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GUARANTEEING THE FUTURE April 2000 by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon In military history there is an important truism: every army in the world is preparing to fight the last war. Israelis in the Yom Kippur War were ready for the Arab armies of 1967, but not for the Egyptians and Syrians of 1973. The French Maginot Line, constructed in the 1920's and 30's, was a brilliant defensive system that would have been deadly to German armies in 1914; unfortunately, it was totally ineffective against the Nazi blitzkreig of 1939. The European powers of World War I spent four years, millions of deaths, and billions of dollars trying to recreate the conditions of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, with no success whatsoever. And so on, all through history. Great generals and admirals are always fighting last year's battles. I believe this error is not restricted to those who make their living planning wars. Our own Jewish leadership often seems enmeshed in the same type of reactive thinking, looking always backward to the conditions of a previous age. This is natural, but not especially helpful. For the true challenges for Judaism in the 21st century will not be the primary issues of the 20th century-anti-Semitism, Israel, and captive Jewish populations. While these 20th century issues will not go away completely, they will blessedly move to the periphery of our concerns; our resources and the conditions of the world have changed dramatically. The crucial issues for 21st century Judaism will be making our religion dynamic and relevant for the great numbers of our own people who are indifferent to their own heritage. The buzzword on this subject nowadays is "Continuity", but this is a very weak word indeed to convey the importance and vitality of the task at hand. What we need to accomplish is something much richer: the reinvigoration and adaptation of Judaism in an age of educated unbelief. Or, in the case of religious information, an age of uneducated unbelief. While we Jews are proportionally the most highly educated group in the world, it is a particular kind of higher education. As Dennis Prager ungently puts it "Most Jews go from kindergarten through graduate school undergoing what can legitimately be described as a secular brainwash." I would temper that a bit by noting that our highly educated people have been aggressively instructed in the pieties of the secular world throughout their lives, while their religious education ended with Bar/Bat Mitzvah or Confirmation. The fundamental fact is that most adult Jews understand religion at the level of a 13-year old. As such, they find Judaism literally unbelievable. Of course, if they retained their understanding of politics, biology, or marriage at a 13-year old level they would find these subjects unbelievable as well. (I leave aside the subject of economics, which no one finds believable.) A primary task for every Jewish leader-for every Jew-is a fundamental re-education of our adult population on what it is that Judaism has to teach us about life, morality, and meaning. When we make Judaism comprehensible and meaningful at an adult level-through instruction, interaction, conversation, study, and prayer-we guarantee our future as a vibrant people. No one who is excited about real Jewish study, the interactive process of Torah, can fail to convey that excitement to others. And that kind of engagement is central to making a vital 21st century Judaism not only viable but dynamic. So what can you do? This month and next we have three special opportunities to engage in cutting edge Jewish study, two under the auspices of the Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray lectureship. Sunday, April 2nd Dr. Yehudah Reinharz, president of Brandeis University will speak twice for us, on two crucial topics affecting our religion. At 10 AM he will address the question or our relationship with Israel in the coming century. At 7 PM he will speak of the future of Jewish higher education. At both forums we will have the chance to question this outstanding scholar and Jewish leader. Next, on Sunday, April 30th at 10 AM we will begin writing our temple's Torah Hadashah, our brand-new Torah of Renewal. Our scribe, Rabbi Miller, will teach us how a Torah is written, explain the implements, regulations, and great craft of this ancient but ever-new process, and actually inscribe the very first words of Genesis on the parchment that will become our new congregational Torah. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate first-hand in the creation of a sefer Torah, the holiest tangible object in the world. No one should miss this event. Finally, on the weekend of May 21st- 23rd, our Scholar-in-Residence, Rabbi Stasia Deutsch of Hebrew Union College will address the area of Jewish Feminism and its impact on contemporary Judaism. There will be a Friday night sermon, a Shabbat lunch-Rabbi's Tish extended discussion, and a Havdalah talk and social. Each event will include opportunities for Jewish interaction and exploration of this pivotal issue. And perhaps most importantly, we have created here at Temple Emanu-El a terrific Adult Education Academy which has involved 150 adult students in Jewish study this semester alone. In the course of the Academy's first year over 70 students have completed a Hebrew Marathon, while others have explored Jewish topics from Archaeology to Ethics to Mysticism to Music to Theology. We are actively working to build on the success of this program. Please look for and enroll in the classes that you see advertised in the coming Temple Times bulletins. We will shape the Judaism of the 21st century. Insofar as we follow Hillel's lesson-go and learn!-we will be able to create a Judaism that will carry its remarkable moral and religious message for many centuries to come. From the April 2000 Temple Times |
