Judaism as an End spells the End of Judaism - Rabbi Rami

Judaism as an End spells the End of Judaism - Rabbi Rami

Judaism as an End spells the End of Judaism

This is the message conveyed by most synagogue Hebrew schools I visit: You’re a Jew. Jews do “X” (where “X” is whatever mitzvah the teacher is teaching). You should do “X.”

This is identity Judaism where what you are (or what others insist you are) determines what you do. Identity Judaism works best when Jews feel persecuted and threatened. That’s why so many Jewish ldeaders harp on anti-Semitism, assimilation, and intermarriage: it’s good for business. The allure of identity Judaism is simple: it eliminates the need to have a cogent reason why one should be Jewish, let alone do Jewishly: the purpose of being a Jew is to be Jewish, the reason to be Jewish is you are a Jew. The reasoning is circular, and in some communities of Jewish fundamentalism viciously so.

The opposite of identity Judaism is purposeful Judaism: Judaism as a means rather than an end. This is the Judaism of the Hebrew Bible. God chose the Jews for a reason: “to be an am hakodesh, a holy people,” (Exodus 19:6), an or la-goyim, “a light unto the nations,” (Isaiah 49:6), and “a blessing to all the families of the earth,” (Genesis 12:3). The purpose of Jewish education should be to train Jews to be these things. The curriculum practically writes itself.

Training our children to be holy means training them in the 13 Attributes of Holiness: 1) Seeing God manifesting all life; 2) Seeing each life as an expression of this divine manifesting; 3) Creativity; 4) Compassion; 5) Grace; 6) Patience; 7) Great kindness; 8) Deep honesty; 9) Remembering kindness rather than nursing grudges; 10) Forgiving deliberate evil; 11) Forgiving inadvertent harm; 12) Forgiving accident hurt; 13) Cleansing oneself of ignorance, delusion, and addictive desire, (Exodus 34: 6-7, my interpretation).

Training our children to be a light unto the nations means training them to build and sustain communities steeped in justice. As God put it: “Your religious festivals disgust me, the stench of your sacrifices nauseates me. Can I be bribed with the slaughter of calves and the scorching of grain? Cease your shouting—your hollow psalms of praise and flattery! You want to honor me? Then let justice roll on like powerful rapids, and righteousness flow like a mighty river,” (Amos 21–24).

Training our children to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, human and otherwise, means teaching them how life flourishes and to “do justly and love mercy and walk humbly” in harmony with life and in ways that nurture life.

“But wait!” someone always objects. “Anyone can do this. What about Shabbat? What about kashrut? What about Israel? Without these and similar uniquely Jewish practices Judaism is nothing but liberal democratic secularism!”

True. That is why I argue for Judaism as a means: using Shabbat, Kashrut, and the rest our mitzvot as a means for being holy, for being a light unto the nations, for being a blessing to all the families of the earth. Mitzvot are means rather than ends.

If we cannot make a Judaism a means to something beyond itself, Judaism will have no relevance outside itself. And then it will devolve into a cultural curiosity: the Amish without quilitng skills, or the Shakers without carpentry skills.

If the future looks bleak, it is because our vision is myopic.

0FLARES Twitter 0Facebook 0Google+ 0

LinkedIn 0Buffer0

Hand to GodKilling For Christ: Is It About Time?

RELATED POSTS


UNCATEGORIZED
It’s the Message, Stupid


UNCATEGORIZED
Why I joined the

Theosophical Society


UNCATEGORIZED
Why I Can’t Be an Orthodox Jew: a Critique of “Jewish Conservatism: a Manifesto”
-----------

Dr. Gordon Peerman

Rabbi Rami is Jon Stewart’s spiritual double: hilarious and insightful, who wickedly exposes the religious insanities of our time while movingly offering an authentic interspirituality that is timeless.

While my personal life is between me, Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, here are some highlights from my professional life:

I was born on April 26, 1951 and circumcised eight days later. (OK, that was personal.)

I earned rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in 1981, and a PH.D. in religion from Union Graduate School in 1985. Over the past forty years I’ve been a USAF chaplain, a congregational rabbi, a business consultant, a university professor, and an author of three dozen books on religion and spirituality.

In 2010 I was initiated into the Ramakrishna Order of Vedanta Hinduism by Swami Swahananda, and became a 32° Scottish Rite Mason (KCCH). Several years later I founded the Order of the Holy Rascal, and joined another secret society, The Grand Lodge of All Beings.


I currently co-direct the One River Foundation (oneriverfoundation.org), write the “Roadside Assistance for the Spiritual Traveler” column for Spirituality & Health Magazine and host the magazine’s podcast “Essential Conversations with Rabbi Rami (spiritualityhealth.com).

And through it all I have wrestled with my addiction to food. (Ah, again with the personal.)


His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama says his religion is kindness. What’s yours?


Being a blessing.

Being a blessing obligates me to cultivate wisdom, justice, and compassion along with kindness. I imagine His Holiness would say the same of his religion as well.