Is Judaism a Community or a Religion First and What Does That Mean?

I’ve been rereading Rabbi Kushner’s book To Life this month. June being Pride Month, one thing Kushner said inspired me to think about how we treat the person amongst us who is “different”  from the majority of our community.  The quote inspired me to ask, is Judaism a community or religion? What does that mean for the LGBT+ community? Kushner wrote:

“With no precise definintion of what Judaism believes, you would expect the result to be chaos and anarchy, but it’s not, because Jewish Identity is not centered in belief. It is centered in community and history. We can tolerate great diversity of theological opinion, in part because nobody can be completely sure he or she is right about the nature of G-d, heaven and hell, and other theological matters, but mostly because Jews have something that binds us together beyond, and more effectively than, common belief. One of the most important differences between Judaism and Christianity, is that we were a people before we had a religion. “

Is Judaism a Community or a Religion? No, it is a Family.

After much research, I was unable to find Kushner’s personal beliefs about Homosexuality. Therefore, I cannot presume to know how he felt about the subject. However, this quote gives me hope that there is room for diversity among our people. If Jewish identity is more than shared beliefs, should we not love and accept all Jews? We are all family.  Kushner did offer some insight, as to the answer to this question. He  wrote:

“If I may stretch a metaphor, being Jewish is like being part of a family, while being Christian is more like belonging to an organization that exists for a specific purpose. In such a group, people who are strangers to each other are brought together by their shared beliefs and goals, and that sharing of belief is what they have in common. When you find you no longer share the beliefs of the other members of the organization, and you can’t convince them to see things your way, you consider leaving to join, or even form, another organization for people who see things the way you do. But in a family, there may be people with whom you have very little in common- you may be a political liberal and your uncle a staunch conservavative; you enjoy Mozart and Vivaldi while your cousin is into heavy metal-but you feel bound to them by family ties.You may not like each other. You may not agree with each other, but you know that you belong to eah other.”

A Lesson For Pride Month

This pride month, let us remember that no matter what each of us believes, we are all Jews. We are all family.  We belong to each other. Before you judge harshly, remember that bond of family ties. Allow for much diversity. Ask yourself, is Judaism a community or a religion? Then remember Kushner’s answer. We are a family!! Let us encourage each other To Life!

For more information about accepting LGBT+ and homosexuality in The Torah, please click here. Also, please read my book.