“Why am I Jewish?” – This might
seem like a strange question to ask, but it is one that is worth considering.
On one level I am Jewish because
my parents are Jewish, and they raised me according to the religion and
traditions which they practiced. This may provide a basic Jewish legal answer,
but at the same time I believe that in our modern world we are all Jews by
choice. Modernity removed the restrictions of the ghetto, and so we all have to
make a choice to be, or to remain, Jewish. So I might amend the earlier
question to ask: “Why do I choose to be Jewish?”
For me this question does not
lend itself to a simple answer, because there are many reasons why I choose to
be Jewish. On one level I choose to be Jewish because it is the religion of my
family stretching back for countless generations. On another level I choose to
be Jewish because it provides me with a framework for viewing the world in
which I live and experiencing the Divine within that world. Alternatively I
might say that I choose to be Jewish because I enjoy the rituals and traditions
which make up Jewish practice.
But ultimately I choose to be Jewish, because I want to be an heir to the
promise which Abraham and Sarah received, accepting the call to bring blessing
to the world. At the very beginning when God called to Abraham, there was no
statement about the worship of One God, the need for prayer or sacrifices, or a
requirement of rituals and practices. At the very beginning Abraham and Sarah
were called upon to undertake a journey, and they were told ‘you shall be a
blessing … and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed’ (Bereishit
12:2-3). I choose to be Jewish because I want to find a way to bring
blessing into the world.
Now this might seem like a rather lofty aspiration, and in some ways it
is. But at the same time being a blessing simply requires us to do some good,
so that the world is a better place for us having lived on it.
Judaism allows me to see the glory and majesty of the world, but at the
same time it forces me to recognize that the world is not yet perfect. We
witness violence, oppression, prejudice, injustice, and suffering (to name a
few). Our obligation as Jews is to bear witness to the imperfection, and then
to do something about it.
Throughout the Torah we are given commandments which end with the words
‘because you were slaves in Egypt’. While we may have no firsthand experience
of suffering, as a people we have been the victims of violence, persecution,
and injustice. Every year at our Passover Seder, we say that ‘we were
slaves in Egypt’, we claim this memory so that it will lead us to action in the
world for those who are currently suffering.
In the Talmud a debate is recorded between Rabbis Tarfon and Akiva. The
question came up of whether study or action is greater. Rabbi Tarfon spoke up
first and said ‘Action is greater’; in contrast Rabbi Akiva claimed ‘Study is
greater’. The elders who were with them then intervened and settled the dispute
saying: ‘Study is greater because it leads to action’.
In Judaism we sometimes study Torah lishma – which essentially
means we study Torah simply for the sake of studying Torah. But more often we
study Torah laasot – so that we will do, so that we will be active, so
that we will seek to make a difference in the world.
As a community, it was clear that social action had to be one of our core
values. We recognize that there is injustice and suffering in the world, and so
we engage in acts of tikkun olam
(repairing the world) that will lead to greater justice, righteousness and
human dignity. We do this communally and we do this individually.
Collectively we are the heirs to
Abraham and Sarah, and as such we are obligated to find ways to bring blessing
into the world. Each one of us will have a different way of being that
blessing, but in an imperfect world it is a call which none of us can ignore,
and which all of us should hear.
Ultimately I choose to be Jewish
because it requires me to be active in making this world a better place, because
it allows me to be in partnership with God in the ongoing work of creation, and
because it necessitates that I find my way, as an heir of Abraham and Sarah, to
be a blessing.
Together, as a community, when we
join together in acts of tikkun olam we can exponentially increase our
blessing in the world.
0 comments:
Post a Comment