Secular Judaism

OK. This is a topic that has been on my mind for quite some time--ever since we first started talking about it in class within the first few weeks of the semester. Secular Judaism, from what I understand, is pretty much the part of Judaism that is not religious in nature. If I understand it, Cultural Judaism is very similar, if not the exact same thing as Secular Judaism.

What is so baffling to me is the fact that some people take on an identity that is based on a purely religious and spiritual occurrences (Noah, Abraham, etc...) and take out the spiritual aspect of it. Is this even possible? Well, of course it is possible, people do it. Yet still, I am not satisfied as an outsider of Judaism with the whole concept of Secular Judaism. In my experience at Indiana University, I have had the opportunity to come across many Secular Jews--those who do not exactly keep Kosher, attend Shabbat services, participate during the High Holy days, etc... Yet, despite their lack of participation in the traditions and beliefs of Judaism, they still choose to identify with and call themselves Jewish. Others I know, including a good friend of mine actually, celebrate Passover along with other traditions but do not even believe in God. Some of these examples it seems identify with Judaism because thats what one or both of their parents were. Jews may or may not be a race of people. If they are, I can understand the concept of one identifying with Judaism because it is literally in their veins. But, what of an example of someone whose parents were (or at least one of them was) converts to Judaism. Let's say that person does not practice or believe anything that has to do with Judaism, but still identifies as a full-fledged Jew. Is this fair? Does simply where you grew up make us what we are? I argue that it does not. So, the question still remains, WHAT MAKES ONE JEWISH?? Does Judaism even exist? I believe that it does, but how can we prove it? Is it simply a collection of traditions, holidays, and a past? While I feel that these elements are crucial elements to it, I feel that it is so much more. To someone like me who is from the outside, it seems that there has to be that monotheistic element around which everything else revolves. Judaism was founded on belief in One God, and the love that that God has for those people. I feel that for one who considers themselves a Jew to take that out of the equation and say that it (God) was just made up or just exists to give people some direction in how to live their lives, than their actions as far as keeping the religious traditions of the Jewish people are in vain.

I apologize if this entry was seemingly judgmental. I am not judging anyone. I am simply trying to understand and deal with a concept that is so counter-intuitive to me, and attempting to challenge those who identify with Secular Judaism.

Who is a Jew? Are You?

What a crazy class F359 has been to me. Judaism. It has turned out to be one of the most complex and confusing topics that I have ever come across in my life. Before I took this class at IU, I was extremely naive on the subject. I just assumed that Judaism was one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world and that while all of its "members" may practice to various degrees, they all basically believed the same thing. I found out that I could not have been more off track. Over the past few months, I would find myself asking, "Who is a Jew?" and genuinely trying to answer it. I have not even come close to beginning to answer it. With a lot of the arguments and scenarios that we have been given in class, it almost seems like anyone can call themselves Jewish or be allowed to identify with Judaism and nobody can really say that they are not. Even among the Jewish people, members of the Orthodox sect do not see Reform Jews as being Jews at all. Some people who identify with Judaism do not even believe in God. Others practice the religious-based traditions but only do so because of the traditional and cultural aspect of the ritual. This whole concept was especially foreign to me

In the end, I do believe that there are definitely Jews and non-Jews, but there is a line so blurry between the two that it is almost hard to see that there is one. Is Jewishness inherited from ones parents (or at least one of them)? Looking at my own life, does being born from Catholic parents make me a Catholic no matter what? In the spiritual sense of identity, we all come to a crossroads in out lives when we decide on who we are spiritually. For example, I cannot just call myself Catholic because my parents were and not believe in God or the Real Presence in the Eucharist. To violate those central beliefs is to deny what a Catholic is. I feel that this is the case in all spiritual sides of religion. What makes the issue of Judaism even more complex though is the whole issue of the Jewish heritage and the biological factors that take place. Here the questions get brought in about race and Judaism. Despite everything though, I think the idea of Jewishness and how much one has within them to a large extent comes down to where the heart is of each individual. Who am I to say whether something is Jewish or not? In then end, I believe that who we are can only fully be known by the One who made us and our mature selves.

The Jew Gene...

Here was a topic that I was not sure that we would cover. But, I guess it was bound to come up one of these days. Before I came to college, I was never really around many Jews (that I knew of) and nobody really ever talked about Jews as a group of people or race. I was never around any kind of stereotype or anything like that. The point of this is to say that I before college had no idea what a Jew was supposed to look like. Why is it that these kinds of stereotypes exist? Stereotypes are dangerous because of their overly-general natures. But, as much as we hate to admit it, stereotypes are often based on a SLIGHT shred of truth. If there is any truth to stereotypes and the physical characteristics describe are applicable to a majority of the group described, than this would imply that there may be some genetic traits that bind an entire group of people. The whole point of this would be to say that the whole argument of the Jews being a race of people may in fact be based in some kind of truth.

Much of the discussion in my Jewish Identities class this day was centered around "Jewish diseases" and used this as an argument for the possible race factor that could bind Jews together. Among the evidence was the whole issue of Tay-Sachs disease, which is an illness prevalent among the Ashkenazi Jews (because they are a group who on a large scale allow themselves to be research participants).

Interesting questions could derive from this whole issue of race and Judaism. One that I have is that, if a man who, having no Jewish blood within his family line, converts to Judaism and marries a non-Jewish woman and they have a daughter, does she now have Jewish blood flowing in her veins? What makes this such a tough area of debate is the whole dichotomy of Judaism as a spiritual identity as well as a physical/cultural identity.

Kabbalah

Kabbalah was a particularly interesting topic to me whenever we discussed it in class today. Whenever I think of it, my first thought goes to either Madonna or people who choose to tie a red string around their wrists. Until today, I just assumed that Kabbala was a Jewish form of philosophy or mysticism. I then learned that (like most of the topics I have had preconceptions about in this class) I was mistaken, at least according to Kabbalah.com. They described it as being more like a way of life (I think) through learning to pretty much conquer the negativity within ourselves and that comes to us from outside of us, and is not any kind of philosophy or theosophy.

I do question how much it is separated from Judaism. Those who practice Kabbalah use many forms of Jewish terms, such as Rabbi, as well as use Jewish customs such as keeping Kosher.

The important thing is the fact that the schools of thought within the Kabbalah spiritual practices is highly influenced by Jewish thought. This is highly evident in the different ways that Kabbalah has adapted Judaism. The whole idea of Kabbalah is also a strong argument as to the relevance and validity of the Jewish religion in that Kabbalah claims to be used and accepted by the major world religions such as Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and of course, Judaism. This could also be an argument as to the amount of potential interconnectedness that many different types of faiths share as far as philosophy and theology are concerned.

Jews in the Evangelical Imagination

It is fascinating the relationships that Evangelical Christians feel that they have with the Jewish people. In fundamentalist thought, the Jews play a huge role in their spirituality for several reasons. First off, the center of Christianity, Jesus Christ, was himself a Jewish man. He participated in Jewish rituals and traditions, and obeyed Jewish law. Because of this connection, I think that most Christians, including myself, feel a very strong connection to the Jewish people. The second main part Jews have in the imagination of Evangelicals is the Jews role in the "End Times." Since the institution of Israel as a geographical location on the face of the earth, there has been a huge focus on the End Times and its manifestation. In the book of Revelation, the second coming of Christ is said to be characterized by the Jewish people returning to the same place. It is this very book that Evangelicals base a substantial amount of apocalyptic theology upon. It seems as though many Evangelicals place importance on helping the Jews through supporting Israel (as well as supporting a number of other Jewish causes) because they feel that mobilizing the Jews is helping to accelerate the Second Coming of Christ. There is also a bible passage that basically states that God will bless those who bless Israel.

As we discussed this topic in class today, I was wondering how it was that Evangelicals might see the Jewish people. I think that it may be that Evangelicals see the Jews as, well, not necessarily one dimensional, but rather as a united and universal group of people that basically believe the same things. The whole concept of Identity plays an enormous role in this whole topic. What Evangelicals see Jews as and what Jews think a Christian is is an intersection that makes the whole topic of Jewish-Christian relationship an extremely complex and foggy issue.

Intermarriage

The idea of intermarriage has the potential of being a touchy subject. Religious identity (for most people) is an extremely large piece of the person. Because of this, the idea of intermarriage has the potential of being a very difficult and sensitive issue when it comes to the couple and their family life. As I was listening to the discussion about intermarriage from a Jewish perspective, I found it especially more complex than other religions--in particular Christianity (because that is what I know best!). What makes it more complex in my eyes is the fact that Judaism has the potential as being looked at from both secular and religious points of view. The fact that Judaism can be looked at as a culture and even a race of people makes the idea of intermarriage a lot more sensitive. If a family members that derives pure Jewish bloodline (if that even exists) marries someone of another faith tradition or race, does that in some way compromise the Jewishness of a person? Does that in some way tarnish or decrease the value of the blood that runs through the child's veins?

I have absolutely no problem with the idea of intermarriage. Marriage is a beautiful institution in my opinion because when the marriage vows are taken seriously, they proclaim a beautiful promise of love and support for the spouse that is untouchable by whatever circumstances this world may bring up. However, that is not to say that intermarriage would not bring with it its share of difficulties and obstacles. In my own experience, it would be very difficult for me to marry outside of my faith. Not because I feel that the decision would be one step toward the fading away of Catholicism, not because I don't respect the faiths that other people find truth and a sense of identity in, but because of this. My belief in the Eucharist (bread and wine becoming the actual body and blood of Christ) is a central part of who I am as a human being. It very well may BE the central point of who I believe myself to be. If my future spouse does not share a belief in the Eucharist, than I would have a hard time feeling they really understand who I am, and thus, that would put a major obstacle in the way as far as giving myself completely over to somebody in the sacrament of marriage.

Race and Judaism

In class today, we discussed a particularly interesting topic. We were discussing what role race plays and Judaism. Are Jews even a race of people? Are there certain factors about our particular genetic makeup that constitutes what can or cannot be considered Jewish? The politically correct answer is absolutely not, yet there are still members of the Jewish community that choose to identify themselves as a particular race of people. For instance, today in class, several of the Jewish students had never heard of African-American Jews until later on in their lives (like around the time of their bar/bat mitzvah). There was also a case when a woman, when referring to a Jewish cantor with Asian facial features, asked questions about her being a convert or if she was adopted. I think that the reason that this is such a touchy subject is for the fact that Judaism is a multi-dimensional group of people that base identity factors on not just religious elements but also on cultural factors.

There was also something else that got me thinking. We had the opportunity to watch a film called Black Israel. It discussed the topic of Black Jews and what that meant in the grand scheme of the idea of Judaism and what that means. A key spokesperson on the topic of African-American Jews is Rabbi Capers Funnye, In talking about this idea, he made a pretty bold argument. He claimed that the first Jews in existence were Black. In the section of the film, he based this on evidence from the "hebraic practices" of tribes in Africa that have existed for hundreds of years before the slaves were taken from Africa. He also compares the struggles and plights of the African people with those of the Jewish people. But, does that mean that because two groups of people have had somewhat similar pasts that they are derived from the same roots? I personally do not think it does. I think that there can be a lot of grounds for having things in common and having a better understanding of one another, but I do not think that it means that they have to be the same group of people.