2008 Woodie Awards
FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: GaGa Over the GA
Zev Nagel
Issue date: 12/27/04 Section: Editorials/Op-Ed
- Page 1 of 1
It was my first General Assembly (GA), and so admittedly it was the euphoria, rather than any real substance, that consumed me over those few days in Cleveland last month. The overwhelming mass of Jews that came to Cleveland, of all places, to "do" and "talk about doing Jewish," was pleasantly surprising, if not completely uncharacteristic of what so many of us assume American bureaucratic Judaism is all about. And though many of the plenums and sessions were weak, often serving audience members watered-down tidbits of Jewish teachings, there was enough substance to go around; once you recognized that the GA was not a weekend learn-a-thon and that its participants were whole heartedly dedicated to a Jewish cause, the doors were open to discussing real problems and their solutions.
Orthodox Jews are easily tempted to be disinterested, if not entirely repulsed, by these types of gatherings, where the title "rabbi" does not mean a bearded man with six years of Talmud study under his belt or where a "minyan" actually requires men. We come from communities so heavily stemmed in conventional traditions that anything which deviates even remotely from the standard is heretical, if not plainly stupid. And there is a reason for all this. Sociologists have suggested that the reason Conservative and Reform Judaism has not developed in Israel the way it has grown in America, is that Israelis know the real thing when they see it, and either they'll do what is authentic or do nothing at all. Orthodox Jews, see the rest of Judaism the very same way.
And yet, an "American Judaism" exists that is not Orthodox per se. Sure, we can get into semantic arguments of how one may use the word "Jew" (it is also a serious halakhic and existential issue), but the fact remains that there are Jews out there, who are not Orthodox, "doing" Jewish. The question we must ask ourselves is where we fit into their Judaism.
But it was a different question that continued to surface over the three days of the Cleveland GA: why were so many delegates overly pleased and surprised that Yeshiva University sent an official delegation? Orthodox Jews have long been a presence at the GA; the morning minyan and the Kosher dining room were always filled to capacity. So what was the big deal?
Unfortunately, the answer is more than obvious to all of us, and we may even be embarrassed to answer. Orthodox Jews look down on the rest of American Jews. We feel we are superior and we let that get in the way of building a seamless community. We have constructed a ghetto for ourselves, not partitioning ourselves from the outside world, but from other Jews. Our self-righteousness has gotten in the way of what makes us righteous.
After one particular session, I conversed with a young man, who had tzitzit sneaking out of the sides of his pants. I casually inquired where he was from and where he studied in Israel, hoping for a lightening round of Jewish geography. But the game was a draw; as I incorrectly assumed, he did not run in Modern Orthodox circles. He was wholly Conservative he told me, and though he looked and behaved (religiously) like an Orthodox Jew, he would never ever consider himself one.
But why? What's wrong with being an Orthodox Jew? The answer is precisely the same answer to why delegates at the GA were so glad to see Yeshiva. The Jewish community thinks we have locked ourselves in our own ivory tower, away from the concerns and deaf to the cries of our broader community.
And that's a huge problem.
We have to stop making ourselves look irrelevant. We know we are applicable, and we know we have what to offer to spiritual seeking Jews in the twenty-first century. But time and time again, we meekly creep back into our little corner while the world, even the Jewish world, takes stabs at Orthodoxy, at tradition, and at those who refuse to back down on the very values that have kept us around for so long.
The world is rapidly changing and the Jewish community will follow in suite after all the post-modernism and new age multi-culturalism unless we step forward and offer them an alternative. We need to confront issues head on; refusing to participate in conferences, "lest we grant them validity" are no longer acceptable answers. The bottom line is that these new voices in the Jewish stream no longer seek our acceptance in our camps, and if we wait much longer we will have to seek theirs. They have written us out of their book of judgment, assuming we are either too aloof or irrelevant to have anything substantial to say. If we continue to sit on the sidelines, the face of American Judaism, and world Judaism for that matter, will dramatically alter before we have a chance to voice our opinion. Rather, we must seize each opportunity for intra-community dialogue and present to our public what Orthodoxy stands for, and what Torah-Judaism really says about the twenty-first century.
Zev Nagel can be reached at zev@yucommentator.com
Orthodox Jews are easily tempted to be disinterested, if not entirely repulsed, by these types of gatherings, where the title "rabbi" does not mean a bearded man with six years of Talmud study under his belt or where a "minyan" actually requires men. We come from communities so heavily stemmed in conventional traditions that anything which deviates even remotely from the standard is heretical, if not plainly stupid. And there is a reason for all this. Sociologists have suggested that the reason Conservative and Reform Judaism has not developed in Israel the way it has grown in America, is that Israelis know the real thing when they see it, and either they'll do what is authentic or do nothing at all. Orthodox Jews, see the rest of Judaism the very same way.
And yet, an "American Judaism" exists that is not Orthodox per se. Sure, we can get into semantic arguments of how one may use the word "Jew" (it is also a serious halakhic and existential issue), but the fact remains that there are Jews out there, who are not Orthodox, "doing" Jewish. The question we must ask ourselves is where we fit into their Judaism.
But it was a different question that continued to surface over the three days of the Cleveland GA: why were so many delegates overly pleased and surprised that Yeshiva University sent an official delegation? Orthodox Jews have long been a presence at the GA; the morning minyan and the Kosher dining room were always filled to capacity. So what was the big deal?
Unfortunately, the answer is more than obvious to all of us, and we may even be embarrassed to answer. Orthodox Jews look down on the rest of American Jews. We feel we are superior and we let that get in the way of building a seamless community. We have constructed a ghetto for ourselves, not partitioning ourselves from the outside world, but from other Jews. Our self-righteousness has gotten in the way of what makes us righteous.
After one particular session, I conversed with a young man, who had tzitzit sneaking out of the sides of his pants. I casually inquired where he was from and where he studied in Israel, hoping for a lightening round of Jewish geography. But the game was a draw; as I incorrectly assumed, he did not run in Modern Orthodox circles. He was wholly Conservative he told me, and though he looked and behaved (religiously) like an Orthodox Jew, he would never ever consider himself one.
But why? What's wrong with being an Orthodox Jew? The answer is precisely the same answer to why delegates at the GA were so glad to see Yeshiva. The Jewish community thinks we have locked ourselves in our own ivory tower, away from the concerns and deaf to the cries of our broader community.
And that's a huge problem.
We have to stop making ourselves look irrelevant. We know we are applicable, and we know we have what to offer to spiritual seeking Jews in the twenty-first century. But time and time again, we meekly creep back into our little corner while the world, even the Jewish world, takes stabs at Orthodoxy, at tradition, and at those who refuse to back down on the very values that have kept us around for so long.
The world is rapidly changing and the Jewish community will follow in suite after all the post-modernism and new age multi-culturalism unless we step forward and offer them an alternative. We need to confront issues head on; refusing to participate in conferences, "lest we grant them validity" are no longer acceptable answers. The bottom line is that these new voices in the Jewish stream no longer seek our acceptance in our camps, and if we wait much longer we will have to seek theirs. They have written us out of their book of judgment, assuming we are either too aloof or irrelevant to have anything substantial to say. If we continue to sit on the sidelines, the face of American Judaism, and world Judaism for that matter, will dramatically alter before we have a chance to voice our opinion. Rather, we must seize each opportunity for intra-community dialogue and present to our public what Orthodoxy stands for, and what Torah-Judaism really says about the twenty-first century.
Zev Nagel can be reached at zev@yucommentator.com