Moving Beyond Myopia – Why Bother?

by Gregory

The following conversation begins with some reflections on today’s Jewish trends, but I think there is much that is applicable to Christians, Neopagans, and other religious groups.

The folks at the Pew Charitable Trust’s Religious Research Center put out an extensive survey of American Jews about two weeks ago. The result has been ongoing conversation, blogging, Facebook posting, and debate within Jewish circles. (http://forward.com/tags/JewishAmerica2013/)

The study confirmed what most Jews with their finger on the pulse of American Jewish life already knew – the majority of Jews are comfortable with interfaith marriage, Denominations matter less to today’s younger Jews, Reform Judaism remains the largest and strongest of the Liberal groups, Orthodoxy remains small, but continues to grow due to the birthrate, and most Jews don’t identify with Judaism as a religion, don’t really care that much about Jewish food and culture, are, however, proud to be Jewish (whatever that means) and are happy celebrating some secular form of Christmas, tree and all.

As a former Christian, I am always amazed when I surf online for sites related to Jewish spirituality – what I tend to find on Jewish sites is talk about Kosher recipes, preserving Yiddish, why we should support Israel – basically lots of peripheral stuff and not much on prayer, liturgy, Torah study, views on God, morality, reaching out to others, or a Jew’s role in the larger world.

The vast majority of Jewish sites reveal an amazing insularity, limited vision, and myopia. A predominant theme running throughout these sites is the need to preserve Jewish life (rarely advance it, most seem happy to simply “preserve” it).

What’s missing amidst the proposals on keeping Jews, Jews and making sure more people eat Latkes, is why should we care about continuing Jewish life? What’s the purpose of Jewish life? To what end are we aiming?

There seems to be a sense of privilege among many Jewish groups that somehow they have an inherent right to exist, no questions asked. I am not challenging anyone’s right to exist, but I am asking – what purpose beyond your group are you serving?

Groups that seek only to sustain themselves, without sincere, direct, concrete reference to some transcendent ends, usually wither – albeit slowly or sometimes with breath-taking speed. People are smart, and will only give their time, money, energy, and self to things that really deserve such valuable things.

No one seems to be asking what is the broader purpose to keeping Kosher, or attending Shabbat Services, maintaining a Jewish home, or caring about our Jewish identity. If we engage all this merely for reasons of nostalgia, or limited self-preservation, or ethnic pride – then we are ensuring that these things will surely diminish on the Earth.

Any religious group needs ask itself – what purpose do we serve? To what higher end are we working toward?

Christian groups have experienced this set of questions, too. Many mainline Protestant denominations have seen dramatic declines while watching nondenominational Bible and mega-Churches explode with growth. Here in Grand Rapids, there are many Methodist, Episcopal, and Lutheran Churches with 30, 45, or 60 members, while Mars Hill or Ada Bible Church report membership over several thousand each, and are still growing. And it’s not just the music and contemporary style of worship, nor is it strictly a matter of conservative or liberal theology – it’s the sense of urgency, mission, and purpose that these churches convey.

Thriving churches and religious organizations understand themselves as part of a global, transcendent effort to change the world, improve their local communities, change lives, and “save souls”. What they do really matters, or at least they are convinced it does.

Many Jewish groups ask for money, warn against intermarriage, and maintain a Jewish identity for what higher reason? … chirp, chirp, chirp …

How many Jewish groups talk about changing its member’s lives? Where is the sense of urgency and vitalism with outreach to the broader community? What about Isaiah’s charge to be a light unto the world? What about the Prophets’ charge to serve the poor, engage the marginalized, and seek justice for all?

People want to belong to vibrant, genuine communities united around aims that pull them out of their own narrow world, that call them to goals beyond themselves, that promise to help them strive for personal transformation, and that seek to engage the world to make it a better place.

People want to hear a message that goes deeper than “some Rabbi from the Shtetl said we should all be nice.” Yes, that really motivates people toward deeper commitment within the Covenant.

When I say this to some Jews, I often hear in response “Oh, we could never say things like that, it would rock the boat.” Well guess what, you either rock the boat or continue to watch people get off the boat.

The reason all religions exist, it seems to me, is to convey a particular brand of wisdom. By wisdom, I don’t mean mere knowledge and facts, I mean advice on the art of living – ways, practices, skills, engagements – that lead to a more meaningful life, that aim at self-transformation, and that if engaged can help change the world for the better.  This wisdom includes moral advice, but goes beyond it.

For example, Catholicism offers its own wisdom tradition – the teachings of Jesus, advice and examples from Saints, papal teaching, a social vision, and concrete practical reinforcements and transformative engagements such as the Mass, the Rosary, contemplative prayer, fasting and feast days, other Sacraments, and endless Catholic groups.

Jews also have enduring, time-tested, traditions and practices that they can engage for self-transformation, spiritual growth, and Tikkun Olam. Further, most Jewish traditions allow for a degree of innovation and personalization not always permitted or encouraged within certain Christian circles. Ours is a rich tradition ripe with fruit for the picking.

We Jews must broaden our horizons – we may be small in number when compared with others, but we are still called to be a light to the world – many of our claims, at least in theory, are rooted in our vision of being in Covenant with a God of order, creativity, kindness, mercy, and love. Our tradition seems to imply a general thrust toward helping realize these qualities in the world.

Our sustainment, and even growth, would be better aided if we focused on what Jewish Wisdom says about our sense of purpose in the world, sources of meaning, and personal transformation – things that truly motivate others to engage, to come to community functions, to belong, to identify, to give of their money and more importantly, of their time – than to make our primary focus on the incidentals.

If we want Jewish families who live in Jewish home’s and engage Jewish communities and Jewish practices – we need to keep our focus on the primary reason we bother with such things in the first place. And that set of reasons has to reach beyond ourselves.