Why Israel? Why synagogues? Why Jewish life celebrations such as baby namings, B’nai Mitzvah, weddings? In “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye famously said: “Tradition!” To which I’ll say, “Yes, and …”
Nostalgia is an excellent reason to maintain one’s Jewish identity through positive acts of affirmation, but nostalgia alone is not adequate. Carrying forward the traditions of our grandparents provides a wonderful link to the Jewish past. However, the classic stories of how each generation forgets (and intentionally changes) just a little bit more of the practices of the previous generation reveals that nostalgia is an imperfect perpetuator of Jewish identity.
Some Jews also affirm their Jewishness as an act of defiance—a response to antisemitism—whether current or in light of the Holocaust. This risks placing the parameters of our identity in the hands of others if we fail to develop positive reasons, as well. Hitler declared that having a Jewish grandparent made one a Jew. Is Judaism inherited passively or is it acquired and strengthened through a lifetime of Jewish engagement? I prefer the latter.
Among the most common reasons that we clergy hear for why people choose Judaism is for its embrace of intellectualism. We encourage questioning, we embrace challenge, and we welcome a diversity of opinions. The Talmud is famously a repository of complex intellectual excursus and varied opinions. However, the pathway to that intellectual discourse requires the effort of study, learning, and dialogue. It’s one thing to celebrate the idea of Jewish intellectualism, it’s another to practice it. For us to be able to respond to those who challenge our Jewishness—whether our fellow Jews or outsiders—we have to know what makes us Jewish. For too many, Jewishness is expressed by having deli food at Jewish celebrations, acquiring tickets to attend a service or two during the holy days, or calling the clergy to officiate weddings and funerals.
Rabbi Adam Naftalin-Kelman (Hillel Director at the University of California, Berkeley) uses the image of a garden. To flourish, a garden needs protection; a good fence to keep out pests and those who might destroy it. It also needs to be open so that those who would cultivate, tend, and maintain it can easily gain access. If we only build a fence, the garden will die. For our garden to be rich, diverse, and thriving it needs our enthusiastic attention.
What will you do to enrich your Jewish story? How will you expand your knowledge of what it means to be Jewish and why you, yourself, are proud of your identity?
—Rabbi Ron Stern