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Does Spirituality = Real Religion?August 2006From the Desk of Rabbi CohonDo you prefer "religion" or "spirituality"?
Often when speaking to unaffiliated or non-practicing Jews I hear the phrase, "I'm not religious, but I am spiritual." But when people are asked what they mean by "spiritual", the answers range spectacularly.
"I find my connection to spirituality when I walk on a beautiful beach at sunset," one person may say, or "When I listen to Mozart (or Coltrane, or Eric Clapton, or Joni Mitchell) it's such a spiritual experience", or even "I don't know how to describe it but I know when I encounter spirituality."
When implies that "spirituality" can mean anything one wishes it to mean -- and that, in essence, is what has been bothering me about the use of the term for the last 25 years. Is it all just a way to avoid commitment to any organized religion?
When I interviewed Rabbi Lawrence Kushner on the Too Jewish Radio Show last fall, I asked him what he thought people meant by spirituality. Rabbi Kushner is pretty well known through his many books and speaking engagements on the subject of Jewish mysticism, which he treats in an authentic but very contemporary way. His work is often included in the "Spirituality" sections of bookstores and websites. So perhaps he knows what "spirituality" is.
He thinks what people mean by spirituality is "really religious". That is, they use the word to express their own personal encounters with holiness and God. For many people, especially Jews, "religion" is a formalized way to do services and lifecycle events and ritual experiences that holds no suprises, can be stultifying boring, and others very few insights into their own lives.
Ah, but "spirituality": it's a chance to see the amazing beauty and holiness implicit in the universe, to sense love and connection and meaning in unusual and refreshing ways.
Which presents a challenge to those of us engaged in "religion". For prayer, study, and communal ceremonies ought to be "spiritual" in exactly that sense. "Religion" is simply a way of regularizing and rationalizing the experience of encountering holiness and God in our own lives and, of course, helping find God in their own lives. Our goal should be to cultivate that experience, to facilitate the awareness of holiness and sacredness on a daily basis.
This is not a new idea, but it is a great one. As my grandfather, Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon wrote in 1923, "Religion is something greater and subtler than churches or synagogues. It is an in-dwelling spirit in the heart of man, making him reach out for the heights and depths of life. It is a human emotion as deep-rooted as love."
It is that emotion we seek to cultivate, that reflection of "spirituality", when we offer so many different ways to pray and connect with holiness at Temple Emanu-El. We are simply creating opportunities for each of us to experience God in our own way, from Chardonnay Shabbat to Kabbalistic services to hike services to rock services to classical services to Simply Shabbat Outreach services to Tot services to Northwest services to Project Ezra services. It is also, at heart, why we offer an amazing array of courses that help teach and practice Judaism in ways both traditional and completely innovative.
And we will continue to seek ways to encourage your spirit -- for we believe that you can find your own "spirituality" here.
L'Shalom v'rei'ut, in peace and friendship,
Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon
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