Last week in the “New York Times”, Dana Jennings wrote about his journey from his life as a “Protestant in a Rockwellian New Hampshire village” to Judaism. As a Jew-by-Choice, he explained how his life experiences led him to explore religion and eventually to find answers in Judaism. Anyone who read his article would conclude that Judaism is alive and well, and more than that, it’s still attracting newcomers. You sent me numbers of emails about the article with your own positive reaction to it.
I, too, was generally pleased with the article. It was better than the alternative which is often filled with discouraging statistics about the Jewish community. Now I want to comment on a point he made for the sake of some clarification. Jennings’ article touched a chord in me about the idea of being a Jew-by-Choice. For him, his choice was a personal one. It filled his need for spirituality, wisdom, and purpose. I agree that all these are integral to a rich Jewish life. But, over the years it has sometimes been said that all Jews are Jews-by-Choice. Being Jewish for him became a matter of fit-ness. It fit him. It met his needs. He embraced it because it would become his “metaphor” (his word) for his life’s journey between birth and death.
By “metaphor” I think he means that Judaism would be the filter through which he would know the world, make Jewish choices, choose good over evil, and experience God’s love through justice and mercy. Sounds good, but let’s be careful. Religions are not metaphors. They are not words or phrases that help us understand something else. Judaism is not just about rituals that help us say something we don’t otherwise know how to say to God. And, Judaism is certainly not about deeds that express something that can’t be said or explained. Judaism is a specific set of commandments (mitzvot) that, even when interpreted, directly orient us to our responsibility to the covenant God makes with us. There is no metaphor needed where real words and real deeds get the job done.
Furthermore, a religious “metaphor” cannot be so easily traded like some deck of religious cards. A Jew-by-Choice picks a card and owns it. Jennings searched and found Judaism. He hitched his future to the collective history, faith and fate of our people. It’s my hope and prayer that he will be a blessing to our People, and that our People will be a blessing to him. However, a person who was born Jewish has had his card chosen for him. When I was a young Jewish boy, I searched for religious meaning. I didn’t find it in religious school classrooms. I only found more questions there. I didn’t find it in worship until later in my life. But, I always found it and continue to find it in the wisdom of our sacred texts, Biblical and rabbinical. Even as a young boy, it was remarkable to me that Jewish wisdom could speak so clearly to me from hundreds of years ago. My questions, then and now, give me the privilege to search but not to trade my religious cards.
My passion for Judaism has taught me to respect others’ religious choices, but it has also taught me that my birthright is not a choice; it’s a privilege and an obligation. My Jewish birthright prompts me to be “Israel,” one who wrestles with God and lives. That is, my Judaism finds meaning not as a metaphor, but as a real source of peace, and in the ways it really commands me to do and to be what I am intended to do and to be. The real (not metaphoric) measure of my life’s deeds is the standard found in the high ideals of Torah and its teachings. The real measure of your life’s deeds is also found in Torah.
Jennings inspires Jews and Jews-by-Choice, together. But, the discouraging articles filled with statistics about the fading Jewish community isn’t about those who choose Judaism, it’s about the Jews who don’t. Judaism may have become “like” a metaphor, but it really isn’t. Judaism is a promise our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors made to God at Sinai, to guarantee Torah’s place in the world with a promise to give Torah to their children. We are their children. We are the inheritors. We have an obligation to welcome Jews-by-Choice into a warm Jewish community and house of worship. We all have an obligation to make ourselves at home in the Jewish community. At Congregation Beth Israel, the doors in may be locked due to real 21st century threats, but let it be only a metaphor for what we’re protecting that is so precious inside: relevant, meaningful and joyful Jewish life. Please ring the bell.
From my desk to yours, Shabbat Shalom.
__________________________________________________
Contact Rabbi Lyon