Yesterday, I had an opportunity to spend the day with a group of Reform Movement rabbis from the USA. They took an interest in my work with American Jewish teenagers, and so within a short time, we were having some discussions about Jewish identity in general. I find these discussions to be terribly frustrating since it is nearly impossible to make a statement that is understood just as I mean it to be understood. Language is imperfect, because another person's understanding is under the impact of a whole different life's experience. However, the conversation was unavoidable.
My first observation was that my American Jewish students see Israelis as foreigners. For me, this is disappointing, I noted, since in my ideal view of Jewish identity, all Jews are a single peoplehood. Much to my further disappointment, the rabbis agreed that for an "American" an "Israeli" is a foreigner, adding that a Jew in Venezuela is also a foreigner - "only religion makes a connection with an American Jew". As always in such discussions, they commented that "not all Israelis are Jews". I explained that "Israeli" is a Jewish identity, receiving in return raised eyebrows of astonishment. Citizenship (a legal status) and identity (how one defines oneself and is defined by one's society) are not the same. A non-Jew might have Israeli citizenship, but he will never call himself "Israeli" - he'll only call "Israelis" the Jews of Israel. I explained further that the Jews of Poland before the Holocaust were Polish citizens, but they were not "Polish" (which is an identity of Polish speakers of Polish ethnic descent) - they were Jews (an identity of the Yiddish speaking population and an identity of ethnic descent). In America, a Jew is not only a citizen of the USA, he actually sees himself as an American. His Jewish identity is no longer primary, as was the case of his Yiddish speaking immigrant great-grandfather. It is merely religion.
Well, the rabbis tried to explain to me the reality of American society. "A Jew would have felt very uncomfortable defining himself as an 'other'. Distinctiveness makes sense in a reality in which the Jews are rejected, but not in an open society". Obviously, I didn't agree. I don't see the survival of Jewish peoplehood as a negative phenomenon, a result of rejection by other peoples; rather, Jewish peoplehood stands as a sociological and cultural equal with others. Moreover, I claimed that the social reality of America is clear to me. The issue that I am raising is one of a value judgment: Is what has happened to American Jewish identity a positive or a negative development? If it is negative, then what could be done today educationally in order to try and return the Jews to the former historical identity? Here is the problem: there is no value judgment. One doesn't hear real criticism that "maybe something is wrong". On the contrary, in this conversation it was claimed that Jewish peoplehood distinctiveness throughout history is an indication of the failures of others ("rejection of Jews").
The rabbis raised their perception of Jewish religious centrality in the defining of Jewish identity. Therefore, it was claimed that there is a problem actually in Israel, not in American Jewry. The Israelis whom they know, so it was stated, are uninterested in religious life. This is a claim that I hear very often. There seems to be a very popular misconception that Israelis are very non-traditional. Yet, there is no doubt that the Israeli public is the most traditional Jewish community in the world. I asked them, just for an example, what percentage of American Jews go to synagogue on Shabbat. "For a bar-mitzvah?", they asked. No, what percentage simply go to synagogue regularly? I ventured a guess of 5%. "It's probably less than that", was their guess. I don't know if they caught the irony of their own estimation, but for my readers I'd like to state it in clear words. They define the Jewish public in Israel as not interested in religion, leaving the hint that the Jewish public in America is different. But their public doesn't go to synagogue. I asked them to give an estimate as to the percentage of Israelis attending synagogue on Shabbat. Well, who knows - but I imagine that it could be well over 30%.
What is the conclusion of all this silly debate? The rabbis were arguing that Jewish peoplehood is not really important. "It is the Jewish religion that really matters" - but their public is not really interested in religion. Jewish peoplehood has been abandoned, and religion is not so important - and yet the only focus of criticism was on Israelis. When did self-criticism go away? How can we restore it?
I tried to put my finger on the trends that have caused the collapse of Jewish identity. I mentioned that there are a number of elements of peoplehood that are now missing in the American Jewish community. First of all, the abandonment of Yiddish has created a new essence. Language carries identity. Yiddish carried a Jewish peoplehood identity, and American English carries the identity of another peoplehood. Secondly, the Jewish narrative has been abandoned. Jews simply do not know our story, simply because their Jewish education is so meagre. Finally, the American Jews have abandoned the homeland. A Jewish community that sees itself in exile is a community that has a homeland which it shares with all other Jews. Today, there is no exile as far as the American Jews are concerned. They are Americans living in America, and so exile is now a meaningless concept. Hence, "Israelis are foreigners" - the point of reference has shifted from the Jewish historic experience into the realm of the American world.
"What about the Russian-speaking non-Jewish population in Israel?" - that was the counter argument! I don't know how to present the failures of American Jewish life without antagonizing my listeners. All I wish to do is to present these failures in the hope that action can be taken to correct something. Improvement can be achieved only if there is a recognition of failure. Well, instead, I found myself discussing a success story. The descendants of these Russian-speakers will be Hebrew speakers. This phenomenon is happening in front of our eyes. They will send their children to the Israeli school system where they shall learn the narrative of the Jewish people. They will also marry other Israelis throughout the coming generations; therefore, the descendants will be speaking a Jewish language, they will see themselves as continuing the Jewish narrative, they will be sharing with us this homeland, and they will see themselves as sharing a common descent with other Jews. Language, narrative, ethnicity, homeland - obviously, they will be part of the Jewish peoplehood. What more could one ask for? I was hoping for a some soul-searching in the American Jewish scene so that its Jewish community will remain part of the historic Jewish peoplehood - and that we should not become foreigners to each other.
My first observation was that my American Jewish students see Israelis as foreigners. For me, this is disappointing, I noted, since in my ideal view of Jewish identity, all Jews are a single peoplehood. Much to my further disappointment, the rabbis agreed that for an "American" an "Israeli" is a foreigner, adding that a Jew in Venezuela is also a foreigner - "only religion makes a connection with an American Jew". As always in such discussions, they commented that "not all Israelis are Jews". I explained that "Israeli" is a Jewish identity, receiving in return raised eyebrows of astonishment. Citizenship (a legal status) and identity (how one defines oneself and is defined by one's society) are not the same. A non-Jew might have Israeli citizenship, but he will never call himself "Israeli" - he'll only call "Israelis" the Jews of Israel. I explained further that the Jews of Poland before the Holocaust were Polish citizens, but they were not "Polish" (which is an identity of Polish speakers of Polish ethnic descent) - they were Jews (an identity of the Yiddish speaking population and an identity of ethnic descent). In America, a Jew is not only a citizen of the USA, he actually sees himself as an American. His Jewish identity is no longer primary, as was the case of his Yiddish speaking immigrant great-grandfather. It is merely religion.
Well, the rabbis tried to explain to me the reality of American society. "A Jew would have felt very uncomfortable defining himself as an 'other'. Distinctiveness makes sense in a reality in which the Jews are rejected, but not in an open society". Obviously, I didn't agree. I don't see the survival of Jewish peoplehood as a negative phenomenon, a result of rejection by other peoples; rather, Jewish peoplehood stands as a sociological and cultural equal with others. Moreover, I claimed that the social reality of America is clear to me. The issue that I am raising is one of a value judgment: Is what has happened to American Jewish identity a positive or a negative development? If it is negative, then what could be done today educationally in order to try and return the Jews to the former historical identity? Here is the problem: there is no value judgment. One doesn't hear real criticism that "maybe something is wrong". On the contrary, in this conversation it was claimed that Jewish peoplehood distinctiveness throughout history is an indication of the failures of others ("rejection of Jews").
The rabbis raised their perception of Jewish religious centrality in the defining of Jewish identity. Therefore, it was claimed that there is a problem actually in Israel, not in American Jewry. The Israelis whom they know, so it was stated, are uninterested in religious life. This is a claim that I hear very often. There seems to be a very popular misconception that Israelis are very non-traditional. Yet, there is no doubt that the Israeli public is the most traditional Jewish community in the world. I asked them, just for an example, what percentage of American Jews go to synagogue on Shabbat. "For a bar-mitzvah?", they asked. No, what percentage simply go to synagogue regularly? I ventured a guess of 5%. "It's probably less than that", was their guess. I don't know if they caught the irony of their own estimation, but for my readers I'd like to state it in clear words. They define the Jewish public in Israel as not interested in religion, leaving the hint that the Jewish public in America is different. But their public doesn't go to synagogue. I asked them to give an estimate as to the percentage of Israelis attending synagogue on Shabbat. Well, who knows - but I imagine that it could be well over 30%.
What is the conclusion of all this silly debate? The rabbis were arguing that Jewish peoplehood is not really important. "It is the Jewish religion that really matters" - but their public is not really interested in religion. Jewish peoplehood has been abandoned, and religion is not so important - and yet the only focus of criticism was on Israelis. When did self-criticism go away? How can we restore it?
I tried to put my finger on the trends that have caused the collapse of Jewish identity. I mentioned that there are a number of elements of peoplehood that are now missing in the American Jewish community. First of all, the abandonment of Yiddish has created a new essence. Language carries identity. Yiddish carried a Jewish peoplehood identity, and American English carries the identity of another peoplehood. Secondly, the Jewish narrative has been abandoned. Jews simply do not know our story, simply because their Jewish education is so meagre. Finally, the American Jews have abandoned the homeland. A Jewish community that sees itself in exile is a community that has a homeland which it shares with all other Jews. Today, there is no exile as far as the American Jews are concerned. They are Americans living in America, and so exile is now a meaningless concept. Hence, "Israelis are foreigners" - the point of reference has shifted from the Jewish historic experience into the realm of the American world.
"What about the Russian-speaking non-Jewish population in Israel?" - that was the counter argument! I don't know how to present the failures of American Jewish life without antagonizing my listeners. All I wish to do is to present these failures in the hope that action can be taken to correct something. Improvement can be achieved only if there is a recognition of failure. Well, instead, I found myself discussing a success story. The descendants of these Russian-speakers will be Hebrew speakers. This phenomenon is happening in front of our eyes. They will send their children to the Israeli school system where they shall learn the narrative of the Jewish people. They will also marry other Israelis throughout the coming generations; therefore, the descendants will be speaking a Jewish language, they will see themselves as continuing the Jewish narrative, they will be sharing with us this homeland, and they will see themselves as sharing a common descent with other Jews. Language, narrative, ethnicity, homeland - obviously, they will be part of the Jewish peoplehood. What more could one ask for? I was hoping for a some soul-searching in the American Jewish scene so that its Jewish community will remain part of the historic Jewish peoplehood - and that we should not become foreigners to each other.
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