THOUGHT
FOR THE WEEK
Follow this link for Rabbi's Thought of the Week Archives
The following was my sermon delivered Friday evening; November 16th, 2007.
Your comments are always welcome.
The Unanswered Question
I simply couldn’t answer the question. Well, I did but it wasn’t a very good answer; fortunately, they were being polite and didn’t press me on it. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let me start at the beginning.
I was asked to speak at a local high school on the Jewish faith. Given approximately forty-five minutes or so for each class, I decided to divide my talk into 3 sections with time in between for questions. Trying to make Judaism easy to understand, I gave them ten minutes of “Judaism 101” ( the basics of Judaism), then ten minutes of “Honors Judaism” (what every advanced students of Judaism should know) and finally ten minutes of “Advanced Placement” Judaism (Judaism on the highest level).
So for the first ten minutes, I went through the three “pillars” of Judaism, the three main branches or denominations, and the three most important rituals. For the next ten minutes, I went into the Talmud and the Code of Jewish Law; for "AP" Judaism, I looked at Jewish philosophy and contemporary Jewish thought.
This format went real well and generated a lot of good questions from both students and teachers.
One thing that is important to me when I do these types of presentations is that I want to do justice to the different movements of our faith; Judaism is not just Orthodox or Conservative or Reform. So in my talks, I try to represent each side as positively and as faithfully as I can. That day, I must have done that pretty well because in almost each class, someone raised their hand and asked, “So, which denomination do you represent, Rabbi? Are you a Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jew?”
And my answer was always, “Well, I was raised in a fairly typical Conservative Jewish home, was bar mitzvahed in a Conservative congregation, and went to an Orthodox seminary. I am a rabbi in a Traditional synagogue and yet, I find I have a lot in common with my Reform colleagues and friends.”
And that was my answer throughout the day. As the afternoon wore on, however, I realized that I wasn’t really answering the question. I was telling them where I grew up and what seminary I attended; I described the congregation I serve and the company I like to keep. But I never directly answered the question: “What are you, Rabbi? Are you a Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jew?
I would have made a politician blush by my “non-answer”!
Parenthetically, other Jews do not always answer this question honestly, either. A lot of people proudly describe themselves as Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jews but are really unfamiliar with the philosophy of the denominations or what is expected of the adherents of those branches. So, when they say they are Conservative Jews, most really just mean they attend a Conservative congregation. They may actually practice more like Reform Judaism. The same can be said for others.
In any event, by the end of the day I realized I hadn’t given an honest answer. And so the next day, I began to seriously rethink the question. What am I?
If I had the time and the chance to do it over again, here is what I think I should have said.
I should have said that I really love Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Judaism is the strict adherence to halacha (Jewish law); it is the maintaining of the traditions that have kept us who we are as a people. Orthodoxy is anchored, it doesn’t change and I like that about this branch of Judaism. Personally, let me attend an all Hebrew, Orthodox minyan three times a day, with a “mechitza” (men on one side, women on the other), let me keep a kosher home, walk to synagogue on Shabbat and allow me to attend daily Talmud classes and I would find spiritually completeness. That’s my kind of Jewish lifestyle.
But I am not an Orthodox Jew. Orthodoxy, as beautiful as it is for me, doesn’t allow me the opportunity to adjust and accommodate my practices based on the needs of my life. Orthodoxy is anchored, but sometimes I feel the need, both as a Jew living in an open society and because of the free spirit I am, to think a little differently or practice "outside the box". Orthodoxy does not allow for that and the Orthodox world is not open to that. And the older I am get, the more I am spiritually called in a direction that seeks and welcomes change. And so, it is disingenuous for me to say I am an Orthodox Jew.
And I also should have said that I really love Reform Judaism. I love the openness of Reform, the denomination of our faith that allows Jews to express themselves freely and with autonomy. If Orthodox is an anchored ship, Reform is a sea vessel that allows her adherents to sail uncharted waters. I really love that. I like the way Reform Judaism can look at our traditional prayers and say “let’s make these words speak to a new generation”, “let’s take some of our ancient practices and re-create them to express the voices of modernity". I like that and you know, if you put me in a congregation like that, I would enjoy the creativity.
But I am not a Reform Jew. Reform, as beautiful as it is, doesn’t afford me the opportunity to embrace and hold onto the traditions of Judaism. I may like change and I may appreciate modernity but while I love the possibility of change, oftentimes, I just want to keep things the way we’ve always practiced them as a people. Tradition speaks strongly to me, from prayers about the restoration of the sacrificial system to a belief in an afterlife, from separate milk and meat dishes to not using electrical objects on the Sabbath. Call me inconsistent ( guilty as charged!), but while I may like the freedom to experiment and innovate, I don’t always feel the need to change and certainly not as rapidly as Reform welcomes. And thus, I am not a Reform Jew.
And I should have said I love Conservative Judaism. And I do. Conservative Judaism is the bridge connecting the two other branches of our faith. It has always been the denomination that has tried to navigate the seas of faith with an anchor constructed of tradition and a sail that allowed for change. And I do love Conservative Judaism, because it is the closest attempt to synthesize those two important forces, modernity and change. It understands that for Judaism to continue, it must always keep one foot in tradition as it moves forward, and yet, it recognizes that move forward we must.
But I am not a Conservative Jew. Conservative Judaism, as beautiful as it is, doesn’t give me what I want either. It should, but as a movement, it finds itself in decline because it cannot hold the "middle". Institutionally, it continues to be forced to go one way or the other, for change or for tradition, and often, it is the former. As a movement, it is continues to move further toward Reform which leaves me unconnected to the traditions I desire to maintain.
So if I am not a Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jew, what am I? To be honest, what I should have said is that I see myself now as a post-denominational Jew. I love the ideas and ideals of all three main branches and feel open to embrace and distance myself from all three in my religious quest. You want to call it Cafeteria Judaism, fair enough. But the truth is, I am simply a Jew. I don’t need an adjective before the noun “Jew’.
I am merely a human being attempting to have a conversation with G-d, and use the language of my Jewish heritage to have that dialogue with G-d. My Jewish heritage is one of being raised Conservative, studying in an Orthodox seminary and learning of the beauty of Reform and the blessings of all three have given me the ability to engage in a serious dialogue with the Holy One, Blessed be He.
I am not a Reform, Conservative or Orthodox Jew because I am now at the point in my life where for me to truly feel close to G-d, to Torah and to my People ( the three pillars of our faith), I need all three. Orthodoxy gives me the weight of a mighty ancestry and tradition bearing down upon my shoulders. Orthodox Judaism humbles me in my attempt to approach G-d and reminds me to enter this dialogue in reverence. Reform Judaism gives me wings to storm the gates of Heaven. It empowers me to take a step to G-d but to do it with creativity, reminding me that I am human and that G-d gave me the voice to speak freely and fully. And Conservative Judaism challenges me to take the “Tradition” and carefully move it forward. Conservative Judaism asks me to enter the world of spirituality with both freedom and trepidation.
What am I? I should have said that I am, hopefully, a Jew on a spiritual quest, trying to be close to a loving G-d. Our ancestor Jacob encountered this G-d when he had his vision of a ladder firmly rooted on earth with rungs leading toward the heavens. I hope it can be said of me that I am a Jew building a ladder to Heaven. And it is being constructed using the guidance and the richness of Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
Amen and Shalom
Rabbi Victor Urecki
Shabbat Shalom
CONTACT US:
E-Mail Rabbi Victor Urecki Here
E-Mail the Shul Here; bnaijacobwv@yahoo.com
Synagogue Phone......304-346-4722
Synagogue FAX......304-344-4167
Goldstein The Artist in memory of my Mother, Tillye Goldstein