Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
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Rabbinic
Judaism Is Ridiculous!
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Dear
Gil:
I
am not a rabbinic Jew...I think that
the only Judaism that we can count on
is the Judaism of the Bible. The
relationship that Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua had with
a Living Interactive G-d is what I
want!
All
the ridiculous rabbi stuff is really
quite strange and totally out of step
with the Bible and with the world we
live in. I think it is possible to
have a living day to day relationship
with The Creator of the universe and
the G-d of our fathers and mothers in
today's hectic world...that is the
Judaism I want to return to. The
rituals without the relationship are a
foolish waste of time.
Let
there be a reawakening of the search
of the faith of our fathers and not
the foolishness of people stuck in the
19th century, or Medieval Europe or
Babylon. Only the foundation has the
truth and validity we sooo desperately
need.
Shalom,
P
Dear
P:
When
you say, "Rabbinic Judaism,"
I am assuming you mean Judaism based
on Jewish law or Halacha as codified
by the rabbis. This essentially is how
we today have come to know Judaism
since we no longer have priests who
perform sacrifices or run a temple as
described in the Bible.
Longing
to go back to Bible Judaism is a bit
ironic. Two thousand years ago, the
modern times of that day included the
staggering reality that the temple had
been destroyed. In the face of this
calamity, the rabbis needed to find a
new and replicable way to preserve
Judaism. Over several centuries, they
devised a system of laws (the Halacha)
that covered literally every aspect of
human existence. These laws filled
volumes. To master this information,
they made Jewish education a high
value. The most educated became rabbis
or teachers and judges of the law.
But
that was then, and now we live in
"our" modern times, so in
some respects, your argument is
appealing. After all, Rabbinic laws
are hundreds, even thousands of years
old. Furthermore, the laws deal with
such minutiae, about matters like
ritual observance as you mentioned.
What happened to the relationship with
God?
In
fact, your argument is part of the
reason why we have different movements
in Judaism today. The Orthodox (and
there are many branches of Orthodoxy,)
Reconstructionist, Conservative,
Renewal and Reform movements all have
different ideologies about adherence
to Halacha. They also have different
interpretations of how observing
Jewish law leads to or does not lead
to a relationship with God.
There
is a wide range of practice within
these movements. However, a lot of
what we might call "biblical
Judaism" would be rejected by
Jews today...I suspect including you.
In
place of these Biblical laws, we
accept a lot of rabbinic Judaism as
correct without realizing it. For
example -- we have followed the
rabbi's thinking in rejecting the
Biblical idea of an eye for an eye.
Similarly, few of us would be in favor
of stonings for adultery, or
sacrificing animals as mandated by the
Bible. There are many other examples.
The
challenge for Jews has always been to
preserve the intent and values of the
Bible and foster a relationship with
God in times that are different than
Biblical times. Rituals are meant to
do this. Some succeed more easily like
Shabbat and Havdalah candle lighting
or a succah. Many other rituals do
little for most Jews I have met. In
fairness, rituals need an honest
effort. But as one woman, who worked
hard at her Judaism, once told me, her
problem with Judaism is that we devote
so much time to "the letter of
the law, we have lost the spirit of
the law."
No
wonder, you and many others complain
about spirituality being missing in
Judaism. To me, the solution is
neither Biblical or Rabbinic Judaism
nor throwing them all away. Rather, a
Judaism that continues the evolution
that began when the temple was
destroyed. As the rabbis once did, we
need to look to the spirit, values and
intent of the Bible. We must also look
to tradition, Halacha and what our
sages have taught up to and including
our time. Then we must reinvent the
Jewish way of life with rituals, laws
and institutions so meaningful and
relevant that Jews today, will say
that the Judaism is worthy of
continuing.
Thanks
for writing!
Gil
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© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
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