his new reality maps. In this way, Torah is project scholastic, even apologetic, but not coming to save civilization (an not constructive. In fact, he is often older apologetic stance) but, rather, the clear that his rendering is not what the new paradigm is coming to save Torah term has come to mean or even origi- through its devoted and creative reader nally meant. There is rarely any philo- — saving Torah from obsolescence and logical basis for his translation (an ex- the dustbin of history. ception would be aimeh, 166). There When he speaks of olamot as genres, is often a hyperliteralism (e.g., devekut he views them as “reality systems that

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 52 are perpendicular to one another” Zalman’s pantheism is not fully (154) — that is, a web of different but antinomian; that is, all is not permit- not mutually exclusive intersecting sys- ted. There are things that we should tems through which and into which we simply avoid for all kind of reasons: live. Olamot ceases to mean something They are destructive, unhealthy, cor- “out there.” They are stripped of their rosive; they take us away from loving metaphysical characteristics and be- God and loving others. In Renewal, come modes by which one can ascer- prohibitions remain. tain, explain or simply think about the Reb Zalman’s question — which is human condition and one’s relation- metahalakhic at its core — is not, ship to others, be they organic or inor- “What is prohibited ?” or even “Why ganic. If Reb Zalman’s work is success- is this or that prohibited?” Rather, the ful, the term olam will enter into the question that concerns him is “How do lexicon of contemporary reality that we succeed in distancing ourselves from Reb Zalman is always looking to ex- that which is prohibited?” Calling it pand. Once the term enters, its multi- “evil” is one sure way, since it presents valent meanings from the past can im- the prohibited object or idea as threat- pact on the present. In this sense, trans- ening. Evil is a tool used by religious lation is a vehicle for confluence. We authorities to assure compliance with must remember that for Reb Zalman, religious standards. The downside is the new paradigm is not a “Jewish” that evil breeds a desire, even an obli- paradigm, but one of human civiliza- gation, to destroy or annihilate. When tion. Judaism can contribute to this the object or act is ontologically “evil,” new era to the extent to which it al- its very presence in the world under- lows (and trains) itself to enter into its mines the religious life. The “sacred” emerging and developing discourse. act of killing in a religious war, the enemy being the embodiment of evil, is Understanding Evil the obvious example of how evil func- tions negatively. Sadly, this corrosive The translation of ra, or evil, as language has been revived in a quasi- “aversion" is another telling example. secular context by the current president Evil is a concept from the old deistic of the United States. paradigm, a term that thrives on the Reb Zalman suggests the term “aver- bifurcation of reality into God and not- sion” as an alternative. Healthy aver- God — good and evil. Even if we un- sion (Reb Zalman brings Stanley derstand this in terms of negative the- Kubrick’s film, A Clockwork Orange, as ology (i.e., evil as the absence of good) an example of unhealthy aversion ther- or the more modern dialectical ap- apy) is born out of love. “ In my life, proach of classic Beshtean Hasidism, I I’m totally connected with the energy think Reb Zalman is suggesting that of God, and I so love God that to do evil is a term that cannot survive the anything contrary to God’s will is pantheism of the new paradigm. Reb something I couldn’t handle. If I did

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 53 that, my consciousness would be cut tures the Hebrew term aimeh. His ren- off from God. It is an aversion driven dering is based on a loose philological by the resultant separation from the Be- observation. Ai-mah, “Where is it?” or loved” (153). That which is contrary “What is it?” That is, “I don’t know to God exists, as it always will, but it what it is, I don’t know where it is, but only threatens me when I give it my I got this uncanny feeling something attention. When I ignore it, it remains is impending” (166). Reb Zalman ad- “out there,” but it is outside the sphere mits, “nobody says that we need to have of how I want to live my life. And, more this kind of fear of God”(166). Yet it is importantly, when it is ignored, its an anxiety that is all too common, even power is diminished, an interpretation under normal conditions, a fear that of the classic kabbalistic idea that the can only be overcome by succumbing life-force of the demonic realm is de- to it — moving past it and not allow- pendant upon its interaction with the ing oneself to get stuck in the paralyz- holy. ing moment. This kind of fear is natural and, unless one can move beyond “Paralyzing Anxiety” it, the true fear of yeriah may elude one. In these brief examples — and there The final example of translation that are many more — Reb Zalman builds I will discuss is the term aimeh, usually his theory of reading for renewal: read- rendered as “fear.” Reb Zalman calls it ing as an act of creative reconstruction. “paralyzing anxiety.”To illustrate this His translations are not meant to be example, he retells a teaching he heard scholarly but useful; they serve one who from Rabbi Yisrael Jacobson, a teacher needs and wants Hasidism, but refuses of his in the Lubavitch yeshiva, that to dwell in the old paradigm where it aimeh is a fear that is malevolent, one resides. These terms, this new Hasidic that is not healthy, but yet many have lexicon, are the building blocks of Jew- to overcome to get to the healthy fear ish Renewal. It is only in Wrapped in a of God, or yeriah. Reb Zalman uses the Holy Flame that Reb Zalman explores example of a peyote ritual and the fear this systematically and comprehen- of impending doom that often accom- sively, exposing the reader to his theory panies a hallucinogenic experience. The of reading for renewal, one that would heightening of one’s senses through allow the reader herself to continue his these stimulants often brings about a work. feeling of uncontrolled movement. When this is coupled with fear (as it Engaging Islam often is initially) it results in a consciousness of impending doom and the There are two brief and intercon- inability to do anything about it — the nected observations that will serve as a fear one experiences immediately be- conclusion to this essay. First, one of fore one is hit, anticipating the pain. the lesser-known dimensions of Reb This experience, he suggests, cap- Zalman’s contribution to contempo-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 54 rary Judaism is that he was one of the lam, and much of Islam conflates de- first constructive Jewish theologians mocracy and freedom with secularism seriously to engage Islam as a well- and the Judeo/Christian tradition they spring for Jewish devotional life. Much view as incompatible with their theo- of 20th-century Jewish theology in logical world-view. America was rooted in the European tradition, where the only serious Resisting Change “other” was Christianity. A good example of this, in fact the I do not feel that the political and exception that proves the rule, is Franz theological polarization following 9/11 Rosenzweig’s somewhat pathetic treat- and the collapse of the Oslo accords ment of Islam in his The Star of Re- undermine Reb Zalman’s engagement demption (and this was likely the prod- with Islam – in fact they give it new uct of Hegel’s superficial assessment of immediacy. Reb Zalman’s ecumenical Islam and not of any serious engage- (really post-ecumenical) and even syn- ment with the tradition).38 American cretistic project is that Islam is not the theologians such as Soloveitchik, Heschel, only thing that needs to be saved – Ju- Fackenheim, Kaplan, Herberg, Wyscho- daism and Christianity also need to be grod, Greenberg, et al., almost never saved, and perhaps the Muslim struggle deal with Islam in anything more than to come to terms with modernity is a a perfunctory way.39 Almost all ecu- mirror for our struggle to come to menical work, until very recently, has terms with this new paradigm. Islam is been between Jews and Christians. not the problem but the symptom of a While 9/11 has changed all that, as more global reluctance to move into early as the 1960s Reb Zalman was se- this new paradigm, manifest in many riously reading Muslim literature, ways, including post-colonialism, im- dialoging with Muslim contemporar- perialism, military hegemony, unsym- ies, and using Islam, mostly Sufism, as pathetic capitalism, and the profiteer- a source of his own inspiration. Given ing dimension of globalization. Of the recent turn of events since 9/11, course, the problem is more complex, Reb Zalman’s visionary notion that Is- but to place the onus solely on Islam is lam is an important part of this new to ignore a more global crisis that im- paradigm has come to fruition. The fact plicates all of us. The solution is not to that our world is now confronted with eradicate the symptom, but to come to radical Islam, a secular America driven understand the underlying cause of the in part by evangelical (radical) Chris- disease. tianity, and an Israeli political environ- Reb Zalman, like most of us, knows ment influenced by religious (radical) that Islam is a rich tradition with cen- messianism, makes Reb Zalman’s work turies of enlightened teachings. His glo- even more pertinent. Most Jews and bal vision of Renewal includes employ- Americans more generally have a ste- ing these teachings, thereby exposing reotypic and “Orientalist” view of Is- Jews and Christians to them, as well as

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 55 exposing contemporary Muslims to the it claims to be — it is more than a col- ways in which Judaism was positively lection of Hasidic teachings and sto- influenced by the golden age of Islam. ries. It is an important step in the matu- There would not have been a rich me- ration of Jewish Renewal. In Wrapped dieval Judaism without Islam — no Sa- in a Holy Flame, Reb Zalman has left adia Gaon, Moses Maimonides, Bahya. us a treasure, but one that must be read ibn Pakuda, or Judah Ha-Levi. Perhaps closely and creatively, not only to en- Reb Zalman believes it is time for us joy, but more importantly to use. to pay back the Islamic tradition. I would love to hear a more detailed discussion about the place of Islam in 1. Richard Seigel, Michael Strassfeld, Renewal, given the present state of Sharon Strassfeld, The First Jewish Cata- world. logue (Philadelphia, PA: JPS, 1973). 2. Fragments of a Future Scroll: Hassidism An Unrealistic Vision? for the Aquarian Age (Germantown, PA: Leaves of Grass Press, 1975); Paradigm The second related point is that any Shift (New York/London: Jason Aronson, reader of this essay, or of Reb Zalman’s 1993). Another short book that continues work more generally, can rightfully re- this trajectory is The First Step: A Guide for spond that his progressive vision of the New Jewish Spirit (Toronto/New York: unity, this Aquarian Age of spiritual Bantam Books, 1983). Reb Zalman’s dis- renewal, seems unrealistic. Religious sertation, written at HUC/Cincinnati. has also been published as Spiritual Intimacy: fundamentalism is on the rise, in Is- A Study of Counseling in Hasidism (North- lam, Christianity, Judaism, and Hin- vale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1991). This work duism. It seems as if we are heading explores the relationship between the back toward a dangerous old paradigm Rebbe and the Hasid as a relationship of that preceded modernity, a time when counseling, and thus develops his notion holy wars and accusations of an “axis of the Rebbe as an integral part of the of evil” were commonplace. Reb Zal- Hasid. While playing a role in his Renewal man never addresses this issue. Given trajectory, its focus is more limited than his predictions of a new paradigm, he either Fragments or Paradigm Shift. never tells us why human civilization 3. Both Paradigm Shift and Wrapped in a seems to be heading in the opposite Holy Flame contain chapters that were pub- direction, and what can we do about lished previously as essays, some as early as the 1960s. it. Reb Zalman has given us much, but 4. The structure of Hasidic books, that is, maybe his work is not yet done. Per- how they were composed, collected and haps he can also offer advice in these published, has been comprehensively stud- most pressing matters in light of his ied by Zeev Greis. See his The Book in Early lifelong struggle to explicate and articu- Hasidism [Hebrew] (Tel Aviv, 1992). late a new paradigm. 5. For example, see Aryeh Kaplan, The Unlike many books, Wrapped in a Light Beyond: Adventures in Chasidic Holy Flame is actually much more than Thought (New York: Moznayim, 1981);

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 56 and The Chasidic Masters and Their Teach- As far as I know, Reb Zalman never men- ings (New York, Moznayim, 1984). For tions Fackenheim in his writings. Adin Steinsaltz’s writings on Hasidism, see 10. In some way, then, Reb Zalman tells In the Beginning: Discourses on Hasidic us too much; that is, he shows us his hand Thought (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, and thus excludes those whose commit- 1992); and The Candle of God: Discourse ment to tradition is steadfast. His recent on Chasidic Thought (Northvale, NJ: Jason works in Hebrew are closer to the older Aronson, 1998). model. I have discussed this in a yet un- 6. Martin Buber, “Spinoza, Sabbatai Zevi, published essay, “Translating into Tradi- and the Baal Shem Tov,” in The Origin and tion: Subversion and Constructive Heresy Meaning of Hasidism (Atlantic Highlands, in the Hebrew Writings of Reb Zalman NJ: Humanities Press, 1988),89-112. Schachter-Shalomi,” presented at Awaken- 7. Here I believe Reb Zalman is hinting at ing, Yearning and Renewal: Conference on the pedagogical model of R. Kolonymous Neo-Hasidism, New York City, March 26- Kalman Shapira of Piasceno, the rebbe of 28, 2003. On this exercise in Kabbala, see the Warsaw ghetto, whose trilogy on Ha- Daniel Matt, “‘New Ancient Words’: The sidic pedagogy was focused on this ques- Aura of Secrecy in the Zohar,” in Gershom tion (i.e., how does one become a Hasid?). Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism: See his Hakhsharat Arekhim and Mevo Fifty Years After, P. Schafer and J. Dan, eds. Shearim (Jerusalem, 1962). (Tubigen: Mohr, 1993),181-209. 8. For example, Reb Zalman is quite open 11. There is an interesting connection here about the way he thinks Hasidism rubs between Reb Zalman’s pantheism and against the grain of traditional Judaism. Mordecai Kaplan’s theological a-theism. A Discussing Sefer Ha-Tanya, Reb Zalman more detailed comparison of Reb Zalman writes, “Now, Reb Shneur Zalman makes and Kaplan would be useful. One fasci- a very important move from the way of nating comparison that touches on the the Talmud. He is not really interested in pantheistic components of Kaplan’s think- behavior as much as he is interested in ating can be found in Jack Cohen, Guide for titude and transformation” (108). This the Age of Confusion: Studies in the Think- may sound like a benign and obvious ing of Avraham Y. Kook and Mordecai point, but what is being suggested here is Kaplan (New York: Fordham Press, 1999) that Sefer Ha-Tanya really takes its reader 12. I have dealt with the issue of the di- in a direction away from the basic assump- vine in the human in Hasidism in “Ethics tion of Rabbinic Judaism (i.e, that behav- Disentangled from the Law: Hasidism and ior stands at the center of Jewish worship). Dispositional Ethics,” in A Companion to 9. This theory is developed more compre- Religious Ethics, William Schweiker, ed. hensively in Paradigm Shift, 247-308. It (England: Blackwell Press) in press. It is also has precedent in medieval kabbalistic also noteworthy that this theological move works, such as Sefer Temunah, Sefer Peliah in Judaism, one that places Judaism in and Sefer Ha-Kaneh. This thinking also much closer proximity to Christianity, can influenced Sabbateanism. For example, see only be achieved in a climate where Juda- Moshe Idel, Messianic Mystics (New Ha- ism can grow without the fear of seeming ven: Yale University Press, 1998),183-212. too “Christian.” So much of modern Jew- Another worthwhile comparison here is be- ish thinking has been stunted because it tween Reb Zalman and Emile Fackenheim. was always concerned with marking how

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 57 Judaism was unlike Christianity. See Elliot Healer of the Cosmos (Stanford: Stanford R. Wolfson, “Judaism and Incarnation: University Press, 2003). The Imaginal Body of God,” Christianity 17. For an argument on the disanalogy in Jewish Terms, Frymer-Kensky, Novak, between Jewish and the other monotheis- Ochs, Sandmel, Signer, eds. (Oxford: Ox- tic religions on the question of fundamen- ford University Press, 2000), 240. Reb Zal- talism, see Zvi Kurzweil, “Fundamental- man’s new paradigm transcends that fear. ism and Judaism,” L’Elyah 25 (1966), 8- 13. Here I would say Reb Zalman is gen- 10. Kurzweil argues that the centrality of tly criticizing Heschel’s space-time discus- law and the oral law, in particular, enables sion in The Sabbath by arguing that Judaism to successfully circumvent many Heschel’s notion of Judaism as a religion of the problems of fundalentalism. In my of time is part of an old paradigm. view, his argument is weak, never delving 14. The argument that this new panthe- into any substance, and traffics largely in ism, the divinity of the person, takes Juda- stereotypes of all three religion. Reb Zal- ism closer to Christianity is not lost on Reb man is able to acknowledge both the Zalman. I will discuss the ecumenical di- strengths of other monotheisms and the mensions of this work later in this essay. weakness that is endemic to all monothe- 15. This appears quite close to Mordecai ism. For an example of how fundamental- Kaplan’s Reconstructionism and, in a way, ism plays a central role in the ba'al teshuva it is. However, Reb Zalman is more will- movement in Judaism, see Janet Aviad, ing than Kaplan to creatively reinterpret Return to Judaism: Religious Renewal in Is- (I call it translate) old paradigm ideas to rael (Chicago and London: University of fit in the new paradigm. This is partly be- Chicago Press, 1983). Aviad examines cause Kaplan’s rationalism and dedication comments by prominent rabbis and newly to plain-sense meaning (p’shat) made it observant Jews involved with this move- more difficult for him to engage in the kind ment, which exhibits a hatred for secular- of creative reading that Reb Zalman, who ism, Western civilization and modern val- was raised in a world of Hasidic exegesis, ues, all quite reminiscent of Christian deploys. Also, coming from mysticism, Reb evangelicalism and militant Islam. Zalman is not nearly as put off by the 18. Reb Zalman does not use deism in the “polytheistic” dimensions of Judaism as classic sense of one God who is no longer Kaplan and does not think they need to engaged with the world but rather as a sub- be totally purged. stitute for a monotheism in opposition to 16. Both Yehuda Liebes and Lawrence pantheism. It is also important to note that Fine, in different ways, argue that the per- Reb Zalman does not equate non-mono- son is indeed central to the Lurianic world- theistic religions with idolatry, even from view, but I would suggest that what a Jewish perspective. Idolatry can be mani- Hasidism does, in effect,is to allow the per- fest in both monotheistic and non-mono- son to overshadow, and even efface, the theistic religions. metaphysics that still loom large in classi- 19. This book, and Reb Zalman’s work cal kabbalistic systems. See Liebes, “Two more generally, do not address the fact that Young Roes of a Doe: The Secret Sermon contemporary Hasidism has become, in of Isaac Luria before His Death,” [Hebrew] some way, more fundamentalist and more in Mekharei Yerushalayim 10 (1992): esp. intolerant than in the past — in short, that 114-126; and Fine, Physician of the Soul, Hasidism may be reinventing an old para-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 58 digm to counter Jewish Renewal’s new one. the rabbinic mind, but that the proof-text 20. Buber’s early work on Hasidism was was the most commonly deployed method not intended for a Jewish audience but of making a case for both textual and ex- rather an intellectual/spiritual German tra-textual truth. audience in search of authentic Oriental- 24. Maimonides’ scholarship indicates that ism, For example, see Paul Mendes-Flohr, this assertion is very complex and not at “Fin de Siecle Orientalism: The Ousjuden all as straightforward as it sounds. I sim- and the Aesthetics of Jewish Self-Affirma- ply employ Maimonides here for the sake tion,” in Divided Passions (Detroit, MI: of argument. Wayne State University Press, 1991), 77- 25. Even though in Guide II:25 he seems 132. to accept the traditional notion of creation 21. Reb Zalman writes, “Some seekers have over eternity, he does not do so by using a reacted against all this (i.e., Renewal), as proof-text (as does, for example, Saadia you well know, and have decided to pick Gaon in his Emunot ve De’ot), but rather another time and place — a medieval Ti- because he is not convinced (or so he says) bet, for example, or 18th-century Poland – by Aristotle’s theory of eternity. However, in which to live. They have constructed in Guide II:14, he presents a very strong small universes for themselves and have case for Aristotle without asserting his own paid a dear price personally and intellec- position. tually, but in some cases have reached re- 26. It is Michel Foucault who argues that markable spiritual attainments. To these only in modernity do we find arguments people we can only offer our blessings — evaluated outside the confines of the au- but it is not with envy that we see them. thority of the author as normative. See The life of the spirit must move forward; Foucault, “What is an Author?” in Re- the God who created those earlier ages Thinking Popular Culture: Contemporary made this one and also the ones to come” Perspectives in Cultural Studies, C. Mukerji (Wrapped in a Holy Flame, 209). and M. Schudson, eds. (Berkeley, CA: Uni- 22. Another example common in the me- versity of California Press, 1991), 446-464. dieval period, especially in Kabbala, is the 27. This language immediately reminds notion of “proof person.” In the words of one of Heschel’s essay, “Hasidism as a New Eitan Fishbane, “Legitimate meaning ul- Approach to Torah,” reprinted in Moral timately only requires that the source of Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, Susannah transmission be considered authoritative Heschel, ed. (New York: FSG, 1996), 33- within the specific cultural context.” See 39. E. Fishbane, “Authority, Tradition, and the 28. Anthology is a fascinating and under- Creation of Meaning in Medieval Kabbala: examined genre of Jewish literature. For Isaac of Acre’s Illumination of the Eyes,” one very insightful analysis, see Eugene Journal of the American Academy of Reli- Shepphard, “‘I am a Memory Come Alive’: gion 72-1 (March, 2004), 65. This notion, Nahum Glatzer and the Legacy of German which has its modern correlate in the no- Jewish Thought in America,” Jewish Quar- tion of daas torah, would be, for Reb Zal- terly Review, 94-1 (Winter, 2004),123-148. man, an example of old-paradigm think- 29. On this reading, Reb Zalman’s thinking. ing on interpretation is more aligned with 23. This is not to say that s’vara, or ratio- the philosophical hermeneutics of Gada- nal reasoning, did not also play a role in mer and Riceour and the reader/response

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 59 criticism of Wolfgang Isser and against the of Lekha Dodi and Kabbalat Shabbat [He- belief in the possibility of recovering au- brew] (Los Angeles and Jerusalem: Cherub thorial intent argued in E.D. Hirsch. See Press and Magnus Press, 2003), 82-133; Hirsch, Validity in Interpretation (New and Ronald Keiner, “The Image of Islam Haven: Yale University, 1967). For a dis- in the Zohar,” Jerusalem Studies in Jewish cussion of this in Jewish sources, see Moshe Thought 8 (1989). 42-65. Halbertal, People of the Book: Canon, Mean- 34. Aryeh Kaplan’s work is a good example ing, and Authority (Cambridge, MA: of this kind of usage. Harvard University Press, 1997), 45-50; 35. See, for example, Wrapped in a Holy and E. Fishbane, “Authority, Tradition, and Flame, 126. “The issue here is so clear, and the Creation of Meaning in Medieval this is what yoga and all these other things Kabbala: Isaac of Acre’s Illumination of the are about: to make the body and the Ani- Eyes,” 75-78. mal Soul, as it were, a more and more trans- 30. Buber makes a similar but not identi- parent and willing subject. To allow them cal claim in “Saga and History” in his Moses to do what is required.” (London: East West Library, 1946), 13-19. 36. See Menahem Kellner, Maimonides on Cf. Ahad Ha-Am, Moses (Berlin: Juedisch the “Decline of the Generations” and the Na- Verlag, 1905). ture of Rabbinic Authority (Albany, NY: 31. See, for example, David Roskies, A SUNY Press, 1996), esp. 37-54; and Iggeret Bridge of Longing: The Art of Yiddish of Rav Sherira Gaon, Nossin Dovid Rabin- Storytelling (Cambridge, MA: Harvard owich trans. (Jerusalem, Vagshal, 1991). University Press, 1995), especially pages 1- 37. See Daniel Matt, “‘New Ancient 20. The classic example of “magical real- Words’: The Aura of Secrecy in the Zohar,” ism” is Marquez’s One Hundred Years of in Gershom Scholem’s Major Trends 50 Years Solitude. After, 181-209. 32. See Menahem Mansoor’s “Translator’s 38. On this, see Gil Anidjar, Arab/Jew: A Introduction” to Bahya Ibn Pakuda’s The History of the Enemy (Stanford: Stanford Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart, University Press, 2003), 87-98. M. Mansoor trans. (Routledge & Kegan/ 39. One notable exception was Martin Paul: London, 1973), 1-82; and Paul Buber, who did engage Islam more than Fenton, Treatise of the Pool (London: Oc- his contemporaries. However, this engage- tagon Press, 1981), 1-23. ment was largely the product of the early 33. This is, of course, true of Kabbala as 20th-century Orientalism practiced by a well. For an interesting series of examples circle of German intellectuals led by the about kabbalistic attitudes toward Judaism Hart brothers. On this, see Paul Mendes- and Christianity in the 16th century, see Flohr, “Fin de Siecle Orientalism,” cited Reuven Kimelmen, The Mystical Meaning above in note 20.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 60 Rediscovering Israel

BY ELLEN BERNSTEIN

n parashat Haazinu, Moses’ beau- an experience that turned my head tiful farewell poem, heaven and around about 180 degrees and I am still I earth bear witness as he speaks: reeling inside, wondering what it all means. May my speech come down as rain and my word distill as the Decisions to Go dew, like showers on tender shoots, like drops on the grass. Last December, in my 49th year, (Deuteronomy 32:2) having arrived at a fitting juncture in my life, I decided to go to Israel. I had That Moses needs to compare his spent my thirties and forties focused speech to rain, dew and showers may and productive, and was satisfied that seem rather excessive, but we know it I had completed a substantial body of must be essential, because the biblical work. But as I was approaching 50, I author does not waste words on any- was not at all sure how I’d be spending thing unnecessary. The references to the the next half century. I had always elements of nature give Moses’ words, wanted to learn Hebrew, a prerequisite which may otherwise be too abstract, for the fulfillment of my fantasies of form and substance, and roots them in becoming a rabbi, which I entertained the present reality. This kind of meta- like so many who live in my neighbor- phoric language, besides being evoca- hood. tive, speaks to me, not because it is Even more than that, my Hebrew about the natural world per se, but be- illiteracy had always weighed on me — cause it grounds Moses’ words in the I felt like a fake. I was acting out the rich, day-to-day experience of nature. motions of being Jewish, working as a And through Moses’ attention to that Jewish professional in the area of Jew- experience, I hear him bidding me to ish identity, and spending lots of time pay attention to my own. in shul reading Hebrew texts, yet the It is not often in my life that I am fact that I could not translate for my- aware that my experiences can actually self always gnawed at my sense of in- change my perception; my mind tends tegrity. If Judaism was going to con- to hold fast to old, petrified beliefs. But tinue to be a meaningful part of my this year, that is what happened; I had life, I needed Hebrew. After all, I

Ellen Bernstein is the founder of Shomrei Adamah and editor of Ecology and the Jewish Spirit. Her new book, The Splendor of Genesis: A Biblical Ecology, will be released on Earth Day, 2005.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 61 thought, isn’t Hebrew — the language highly spiritualized variety. And once of Jewish expression — the most el- I found it, I constructed a black-and- ementary part of a Jewish identity? white world of good and evil, spiritual and secular. I could not imagine how Hope and Disappointment one could live a real Jewish life without a spiritual, God-centered orienta- The other thread that is important tion. to my story is that I have never felt any connection to Israel. I had been there Reconnecting twice in my life, most significantly as an eager idealogue in the early ’70s, Other than this one glaring precon- hopeful that the kibbutz experience ception (!), my general attitude toward would fulfill the desperate search for my trip was one of openness — I want- meaning in my18-year-old soul. How- ed to experience everything this oppor- ever, the dreams I had about kibbutz tunity afforded. I had been feeling life and the possibilities for Israel were somewhat stagnant, and I knew there utterly dashed once I lived there. I had were horizons for me to discover. In imagined happy halutzim. , farming a order to enhance and intensify my ex- back-to-nature dream — pure, inno- perience, I had decided that while I was cent, spiritual — yet what I found was in Israel, I would avoid Americans; af- material/homri and tarnished. It would ter all, this would only deter my He- take another 30 years before I was open brew learning. I also wanted to see how enough to recognize the simplicity and I would fare in an entirely new setting impossibility of my dreams, and able where no one knew me, and where I finally to recognize how they sabotaged wasn’t bound by cultural crutches, my my reality. community and my work. I even de- This time I was going to Israel out cided to avoid reading, a most pleasur- of pure opportunism. I had no expec- able crutch. I would force myself to talk tation other than to achieve some mas- with anyone who had the savlanut (pa- tery of ivrit. I would learn Hebrew in tience) to talk with me, in ivrit, of Israel cheaply and more quickly than I course. could in America. Within the first month of my trip, Before I went, I never thought for a all my frozen preconceptions about minute about engaging in Israeli life. I secular Israelis and Zionism melted had no interest in secular Judaism and away, undoubtedly because my experi- no interest in Zionism. I was an Ameri- ence was so vastly different from the can Jew who had grow up in a com- twisted ideas I had clung to in my head. pletely assimilated family and had re- All the Israelis I was meeting — and belled against the empty Judaism of my they were for the most part secular — youth and the puffed-up version of Is- had such an integrated experience of rael that I was fed. The Judaism I was the Bible and Judaism, and such for- later to discover and cultivate was a midable knowledge. They knew the

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 62 Bible because they walked it. Shabbat to-day drudgery of the primitive farm- was for tiyuls (touring), not shuls. They ing life. Their friends found their dead prayed with their legs on the land, not bodies hanging under Rachel’s degel with their heads in books. But even tree on the banks of the Kinneret. more than this, it was the secular Is- Getting in touch with this culture raelis, not the religious ones, who be- and history was simultaneously enrich- friended me and embraced me and ing, sobering, enlivening and painful. wanted to show me their Israel. It was obvious why I was so touched Through my ulpan at WUJS (World by these stories. A connection with the Union of Jewish Students), I had the land was something to which I had unexpected good fortune to visit Israe- devoted much of my life. I had worked lis from all walks of life, and to hear in a biodynamic French intensive gar- firsthand stories of the beginnings of den, and lived in communes in my late the state, adventures in the under- teens, led wilderness river trips in my ground, the polarization of religious 20s and started the first Jewish envi- and Orthodox, the aspirations of the ronmental organization in my 30s. settlers, the quandary between Israelis Yet in that whole period, I never had and Arabs, and the heartbreak of ter- any connection to the land of Israel. It ror. It was impossible not to be deeply was stunning for me when I finally removed by all the people who had come alized that I was driven by the same and gone and given their lives to build- formative vision as many of the ha-. ing this place. It was impossible not to lutzim, but because I had turned off so feel that this was my place, too. adamantly to Israel, I never saw them as my mentors or spiritual guides. Yet Stories and Places we were living out the same crazy, inspired dream of the power of a land The stories that intrigued me most and a people in different countries in were those about the halutzim. , the early different eras. What a blessing it would pioneers who came to Israel and strug- have been for me to have looked to gled to eke out a life from the soil in them as role models and to have learned impossible, rocky terrain, malaria-in- from their achievements and their fol- fested swamps, and sandy deserts. I was lies, as I struggled through those diffi- simultaneously enchanted and horri- cult years of trying to find a place for fied by their commitment to live here myself in Judaism. no matter what, so compelled were they by the power of their ideas. I visited Sandstorms and Simplicity the cemetery by the Kinneret and the gravesites of many idealistic kibbut- I was also deeply affected just by zniks and heard terrible stories of the dwelling in the land itself. I lived first ones who came here only to discover in Arad, a 40-year-old development that they could not reconcile their town plopped in the middle of the dream of the land with the actual, day- Negev. Wherever you walk, you see

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 63 extraordinary vistas of vast, rolling gardless of their station in life. The brown hills, beautiful, but also empty horrors of terror have, of course, only and terrifying. Sandstorms were not knit people together even more. uncommon. During the endless gales, And, of course, it was profoundly my seemingly secure seven-story apart- liberating to live in a culture where ev- ment building would shake and erybody, no matter their religious ori- tremble. Sand blew through the win- entation, celebrates Shabbat — a week- dows and howled through the hallways ly oasis from which the entire country and caked everything in dust. Invari- drinks, whether they’re tiyuling or ably, we would lose power and Internet shuling, or just spending the day lin- access for days. I rather enjoyed the gering over beautiful and simple meals primitive aspect of this experience. It in the company of friends. was a little thrilling to feel afraid to go outside during those whipping storms, Integrating Experiences for fear of being blown away. It was during those storms that I felt God’s In Israel, I was so satisfied with so presence most acutely — here amid the little. Here I was, in the words of the barren and bleak landscapes, not in the Torah, “fed honey from the crag and green and tropical paradises, as I might oil from the flinty rock.” Happiness expect. Yet I had the luxury of experi- comes from just being here in the land, encing all of this indoors and protected. bound together with this place and I kept trying to imagine the ancestors these people. accessing God here in this howling Now I am back home and I have not waste, in such a seemingly godforsaken yet figured out how to integrate what place. happened. I don’t know where I really My quietest and perhaps most mov- belong, or how exactly my Judaism will ing experience, however, was the sheer manifest itself. What I do know is that simplicity of my life in Israel and the my life is profoundly enriched by hav- incredible feeling of living in a place ing had this experience. And along with where I was aligned with many of my a sense of both sadness and joy, I have values. First in Arad, and later in Jerusa- a new sense of freedom, because I suc- lem, I felt a momentary respite from ceeded in tearing down one of the America’s out-of-control materialism. empty edifices in my mind, so pains- (Israel’s materialism is out of control takingly constructed, that cluttered and too, but in Arad and Jerusalem, two of impaired my vision. Israel’s poorer cities, it is less pro- We each have the opportunity to re- nounced.) It was liberating to live in a claim lost pieces of our identity, includ- culture where what you “do” for a living aspects we once may have seen as ing is not particularly significant, where ugly, unhappy or painful. It is in the people are driven less by ambition and integration that we find wholeness. more by community and caring, where Today, the dream of wholeness seems everybody talks to everybody else, re- to me the sweetest thing.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 64 Once Upon a Time — The Rabbi as Storyteller

BY SANDY EISENBERG SASSO

n the beginning, when God when I graduated from rabbinical began to create . . .” school that my role as rabbi would be “I We begin with story, God’s that of storyteller, I would have thought story to the people of Israel and Israel’s them seriously mistaken — teacher, story to God. Each week, we stop in counselor, preacher, community repre- our routine, open a book and read the sentative, even administrator, politi- narratives of Torah, prophets and sages, cian, diplomat, yes; but not a teller of the stories of our people. We begin and tales. And yet it was story that moved conclude our readings with blessings. my soul and made sounds in my heart. It is an honor to be called to tell the I learned to value storytelling as a holy story; it is a sacred act. We learn who act, a spiritual path, when I began to we are and how to live in our story. write for children. The rabbis ask: Why does the Torah I learned that every child has a spiri- begin with stories and not with laws? tual life, an innate religious curiosity. Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov suggests it Unfortunately, we have not honored is because stories have the power to that life. Instead, we have sought to awaken a person’s heart. Stories speak tell our children what God’s voice is, not to our need for more information, assuming, of course, that we hear it, but to our hunger for understanding rather than allowing them to tell us of and affirmation. We see ourselves in the the voice of God they hear, and assum- triumphs and failures that beset our ing, of course, that they really do not. less-than-perfect ancestors. Facts, we But the opposite is true. learn and know; stories involve another Gerard Pottebaum, a researcher in way of knowing; stories we retell and children’s spirituality, has suggested that we remember. if we do not find a comfortable home in God as children, we have a harder A Teller of Tales time finding God as adults — because there is no home to which to return. If someone would have told me I found that the language of home,

Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso serves Congregation Beth-El Zedeck in India- napolis, IN, and is the author of numerous award-winning children’s books about God, religion and spiritual life.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 65 of soul, is story. As the Haggadah re- I'll admit I thought it a little unusual. minds us, “Even if we are all of us wise, One year later, the same woman all of us understanding, all sages made a point of telling me how much knowledgeable in the Torah, it would that story and exercise meant to her. still be incumbent upon us to tell the Her mother had died that past year and story . . . and the more one elaborates she took her old warm bathrobe and on the story, the more praiseworthy.” wrapped it around her. She felt the The rabbis realized that knowledge (of presence of God. It was only then that Torah) was insufficient without the teaching about Maimonides, Heschel story (the spirit that gave birth to To- and Kaplan made sense. rah). Ears and Hearts Naming God We are the narrators of the story of For many years, I had tried unsuc- our people, and we are also the ears and cessfully to teach about God in my con- hearts that listen to the stories of our gregation. I taught about Maimonides, community at times of celebration and Abraham Joshua Heschel and Morde- sorrow. A few years ago, I was having cai Kaplan. I spoke of God as the pro- lunch with a group of writers. I had cess that makes for salvation — to no thought myself to be the only Jewish avail. Then one day I shared a children’s participant in the conversation. Then, story — “In God’s Name” — I had one of my luncheon companions who written about God’s name with an was a former city editor of the Chicago adult class that I was teaching. In the Sun Times and the New York Post be- story, many people call God by differ- gan to tell his story. In 1943, when he ent names, each name borne out of the was 18 and in the military, he was given experience of the people. So the farmer a three-day pass, which he used to visit calls God Creator of Life; the woman his mother’s brother, whom he had who nurses her baby calls God Mother; never met. and the little girl who is lonely calls At one point during the visit, my God Friend. The people argue, trying writer friend admired a beautiful can- to decide which name for God is best, delabrum that sat prominently in the until they all come together and call living room. “I’ve never seen anything God One. like it,” he remarked. His uncle was After reading the story, I asked the startled, “You mean you don’t know class to think about a name for God what that is? Come into my study, I that best reflected the place where they need to tell you something.” In that were in their lives. Following a period study, for the first time, this 18-year- of silence, names came pouring forth. old young man found out that his One woman wanted to call God An mother was Jewish. Old, Warm Bathrobe. We all acknowl- The young man had been raised Ro- edged and affirmed her naming, but man Catholic. He discovered that his

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 66 mother had fallen in love with the man palace is too grand to be made so small. who became his Irish Catholic father. To my author friend, who wishes there Neither family approved, so they eloped were a place for people like him to be- and were married by a Protestant min- long, I said, there is — the gates are ister. When his Jewish maternal grand- open, consider yourself at home. father found out, he said the marriage That year my friend attended our was no marriage, so the new groom had synagogue Seder. We met more often; himself circumcised and converted to he began to read more and more about Judaism. The couple was then mar- Judaism, to attend classes, services. He ried by a rabbi, but still the grandfa- joined the synagogue and chaired our ther did not approve. So the father re- Public Relations committee. After he turned to Catholicism and the couple moved away to be closer to family, we was married once again, this time by a stayed in touch. When he died this year, priest. The story ended. his family returned to Indianapolis and The lunch ended, and I left, but the our congregation, where I led a memo- story would not leave me. I called my rial service in tribute to his extraordi- friend and asked if I could tell his story nary life. to my congregation. He agreed and I am reminded of the Hasidic story then wrote me the following: “I wish I of the wealthy man who had agreed to had known about my Jewish heritage pay in gold for each and every story early enough to have known more the maggid could tell him. What he had about Jewish beliefs and customs. I still been waiting for years was to hear his have never been to a Seder . . . I wish own story. For the Baal Shem Tov had there were some organization to which told him, “When someone comes and people like me could belong.” tells you your story, you will be at peace.” There should be classrooms in our A Palace with Many Rooms synagogues, but the synagogue is not only a classroom, and congregants are With his permission, I told this story not only students. The synagogue is a on Yom Kippur, and invited my friend gateway, and those who enter are seek- to be at the service. I placed his per- ers yearning for someone to tell them sonal story in the midst of the larger their story. contemporary story of Jewish loss through assimilation, indifference and New Stories, Ancient Threads exclusion. I concluded by saying that Judaism is not a burning house about Rabbis are the scribes who record the to be destroyed by malevolent forces, narratives of lives as they pass through but a palace with rooms for all Jews. I the cycle of life, and the creators of new said that when I see those rooms being stories woven with ancient threads. boarded up to exclude others who do Their responsibility is to make private not fit into a frozen definition of who narrative reverberate with the Jewish is a Jew, I am sick at heart. The Jewish story and make the story of Judaism

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 67 pulsate with personal narrative. They tell stories that do not have an obvious tell people their story, connecting the moral, someone will say — okay, fine, personal and ephemeral with the com- good, but what’s the point? The story munal and eternal, and allowing the is the point. communal and eternal to open a win- dow into the personal. Just One Idea The very acts of storytelling and lis- tening to stories are spiritual exercises. Consider this story from storyteller To hear a story, it is necessary to quiet Mary Hamilton about a fox and a the self, to be fully present, to relin- crane. quish control. As much as we would The fox is loud and confident. He like to withhold Cain’s hand, stop Sa- goes around saying, “I have a thousand rah and Abraham from banishing ideas, a thousand ideas.” The crane Hagar, keep Moses from striking the never boasts; he says quietly to the fox, rock, we cannot. The characters of a “I have one idea.” The fox and the crane narrative invite the reader into the story fall into a pit, in a trap set by a hunter. not as directors, but as witnesses. But The fox laughs. “No problem, I have a if we are open enough, silent enough, thousand ideas, a thousand ideas. the soul of the characters will touch our Which one should I use, which one own. We learn to empathize with the should I use?” The crane repeats qui- people whose lives we have entered. An etly, “I have one idea to get out of this essential dimension of religious life is pit.” The fox just laughs harder. Then precisely about quieting the self, being the fox and crane hear the hunter ap- humble in the face of circumstances proaching. At that very moment the beyond our control, empathizing with crane falls over as if dead. The hunter others. looks into the pit and says, “Oh, you Stories require attention and they evil fox, you killed the poor crane,” and give attention to detail. The time of day the hunter gently lifts the crane up out or night, the desert or the garden, the of the pit. As soon as the crane is out horse or the donkey, are all important of the pit and is placed on the ground, to set the stage for the story to unfold. it spreads its wings and flies away. The It matters if the characters shout or fox, who is now looking into the bar- whisper, walk or run, eat lentil stew or rel of the hunter’s rifle, hears the crane venison. Stories help us imagine what singing — “I had just one idea.” lies beneath the surface, to wonder at Rabbis are often expected to have a what we might otherwise take for thousand ideas — one for the pre- granted. school, one for the adult education com- Stories leave lasting impressions on mittee, four or five for the fundraising the brain and heart that influence how committee, several for divrei Torah, sev- we respond to life. They do not pro- eral more for engaging in tikkun olam claim religious truths; they facilitate and interfaith dialogue. They are fre- their discovery. Sometimes, when we quently expected to juggle all these

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 68 ideas at the same time that they are always be the rabbi, strong, right and teaching guided meditation and focus- in charge. But one can also be a rabbi ing on their breathing. That is the time who is a spouse and a partner, a parent they need to remember the fox and the and a friend, sometimes vulnerable, crane — one idea at a time, one point sometimes mistaken. Rabbis can either of attention. play a role or be a person. As persons, When I began storytelling I thought they will be better rabbis and enjoy it was simply a short detour, something their story more. I needed to do to entertain the chil- Our spiritual and religious lives de- dren at family services. I discovered in pend on the stories we choose to tell the process the pleasures and power of and how we tell them. We can tell the narrative — not simply to entertain, story of the Exodus as a reminder of but to transform. Sometimes rabbis are the need to be ever vigilant against per- so focused on a goal that we ignore our secution, or as a catalyst to move us to peripheral vision. Sometimes we are so care for the stranger. We can tell the fixed on a destination that we forget to story of Sinai as an entitlement (we got take pleasure on the journey, to explore the covenant before you did) or as a the side roads. What we might think is challenge. Rabbis are the keepers and a detour, something necessary but un- tellers of the stories of our people; we essential, may just be the very thing have a tremendous responsibility and that keeps our rabbinate fresh and life opportunity. interesting. The story is the point. Rabbi Menachem Mendl of Kotzk said he became a Hasid, a lover of God, Role or Person because he met a person who told stories about the righteous. “He told what Tellers of ancient narratives, listen- he knew, and I heard what I needed.” ers of modern tales, transmitters of our If rabbis can tell the story of our people people’s texts, receivers of personal sto- that we have come to know in our ries — rabbis are all of these. But each hearts, then our communities will hear of us is also a character in the story of what they need, and a story that began our life that we are telling. One can once upon a time will go on forever.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 69 Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in the Nursing Home: Torah for Confronting Fragility and Mortality1

BY DAYLE A. FRIEDMAN

spent my formative years in the But mostly, it was simply amazing. nursing home. Not what the com- Here we were, college kids and octoge- I mercials used to call the “Wonder narians, praying, singing and celebrat- Years, 1-12,” but my late adolescence, ing together. The gaps between us early adulthood and early midlife. I ar- melted away when our voices joined in rived quite by accident. Actually, I was the traditional chants. And the change dragged one Saturday morning by a in the older people was nothing short fellow college student seeking an addi- of miraculous. The sleepy, seemingly tional volunteer to help make Shabbat indifferent and somewhat confused services happen in a nursing home his bunch who greeted us when we came group had taken on. Initially, it was in were suddenly animated, funny, disorienting. What did it mean when proud and present. Mary invited me back to her house for lunch, when she clearly lived there in Sacred Insights the institution? What was I supposed to make of Jenny, who called out every I was intrigued. These old people couple of minutes during the service, seemed to know things. By dint of the “WHAT PAGE?” Should I wake Max, decades they had lived and the adver- who was sleeping so peacefully through sity they currently faced, they had gath- the whole service and then woke up ered Torah, sacred wisdom. They com- and told us how “vonderful” it was at prised a repository of knowing. Like the end? Torah, their teaching was rich with

Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman is the director of Hiddur: The Center for Jewish Ag- ing at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. This article is adapted from a presentation at the EPIC Conference of the Association of Professional Chap- lains, the Canadian Association for Pastoral Practice and Education, the Na- tional Association of Catholic Chaplains, and the National Association of Jew- ish Chaplains in February 2003. The names used in this article are pseudonyms.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 70 possibilities for interpretation, explica- and almost no one would choose. And tion and practical application. Like yet it is precisely in that place of loss, Torah, these elders’ sagacity needed to fragility, indignity and death that el- be passed on, from generation to gen- ders are living each day, accumulating eration. I sensed that theirs was the wisdom and eager to share it, if only Torah that I needed to learn. someone will listen. These elders, I continued studying that Torah, whose bodies and minds are broken, mining the text of frail elders’ lives for who are discarded, dismissed and dis- wisdom — in my social-work training counted, still have intact souls, radiant in senior centers; as a rabbinic student with light that can illumine a path. Like in a large urban home for the aged; and the burning bush, you have to stop to at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center, a notice it; or like Jacob after his dream, community of 1,100 Jewish elders I you have to be prepared to discover that was privileged to serve as a spiritual “God is in this place and I, I did not caregiver while Director of Chaplaincy know it” (Genesis 28:16). Services for twelve years. What does all of this have to do with In the time that I spent in the nurs- spiritual caregivers? Most do not see ing home, I found that colleagues, fam- themselves working in geriatrics ily members and people I met in the (though as an advocate for the elderly, community hardly shared my enthusi- I’m called to point out that a very sig- asm for the riches available in the nurs- nificant proportion of us encounter ing home. On the contrary, whenever older people and issues of aging in our I mentioned where I worked, I was met work every day). I want to suggest that with expressions of fear and loathing. the Torah that frail elders embody is A neighbor exclaimed, “I’ve told my precisely what we need to guide and family, if I ever need to go to a place sustain us as we accompany people like that, they should just shoot me.” through the valley of the shadow, A rabbinic colleague who asked where through darkness, despair, brokenness my congregation was, and seemed to and to the very end of life. feel terribly sorry for me once he heard When they came to clean out her the answer, said: “Was that something room after she died, the daughters of a you chose?” A friend remarked, “You very tough, very cool 94 year-old nurs- must find that so depressing.” And even ing home resident named Mary gave a resident of the home said, “You’re so me a needlepoint she had made. It bore young. Why would you want to be these words: “Old age is not for sissies.” here?” It now hangs in my office next to snap- shots of my husband and three chil- Accumulating Wisdom dren.

All of those folks were not wrong. Living in the Face of Death The nursing home is a terrifying and very sad place, a place everyone dreads, I think about Mary’s message often.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 71 I used to think I understood it, since I a group of twenty nursing home resi- saw how crushing the vicissitudes of dents, assisted-living tenants and elders late life could be. Lately, it has occurred from the community who decided to to me that the challenges faced by Mary participate in an Adult Confirmation and the very old are not so different in program at the home. In the home, Con- kind from those we all face. We spiri- firmation was an opportunity to affirm a tual caregivers are called to live in the connection to Jewish tradition and study face of death, to find meaning amid for those who were 70 to 95 years old, suffering, and to fan the smallest spark most of whom were women who had of light in the darkest place. Our work never been offered a Jewish education. is not for sissies, and, I believe, we can The Confirmation process took take fortitude from the Torah embod- seven months. The students partici- ied by the elderly sages from whom I’ve pated in a course about Jewish values and been blessed to learn. contemporary social issues. They had to I want to share four pieces of Torah, meet a requirement of “perfect atten- sacred wisdom, I have learned from frail dance,” meaning no unexcused absences. elders. In Jewish tradition, Torah means Over the course of the class, members literally the first five books of the He- faced both ongoing frailty and major life brew Scriptures. It also means the en- crises. Rachel broke a hip. Her daughter tire oral and written tradition that has called me while Rachel was in the hos- grown up around the text as it has been pital: “All Mom wants to know is whether passed from generation to generation she can still be confirmed. Is there work over the millennia. Just as the biblical she can do? Does she need a tutor?” Torah text is adumbrated by rabbinic interpretation, here, too, we look at a Mitzvah Project piece of teaching from Jewish tradition that sheds light on the Torah of the el- Despite challenges, the students der sages. Each teaching can be applied were remarkably committed to partici- to our own encounters with fragility pating in class sessions. In addition to and mortality. their studies, the elderly students did a mitzvah project, helping an after-school Learning and Growing program for at-risk Jewish and Arab children in Israel. They managed to My first Torah is, “It’s never too late raise more than $600 for computers, to learn and grow.” People think of the and they corresponded with the kids, nursing home as the end of the road, who were amazed and thrilled that this for, as one resident put it, “You come group of elderly Jews on the other side in on two feet and you leave in a box.” of the world had taken such an inter- But if you are still alive today, it might est in them. be that there is not only something to On the second day of the festival of learn, but something new to become. Shavuot, twenty confirmands made This Torah was impressed upon me by their processional into the synagogue

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 72 on walkers, in wheelchairs and in elec- ment and affirmation; they had reached tric carts. Wearing white robes, they for something and attained it, despite conducted the service, received certifi- impairments, serious illness and loss. cates and spoke to the 250 relatives and They had managed to serve as exem- friends in the audience. This is what plars of life-long Torah learning, Jew- one confirmand said in her speech: ish commitment and continual growth and renewal. I never had a formal Jewish education, though I was raised by won- Lifelong Learning derful Jewish parents and grew up to be a properly raised Jewish girl These confirmands were fulfilling a . . . I wanted to join the Confirma- holy demand. Maimonides, the great tion class because I could be en- medieval Jewish sage, taught that learn- lightened about our Jewish religion ing is a lifelong obligation for every- and what it means to be a Jew . . . I one. Rich or poor, smart or simple, can truly say that in our discussions, weighed down by family responsibili- I learned that there is a God. I feel ties or not, all are called to keep study- wonderful that I was able to coming Torah. Even an elderly person plete this course. I’m proud of my- whose strength has waned must con- self and my fellow confirmands. tinue to learn. Until when does this obligation last? Until the day of your One confirmand literally came from death, teaches Maimonides. her deathbed to the ceremony; in the What does this Torah mean for spiri- end-stage of pancreatic cancer, Sarah tual caregivers? We need forever to con- had continued to attend classes, and tinue discovering. We must never as- emphatically wanted to be present for sume we know it all. We must never the ceremony. I was devastated to learn meet the 100th person in a given con- when I came for the ceremony that Sa- dition or situation and think we know rah had been taken to a hospital for an what it is about for him or her. We are emergency procedure that very morning. called to stay curious, keep open, keep Amazingly, thanks to my screaming and learning — from books, from col- the administrator’s persistence, she was leagues, from our own life experiences, brought back, and was wheeled into the and most of all, from those whom we sanctuary in a geri-chair in the middle accompany through their suffering. of the service. Sarah was able to chant This Torah also calls us to shift the the Aleinu prayer in Hebrew, and to way we see those whom we accompany. receive her certificate in the presence We are invited to recognize in them the of her family. She died one week later, striving not just to endure, but to con- having achieved a cherished goal at the tinue to become. The person who is very end of her life. still becoming is always a subject, never Like Sarah, all of the confirmands an object. When we see him or her as felt a profound sense of accomplish- reaching, we are barred from becom-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 73 ing condescending. On the contrary, source of great unhappiness to her. we are inspired to stretch ourselves to “This is not Ethel,” she would say, become more, better. If we are lucky, pointing to the wheelchair and her use- we can become like the dream weavers less legs. Being in a wheelchair also of Second Wind Dreams. This incred- meant that Ethel could no longer sit in ible organization’s sole mission is to her usual pew in the shul. On the first help elders in institutions to make their Shabbat that Ethel arrived in a wheel- wishes come true, such as enabling a chair, I noticed that Esther and Bertha pioneer woman pilot to fly a plane at were also not seated in the second pew. age 91, taking a wheelchair-bound man They had quietly moved chairs to the on a deep-sea fishing trip, or assisting space behind the pews. They were a retired church organist to put on a seated on either side of Ethel’s wheel- concert in the home. We, too, can be chair. Esther and Bertha had under- dream weavers. We can support aspi- stood Ethel’s sadness. Through this rations and the thirst to learn and grow. simple mitzvah, they reminded Ethel that she was very much “still Ethel,” The Power of Mitzvah despite the wheelchair, despite the pain, despite the dependency. My second piece of Torah is about the power of mitzvah. A mitzvah is a To Change the World commanded, holy act. In colloquial usage, to do a mitzvah is to do a good In my experience, frail elders not deed. My elderly teachers have shown only wish to do mitzvot that change me how much doing a mitzvah can the lives of those who cross their paths transform them, and us. in the nursing home; they want to Ethel, Esther and Bertha had struck change the world. For example, a few up a friendship in the nursing home. years ago, our nursing home congre- They came from strikingly different gation was told by a guest speaker about backgrounds, but they found that they Yonah, a 26-year-old Ethiopian Jew enjoyed spending time together. Every airlifted to Israel in a remarkable res- Friday evening, the three of them came cue effort, Operation Moses. Yonah’s into the synagogue, supported by canes mother and siblings were still in Ethio- and walkers, and found their way to pia. He was barely subsisting on gov- their usual spot, right up front in the ernment stipends and trying to find second pew, on the right side (no one work in his new land. sat in the first pew, as is, seemingly, Although they were previously un- universal custom in congregations ev- aware of the existence of the Ethiopian- erywhere!). Jewish community, my congregants After a while, Ethel, who had been immediately wanted to reach out to this managing to get around with the help fellow Jew. The residents decided to of a walker, could no longer do so. adopt Yonah. They wrote letters, with Suddenly, Ethel was in a wheelchair, a the help of volunteers, who took dic-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 74 tation from them, since most couldn’t son is part of the ongoing covenant be- see to read or write. They sent photos tween God and the people of Israel. We and expressed sentiments such as, are born not only into a loving family, “Don’t give up, you’ll soon be with your but into a relationship with God as a part family,” and, “I remember when I left of our people. God’s part is to be present my family in Russia when I came to for all of the generations; our part is to America as a young man. You should keep the mitzvot, the commandments. find the happiness I found in my new There are mitzvot that are between home,” and, “God should watch over you and God, including the whole you, and by Pesach, you and your fam- realm of ritual observance, and, equally ily should all be together.” importantly, mitzvot that are between Sending encouragement was not you and your fellow human beings. enough for these nursing home resi- Amazingly, God needs us to do the dents turned activists. They wanted to mitzvot . . . to fulfill our part of the do something. They raised money to covenant, and, ultimately, to be God’s help rescue Yonah’s family, contribut- partners in repairing our broken world ing dimes and quarters from their mea- and bringing redemption. ger spending money or bingo winnings, We have worth always, because we and asking family members to donate have this cosmic job to do. And, it turns as well. Their giving spurred local syna- out, even if we are ill or frail we are not gogues to join in raising more than off the hook. We are still obligated, and $6,000 for Yonah’s family. Several months thus, still able to be God’s partner in later, Yonah wrote back, “When you changing the world. If we cannot do write, I feel like I have brothers who care the whole thing, then we do the part about me. Everything you wrote, it has we can, the way we can, for this is a come to be. You wrote that God would “sliding-scale” obligation. When we do bring my family to me. At Pesach, my all that we can, we have fully discharged mother and brother came to Israel.” our obligation.

From Learning to Doing Engaging in Holy Action

Through their involvement with For those who are facing brokenness Yonah, my congregants came to expe- or mortality, engaging in holy action rience themselves not as patients, resi- has a transformative power. You change dents, or recipients of care, but as re- the world, and you change yourself. deemers, observers of the mitzvah of Here’s the challenge: In order for pidyon shevuyim, redeeming the cap- those who are frail or impaired to do tives. Truly, these elders taught me the their mitzvah, someone else may have lifesaving power of a mitzvah, not just to help. I suggest that the shaping of for those toward whom it is directed, the task in a way that is accessible and but for those who perform it as well. doable may well become our responsi- According to Jewish tradition, a per- bility as spiritual caregivers.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 75 How would our work be trans- nursing home are veterans of loss. They formed if we thought not just about have withstood legions of tiny as well how we can comfort and heal, but as monumental bereavements, losing about how we can help those we are everything from the furnishings of their serving to use their will, love and abili- longtime homes to their dearest be- ties to comfort, heal and help? For spiri- loveds. There is no one who has sur- tual caregivers, part of our task thus be- vived without parting with siblings, comes empowering those we serve to friends, parents and neighbors. Most do and to contribute. We need to ask: have lost spouses or partners; many What is the part of the task we need to have lost at least one child. do or shape so that the one we serve In the home, death is the neighbor can do her part? next door; crouching at the threshold, Can the bedridden, homebound el- it is ever-present. You just never know der become a caring phone buddy for quite where it will next strike. Will it a latchkey child of working parents who be your roommate? Your tablemate? comes home from school to a house Will it be you? You never know from empty of company, nurture or supervi- day to day who will be there in the sion? Can the person struggling with morning when you wake up. depression be invited to pray for some- In that land of loss and grief, you one else in the community? Can the would expect that hearts close down. It dying hospice patient give a lasting can be just too painful to open up to hu- legacy to her loved ones by making an man connection, only to lose it yet again. ethical will? What do we need to do to Yet I have seen true courage in that bar- make that possible? ren wasteland, for I have seen that the This Torah can be something of a will to love can conquer the fear of loss. paradigm shift for us. We are accustomed to thinking about the transfor- Finding a Teacher, mation that occurs when spiritual Finding a Friend caregivers are simply present. We try to quell within ourselves and our stu- Dr. Rose was a retired professor of dents the impulse “to fix” the one we Jewish studies. When his beloved wife are accompanying. The Torah of mitz- died a few short days after they came vah, though, also calls us to enable to live in the nursing home, it seemed those we serve to do and be all that they that Dr. Rose might give up altogether. can be. And when we do that, neither Suddenly, instead of sharing his home we nor the one we are helping will re- with his wife of more than 60 years, he main the same. was rooming with a stranger. Instead of being the teacher, respected by The Courage to Love neighbors and students alike, he was “a resident,” expected to follow the rou- The third piece of Torah deals with tines like all the others. His three chil- the courage to love. Residents of the dren lived far away, so in a sense, he

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 76 was truly alone. Who would have had each recently lost a spouse after a guessed that the stranger in the bed long illness, and both were volunteers next to him would become a dear and in the nursing home. Eric noticed treasured friend? Who could have Lillian’s flaming red hair and, one day, imagined that Dr. Rose would once he got the nerve to invite her to coffee again become an honored teacher? in the cafeteria. One thing led to an- Dr. Rose’s new roommate was Mr. other and soon they were inseparable. Fairstein. Mr. Fairstein prided himself He called her “Carrot Top,” and she on his intellect, and felt that there was walked around with an elated grin. One no one in the home whom he could day, they made an appointment to see consider a peer. Mr. Fairstein had com- me. They had decided to get married, pleted several advance degrees, run a they said. They wanted the wedding in successful business, and always main- the home’s synagogue, and they wanted tained interest in Jewish life. He reluc- me to officiate. tantly moved to the home after the It is a tad embarrassing to say that, death of his second wife, when he could 30 years old and unmarried at the time, no longer manage alone, since he had I had the hutzpah. to suggest pre-mari- lost one leg to diabetes complications, tal counseling. Lillian and Eric and I and the other was infected. had some frank and difficult conversa- Somehow, the scholar and the intel- tions, as they shared the pain of caring lectual had a meeting of minds. Mr. for a spouse who became frail, and their Fairstein, always fascinated by Jewish fear of how they would feel if it should history, asked Dr. Rose to give him a happen again. I asked if they were pre- tutorial. Thus began a daily study ses- pared once again to face loving and los- sion, filled with discourse, debate, good ing. Lillian and Eric were absolutely humor and mutual respect. When clear; however long we have, they said, Mr.Fairstein became confined to his we are going to enjoy each other. bed for nine months because of his After some delays due to illness, the ever-worsening leg, it was Dr. Rose’s big day finally came. The wedding was lessons that kept him going. Dr. Rose small, simple and moving. Under the said of Mr. Fairstein, “He is my best huppah. , the wedding canopy, Lillian pupil.” Mr. Fairstein said, “Ours is a and Eric looked with delight into each true intellectual peership.” The two other’s eyes. Her children and grand- pledged unending friendship, and children celebrated with them. Eric was promised each other that they would dead a year and a half later. Lillian was remain roommates until death sepa- bereft, but philosophical: those were rated them, which they did. the best months of my life, she said. Someone observing these loving ties Love and Marriage among the oldest old might think that they are cute or sweet. I, however, think Lillian and Eric were 75-year-old that what we see are awesome examples residents in independent living. They of real grit, from people brave enough

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 77 to open their hearts and give and get Our elders teach us: We can keep whatever love they can for as long as they our hearts open to love by keeping can. them open to loss, to crying those tears, to stopping to feel the sadness, and to Attachment and Loss remember just who it is we have lost. Rachel Naomi Remen teaches us that We can keep our hearts open to love burnout happens to helpers who keep by learning from the Bible. Look at accumulating losses without ever giv- Naomi, for example. Shorn of husband ing themselves a chance to grieve. We and sons, she could not bear to remain simply cannot keep caring when our connected to her daughters-in-law, for hearts are broken. We need to acknowl- she feared being a burden. Or, perhaps, edge and mourn those we love and lose she could not face the risk of yet an- in order to keep our hearts soft and other loss should they decide to aban- open to the next person whom we will don her. Yet after pushing them away, be called upon to accompany. We need when Ruth was persistent, Naomi let to mourn relationships lost, not just her in. She found the courage to open through death, but also through trust her heart to the one who wished for betrayed, boundaries transgressed or il- connection. And this love bore fruit, lusions shattered. The mourning for a lost for Ruth’s child became hers, too. Sud- relationship might be formal — a prayer denly, instead of being a bitter old or a service — or it might be makeshift woman, Naomi was connected to present — a moment of meditation, a journal and future, a vital link, a nurturer. entry or a conversation with a colleague. This Torah is relevant for spiritual We can find the courage to remain caregivers in some way. Even if we care open to love through the Torah of the for well people, our relationships are elders, those who have preceded us finite; we become attached to people down this path, for they have shown who will be in our lives for a limited us that we gain even in loss, and that, time only (of course that is also the as Lillian said, every moment of connec- human condition). This Torah is par- tion is a blessing, for as long as it lasts. ticularly rich for those of us who care for people at the ends of their lives. The One Hundred Blessings a Day nature of our work is to love and lose. It is an excruciating condition of our The fourth piece of Torah has to do situations. But how are we to cope with with blessings. Over the course of the this? How do we respond when the time I worked in the nursing home, all person we have come to cherish, whose kinds of things happened in my life. I soul has touched ours, is gone? And bought a home; I got married. My when there is another person in her congregants shared the events in my life bed, her seat, her place, intensely need- with avid interest and great enthusiasm. ing our care while reminding us of the When my first daughter, Anya, was hole left by the one who has died? born, I felt as if she had hundreds of

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 78 bubbies and zeydes, grandmas and grand- blessings. Early in my work in the nurs- pas, many of whom were intensely in- ing home, I noticed that this was a kind terested in her every developmental of pay that I received daily. In nearly milestone and adorable antic. every interaction — casual conversa- And then I got divorced. How could tion, hospital visit, exchanging greet- I tell my loving congregants that my ings after Shabbat or holiday services heart was broken, my faith shaken, my — at some point, the person I was with world turned upside down? I could not would offer me a blessing. figure out a way, so I did not tell them. Some of them were quite simple: People would ask how my family was, “You should be well.” “God should let and I would say, “Fine.” you live to be my age, but healthy.” “I Except for Bessie. Bessie was 100 wish you everything you wish yourself.” years old. We had known each other Others were amazingly profound: for nine years, and there was a loving, “May God grant you the happiness I’ve knowing way about her that just made known.” “May we live and be well and me feel good in her presence. We had be here together next year.” “May God been through so much together: the bless you with a future which is unprec- death of her son-in-law; the conversion edented, and may your congregants ap- of her granddaughter’s husband, who preciate the meaning of your message.” found Judaism through attending ser- Some blessings used the language of vices with her; her worries about her faith; others were simply offered as lov- daughters’ declining health. So when ing, sincere, wishes. However they were Bessie asked shortly after my husband articulated, these blessings were abun- and I separated, “How are you, how’s dant and powerful. They shifted the your husband, how’s the baby?” I just nature of my relationship with my could not lie or evade. So I told her. congregants. They made our encoun- Bessie said, "To tell you the truth, I ters explicitly reciprocal; we were each never thought he was your type! But I giving to the other in a holy way. More- want to tell you something . . . when over, these blessings connected the two you were born, God made a bashert of us to the Transcendent, the Source (destined one) for you. You’ll find him of life and love. Privileged to receive in a vinkl, a corner.” these blessings on a daily basis, I felt Bessie’s blessing cheered me enor- rich, full, sated. mously. She had joined me in my suffering, and offered me a vision of hope. Avoiding Complacency And, it turned out, she was right! I did find my bashert, my beloved husband, A text on blessings: In the Talmud, David, and I thank God every day! tractate Menahot. , we are taught that a person is bound to recite 100 blessings Words of Blessing a day. The justification for the number 100 is in a reading of “And now, Israel, It was not just Bessie who gave me what does the Eternal your God require

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 79 of you?” (Deuteronomy 10:12). The Lives Enriched word mah, “what,” is read as meah, which means 100. So what is it that Once we develop the habit of giv- God requires of us? 100 [blessings]. ing blessings and acknowledging the The blessings to which this text lit- ones that come our way, our whole lives erally refers are liturgical benedictions. just might be richer and sweeter. Who In Jewish tradition we offer a benedic- knows, we might be giving a blessing tion to acknowledge the wonders of to our partners as they rush off to work, nature, like seeing the sea or a beauti- to our assistant for coming through in ful tree, or hearing thunder. We say a a crunch, or even to the person who benediction before doing a com- managed to deliver our newspaper af- manded act, like lighting Shabbat ter a blizzard! We might find ourselves candles, and we recite a benediction getting a blessing from the grocery store when we experience sensory enjoyment checkout person, or even from our kids or satisfaction, like when we eat, drink as they cuddle before bed. or when we go to the bathroom. We The Torah of blessings is infinitely say a blessing when we hear good news, valuable for us in confronting fragility see a wise person, and even when some- and mortality. When we respond to the one dies. It’s easy to see how you can call to give blessings, we are drawn to get to 100 in a day! notice and celebrate the beauty, nobil- The wisdom of offering these bless- ity and goodness that exist right in the ings throughout the day is that it keeps midst of pain, suffering and death. If us from becoming complacent, from we become aware of and share bless- taking for granted what the Siddur calls ings in our relationships with those we nisekha sh’ b’khal yom, the miracles we accompany, we will deepen our capac- experience every day. ity to be present to all of reality. We The Torah of the elders’ blessings will be sparked to receive bounty from also sharpens our capacity for gratitude, those we serve, and to give our love back wonder, and holy connection. It calls in a transcendent and eternal form. us to appreciate and acknowledge the May we who walk with those facing blessings we receive from those we brokenness and the finitude of this life, serve. And it invites us to find our own who ourselves are fragile and mortal, capacity to offer blessings, to elevate an find the strength and inspiration to encounter to the Holy by invoking the keep our minds open to learning, our Divine, by entering into the dimension souls open to empowering, our hearts of the Eternal. As David Spangler open to loving, and may we find a way, teaches in his wonderful book, Bless- like Abraham, not to just give and re- ing: The Art and the Practice, blessings ceive blessing, but he’yeh berakhah, to remind us that “we are made of spirit be a blessing. stuff, soul stuff, love stuff . . . and therefore kin to life and to each other.” 1. This article reports on the experiences

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 80 of Jewish elders in a Jewish residential care to enable a staff member, volunteer or fam- facility. Most frail Jewish elders reside in ily member to facilitate the celebration of non-Jewish care settings, and are thus iso- Shabbat and holidays with elders. The lated from Jewish life. This fall, Hiddur materials will be available after October will release Sacred Seasons: Jewish Resources 2004 at www.sacredseasons.org.) for Elders, a series of resource kits devised

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 81 Membership, Identity and Status A Review of The Jewish Political Tradition, Volume 2, “Membership” edited by Michael Walzer, Menachem Lorberbaum, and Noam J. Zohar; co-editor, Ari Ackerman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003)

BY SETH GOLDSTEIN everal years ago, an ambitious Scope and Structure project was unveiled — a com- S prehensive reading of Jewish text The scope of the project is very wide. and tradition through the lens of po- All Jewish texts are eligible for citation litical theory. The project is under the and examination. Biblical and rabbinic guidance of Michael Walzer, a politi- texts are well represented, as are codes cal theorist at the Institute for Ad- and responsa literature, but so is mod- vanced Study in Princeton, and of sev- ern philosophy, Zionist thought, eral Israeli scholars (all associated with prayers both ancient and modern, and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israeli Supreme Court decisions. (The Jerusalem). It seeks to present, in anthol- absence of any reference to Mordecai ogy form, a survey of Jewish thought and Kaplan in the previous volume has been practice as they relate to the main issues corrected here.) The texts are arranged of political thought, communal organi- thematically — chapter titles include zation and governance. “Election,” “Converts” and “Gen- The work, titled The Jewish Political tiles” — and chronologically within Tradition, is to be published in four each theme. volumes. The first volume, “Authority,” This organizational structure is for- was published in 2000 and dealt with eign to the texts themselves; Jewish tra- the fundamental questions of decision- dition, for the most part, did not think making and leadership in the Jewish in terms of political theory. Yet reorga- community. In this new volume, nization itself is not foreign to the Jew- “Membership,” the editors present and ish textual tradition, as it is marked by grapple with related fundamental ques- the ongoing organization and reorga- tions of Jewish thought: What, and, nization of text, law and legend into therefore, who, is a Jew? categories, beginning with the Mishnah

Seth Goldstein is the rabbi of (JRF) Temple Beth Hatfiloh in Olympia, WA.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 82 (if not earlier). Different communities ity within the community and the at different times will reorganize the question of relationship with those texts to address their own particular outside the community. questions. The questions of commu- As raised in the book, the question nal organization are our questions. of membership is addressed in differ- The effect of this organization is ent forms. On the one hand, it is a re- wonderfully talmudic, as different texts ligious question, which relates to issues and authors speak to each other on of conversion, apostasy, commitment subjects across the generations and con- to a shared religious practice and out- tinents. Interpretive essays by contem- look, and other related concerns. On porary scholars, which seek to continue the other hand, it is an ethnic ques- that conversation, are scattered tion, which relates to issues of lineality, throughout. Biographical sketches of secular national identity and similar the texts’ authors, a listing of citations concerns. All of these themes are of traditional texts, and a comprehen- touched upon here. sive index are on hand to help make The “political” nature of the ques- this book usable as well as useful. tion is less clear, according to the edi- This “usefulness” factor is very im- tors. Throughout its history, the Jew- portant, as these volumes are not ish community addressed issues of merely intended to be historical records membership as religious or ethnic, or scholarly surveys. They are meant rather than political. Until recently, the to be used, to serve as a guide for fu- Jews were a stateless people, with no ture discussion and action, and to be a government formally to make or en- resource for addressing major concerns force decisions around membership — of the Jewish community today. or, as in the case of a polity, citizenship. The creation of the State of Is- The Meaning of Membership rael, in which state power does have recourse to define and enforce identity Nowhere is this more evident than parameters, is the newest wrinkle in the in the question of membership. As the question, one tht may not be resolved editors point out in the opening line for a long time. of the introduction: “In every political community, and across what is today Civilization and Nationhood called international society, membership is a contested issue. And so it is Approaching Judaism from a Re- for the Jews, and has been for most of constructionist perspective, however, in Jewish history” (3). which Judaism is viewed as a civiliza- The overriding question of “Who is tion, makes asking the questions about a Jew?” has been a part of the Jewish membership as a paradigm of political experience since its (Israelite) origins. theory very relevant. With this perspec- And that question brings with it two tive, Jews do not merely fit on an axis other questions: the question of equal- of religion and ethnicity, but comprise

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 83 a people, a “nation,” in which religion of “Who is a Jew?” is multilayered, one and ethnicity are constituent elements. that cannot be discussed solely at the All Jews are seen to be “citizens” of this theoretical level. nation; a sovereign political state is but one expression of this nationhood. Status and Identity (“Nationhood” remains a difficult term insofar as it can easily be confused with The theoretical part of the discus- “nationality.” Kaplan initially used the sion is important, but the book falters term “nationhood” in Judaism as a Civi- somewhat when it flirts with sociology lization (1934), rather than “people- without giving it full consideration. An hood,” which later became the norma- intriguing essay by Zvi Zohar, in which tive conceptual term in Reconstruc- he discusses conversion as a “birth” into tionism to describe the Jewish corpo- the Jewish people, allowing converts rate body. “Peoplehood” had the ad- the same ambivalence born-Jews may vantage of being easily inclusive of the have, ends with, “Empirical studies Jews of the Diaspora as well as of those seem to confirm that if the non-Jewish who were citizens of the State of Israel.) spouse [in an intermarriage] does not convert, the couple’s children will rarely Concept of Election identify as Jewish” (263). Unfortunately, no empirical studies The book begins with the concept are cited, and the question itself re- of election, its impact on the issue of mains wide open. Zohar, in fact, min- Jewish membership and challenges to gles two categories — Jewish status and that belief. The two chapters that fol- Jewish identity. The former is imposed low address social and gender hierar- from outside and is a “yes” or “no” ques- chy. The texts and discussions are rich tion. The latter is self-imposed and has and thought-provoking. The latter sec- many variations. In Zohar’s scenario, tions, however, on “Converts,” “Here- if the mother is Jewish, then the child tics and Apostates” and “Gentiles,” will have Jewish status. But he is refer- prove to be the most relevant to con- ring to something more than status; he temporary liberal communities (at least is speaking of the content of that child’s to Reconstructionist communities, Jewish identity, which he questions which have in theory “solved” the ques- without fully addressing the subject. tions of election and social and gender The question of identity is much more hierarchy through the radical embrace complex than a single line in an essay; of egalitarianism). the discussion is ongoing and spans The first of these sections deals with many empirical studies. (For a fuller the question of “Who is a Jew?” The discussion of this, see my article, “Iden- texts and essays are excellent and con- tity, Status, and Rabbinic Leadership tribute much to the discussion. How- in Contemporary Judaism” in The ever, one sees the limitations of a book Reconstructionist, 66:1, Fall 2001.) dealing solely with theory; the question The chapter on “Gentiles” also pro-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 84 vides ample material for discussion, in countries throughout the world, we both because it addresses the timely and need to reexamine the question of ex- relevant issues of non-Jews in the Jew- ile. That category, as Walzer suggests, ish community (including the State of is perhaps moot for Jews living outside Israel), and of Jews in non-Jewish com- the land of Israel. And it is Kaplan, who munities. For American Jews, this sec- celebrates rather than apologizes for the tion provides important source mate- Jewish Diasporic existence, who is rial and reflection on the issue of the given the last word in the section, with role of non-Jews in Jewish congrega- an excerpt from Judaism as a Civiliza- tions and communities. tion explaining the concept of living in two civilizations. Majority and Minority Status The latter section, “Gentile Citizens of a Jewish State,” addresses the ques- The last two sections of this chapter tion of Israeli citizenship for non-Jews, deal with the current political realities and presents interesting theological and of the Jewish people, some of whom political texts. But recent and not-so- reside outside of Israel — a minority recent events regarding Israel’s relation- within a non-Jewish majority — and ship to the Palestinians, as well as the some of whom reside in Israel — a ma- more recent influx of foreign workers to jority alongside a non-Jewish minor- Israel, raise important questions about the ity. concept of membership and of relations The former section, “Jewish Citizens to non-Jews. These are barely addressed, of Gentile States,” addresses the ques- an unfortunate omission. tion of how Jews in the Diaspora view themselves, using two versions of a Contradictions in Identity “Prayer for the Country” as found in Orthodox and Conservative prayer Placing these two sections next to books. Reading these prayers closely is each other raises another question: fascinating. The first expresses a desire How do Jewish citizens of Gentile states for the ruling powers to “deal kindly view themselves in a world in which with us,” while the second calls for there is a Jewish state? American Jews, mutual respect among the different it may be suggested, are conflicted over groups that comprise American soci- this identity, seeing themselves as si- ety. Michael Walzer, in his examina- multaneously both in and out of exile. tion, raises an intriguing notion when In the concluding essay, Nomi Maya he writes that this second prayer “is the Stolzenberg points out the contradic- new democratic politics of exile — or, tions inherent within Israel’s self-defi- better, it is a politics that effectively nition as both a Jewish and a demo- marks the end of exile, that is, the end cratic state. [See the essay by Ilan Peleg of subordination and fear” (519). in this issue —Ed.] This is most certainly correct. As To apply this contradiction to the contemporary Jews living and thriving American Jewish community is to rec-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 85 ognize that the values of individuality texts relating to “moral coexistence” and liberty define American democ- between Jews and Gentiles posits an racy, while the values of collectivity and interesting interpretation of the cat- Jewish national culture define Israel. egory of “heathen.” He writes: “Freed For American Jews, who benefit from from certain medieval monotheistic the former yet celebrate the latter, the prejudices . . . we might ask ourselves result is a contradictory self-identity now whether there are particular creeds regarding membership. whose adherents, because of their com- One can go on discussing and argu- mitment to violence and brutality, ing with the material in the book, and should truly be treated as ‘heathens’” indeed that is the point. Each page con- (511). The possibility of revaluing and tains a new gem, whether it is the Is- redefining the concept of “heathen,” raeli Supreme Court weighing in on the with all its subsequent consequences, Law of Return and Jewish status in the is an intriguing one. Brother Daniel case, or commentators One can always argue for the inclu- throughout the ages addressing the sion of omitted texts, and question the Korach story and issues of hierarchy. value of some that are cited; the nature The interpretive essays do much to of anthologies is to be comprehensive, further the discussion; one wishes there not complete. Nonetheless, this book were more of them. I often looked for- deepens the contribution to the world ward to scholarly reflections on cited of Jewish letters made by the first vol- sources, only to be disappointed by ume of The Jewish Political Tradition. their absence. The essays often expand It is a profound achievement that, in the discussion initiated by the texts. For the true spirit of Jewish texts, raises as example, an essay by Noam Zohar on many questions as it seeks to answer.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 86 Seeking a New Way for Jewish Education A Review of Visions of Jewish Education edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler, and Daniel Marom (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 352 pages

BY SHAI GLUSKIN [L]arge numbers of Jews have become tion that would put vision at the cen- ignorant of Jewish knowledge and ter of the discussion about renewing alienated from Jewish life . . . The Jewish education: American Jewish population has reached unprecedented levels of assimi- What is required is fresh and en- lation. The contemporary challenge to ergetic thinking about the Jew- Jewish education is clear and severe” ish future and its rationale, in ( 11-12). view of the desperate circumstances we face. We need, in sum, he crisis in Jewish education is new efforts to formulate the not new. Compelling and philosophical basis of Jewish ex- T competing cultures vie for the istence in our own day (12). attention and loyalty of Jews of all ages. Where appreciating the richness and Education at the Center beauty of Jewish texts may require significant commitment and study, the In a frazzled culture that judges competing popular cultures demand projects according to outcome and pro- less. Nor is this problem confined to ductivity, the Visions Project’s empha- children; popular culture competes for sis on reflection and thoughtfulness is the identity, attention and loyalty of novel. It also inspires hope to realize Jews of all ages. that one of the most significant foun- Though the diagnosis may not be dations in the Jewish world desires to new, the commitment of the Mandel support “efforts to formulate the philo- Foundation to work on the problem sophical basis for Jewish existence in of Jewish education through its “Vi- our day,” and that Jewish education is sions Project” has been refreshing. at the center of that effort. While the Launched in 1991, the project has as state of Jewish education may be dire, it its mission the creation of a conversa- certainly is a sign of health in the Jewish

Rabbi Shai Gluskin is the director of education for the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 87 community that such a significant and ideas in addition to religious ones. sustained endeavor is taking place. Mandel Foundation Program Direc- Glimpses of the Visions tor Seymour Fox and Senior Researcher Daniel Marom are the director and as- Scholar of medieval Judaism Isadore sociate director, respectively, of the Twersky (z”l) proposes a neo-Mai- project. A prime endeavor of the Vi- monidean approach. He emphasizes sions Project has been to invite major character, Jewish practice and the pur- Jewish thinkers to propose visions for suit of the rationale behind the com- Jewish education. Each thinker was mandments in order to train students asked to present a vision and to respond in the love and service of God: to the questions and critiques of the other scholars and of leading educators The deep study of the content of gathered to dialogue with the scholars. the commandments and their pur- These conversations, held in person in poses is . . . required in order to teach Jerusalem and Boston and via exchange us that all of the laws of the Torah of written materials, were meant to are intended to elevate man to the model and inspire the creation of vi- highest possible level of morality, to sions for Jewish education formulated the most exalted level of holiness, by lay leaders and professionals through- and to the perfection deriving from out the Jewish community. The core these attainments (68). questions they asked the scholars to consider include: “What is an educated Historian and philosopher Mena- Jew?” and “What does an educated Jew chem Brinker uses one Israeli term for need to know?” and “What would you the word “student,” a mithanekh. , a re- consider to be the product of a successful flexive verb from the root hinukh. , Jewish education?” ( 14). meaning “education,” which suggests Visions of Jewish Education presents that the student is imbued with power the core of the work done since the and responsibility for his/her educa- project’s inception. Its publication also tion. The process of becoming educated bolsters efforts to move this conversa- is the process of becoming a human be- tion beyond a small circle of academ- ing. Jews study Jewish texts because ics and leading educators.The editors they are a testament to Jewish history relate two examples of previous pow- and part of the Jewish human story. erful visions in Jewish history that They are an important educational made a significant impact on Jewish component in the quest of Jews to un- life: the Maimonidean revolution, derstand themselves. Jewish texts have which sought to put the study of phi- no greater authority than any other losophy into the Jewish curriculum, texts. Ancient Jewish texts like the Bible and the early Zionist movement, which and the Talmud are neither privileged aimed to turn Hebrew into a spoken nor dismissed in Brinker’s curriculum. language that would transmit secular He proposes putting much more em-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 88 phasis than is currently done on texts don’t respond in a singular voice. He from the last 200 years. writes, “[T]he tradition itself provides options, and the teacher does well to The role of Jewish studies as well stress its internal variegation” (158). as the role of general studies is to Hebrew University Bible scholar provide mithankhim. with a wide Moshe Greenberg puts text study at the range of potential inspirations to core of his vision. Greenberg identifies enable them to assume ultimate au- for study the “accepted fundamental thority over their own lives, their books of Judaism,” which he names as behavior with others, and their Bible, Talmud and Midrash, as well as choices as citizens (105). the body of commentary that has grown around that literature. His defi- Brinker believes that his vision is vi- nition of commentary is broad, includ- able only in Israel, where being Jewish ing contemporary commentary as well and being human are more integrated as academic works. He argues that stu- than in the Diaspora. dents’ lack of knowledge about the tradition of commentary in Judaism contrib- Uniqueness and Objectivity utes to the alienation of those students:

Modern historian and Reform thinker One of the obstacles to our stu- Michael Meyer proposes a vision that dents’ acceptance of the tradition stresses putting Jewish uniqueness and the is its petrified appearance. They are “objectivity of the tradition” as the core ignorant of the history of biblical components of Jewish education: interpretation and of the conflicting trends within it, and are there- The community begins with com- fore unaware of the ongoing recip- mitment to the tradition as a source rocal influence of the text on its in- of truth and values. Even when the terpreters, and interpreters on the texts contain elements that the com- text. Authentic Jewish culture can munity, or some of its members, find arise only from the dialogue be- it necessary to reject on intellectual tween the source and the members or moral grounds, such dissent does of each generation, a dialogue in not vitiate commitment to the tradi- which both the loyalty of the peo- tion as a whole. The subjectivism of ple to the text and their adjustment teacher and students is balanced by of it to the culture of the present the objectivity of the tradition in its find expression (127-8). totality (158). Segregating Content Meyer attempts to incorporate the and Method key Reform value of personal autonomy into his vision by suggesting Co-editor Seymour Fox suggests the that the core texts themselves often following:

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 89 The translation of a theory into nition of a vision is a theory that has practice is an art, one that requires met reality. This can leave the readers us to consider the necessary ele- confused about Fox’s ultimate vision for ments of education, one by one his book; perhaps a better title would and together as they influence each be “Toward Visions of Jewish Educa- other. It is only such translation tion.” that can turn theory into vision, a comprehensive guide to education Scholarly Visions in the actual circumstances that confront us (255). In addition to the work of the scholars who specialize in particular content Fox’s assertion that vision can only areas, four chapters were written by come about in the confrontation of scholars of education. Hebrew Univer- theory and reality comes on page 255 sity professor Michael Rosenak, a mod- of a book that is dominated by presen- ern Orthodox educational visionary in tations of “visions” by academics whose his own right, attempts to establish a specialties are outside of education. metavision that could contain multiple Their visions, as presented in the book, visions across ideological boarders. are unconnected to the realities of While it is interesting to wonder how implementation. There is little discus- the different visions may be synthe- sion of methods and even of the role sized, the chapter nonetheless diverts of students and teachers. Although the attention away from specific and co- Visions Project gathered a group of pro- herent visions. I longed to see his per- fessional educators, scholars and prac- sonal educational vision proposed and titioners to respond to the visions, their explicated. comments are included only sporadi- Similarly, the impact of Harvard cally and in generalized summaries in University professor emeritus of edu- chapter supplements. cation Israel Scheffler’s inspirational The structure of the book fails to writing is muted by the fact that it support the integration of vision and serves as a kind of background foot- method. Instead, the book is divided note regarding ideas from the world of into “Visions in Detail” and “Visions general education about the meaning in Context.” The “Visions in Context” of an “educated person.” He first de- section, however, does not propose scribes the problem of Jewish educa- methodological suggestions in any de- tion using ideas from educational tail in response to the “Visions in De- theory, and then goes on to describe a tail” section. Fox, rather, whose chap- vision of education in general. How- ter is called “The Art of Translation,” ever, he does not “translate” his ideas speaks mostly in theoretical terms (to use Fox’s term) into a specifically about the importance of translating Jewish vision with any particulars. As theory into practice. This is ironic, the overview in Chapter 3 mentions, since Fox himself holds that the defi- his role was to “treat some aspects of

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 90 general philosophy of education and stated directly. then develop their relations to Jewish As education professionals and educational thought” (34). Schefler’s scholars, Rosenak, Fox, Marom and writing on general education begs for Scheffler were best poised to do some translation into specifically Jewish truly integrative visioning, but they did pedagogy: not do so. It seems ironic in a book dedicated to educational visions that [T]eaching resembles conversa- the professional educators would take tion; it is to a considerable extent a back seat to the scholars of “content” unpredictable in its course, follow- disciplines. The merging of the two, as ing where the exchange leads. Un- Fox himself points out, will be the key like mere conversation, teaching in creating the clear visions so much indeed operates under the con- needed for the Jewish education of the straints of relevance, regard for evi- future. The book is a highly worthwhile dence and respect for truth, but in read, the beginning of important con- its openness to variant perspectives versations that should take place and its unpredictable course it re- throughout the Jewish community. sembles — in fact is a specialized form of — conversation (225). Reconstructionist Vision of Jewish Education Scheffler’s insights about education are resonant with the conversational As a Reconstructionist educator, I and associative style of the Talmud and am invested in developing a vision that other rabbinic texts. I wanted him to combines both content and method, link his suggestion that education is a because Reconstructionist ideologies kind of conversation to a method have often been quite bold in asserting whereby rabbinic texts and their the importance of method. Mordecai method might serve as a model for con- Kaplan wrote in 1955: temporary Jewish pedagogy. Finally, Daniel Marom, associate Reconstructionism is a method, director of the project, describes his ex- rather than a series of affirmations perience as a vision consultant at an or conclusions concerning Jewish unnamed Jewish community day life and thought . . .Whatever I am school. He functioned as both observer about to state concerning my con- and consultant, and drew an inspira- ception of God is Reconstruction- tional picture of a community that was ist only in the sense that I have ar- trying to live by its values even as it rived at it through the application tried to define them. But here again, of the Reconstructionist method. the educational expert was not asked I do not, by any means, claim that to fashion a vision. While we learn it is the only legitimate conception, about his vision from the way he taught even from a Reconstructionist and consulted with the faculty, it is not point of view. Nor should it be re-

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 91 garded as a Reconstructionist con- ten, to learn and to teach, to guard, to ception of God. It is not within do, and to establish.” This overflow of the province of the movement to verbs conveys the desire of the one pronounce any one theology as praying to be fully involved in life by truer than another. All that Recon- involving oneself in seemingly contra- structionism stresses is that a Jew, dictory endeavors — preserving and to be a Jew in the full sense of the creating, learning and teaching. In this term, should have a theology in vision, all teachers are also trainers of which he [sic] believes with all his teachers. I cried tears of joy when I heart, soul and mind. Moreover, witnessed my five-year-old son lead a in saying that I have arrived at a three-year-old guest to solve a puzzle conception of God, I do not wish without doing it for her, using the same to give the impression that my technique I have used with him. The mind is completely at rest, and ability to teach others is not something that I have closed it against any reserved for specific ages or those with new idea.1 credentials. These ideas are in concert with What can we learn from this quota- Moshe Greenberg’s vision, which em- tion that would inform a Reconstruc- phasizes students’ participation in cre- tionist vision of Jewish education? First, ating commentary. In the supplement we see that method is important, so to the Greenberg chapter, the editors much so that it can be the founding report that the educators who gathered principle for an entire approach to Ju- to listen and respond to Greenberg’s daism. Second, we learn that engage- vision had created a five-step sequen- ment with life’s most important exis- tial curriculum to implement his vision tential questions should be critical for of focusing on text study and parsha- every Jew. Third, we understand that nut. It is only at the highest level that the most important thing in building students begin to engage in the creation community is shared endeavor, not of their own commentaries to the text. shared belief. Fourth, Kaplan’s ideas stress that the student should not ex- Beginning with Commentary pect, from herself or others, that the result of a process of full engagement Conversely, the Reconstructionist vi- with any idea will produce a static re- sion that I am proposing sees that com- sult. Ongoing openness to new ideas mentary, in a variety of media, should is an inherent part of the Reconstruc- be created at the very beginning of any tionist method. process of learning to engage with Kaplan’s method resonates with the sources. Whether the students have Ahavah Rabbah prayer, which we re- heard the primary text as a narrated cite just before the Shema in the morn- story, have read an English translation ing service: “Give us the heart to un- or multiple English translations, or derstand and to enlighten others; to lis- have comprehended the original text,

The Reconstructionist Spring 2004 • 92 it is incumbent upon educators to fa- be motivated to know what else they cilitate the student’s development of share with the commentators who were her/his own opinions, insights, and as- their ancestors. Learning Rashi isn’t a sociative responses to the text from the prerequisite for engagement, it is a con- very beginning. sequence of engagement.2 Some may be concerned that by Scheffler writes: empowering students to develop their own opinions and ideas, we may be To provide favorable circumstances promoting a pedagogy that supports for caring to emerge is to enable the natural self-centeredness of early the subject matter to become the childhood and impedes maturation property of the pupil. By this I mean and higher level moral behavior. When that it is no longer to be seen as the facilitated appropriately, the opposite alien possession of the teacher or happens. The commentaries students other adults or authorities (229). fashion in response to text are written, drawn, sculpted, torn, sewn and oth- In the liturgy of the Shabbat Musaf erwise viewable for sharing within the service, it says, “Tein helkeinu b’torah- classroom. The teacher models for the tekha,” “Give us our part in your To- class a supportive critique that does not rah.” Participation is central; we each challenge a student’s interpretive long for a part. Judaism’s rich tradition choices, but does challenge the stu- of intellectual diversity and playfulness dent’s depth and quality of expression. has helped Jewish students feel as When a teacher says, “I don’t un- though they can find their part in To- derstand your point” in response to a rah and their unique place in our com- student’s poorly written midrash, it munity. communicates the teacher’s interest in finding out what the student is trying to express. Intellectual rigor thus in- 1. Mordecai Kaplan, response to a letter creases in a class where students are from Rabbi Myron M. Fenster, The Recon- crowned “Torah commentators.” This structionist, February 18, 1955, 26-27. appellation, coupled with the develop- Ironically, Kaplan, and to a certain degree ment of a shared understanding that the Reconstructionist movement as a everyone has something to teach, will whole, are better known for Kaplan’s spe- create a rich and motivating atmo- cific beliefs about God than for his under- sphere for learning. standing that the core of the movement is about method. Within the movement, In this vision, Rashi and other clas- however, process is certainly very impor- sical commentators are introduced as tant, though this particular quotation may “peers” — other people who also strug- overstate the case. gled with the text. After a teacher 2. See the work being done at the Jewish points out how a classical Jewish com- Reconstructionist Federation to imple- mentator had a similar question or ment this strategy through the TorahQuest problem with a text, the students will project. Go to http://torahquest.org.

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