Jewish Spirituality in America

Listening to a Different Drummer

{ A Symposium {

n their influential book The Jew Within (2000), the Isociologist Steven M. Cohen and the scholar of Arnold M. Eisen took the pulse of American Jewry at the turn of the millennium. On the basis of poll data, supplemented and enriched by 50 in-depth interviews, the authors concluded that an important shift had occurred within the mainstream Jewish community:

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Jewish Spirituality in America

American at century’s end, we be- the ‘grand narrative’ (in this case, the exalted lieve, have come to view their Jewishness story of Jewish peoplehood and destiny) to in a very different way than either their the ‘local narratives’ and ‘personal stories’ of parents or they themselves did only two or family and self.” three decades ago. Today’s Jews, like their peers in other religious traditions, have In an effort to better understand this phe- High Holidays at turned inward in the search for meaning. nomenon, Havruta asked six American Congregation Ruach They have moved away from the organiza- Jewish scholars and spiritual leaders to Hamidbar (Spirit tions, institutions, and causes that used contribute their own personal stories and in- of the Desert), to anchor identity and shape behavior. tuitions. How can one explain the increased Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Barry focus on spirituality? What need does it fill? Bisman That search for meaning, observed Cohen What pitfalls may it entail? What does it au- and Eisen, is manifest in a “shift of pas- gur for the future of Judaism? Their various sion from the public domain to the private responses, thoughtful and well-informed, in- sphere, from what postmodern theorists call evitably inspire new questions.

HAVRUTA | 5 Steven M. Cohen

Steven M. Cohen, vidence for the growth of spirituality proach, whose sensibility is contained in the a sociologist of in American Jewish life can be seen Pesach greeting, “Hag kasher vesameah” – as American Jewry, is in the Jewish Healing movement, if to say, “I wish you the best in fulfilling the Research Professor E the centers, the Institute for Jew- mitzvot of Pesach, have a kosher Pesach, and, of Jewish Social ish Spirituality, and books sold by the likes oh, you should have a happy Pesach.” Policy at Hebrew of Jewish Lights Publishing. Its precursors Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, lie in the Jewish Renewal movement of the and director of the 1980s and the havurot of the 1960s. Leaders Since the 1980s we Berman Jewish of Jewish spirituality endeavors today could Policy Archive at readily claim that Jewish spirituality has find Jewish educators New York University. been with us since the day God tapped Abra- and rabbis, even the He made aliyah in ham on the shoulder, and in a certain sense 1992, and taught they’d be right. Orthodox, increasingly for 14 years at The The recent phenomenon has a lot to do Hebrew University with the shift toward the search for personal marketing Judaism as a of Jerusalem. He meaning as a central way of being Jewish, is co-author, with vehicle to find personal something that Arnie Eisen and I investigat- Arnold Eisen, of The ed in our book, The Jew Within. For what we Jew Within, and, with meaning. Charles Liebman, of called “the Sovereign Jewish Self,” personal Two Worlds of Judaism: meaning becomes the arbiter of if, when, The Israeli and how and why one will be Jewish. The emphasis on meaning and personal American Experiences. That sounds very fine and logical. But we journeys is a very American, Protestant phe- His other books have to remember that there are, indeed, nomenon. Thus, for Jews, the move to a focus include American other ways to ground one’s Jewish identity. on meaning is an act of acculturation and as- Modernity & Jewish Alternatives include obeying God’s com- similation into American society and culture. Identity, and American mands, loyalty to the Jewish people, or nos- Classically, Protestant Christianity places Assimilation or Jewish talgia. But American society and American more of an emphasis on individual faith, and Revival? Judaism undertook a shift to the personal, Judaism places more emphasis on collective certainly by the mid-’80s. Since then, we action. Protestant ministers spend a lot of find Jewish educators and rabbis, even the time teaching what to think about God. Rab- Orthodox, increasingly marketing Judaism bis spend a lot of time on matters of religious as a vehicle to find personal meaning. I find practice – how you do Jewish, as opposed to it indicative that when the Orthodox pub- how you feel Jewish. lisher Artscroll and the OU marketed their The way I see it, some Jews are spiritual and Yom Kippur mahzor (prayerbook), they spoke religious and believe in God. But many com- of how it was “designed to make ac- mitted and engaged Jews are just two of those cessible and meaningful.” This emphasis on three, and maybe as many Jews are only one meaning contrasts with the traditional ap- of those. And committed Jews can be non-

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believers, non-religious, and non-spiritual – I None of these terms is very well under- hear we have a few of those as well. stood or widely agreed-upon. Take God, for example. What does it mean for a Jew to believe in God? We contemporary Jews We contemporary Jews have come to believe that a big part of being Jewish is the skeptical, dialogic relationship have come to believe with God that runs from Abraham to Fiddler Congregation Ruach on the Roof: You can talk to God, you can yell Hamidbar, Scottsdale, that a big part of being Arizona. Photo by at God, you can go Communist, you can go Barry Bisman Jewish is the skeptical, atheist, and you still belong to the Jewish family, the Jewish people. dialogic relationship Together with Rabbi Larry Hoffman and Synagogue 3000, I conducted a comparative with God that runs from survey in the U.S., and found that Christians Abraham to Fiddler on are far more spiritual than Jews, but that Jews are catching up. Younger Jews are more the Roof. spiritually minded than older Jews, in part

HAVRUTA | 7 because of growth in Orthodoxy, in mixed physically express their spiritual ecstasy in married couples and in their children, and ways that make them look like Christians. in part because of a growing resonance with They raise their hands towards the sky, they spiritual language. These results point to the sway, but, to say the least, they’re not exactly possibilities of a smart Jewish spirituality shuckling like their grandparents (or grandfa- policy, an approach that would appeal to a thers) did. growing number of Jews, giving them a way Of course, change is inevitable and even to broaden and deepen their Jewish experi- desirable. We can accept and embrace change, ence. as we wear clothes that our grandparents But, at the same time, I have to say that would never consider, that hardly distinguish certain directions spirituality can take can be us from non-Jews (as far as I know, they also a bad thing, because in America, Jews need wear T-shirts with a Ralph Lauren insignia). to continue to fight to maintain their distinc- But for the good of Judaism, there has to be tions with the non-Jewish world. In general, some concern with the type of change we too few rabbis and other Jewish leaders are promote and the very subtle cultural mes- asking: How can we retain, sustain, and even sages that it sends out. create boundaries separating Jews from non- When I was younger, I perceived myself as Jews, and Judaism from other cultures? a loyal maverick – part of the radical Zionist To be sure, the situation in Israel differs generation, social democrats, liberals, femi- from that in the United States or anywhere nists, Soviet Jewry activists, and Havurah else in the Diaspora, for that matter. In Isra- movement Jews who were intensifying Ju- el, Jews typically presume that gentiles want daism and Yiddishkeit as opposed to the as- to hurt them; in contrast, Jews in America similationalists running the organized Jew- can presume that most gentiles would want ish community at the time. Today, I look at to marry them. In Israel, the often-conten- certain changes in ways that might make me tious boundaries between Jews and others seem like a conservative. Now I’m concerned are too high, such that Israel needs to build about preserving, restoring and creating the better bonds and relations with non-Jews. cultural elements that can unite Jews, keep Thus, spirituality in Israel has absolutely no us together, give us a common cause and a downside and may even provide a common common cultural matrix. basis to build more shared experiences with In this regard, there are certainly great non-Jews. potential benefits to the upsurge in spiri- But in the Diaspora, Jewish continuity en- tuality. If you care about Jewish cohesive- tails a strategic need to maintain a distinc- ness, and you care about the loss of a com- tion between being Jewish and not being mon language, spirituality presents a great Jewish. A spirituality that is not readjusted to opportunity for Israelis and Diaspora Jews a specific and particularistic way of thinking to build a common platform for the 21st has the potential for lowering the boundar- century. ies between Jews and non-Jews even further Today’s spiritual innovators are very than they have been, and thus furthering the much akin to the Zionists in the early Yi- dissolution of the Jewish group in America. shuv, in that both invent an authentic ex- Spirituality, as partially an import from perience that has roots in the past. That Christianity, is often expressed with little said, we need to carefully nurture forms of distinctively Jewish quality. It can appear spirituality that can lay plausible claim to as a pale, weak knockoff of that found in a Jewish authenticity (as invented as that certain Protestant churches. You can go to may be) in order to promote Jewish distinc- synagogues in the U.S. and watch people tiveness rather than weaken it and blur it

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even further. The question is not whether Jews should be spiritual but what kinds of If you care about Jewish spirituality should they practice, specifi- cally how they can develop a spiritual cul- cohesiveness, and you ture notably and visibly different from the care about the loss of Christian spirituality that is so widespread in American religion and American society. a common language, Preparing matzah To be clear, I’m not looking to preserve for Passover, spirituality presents a Jerusalem, 2001. any one form of being Jewish – I find a lot Photo by Menahem to love in Jewish and religiosity, Kahana in American and Israeli Judaism, and in all great opportunity for denominational streams and even in post- Israelis and Diaspora denominationalism, the most recent Amer- ican Jewish denomination. But I think that Jews to build a common the system requires the convincing claim st to authenticity, which requires elements of platform for the 21 uniformity and resistance to change, and century. rejection of some aspects of Judaic diver- sity. If you live in a system where everyone can make up their own Judaism, then Ju- How you balance adaptation and resis- daism loses its appearance of authenticity tance is the ongoing struggle that we’re all and its obligatory nature. It’s not a compel- engaged with. The only way to do that is ling moral and religious system. So we need to maintain discourse. So the more people to resist some change, even as we promote talk about being Jewish, the better it is for adaptation. Judaism.

HAVRUTA | 9 Chaim Seidler-Feller

Rabbi Chaim ell-founded speculation has it tion that we are the most materialistically Seidler-Feller is in that 30 percent of American Bud- oriented religious group in America. his 34th year at UCLA dhists are Jewish. When informed Two years ago, former Wisconsin governor Hillel as director. W of this rumor, Reb Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, and Republican presidential hopeful Tommy He was ordained the Colorado-based leader of the Jewish Re- Thompson told Jewish activists that making in 1971 at newal movement, remarked, “Jews are clearly money was “part of the Jewish tradition,” and University, where he also earned a masters a very spiritual people; the only problem is something that he applauded. You may recall degree in Rabbinic that they can’t find it in Judaism.” the Barbra Streisand character in the film Literature. He has Why not? What is it about Jewish life that The Mirror Has Two Faces, who declares that taught Kabbalah has made it inhospitable to spiritual experi- the one Jewish lesson that her mother taught and at the ence despite the rich spiritual heritage that it her was not to miss a sale at Bergdorf’s on University of Judaism, embodies? Saturday. Too many Jews have substituted is a member of the As a working definition, I would charac- shopping for shul, and commerce for Shabbes. faculty of the Wexner terize the spiritual pursuit as the search for Finally, our lack of spirituality is manifest in Heritage Foundation transcendence; as the quest for that which the rampant secularity of American Jews. and is a Lehman is beyond material existence; and as an at- In every sociological study, Jews emerge, far Faculty Fellow at tempt to cultivate mindfulness and be inti- and away, as the champions of disbelief. In a the Brandeis-Bardin mate with God. survey from 2001, only 16% of all Americans Institute. Seidler- Feller teaches Why, then, has it been missing from Jew- identified themselves as secular or somewhat regularly at the ish life? secular, but for Jews it was a whopping 44%. summer programs of First and foremost, it is because we have the Shalom Hartman been obsessed with politics, with the strug- As a traumatized, post- Institute. gle for survival, with the defeat of anti-Semi- tism and with the defense of Israel. The most Holocaust community, powerful Jewish organizations today are sur- vivalist in orientation. They raise the most we have sacrificed our money and enjoy the largest memberships, inner lives on the altar of and are regarded by many people as the main voice of American Jewry. But the politics of the survival of our outer survival is a project that leaves little room for nurturing the soul. As a traumatized, post- beings and our national Holocaust community, we have sacrificed our enterprise. inner lives on the altar of the survival of our outer beings and our national enterprise. Furthermore, the distinctive absence of A personal story: While on sabbatical leave spirituality is a direct consequence of the in Israel in 1980, I made a pilgrimage to Ger- Jewish community’s preoccupation with ma- shom Scholem, the great scholar of the Kab- terial achievement. Indeed, there is a percep- balah. During our conversation, he averred

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that the central objective of his work was to What an indictment! Scholem’s critical establish the legitimacy of the study of Jew- observations reveal the startling fact that ish mysticism. When I naively responded three generations of rabbis were trained that it appeared that he had achieved his without being exposed to the mystical and aim, he shot back, “You really think so? Well, Hasidic texts that form the basis of Jewish last year, when my friend Salo Baron [who spiritual teachings. When you consider how Reb Zalman had already published 17 volumes of his few of the instructors in rabbinical seminar- Schachter-Shalomi Social and Religious History of the Jews] was ies were willing to open their hearts to their at Elat Chayyim visiting, I asked him, ‘When will you get to students, and share the account of their own Center for Jewish Spirituality, Accord, the Kabbalah?’ Baron answered, ‘In volume spiritual journeys and of their relationship to New York. Photo by 21.’” And, continued Scholem sardonically, God, we begin to understand that America’s Adah Jeri Berc “You know, he’s already 84 years old.” What’s Jews were educated by rabbis who were spiri- more, Scholem added, in none of the major tually impaired and constitutionally unable rabbinical schools is there a class in Kabbal- to transmit the essential aspects of our reli- ah. And , who was gious heritage that could engage our souls. listed as Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Currently, the picture is much brighter. Mysticism at the Jewish Theological Semi- Thanks, in large measure, to Reb Zalman nary, was never permitted to offer a course and the Renewal movement; to teachers such on the , the foundational text of medi- as Larry Kushner, and Daniel eval Kabbalah. Matt; to the music of Shlomo Carlebach, we

HAVRUTA | 11 are experiencing an awakening. No longer do When I taught at the Westchester Reform “Ju-Bus” dominate the Jewish spiritual net- Temple, the conversation focused on search- work. Elat Chayyim, in upstate New York, is ing for God in Judaism, the God within. And but one of the Jewish spiritual retreat cen- at my own Hillel community, the students, ters founded in recent years. Borders Books clamoring for a more personal spiritual en- has a Jewish Spirituality section. The Jew- counter, have initiated a musical service that ish Lights publishing house specializes in is inspired and inspiring, attracting hereto- books reflecting the new wave of spiritual- fore, disinterested peers and transforming ity. Stanford University Press is involved in prayer into an intensely meaningful act. a multi-year commitment to publish Danny Reb Chaim of Volozhin, the principal student Matt’s elegant translation of the Zohar. Every of the Gaon of Vilna, wrote in his Nefesh Ha- major rabbinical program employs a scholar Chayyim (1:4) about God’s biblical command- of Kabbalah and Hasidism on its faculty, and ment to build the Mishkan, the Sanctuary: spirituality is a recognized component of the curriculum. The Institute for Jewish Spiri- Do not think that My intention is the con- tuality trains rabbis, cantors, educators and struction of an external Sanctuary. But, you lay people who yearn to find a deeper, more should know that the ultimate purpose of meaningful connection with God. There is a the plan of the tabernacle and its vessels flowering of new independent minyanim that is to hint to you that you should see in it a incorporate chanting, dancing and medita- pattern that will be a model for fashioning tive prayer. The Internet abounds with on- yourselves. The goal is that your desirable line study programs and other resources for actions resemble the plan of the tabernacle Jewish spiritual seekers. And then, of course, and its vessels, all of them holy, worthy and there is the ubiquitous, if outrageous, Kab- prepared for My Shekhinah to dwell within balah Center. them, substantially. This is the significance Jewish spirituality has become widely ac- of, “And you shall make for me a Sanctuary cessible, and not only to Jews. and I will dwell therein” (Exodus 25:8). My recent experience has confirmed that spiritual seeking is in fact the one religious el- Indeed, the spiritual seekers in contempo- ement common to all streams of Judaism. At rary Jewish life are struggling to realize the Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (Conservative) vision of Reb Chaim so that the Shekhinah, on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, I have been the Presence of God, will become an inner re- privileged to savor true moments of tefillah ality available to us all. (prayer) and kavannah (inwardness). So, too, at Shira Hadasha (Orthodox) in Jerusalem and Darchei Noam (Orthodox) in New York.

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Rachel Cowan

n recent years, many American rab- teerism and social action for a sense of larger Rabbi Rachel Cowan bis have recognized an urgent need to purpose. Many others turn to Orthodox Ju- is the executive director deepen the inner life of the Jewish com- daism for clear direction and community. of the Institute for I Jewish Spirituality. She munity. We saw that Jews were wilting from received her ordination lack of spiritual wisdom and energy. Many from Hebrew Union synagogues were suffering from a lack of vi- Women rabbis have read College-Jewish Institute tality, and were not inspiring to most of their old texts with new eyes, of Religion in 1989. members. We are living in stressful times She has been director and most Jews have not found Jewish spiri- and created new ones. of outreach at the tual resources that can help them address 92nd Street YMHA, the realities of a world challenged by climate and from 1990–2003 change, war, religious strife, economic dan- The picture is not all gloomy – there are was program director ger and injustice. new sources of wisdom and energy to ad- for Jewish Life and Stress is harder for people to endure when dress this spiritual crisis. Synagogue change Values at the Nathan they feel isolated and helpless. American in- and renewal projects have helped a signifi- Cummings Foundation. dividualism leads to loneliness, which fosters cant number of congregations to transform Her work has been included in Moment sadness and depression. The normal definers themselves. They do offer warmth, passion, and Sh’ma as well as in of meaning for many Jews have lost their caring, learning and community. anthologies. She is the power to link us to a larger sense of purpose. Women rabbis have changed public Juda- author, with her late Jewish survival and the anxieties of assimi- ism profoundly. Coming in from the mar- husband Paul Cowan, lation are important issues, but people feel gins, they have brought increased sensitivity of Mixed Blessings: a need to connect with a community that to the unmet needs of the ill, the grieving, Untangling the Knots in has at its center higher values that can sus- the marginalized, the ritually bereft, and an Interfaith Marriage. tain them through all the emotional ups and have responded with new liturgies, language, downs, joys and traumas of daily life. metaphors, poetry, and rituals that Normative synagogue Judaism is only have provided a rich variety of spiritual beginning to tune into the search. Rabbinic foci for community life. They have read old schools have not educated rabbis, cantors texts with new eyes, and created new ones. and educators to value and cultivate their From feminist Seders to healing services, to own inner spirit, let alone to work with simhat bat ceremonies for newborn girls, ag- those on a spiritual search. Jews who attend ing ceremonies, and spiritual direction and synagogue infrequently are unlikely to look yoga, women are finding and teaching new to congregations to provide an address for meaning in Judaism. Women have been struggling with the meaning of loss, grief, brave enough to bring the heart into the ser- disappointment, tragedy and gratitude. This vice of Judaism, as well as the head. is why places like and the Kabbalah The growing interest in spirituality can Center become attractive to many Jews. also be attributed to increased rates of in- Younger Jews are turning to service, volun- termarriage. Often in interfaith couples the

HAVRUTA | 13 non-Jewish spouse challenges the Jewish of immanence enables people to have access partner to turn his or her Jewish identity to God and to imagine a relationship – not into a religious practice – being “a cultural the absent transcendent, nor the puppeteer Jew” is not sufficient to create a framework in history – but a God/Shekhinah who dwells for family life for an interfaith family. Hence, within, who comforts the broken-hearted, if the non-Jew is to raise Jewish children, who is present in brokenness and imperfec- both partners need to become involved, and tion, who always calls us to teshuvah. have to explore the underlying values and Some people are made uneasy by the re- spirit of Shabbat and holidays. They need to cent popularization of , understand the master story of which their but I believe that mysticism is a marvelous children will be part, to find a community resource for Jewish spirituality that has with which to observe and celebrate and edu- been neglected for too many years. Lurianic cate. They can’t simply “be” Jewish. theology, which has brokenness at its core, A major obstacle to the spiritual growth of can give strength to those who suffer. The the Jewish community is the challenge that kabbalistic concept of tikkun olam contains Jews have with God and prayer. In the popu- a profoundly spiritual message – one that lar mind, Jewish theology and prayer were speaks of God as immanent, and calls on us paralyzed by the Holocaust. The Shoah deci- to be in partnership with God, finding and mated important European centers, resourc- gathering sparks of God’s light in individuals es and lineages of Jewish spirituality, leaving and in the world. It is an empowering idea. an enormous void in thought and teaching. Through faith-based, congregational com- Most Jews decided they could not relate to munity organizing projects, and through the the God who had failed the Jewish people in emergence of engaged spirituality – which the Holocaust, and they did not want to sing is actually the heart of Judaism – more and praises to Him or affirm unacceptable beliefs more activists, particularly younger ones, are – the core of synagogue prayer. So Jews grew recognizing that activism and spirituality up with a paucity of God images and God lan- are partners, not antitheses. guage, from which their rabbis also suffered. I don’t think that oversimplification and Synagogues were often meaningful social guruism – annoying as they are, and some- communities for many of their members, but times harmful – will persist as important few people could identify spiritual moments aspects of American Jewish spirituality. As in synagogue, though they found them in na- Jews become increasingly conversant with ture, family and art. the authentic teachings of Hasidism and The rediscovery and translation of the Kabbalah, they will acquire a rich base for in- thought of the Hasidic masters and the Zo- terfaith study and dialogue. In addition, the har have opened new images, vocabulary enterprise to restore a more deeply spiritual and ideas about God’s immanence, God’s essence to Judaism could powerfully bond presence in each moment, that have enabled Jews in Israel and the United States. Jews many Jews to imagine a relationship with in both communities need a relevant, seri- God who is both awesome and compassion- ous pluralist Jewish practice. We can share ate, in-dwelling and yet transcendent. Their innovations – bringing the Israeli knowledge theology can speak of both ladders to God, of language and of lived Judaism together and God as deep within. The new approach to with the that flows from American mussar – the cultivation of spiritual middot, Jews’ need to find meaning in their identity. qualities such as humility, truthfulness, awe, For example, the Jewish Healing movement compassion, love and equanimity, provides a has now made serious inroads in Israel, cre- rich and important spiritual path. Theology ating a new profession of spiritual caregivers

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for those who are ill and suffering. Zoharic texts, prayer that inspires their lives Another serious challenge to and oppor- and experience. We teach meditation as a tunity for a renewed Jewish spirituality is Jewish spiritual practice, embedded in Jew- the pace and commercialism of American life ish texts, prayers and language, to help peo- – it is too fast, busy, noisy, confusing, and ple see their lives and each other more truth- full of conflicting messages. Meditation and fully and compassionately, and we teach the yoga provide practices that serve well as a re- practice of yoga as a form of prayer and cul- Rabbi Leah Novick of California (left) sponse and guide for thoughtful, wise action tivation of spiritual values. This work is not and Rabbi Ayla and identification of deeper values. They are theoretical, nor is it abstract. We have found Grafstein of Arizona, a helpful way to deal with the proliferation that deep insights emerge when people have Simhat Torah. Photo by Steven Klemow of superficial and unsatisfying distractions. an opportunity to listen to each other, and Jews are disproportionately represented in to themselves, in a safe environment, and Buddhist, Hindu and new age centers that explore the truth of their own experience in teach these practices: they are drawn by the relationship to inherited texts. accessibility, helpfulness and compassion The result is that the participants have found in both the practices and the centers new resources to mitigate the burnout that that teach them. They can learn to do them affects and cripples clergy in particular, to without having to make sense of the Hebrew listen and counsel more effectively, to open liturgy, which is full of phrases and ideas Torah study to new people, and to find a with which they find it hard to connect. Syn- deeper, revitalized relationship with God. agogues and Jewish community centers are They are more effective in their professional only now beginning to create Jewish space lives, more balanced and open in their per- and teachers for the integration of these sonal lives, and have tools to enable them to practices into Jewish life. continue their spiritual growth. Synagogue At the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, we life is enriched – and becomes attractive to a have worked with 200 rabbis from all liberal wider array of Jews – by having rabbis, can- denominations, as well as 60 cantors, 30 edu- tors and educators and members who lead cators and hundreds of lay people to intro- from their soul and not just from their head, duce them to new insights into Jewish wis- who can speak authentically of hope, courage dom through study of classic Hassidic and and love.

HAVRUTA | 15 Jeffrey Fox

Jeffrey Fox is rabbi here should we look to find spiri- of Kehilat Kesher: tuality in the American Modern the Community Orthodox community in the 21st Synagogue of Tenafly W and Englewood, century? Sadly, this is a difficult question to which has grown answer. The success of our community – both under his six-year financially and in terms of affiliation – has leadership from led to a sense of triumphalism, complacency 30 to 100 families. and insularity. A true spiritual seeker is a and of course tutoring for high school stu- Fox teaches at the person who is looking for change in his or her dents to ensure entry into a prestigious col- Florence Melton Adult Mini Schools life. The challenge that we face is convincing lege (and eventually a lucrative profession), of both Bergen and people that they are lacking something that which costs an arm and a leg. . . In short, Westchester counties can be found in Jewish living and Jewish Jewish life is priceless! and is heavily learning. What this creates is the following dy- involved in the UJA of As the rabbi of a small but vibrant and namic: A couple, once they start having Northern New Jersey. Fox was the first growing Orthodox community I see people, children, must earn an enormous amount graduate of Yeshivat too many people, who have become numbed of money to give their children those ele- Chovevei Torah and into a perfunctory fulfillment of rituals that ments of their Jewish lives that have be- taught at the yeshiva have lost their meaning. Waking people up come necessities in our culture. As a result, for the first five years from their slumber is not an easy task. These many people between the ages of 28 and 48 after graduation. are people who have been given the great gift fall off the spiritual map. The only possible of the full gamut of Jewish education, from time to experience something meaning- kindergarten through high school, and have ful is Shabbat morning from nine to noon. often spent a year or two learning in yeshivot If we are lucky, something can also hap- in Israel. For them, that same level of Jewish pen early Sunday morning. Thus, the only education is taken for granted as a necessity members of the community who can re- for their children, regardless of the cost. ally continue to grow spiritually are people In order for the community to maintain (typically, women) who spend most of their itself, a heavy financial burden is placed on time at home with their families and have families. Orthodox day school tuition costs, school-age children and, ideally, full-time say, $15,000 per child, for at least three help. In addition, empty nesters and retir- children. Synagogue dues run about $2,000, ees are again poised to continue their own not counting the building fund. Then there’s spiritual search. summer camp, $7,000 per child, not to It is simply unacceptable for people to rel- mention dance lessons, tennis mini-camp, egate their spirituality for the better part of Pesach in a hotel, perhaps a ski vacation, 20 years to three hours on Shabbat morning.

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No matter how uplifting, intense and excit- These three areas may often overlap. For ing the tefillot on Shabbat may be; the sad example, students who spend a summer reality is that this is simply not sufficient. trying to help a small village in the devel- Even the niggunim of Shlomo Carlebach can- oping world by digging irrigation trenches not rouse people from their slumber. In some learn to see the world in a different light. ways, the phenomenon of the Carlebach dav- They are taught a type of understanding, Angels welcoming ening has become a crutch. People are able appreciation and love for non-Jewish hu- the Sabbath. to convince themselves of the following lie: man beings who were also created in the im- Illustration by “If only I can have a great davening, dance Metavel (Renee age of God. When people are involved with Koppel) a little after Lecha Dodi and clap during the social justice projects within and outside kedushah of Musaf, then I will have filled my of the Jewish community, they are deeply soul.” This status quo cannot maintain itself touched and learn a responsibility to think for more than one more generation. about the world beyond themselves. Giv- How can this reality be changed? Over the ing a Jewish and halachic language to the course of the current economic downturn, environmental agenda has the potential to people have begun the process of an internal alter the way that people view the world. evaluation regarding their financial portfo- These avenues of avodat hakodesh – holy lio. This also presents those of us in counsel- ing situations with the opportunity to en- work – have the ability to infuse people gage in an evaluation of spiritual portfolios with openness to people and ideas that as well. Our community needs to change its are different. The challenge that a vibrant value system in a fundamental way. modern Orthodoxy must face is not to be- I believe that the key to changing these come complacent simply by virtue of the patterns can be found in three areas of cre- synagogue membership metric. While it is ativity – social service, social justice and en- true that in many shuls we are overcrowded vironmentalism. These provide opportuni- on Shabbat morning, this is only one part ties for spiritual growth that have the ability of the spiritual journey in which we must to put a young person in his or her college or all participate. Each of us must strive to be immediate post-college years onto a differ- like Avraham Avinu, a person on the move, ent path. a seeker.

HAVRUTA | 17 Shaul Magid

Shaul Magid is or most of his career as an itiner- Reb Shlomo constructed a Hasidism that the Jay and Jeannie ant performer and preacher, Rabbi was simultaneously unapologetic yet inoffen- Schottenstein Shlomo Carlebach made his living sive, a Hasidism that could not stand the test Professor of Jewish F Studies and professor composing and performing original Jewish of historical scrutiny (about which he cared of Religious Studies music. He is arguably the most influential very little), a fantastical world reconstructed at Indiana University. composer of Jewish music in the second half through his powerful imagination. He is the author of the 20th century. Now, 15 years after his of Hasidism on the death, it may be time to begin assessing his Margin: Reconciliation, For Reb Shlomo, contribution to contemporary Judaism. Do- Antinomianism and Hasidism is about the Messianism in Izbica/ ing so is not easy. He wrote almost nothing, Radzin Hasidism much of what we know about him is hope- notion of relation - to (2003) and From lessly hagiographic, and it is not at all clear Metaphysics to if there is a consistent thread in his thought. God, to other humans, Midrash: Myth, History, In these aspects, he resembles such charis- and the Interpretation to oneself matic figures as the , whom he of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala (2008). emulated, consciously and unconsciously, in many ways. Born in pre-war Berlin to an aristocratic Reb Shlomo changed the way Jews relate rabbinic family, he was not fully at home in to their tradition and the world, something either old-world Orthodoxy or American that only an itinerant can accomplish. He was Judaism. He therefore constructed a new a fleeting source of inspiration, lost as easily spiritual home, in which at least two genera- as discovered. He was a defender of tradi- tions of Jews have found a comforting, and tion who was also iconoclastic, someone who comfortable, residence. He contributed to the took two seemingly disparate worlds, East- building of a post-denominational Judaism ern European Hasidism and the American liberated from the confines of ideology and counter-culture, and made them one, so that religious institutions. Reb Shlomo brought today we unconsciously view one through the many souls back to “traditional” Judaism by lens of the other. He created a virtual reality making it un-traditional. He let the counter- through storytelling. His accent, charming culture serve as the frame and his idiosyn- manner, rebellious persona, ungrammati- cratic vision of Hasidism as the substance. In cal turn of phrase, and broad knowledge of short, he turned Judaism inside out. the Talmudic tradition and the yeshiva world The Holocaust plays a central role in Reb made him distinctly situated to be the con- Shlomo’s teaching. It is not that he talked summate Jewish cultural translator in the about it very much, or that he had any co- late 20th century. herent rendering of its meaning. Rather, the

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Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach in concert, 1981. Photo: Israelsun

Holocaust was for him a divine sign of a seis- disciple a blank piece of paper soaked in his mic change in Jewish history that required a tears. When the Munkatcher disciple hands paradigmatic shift in Judaism’s relationship a Nazi border guard this blank piece of pa- to the world. For Reb Shlomo, the evil of the per, the guard salutes him and sends for a car Shoah was not a sign that the world hates the to escort him to his destination in Germany. Jews, but a sign that human hatred can only Fantasy? Insanity? Certainly. But what would be conquered by human compassion, not by it take to do such a thing? To stare hatred in the face with the that hatred can (al- revenge or retribution. Thus his desire for ways) be erased, even the hatred of a Nazi Jews to become more a part of the world, and border guard. It is this audacity that Rav not more insular; he readily performed for Kook called “messianic chutzpah (chutzpah non-Jewish audiences, at ashrams and ecu- de’meshikhei).” menical conferences, preaching Jewish love The Munkatcher story is about traversing for humanity. This also translated into his borders, about how we create borders, be- view of gender equality: his decision to play tween peoples, between communities, inside music to mixed audiences met with sharp families, and in doing so foment hatred and consternation from the Orthodox communi- alienation. National hatred is an extension of ty in the 1960s. He spoke with deep concern the hatred of the ones closest to you. Human about Jewish families damaged by a “genera- history is refracted through the sibling and tion gap” in which children could not under- family hatred that stands at the center of the stand their parents’ experiences in Europe. Hebrew Bible: from Cain and Abel, to Isaac A classic example of Reb Shlomo’s post- and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, Moses and Ko- Shoah humanism is the story he often told rah. And in some way, this hatred, different about the 20th-century Hasidic master Rabbi in degree but not in kind, is the hatred that Hayyim Shapira of Munkatch, who gave his surfaced in the Holocaust.

HAVRUTA | 19 Reb Shlomo sought to get past the complex vicissitudes of Hasidic writing and make his case that Hasidism is ultimately about the notion of relation – to God, to other humans, to oneself. It would be interesting to com- pare his rendering to that of , who also focused on Polish Hasidism as an expression of the Ba’al Shem Tov’s message of “meeting” as ultimate meaning. For Reb Shlomo, Hasidism is mostly about how we misunderstand our fellow human beings. It is about human doubt and compassion, rec- ognizing the brokenness of all human expe- rience – very much including his own. He led a checkered life, much of it on the road. Allegations of misbehavior abound. They should not be denied nor reflexively confirmed. They are part of the complex fab- ric of who he was – inspiring, charismatic, broken, lonely. He landed in the Haight-Ash- bury neighborhood of San Francisco in the 1960s as a Chabad emissary, but soon real- ized it was Hasidism, and not the hippies, that was in need of repair. Though his favor- ite Hasidic masters, Rabbi Mordecai Joseph of Izbica, known for his unorthodox and perhaps even antinomian views, and R. Nah- man of Bratslav, the enigmatic and tortured Hasidic genius, greatly pre-dated his encoun- ter with the American counterculture, these iconoclastic figures affirmed the hippies’ in- tar and taking his seat, while I was kneeling tuitive distaste for convention and normativ- next to him, taping our microphone to the ity. Reb Shlomo’s counter-cultural Hasidism microphone that was being used for ampli- was reconstructed through the prism of the fication. As he was sitting down, character- Izbica and Bratslav traditions, freed of the istically tired yet uncharacteristically weak, apologetic readings of mainstream Hasidic he said to no one in particular, “Okay, hevre, society. Later on, he extended his romantic let’s pretend we’re happy.” I may have been view of the hippies’ redemptive role to Israeli the only one who heard it. It struck me as the soldiers and settlers. quintessence of his life, the narrows between In the final years before his untimely utter brokenness and the unwillingness to death at age 69, Reb Shlomo used to come give in to despair. every few months to Waban, a suburb of Bos- My sense is that while Reb Shlomo lived a ton, to teach Torah to a small group of us at life in accordance with halachah, he did not be- the home of a gracious host. A good friend lieve that Jewish law was ultimately the glue and I used to tape all these sessions. In the needed to heal a broken people. After all, for autumn of 1994, just a few weeks before his him it was not only the Jews who were broken death, Reb Shlomo was strapping on his gui- after the Holocaust; humanity was broken. Law

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may keep a people together but it will not heal viewed and revised according to its essence. them and it will certainly not heal the world. And for him, the essence of any religion (and What mattered to him was human relation, the he felt that most contain truth) was ability of one human being to see the other, the the sacred nature of human existence. recognition of the other’s humanity. For Plato, Today, Reb Shlomo is interpreted in many evil was largely a product of ignorance. For Reb ways. The Orthodox give one reading, the neo- Shlomo, hatred was largely a consequence of Hasidim another, Diaspora Jews another, Is- Hakafot Sheniyot celebration certainty. The more we think we know (about raeli Jews another; leftists read him one way, following Simhat ourselves, about others), the more opaque the Kahanists another. The point is that none of Torah, Jerusalem, borders become between us. Law too creates them really know, for the simple reason that 2008. Photo by Menahem Kahana boundaries, as the Sages say, “Make a fence Reb Shlomo himself didn’t know. He lived around the Torah.” After the Holocaust, fences from meeting to meeting. All he knew was the will just not do, we need to tear down as many pain of each life he encountered. And joining it fences as we can, subvert false certainties wher- to his own pain, he understood that to really ever they are found. He bequeathed a “Judaism know another person one must know oneself. of uncertainty” (“What do we know?” was his And knowing oneself was simply impossible. catchphrase) so that everything could be re- As a result, everything is possible.

HAVRUTA | 21 Arthur Green

Arthur Green, hen the history of Judaism in of the West from 1750 to 1950 was progres- rector of Hebrew the early 21st century is written sivism. Its chief banner was science. “We College’s Rabbinical (and you may be sure that the are learning ever more,” the thinking goes, School and Irving W historians are already collecting documents “rolling away the medieval darkness to gain Brudnick Professor and taking notes!), one of the major claims ‘real’ (i.e., scientific) understanding of vari- of Philosophy and Religion, is about this period will be that it was the time ous phenomena of nature, including evolu- recognized as when Jews struggled to reclaim the mystical tion, biochemistry, social psychology, and one of the world’s tradition as part of the Jewish mainstream. even the brain wave patterns that lie behind preeminent That tradition had been forcefully cast aside altered states of consciousness. Once we can authorities on by German Jews of the early 19th century explain all these, there will be no more need Jewish thought and who were anxious over their recent accep- for recourse to the old superstitions.” Moder- spirituality. A prolific tance into the polite company of liberal Prot- nity hit a major snag in the mid 20th centu- author, his most estants and Deists. Jews felt a need to show ry. It may be designated by the twin tagline, recent books include gentiles that we had a religion much like their “Auschwitz and Hiroshima.” Modernity has Ehyeh: A Kabbalah not led us to become better human beings; for Tomorrow (Jewish own, strong on the messages of universalism it has only given ever-wider scope to our vi- Lights Publishing, and ethical monotheism, differing only in 2002) and A Guide to ceremonies (as Moses Mendelssohn had ar- cious instincts. the Zohar (Stanford gued) but not in essential content. Kabbalah University, 2003). was built around an essentialist difference Listening to those inner Green received his between Jews and non-Jews and a body of BA and PhD from esoteric lore, totally unacceptable in those voices, going down into Brandeis and an circumstances. The new term “mainstream MHL and rabbinic the depths in order to ordination from the Judaism” (having no equivalent in tradition- Jewish Theological al parlance), was eventually coined precisely uplift sparks, seeking the Seminary. in order to exclude Kabbalah, Hasidism and certain forms of popular piety from the new true inner core of one’s Jewish respectability. soul, and of Being itself Two hundred years later, Jews are clam- oring to learn about this aspect of our tra- – each of these offers dition. A very wide range of seekers, from readers of , to habitués of constant possibilities of the Kabbalah Centers, to followers of Rabbi being led astray. Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and my own stu- dents, are all represented in this movement. Why has it come about? First of all, there What can we do? How will we survive the is the failure of modernity. Despite all claims nuclear age, and now, too, the age of threat- and facades to the contrary, the real religion ened environmental catastrophe?

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Since the 1960s, seekers have been avidly helps the Jew fit into this American para- combing through the old pre-modern librar- digm of seekerhood. Ironically, then, the ies of the deepest human wisdom – Zen, Ve- new interest in spirituality is part of our as- danta, Tibetan Buddhism, and now Kabbalah similation. – seeking to find some wise counsel that was Distance from the Shoah has helped en- overlooked in the rush to modernity, some- able that interest. The body politic of Jewry thing that will inspire us to change the way was devastatingly wounded by the Holo- we live (especially the pace!) and thus help caust: the deaths of a third of us, the be- save us from ourselves. This is a piece of true trayal by Germany and the West, but worst postmodernity, humanity seeking an alter- of all, the feeling of abandonment by God. native to the moral indifference and spiritual The best Jewish theology of the postwar insecurity wrought by the modern revolu- years was written by poets: Uri Zvi Greenberg, tion. The reclamation of Kabbalah must be seen within this very broad civilizational , Yankev Glatstein, a theology perspective. of outcry. We were both furious and deeply Moreover, as American Jews move into wounded. We wanted to scream at God, to their fourth and fifth generations, with East- curse Him, not to love Him but to drag Him ern Europe, accents and all down from heaven and bring Him to justice. mostly forgotten, we think ever more like But time heals all wounds. Three generations Americans. The U.S. has always seen itself as have been born since 1945; whole families a religious country, “one nation under God,” have come and gone. Each year fewer of the from the “shining city on a hill” of 17th- survivors are found in our midst. century Boston to the great Southern revival As new generations come forth, we find tents through the megachurches of today’s we want to sing to God again. We want evangelicals. While Western Europe still re- to raise our children with love, not with mains secular in orientation, vast majorities memories of bitterness and fear. As we turn of Americans either do or want to believe in more toward love of nature and become God, in one form or another. We want to be world travelers, we find ourselves ready to able to talk about God, to feel His presence in proclaim divinity in sunsets and on moun- our lives, even to say, “God loves me” without taintops. Where is the Judaism that will blushing. give us permission to open our hearts and Neither the Judaism of the Lithuanian love again? Who will let us express grati- yeshiva nor that of the “normative” Ameri- tude and fullness of heart without bringing can synagogue has much room for that. But up all the old baggage (“Yes, but where was Hasidism does; its central message is the God when…”)? Reb Shlomo Carlebach is the life of religious intimacy. All the rest of reli- man of the hour. It’s the Ba’al Shem Tov’s gion, for the mystic, including mitzvot and Judaism that speaks to this healing pro- halachah, are there to bring one to this feel- cess. “Yes, it’s all right. Let the chip slide off ing of God’s presence and God’s love. There your shoulder. It’s okay to let yourself love is an old (and unfair!) Hasidic quip about God.” the difference between a hasid and a mit- Let us remember that neo-Hasidism – nagged. “The mitnagged does the mitzvah the claim that key ideas, teachings and because ‘the Shulhan Aruch says I have to’; tales of early Hasidism might speak to Jews the hasid does it because ‘God loves me and (and others) who had no interest in adopt- gave me His Torah and wants me to do it.’” ing the Hasidic way of life – was created in Franz Rosenzweig would have understood Europe in the early 20th century. Its chief it well. It is the (neo)-Hasidic reading that spokesmen were Martin Buber (in German,

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for Western Jews) and (Yid- dish and Hebrew, for Polish Jews), but there were many others who saw with them that the Hasidic spirit could be universalized and updated. That notion was buried in the ashes of the Holocaust, along with Zeitlin. For half a century we were too busy surviv- ing – building the State of Israel, saving So- viet Jewry, and so on – to pay attention to such high-minded universalistic teachings. Then Reb Zalman and Reb Shlomo, daring to step outside Chabad, made it happen in an all-American form. It’s all a fascinating process to watch, even more fascinating to help build. Spiritual seeking is a high-risk enter- prise. Listening to those inner voices, go- ing down into the depths in order to uplift sparks, seeking the true inner core of one’s soul, and of Being itself – each of these of- fers constant possibilities of being led astray. There are indeed charlatans, both intentional deceivers and well-meaning would-be guides who do not appreciate the variety of souls and their different needs. The seeker understands the religious life as an ongoing spiritual adventure. Even if its goal is peace, the way there may lead across some stormy seas. It will not speak to every- one, nor should it. Therefore, we still need to cultivate “nor- mative” Judaisms (both Orthodox and lib- eral) for the many who feel no need to lift the veil and seek out a deeper truth. But for those who do – and their number is surely increased in this generation – we need to of- fer a seeker-friendly Judaism, one that can embrace Jews who are filled with questions that do not readily accept answers, who un- derstand that bakshu fanav tamid (“seek His face always” – Psalms 105:4) means that there is no end to seeking. Ultimately (as Gershom Scholem has taught us), such peo- Rabbi Miriam Maron ple will bring new creative insights into the of California leading tent of tradition, enriching and deepening Jewish Shamanic tour of Israel, 2007. the Judaism that we pass on to future gen- Photo by Ryan Aaron erations. Emhoff

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