On Staying Awake and Alert at Services

On Staying Awake and Alert at Services

Sociologist Jonathan Woocher wrote some years ago in The Religion of American Jews an analysis of who we are.  Woocher peered at us dispassionately, gleaning a picture of American Jewry today.

We believe, he wrote, in seven basic tenets.  The first is the unity of the Jewish people.  Whether marching for distressed Jews, acting in concert with the world Jewish community we are one.  The second principle is that of mutual responsibility.  Echoing the rabbinic maxim that “all Jews are responsible for one another, we collectively support our JCC’s, Hadassah Hospital, Israel, old age homes, etc..  Jewish survival in a threatening world is the third tenet.  We must be united because of the hatred that has traveled alongside us wherever we have lived.  The holocaust is the twentieth century reminder of our fragile grip in liberty and freedom.  The fourth is the centrality of Israel.  Fifth is the enduring value of Jewish tradition.  Sometimes supporters of civil religion endorse what they see as a new, more authentic universalistic view at the expense of a personal relationship with a synagogue or Jewish practice or belief system.  That is why Jewish names can be seen as backers of programs and ideologies that are outright hostile to Judaism and Jewish ideals.  Sixth is tzedaka.  This is philanthropy and social justice.  This is often the most prominent tenet of all and the most observed by the Jewish community.  Sadly, it is also often mistakenly substituted for the whole of Jewish faith.  Finally the last principle is American-ness as a virtue.  This we express through our desire and accompanying actions to be model Americans.

All these tenets are values and valuable; some are noble.  Yet the mistake of modernity is to call these aspects of Judaism the totality of our religion.  As they appear, all may end up detailing Jewish behaviors that have no relationship to God at all.  In this respect we may end up treating philanthropists better than tzaddikim.

A teacher of mine once pointed out that the difference between Judaism and its civil corollary shows why rabbis and their congregations are so often at odds.  While everyone is happy to hear a sermon on the problems with Vatican or the latest act of anti-Semitism, they are no so keen on hearing a sermon on theology.  The former is a staid part of civil religion while the latter is our faith.  We never struggle for people to attend a Hanukkah or Purim gala (which, by the way, are observances of Jewish survival, see above) but Shavuot (which is all about God’s relationship with us) is unknown and neglected.  As one colleague put it, “If the Watergate burglars had confessed their sins before my congregation on the second day of Yontif, Nixon would have been president for a second full term.”

And yet.  Maybe this is our time and opportunity to waken our soulful self to a new perspective and view.  Maybe the path of God is also the path of enlightenment and realization of the holiness and joy that inheres in the everyday.  Its roots are deeply embedded in Torah and our soul.  Maybe it is time to reconnect.