Introduction
I have always had a passion for spirituality, especially for Judaism. Growing up, my family kept kosher, lit Shabbat candles, celebrated the holidays, and worshiped at a Conservative synagogue. Three times a week I attended Hebrew school and continued this until I was about sixteen. I took Hebrew as a foreign language in high school and went to an Orthodox Jewish summer camp for several summers where we spoke only Hebrew. I traveled to Israel and co-founded a Zionist student organization in college, although I attended secular public schools and colleges. A career in education did not attract me; nor did I consider some form of religious vocation. Instead, I went into computers, into the field that is now called Information Technology.
Like many I.T. professionals, I spent most of my career constantly overworking to finish projects that rarely accomplished their objectives; when they did, they rarely contributed anything to the good of society. Perhaps naively, I sought to find meaning in my work and in the relationships that I formed in the workplace – but without success.
The fact that this bothered me then, and still bothers me now, is a strong indication of my Jewish upbringing. As I explain later in the book, this nagging desire to do something to make the world a better place, the assumption that a person’s life and work has meaning and is meant to somehow advance the state of humanity – these are central elements of the Jewish world-view. I don’t mean to say that other people are not also concerned with bettering the world. However, the almost obsessive focus on what you are to do and how you ought to behave in order to be a good person – as opposed to what you should believe – is rarely emphasized to the degree that it is in Judaism.
I repaired computers, programmed them, and later managed I.T. projects during the day. At night, I read theology, philosophy, and spiritual biographies of all sorts. I continued to study Judaism, pursuing Kabbalah, Chassidism, and the literature on the Holocaust.
But this questing also drew me farther afield. I ventured to explore Buddhism and other Eastern religions as well as some of the indigenous spiritualities of Europe and of North and South America. In the process, I meditated with Zen masters, studied Buddhist texts, and attended Native American ceremonies and Chassidic fahrbrengen.
Ultimately, the more I learned of one spirituality, the more I came to understand others, so that everything I learned and experienced finally enabled me to see Judaism in a much deeper and richer context than I had ever done before. It is this appreciation, this wider perspective, illuminated by philosophy, psychology, mysticism, and a cross-cultural approach to religion and spirituality, which underlies this book.
To me, Judaism is emphatically alive and relevant. Yet, many Jews, especially young people who are so often filled with spiritual hunger and restlessness, do not find adequate answers in Judaism. They frequently turn to the Eastern religions, which is why the ranks of Hare Krishna, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, for example, are so often filled with disaffected Jews. Other Jews simply lose interest, doubting the ability of Judaism or any religion to address the fundamental questions of the heart.
Yet, much of what draws people to the Eastern religions – for example, mantra and meditation practices, a focus on awareness and the quality of be-ing – can also be found within the rich traditions of Judaism. This is also the case when it comes to reincarnation, multi-dimensional reality, and the evolution and purpose of the soul. The emphasis on living in sacred relationship, expressed in so many indigenous cultures and spiritualities, is also one of the foundations of Judaism. However, in order to see how Judaism fits within this broader spiritual context, it is first necessary to understand the major themes that inspire the Jewish world-view and shape its approach to life. Only then can we fit it into any larger perspective.
This book emphasizes the meaning of being Jewish. Although it provides an introduction to normative Judaism, it is not intended to be a comprehensive guidebook on how to live as a Jew. Neither does the text explicitly explore the cross-cultural and non-traditional themes mentioned above, although they are brought up in places and underlie the overall perspective on Judaism that is developed in the book.
I have endeavored to express something of how it feels to be a Jew, to think as a Jew, and to experience life as a Jew. While this book contains a lot of information, it is also intended to convey the feeling and passion that is uniquely Jewish. In short, I hope the book gives the reader a feel for Judaism, even as it adds to their understanding of Judaism as a religion and way of life.
Much of the material in this book was originally developed for a class on Judaism that I taught during the spring of 2004 at the Institute for Continuing Learning (ICL), the Adult Education program of Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia. The idea of teaching such a class took form over a period of several years. I had finally left the computer industry, and my wife and I were living in southern Appalachia, far from any large city. There were few Jews and almost no Jewish culture in the area. A small synagogue was located about forty minutes away, and it drew people from a two-hour radius. But it was the only synagogue in all of western North Carolina. Meanwhile, there were so many churches and branches of Christianity in the area that I began to feel somewhat besieged!
To a certain extent, I felt that a class on Judaism would be a way to make the statement, “Jews live here, too.” At the same time, various people in the nascent Jewish community expressed the desire to know more about Jewish practices and ideas. Young Harris College’s ICL seemed a good place to start. It is a high quality, adult education program. Class instructors are frequently local college professors, clergy, authors, and artists, or come from the ranks of retired professionals who have settled in the area. These same people tend to make up the student body; they are invariably creative, well read, and curious.
Although I had taught technical classes, I was unsure of my ability to teach this kind of subject in a more academic setting. However, I supposed that the relatively small number of interested students would compensate for my shortcomings as a teacher. I envisioned a small class, at most a dozen people, which would facilitate the informal discussions that I hoped would take up most of the time. I also expected that most of the students would be Jewish. However, I was in for a surprise.
At least sixty people signed up for the class, only a handful of them being Jewish, and we were to meet in a large lecture hall. Because the enrollment had grown so large, and because I have always been too conscientious for my own good, I spent an enormous amount of time preparing lectures and handouts during the weeks that preceded the start of classes.
There was so much genuine interest and so many thoughtful questions, that every class invariably finished fifteen or twenty minutes late. For my part, I felt impelled during this process to learn more about Christianity since this was the dominant frame of reference for most of the people in the class. Paradoxically, preparing and teaching the class significantly improved my understanding of Christianity. However, it also continued to deepen my own knowledge and appreciation of Judaism.
I am still surprised at the hunger felt by so many people to know about Judaism. I had expected mostly Jewish people to be interested; yet, I continue to find among Christians almost a fascination as well as a genuine desire to understand. As I continued to teach about Judaism and related theological topics such as Theodicy, invariably my classes have consisted of a mix of both Christians and Jews.
In my experience, there is a great deal of spiritual hunger in the world today. Many Christians look to reinvigorate their faith by re-claiming the Jewish roots of their religion, which, ironically, Christianity repudiated vociferously and violently for almost two millennia.
Many Jews have been turned off by traditional Jewish education, which can be dry and lifeless. At the same time, Judaism places a high value on intellect, and this encourages difficult questions. For example, how could God let the holocaust happen? Yet, that same intellectualism causes dissatisfaction with the easy answers given to children in Hebrew school.
Contemporary Judaism has done a poor job of responding to the questions and problems of the modern age. Many Jews don’t get a Jewish education; those who do frequently don’t go beyond their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. However, the understandings that we form at that age are inadequate to respond to the questions and concerns that we have as adults. Thus, many Jews who want to find deeper meaning in life often look outside their own heritage.
I hope that this book will also speak to Jews who already value and practice Judaism, but who hunger to experience it from a deeper, more spirit based perspective. Many Jews appreciate Judaism, but have a difficult time connecting Jewish practices and ideas with the spiritual yearning they feel in their hearts. It is my wish that this book will assist them in finding the heart of Judaism – the heart in Judaism – and that this will enable them to experience a truly living Judaism.
I hope, too, that Jewish readers who feel distant from Judaism will discover in this book something of my own passion for this rich and ancient way of life. Adults who may have previously given up on Judaism may find this book useful because it approaches the meaning of Judaism in a broader, less traditional sense. I hope that they will feel the desire to build on this foundation and to explore the significance, sense of purpose, and deeper spirituality that can be found in Judaism. All of this is their birthright.
Finally, I hope that Christian readers will gain a deeper appreciation for the Jewish roots of Christianity. Denied for so long, there seems to be a deep yearning on the part of many Christians to reconnect to these Jewish roots. However, in the minds of some Christians, this sudden affection for Judaism has erased the many differences in practice, belief, and world-view that exist between these two religions. It is my hope that this book will assist Christians in understanding these differences. In addition, I hope it will assist them in accepting and appreciating the fact that Judaism is a valid and integrated approach to life and to God.
What follows, then, is an introduction to Judaism that traces its history and major themes. However, the focus is on the significance of people, ideas, and events, as opposed to literal biographies, the content of books, and biblical historicity. For example, the chapter on Jewish law discusses a few of the laws in some detail; nevertheless, it is the significance of law as it pertains to Jewish history, thought, and literature that I want to communicate.
We begin by exploring Judaism’s roots and family history, how it developed over time and finally took the form that is familiar to us today. Fundamental to understanding Judaism is an appreciation of how the Torah and other sacred texts came to define and shape the Jewish people. Over time, Jewish law evolved out of the continuous literary, scholastic, and practical endeavors that were undertaken in order to better understand the sacred texts, which were seen as reflections of Divine thought and will. A survey of those texts, as well as a discussion of the importance of scholarship and Jewish law, leads to an overview of Jewish practices of worship and daily life, which are derived from the law and its interpretations.
We conclude with a look at the Jewish perspective on selected religious and practical ideas. Finally, there is a bibliography and reading list at the end of the book.
Excerpts from Be Thou Holy copyright © 2006