My friend Daniel Gordis in a recent piece refers to the Protestantization of American Jewish life. By this, he means a Judaism that emphasizes personal journey, personal spiritual growth, and personal meaning. Even as I believe strongly in the power of these metaphors and experiences, I share Gordis’ concern.
I think of Princeton sociologist and one of the foremost experts on religion in America, Robert Wuthnow who has written widely on this subject. Wuthnow suggests that the metaphor of “journey” has replaced the metaphor of “home” as the motivating animator of the religious, spiritual life. Whereas once the home and all associated feelings and experiences was the place where the religious feeling was nurtured and shaped now the personal journey—leaving home to discover the true inner soulful self is the more powerful metaphor.
In Judaism we have strong associations with both. Home is symbolized by the family table—the shulchan, where we gather for Shabbat, holidays and other celebrations. This is where Jewish life is transmitted and most deeply felt. This is where the songs are sung, the stories are told, the generations come together. We also have strong metaphors of journey—Abraham and Sarah, Moses, the entire Israelite people, Elijah, Jonah—just to name a few.
I think a strong Jewish community as well as an engaged Jewish self requires both a sense of home as well as a strong sense of personal journey. If we do not feel rooted to our past, we are nothing. If we are not ever in search of a better, deeper, promised land our homes become isolated and self serving. A vibrant Judaism requires both historical continuity—a strong mooring to our people’s journey through history as well as an animated quest for meaning and discovery. Then we need not fear the Protestantization of American Jewish life.
Our next three Shabbat morning services are to be lead by a Rabbinic intern. It may be interesting to hear a response.
ReplyDeleteAlan Carpien
I agree about "home" being as important as "self" for a vibrant Judaism. But, I think it's also important to keep in mind that the Jewish "home" for many of us is largely a product of the journey. For some of us, "home" is formed, in- or outside a house, with like-minded community members rather than from generations within our own families. We had to learn songs ourselves and bring them to our tables, rather than absorbing them from Bubbe and Zayde as the Maxwell House haggadah still imagines.
ReplyDeleteJudaism has to have an active place in our lives in order to be, as you suggest, "deeply felt." But it is an enormous task for many of us, depending on what we learned as children, to find ways to receive, let alone transmit, a sense of history. The demands on Jewish communal life are, as a consequence, going to remain proportionately heavy, I think. We will have to work very hard, given the variety of Jewish background experiences, to help Jews bring Judaism "home."
As usual, I find Danny's as well as Virginia's thoughts widening and inspiring. Let me add another concern about "the family table." We had no Jewish ritual in our home, though the values that animated my parents' choices, actions and beliefs were firmly Jewish as I learned at Micah. I continue being interested in how each of us creates family, ritual, community and meaning in original ways. That process can be as varied as our identities, learning, exploration and experiences, I think. Sometimes I wonder about the appreciation of people without traditional family, especially without children, as I am. There are so many ways to contribute to the next generation in addition to making one, I believe.
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