The secret of the survival of Judaism,” says Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is that in every age, with the challenges of each civilization we faced we made the agenda of Jewish life “not only the saving of the Jewish people, but the saving of all that made human life worthwhile” (The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion, p.334). In other words we gave universal significance to our particular set of cultural values and way of life.
The battle fought by the Maccabees, for example, signaled not only a victory for the Jews to reclaim religious and cultural autonomy in their Jerusalem Temple; it signaled a universal triumph for human rights in an age of mass culture. The Maccabean Revolt succeeded because they appealed to the individual human needs of the lower class for personal freedom and fulfillment.
This was a battle against the upper class Hellenized Jews who had assimilated to the allures of Hellenism’s wealth and power. Money and military might were trumped by the values of Jewish life presented as greater, eternal, and universal values that really mattered in the lives of individuals.
The rabbis put this stamp on Hanukkah with the motto taken from the prophet Zachariah, “not by power, nor by might, but by My spirit, says the Source of all Forces.” Jews and Judaism will not survive by means of any external forces; only an inner Force will motivate us to remain Jews. What is the spirit that would galvanize Jews today to resist assimilation and reassert their particular identity?
This is the debate that has been waged in almost every era, and most recently has been framed in light of the Pew Study of 2013. There is no question that assimilation and intermarriage are on the rise; that more and more Jews are identifying as “cultural” and not as religious Jews; affiliation and religious practice is sharply decreasing; Jewish life seems to be withering away. Rabbi Rami Shapiro and Rabbi Robert Barr give one of the most incisive responses to the dilemma facing liberal Jews in North America. Here’s part of what they suggest might turn things around:
“We must celebrate innovation rather than imitation, and the prophetic call for universal justice and compassion over the rabbinic obsession with who is a Jew.”
“We must shift Jewish identity from birth, blood, and marriage to commitment to a set of shared principles, values and practices variously understood and lived, rooted in our past but unabashedly reshaped for our present and future.”
You can read their brief, but insightful article in full here.
There is no doubt that Jewish life still has the ability to inspire individuals and galvanize the collective imagination when we use the message of our particular values to address the real needs and concerns we face today. It took just one member of our shul to call and say, “I think we need to do something as a community of Jews who know what it means to be refugees to address the Syrian refugee crisis.” With my encouragement a committee was formed, quickly grew, gained the support of our Board and the broad support of many more members—and non-members! Our first task was to raise the required $30,000 per family for sponsorship. In the space of a few weeks we raised the necessary funds to sponsor not one, but three families.
It takes just one person to light a candle that will dispel the darkness. From this one light many others can be kindled. The lights of Hanukkah remind us that as we turn our attention to protecting the cultural freedom and human rights of all individuals we will in the process be engaged in the spirit that will save us as Jews.
RABBI RON AIGEN 