This is an
important essay. You might say it’s a matter of life and death. It lays out, at
least in part, a case for why Jewish survival is so necessary. Sidney Ballon
felt that while many of the world’s religions share common tenets, often in fact derived from Judaism, the unique message that Judaism provides to the world is
too precious to lose. He found this message compelling enough to deliver it, almost verbatim, on Yom Kippur morning in three successive pulpits. First offered in Columbia, South Carolina in 1947, then the following year in Lexington, Kentucky, and finally in West Hempstead, New York in 1955, it describes
three characteristics—theological, social, and psychological—that mark
Judaism’s particular wisdom.
…Judaism is not just another religion that we have become
associated with by the accident of birth, but it is rather a philosophy of life
and a faith which we must share out of full conviction.
====================================================
As Jews all of
us are proud that we are the members of a people who has given religion to the
western world. Whatever our state of knowledge may be with regard to the finer
points of our faith, all of us do, at least, know that Judaism first proclaimed
the doctrine of monotheism. Judaism first interpreted morality as a divine
commandment t man. Judaism is the mother of the two other great monotheistic
faiths, Christianity and Mohammedanism. We have, indeed, fulfilled the
prophetic ambition to be “a light unto the nations,[i]”
and the nations readily recognize the Jewish roots of their religious faith.
Because of these achievements of the past, the thought may perhaps arise that Judaism has fulfilled its mission, that there is no religious work left to do that cannot be done equally as well by the faiths that it has already fostered. Since so many people accept monotheism and since we all speak in terms of “Love thy Neighbor[ii],” there is perhaps no longer any specifically Jewish task to be concerned with and no longer any important basic religious difference between Judaism and the other major religions. What differences that exist are surface differences of approach. Ultimately we all arrive at the same goal.
Many of us, accordingly, even those of us who are thoroughly happy in our Judaism and would never make a conscious effort to destroy it, may nevertheless, sometimes feel that if it so happened that Judaism gradually and peacefully did disappear the world would suffer no great religious loss, because its fundamental teachings have been passed on to the future through other religious groups.
The differences that remain, however, between Judaism and other groups may not be overlooked so glibly. There are religious values in Judaism which the world is still sorely in need of, particularly in these critical times, and we as Jews would do well to be aware of them and to proclaim them. Some Jewish leaders even speak in terms of a missionary effort to reach other people who may be spiritually in sympathy with us, and we all ought to have a genuine conviction of the importance of Judaism today in offering a solution, perhaps, to some of the world’s problems and in serving as a liberal faith for men to live by.
The distinctive characteristics of Judaism were once described by Rabbi Joshua Liebman[iii], of blessed memory, as falling into three categories. He said that we might sum up the virtues of the Jewish approach to life in terms of its remarkable theological wisdom, its remarkable social insight, and its remarkable psychological penetration, and I should like to touch briefly on each of these this morning.
The theological wisdom of Judaism may best be seen in its lack of dogmatism. Judaism confesses honestly that finite man cannot know all that there is to know about the infinite God. It recognizes the limitations of human knowledge and permits man to use his reason to continue the search after truth and to become ever more enlightened. The Bible was always an authoritative book in Judaism but even within the Bible there was recognition of the process of growth in religious thinking and changing conceptions of God. Thus Moses is reported to have had a different understanding of God than the Patriarchs. We read in Exodus 6, for example, God spoke unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as El Shaddai, but my name Adonoy I made me not known unto them. Thus it is reported that a new facet of divinity was revealed to Moses. Each prophet also viewed God from his own perspective, and to Amos He was a god of Justice, to Hosea, a God of Love and to Isaiah of righteousness and compassion. In post Biblical days the rabbis of the Talmud[iv] reinterpreted the Bible in their own manner to the extent that it was said that Moses once came down from heaven and listened to Rabbi Akiba[v] teach in the school and he did not even recognize his own Torah. And after the days of the Talmud came the teaching of the of the religious philosophers and the mystics and today the modernists, all of whom fit into the framework of Judaism without the sectarian fragmentation that characterizes other religious groups. Even in its most rigid form Judaism allowed for variations in interpretation; and tradition, and reason both played a significant role in its development. This flexibility in Judaism made unnecessary bitter conflicts between science and religion such as “Inherit the Wind[vi]” now reminds us of on Broadway, and Judaism is able to take the findings of science and to use them rather than quarrel with them.
The emphasis in Judaism has been not on abstract dogma, but rather upon man, and his way of life and his conscience. Judaism has been a faith in which the emphasis has been not upon creed, but upon deed. Not what man believed came first, but what man did. We read from the Torah this very morning that, “The word is nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.[vii]” The doing was all-important and the believing was secondary. And one ancient rabbi even dared picture God as saying, Would that ye would forsake me, if only you would keep my commandments. And, indeed, how much better off this world would have been if through the centuries there had been a greater concern with Godly conduct rather than the creeds that men have professed!
This flexibility in dogma contributed to a second virtue in Judaism, its social insight. The social insight of Judaism is perhaps best reflected in its concept of salvation. Because Judaism was basically tolerant of variation in religious belief, it did not proclaim salvation as the exclusive property of one particular creed. A particular belief did not guarantee salvation of the soul nor did the accident of birth and adherence to a different religious group deny it. Judaism proclaimed rather that the pious of all nations have a share in the world to come[viii]. There were, indeed, special demands upon the Jew but righteous living brought its reward to Jew and non-Jew alike.
The Jewish understanding of salvation is significant for another reason also. Salvation in Judaism is not a self-centered concept. Many other groups teach their followers a concern for their own individual soul in the afterlife. In Judaism salvation has a social emphasis. It is something that concerns not merely the individual alone but humanity as a whole. And it concerns not so much life after death, as man’s victory in this life over human defects, over sinfulness, ignorance, selfishness and all human failings that make for an imperfect society. And it is, furthermore, not something that we sit back and wait for. Salvation comes from God, but it must be achieved also through the effort of man, who must pitch in as copartner with God in wiping out the obstacles which stand in the way of a better humanity and a better world. And it is thus not a “pie in the sky” type of religion.
Because of these achievements of the past, the thought may perhaps arise that Judaism has fulfilled its mission, that there is no religious work left to do that cannot be done equally as well by the faiths that it has already fostered. Since so many people accept monotheism and since we all speak in terms of “Love thy Neighbor[ii],” there is perhaps no longer any specifically Jewish task to be concerned with and no longer any important basic religious difference between Judaism and the other major religions. What differences that exist are surface differences of approach. Ultimately we all arrive at the same goal.
Many of us, accordingly, even those of us who are thoroughly happy in our Judaism and would never make a conscious effort to destroy it, may nevertheless, sometimes feel that if it so happened that Judaism gradually and peacefully did disappear the world would suffer no great religious loss, because its fundamental teachings have been passed on to the future through other religious groups.
The differences that remain, however, between Judaism and other groups may not be overlooked so glibly. There are religious values in Judaism which the world is still sorely in need of, particularly in these critical times, and we as Jews would do well to be aware of them and to proclaim them. Some Jewish leaders even speak in terms of a missionary effort to reach other people who may be spiritually in sympathy with us, and we all ought to have a genuine conviction of the importance of Judaism today in offering a solution, perhaps, to some of the world’s problems and in serving as a liberal faith for men to live by.
The distinctive characteristics of Judaism were once described by Rabbi Joshua Liebman[iii], of blessed memory, as falling into three categories. He said that we might sum up the virtues of the Jewish approach to life in terms of its remarkable theological wisdom, its remarkable social insight, and its remarkable psychological penetration, and I should like to touch briefly on each of these this morning.
The theological wisdom of Judaism may best be seen in its lack of dogmatism. Judaism confesses honestly that finite man cannot know all that there is to know about the infinite God. It recognizes the limitations of human knowledge and permits man to use his reason to continue the search after truth and to become ever more enlightened. The Bible was always an authoritative book in Judaism but even within the Bible there was recognition of the process of growth in religious thinking and changing conceptions of God. Thus Moses is reported to have had a different understanding of God than the Patriarchs. We read in Exodus 6, for example, God spoke unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob as El Shaddai, but my name Adonoy I made me not known unto them. Thus it is reported that a new facet of divinity was revealed to Moses. Each prophet also viewed God from his own perspective, and to Amos He was a god of Justice, to Hosea, a God of Love and to Isaiah of righteousness and compassion. In post Biblical days the rabbis of the Talmud[iv] reinterpreted the Bible in their own manner to the extent that it was said that Moses once came down from heaven and listened to Rabbi Akiba[v] teach in the school and he did not even recognize his own Torah. And after the days of the Talmud came the teaching of the of the religious philosophers and the mystics and today the modernists, all of whom fit into the framework of Judaism without the sectarian fragmentation that characterizes other religious groups. Even in its most rigid form Judaism allowed for variations in interpretation; and tradition, and reason both played a significant role in its development. This flexibility in Judaism made unnecessary bitter conflicts between science and religion such as “Inherit the Wind[vi]” now reminds us of on Broadway, and Judaism is able to take the findings of science and to use them rather than quarrel with them.
The emphasis in Judaism has been not on abstract dogma, but rather upon man, and his way of life and his conscience. Judaism has been a faith in which the emphasis has been not upon creed, but upon deed. Not what man believed came first, but what man did. We read from the Torah this very morning that, “The word is nigh unto thee in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.[vii]” The doing was all-important and the believing was secondary. And one ancient rabbi even dared picture God as saying, Would that ye would forsake me, if only you would keep my commandments. And, indeed, how much better off this world would have been if through the centuries there had been a greater concern with Godly conduct rather than the creeds that men have professed!
This flexibility in dogma contributed to a second virtue in Judaism, its social insight. The social insight of Judaism is perhaps best reflected in its concept of salvation. Because Judaism was basically tolerant of variation in religious belief, it did not proclaim salvation as the exclusive property of one particular creed. A particular belief did not guarantee salvation of the soul nor did the accident of birth and adherence to a different religious group deny it. Judaism proclaimed rather that the pious of all nations have a share in the world to come[viii]. There were, indeed, special demands upon the Jew but righteous living brought its reward to Jew and non-Jew alike.
The Jewish understanding of salvation is significant for another reason also. Salvation in Judaism is not a self-centered concept. Many other groups teach their followers a concern for their own individual soul in the afterlife. In Judaism salvation has a social emphasis. It is something that concerns not merely the individual alone but humanity as a whole. And it concerns not so much life after death, as man’s victory in this life over human defects, over sinfulness, ignorance, selfishness and all human failings that make for an imperfect society. And it is, furthermore, not something that we sit back and wait for. Salvation comes from God, but it must be achieved also through the effort of man, who must pitch in as copartner with God in wiping out the obstacles which stand in the way of a better humanity and a better world. And it is thus not a “pie in the sky” type of religion.
The accomplishments of a society, just as well as those of an individual may be determined to a great extent by the attitude with which it faces its problems, and if we approach our lot with pessimism then we handicap ourselves at the outset in dealing with the challenge that confronts us. If we are to survive the crisis of the atomic age there is a crying need for the tolerance, the concern for our fellowman and the confidence that emanates from Judaism.
And finally the psychological penetration of Judaism is evident from a comparison of Judaism with the patterns that psychiatrists today say makes for mental health among individuals and groups. Judaism seems instinctively to have inclined towards these patterns even in the days before there was any inkling of the science of psychiatry. Psychiatric subjects are complex, and non-experts should hesitate to discuss them, but this relationship of religion to psychiatry was a favorite field of study of Rabbi Liebman whom I previously mentioned and I bring you briefly some of his thoughts on this subject.
Judaism, he points out, has shown psychological wisdom by avoiding doctrines which might make for a sense of guilt or a sense of frustration in man. Judaism, for example, has never espoused as a great virtue the doctrines of “turning the other cheek[x]” or “loving thine enemy[xi].” In Judaism there has always been room for anger as well as love. In Judaism there has been room for righteous indignation as well as profound compassion. This has not been a defect in Judaism as some may be tempted to say. The society at large in which we live theoretically calls for a perfect love in men’s hearts. It has asked men to turn the other cheek and love their enemies and a paradox has resulted. Our own generation has seen not love, but concentration camps and crematories and war. Rabbi Liebman attributes this to the doctrine of unattainable perfectionism, and describes the process as follows. If you tell people that you must achieve perfect, unblemished love, man says to himself, “Superb ideal. I wish I could reach it.” But he cannot reach it because he is merely human with human emotions and imperfections, and therefore, because he cannot reach it he becomes obsessed with guilt in one form or another. The guilt becomes hate. Hate is repressed and then leads to an explosion such as the violence of a decade ago. A society which does not allow any room in the world for the passions and instincts of man begets a split personality and the anger which has not been given a creative outlet breaks out with the savagery that has plagued our civilization. Judaism allows for outrage, for indignation. And righteous indignation is something the world needs more of. Turning the other cheek, after all, is to countenance an injustice.
Nor does Judaism try to repress the normal and natural emotions of man. Judaism does not favor the ascetic. It is man’s obligation to enjoy life, and religious function to help him do it properly. An ancient sage said that “he who sees a legitimate pleasure, and does not avail himself thereof is an ingrate against God who made it possible.” It does not care for frustrated personalities who have withdrawn themselves from life’s battles. Judaism never saw any conflicts between the flesh and spirit. It avoided overemphasizing either but approved of both in proper balance. Man was neither to thwart his body or give in to it, but rather to sanctify it. Marriage was never considered a concession to the flesh, but a sanctification, and love became a high adventure of the human spirit.
All this has not been an outline of Judaism. It has been only brief mention of significant highlights which give you perhaps some indication of the trend of Jewish thinking and which I hope demonstrate the continuing importance of the message of Judaism in the world today. We have only skimmed the surface but I hope it has been sufficient to convince us that Judaism is not just another religion that we have become associated with by accident of birth, but it is rather a philosophy of life and a faith which we must share out of full conviction. In our Torah reading this morning we read, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life that thou mayest live.[xii]” Judaism is life. Let us choose it in pride and joy, and proclaim it as a saving message to the world.
[i] Light Unto
the Nations (Hebrew: אור לגויים, pronounced as "Or LaGoyim"); is a
term originated from the prophet Isaiah which may express the universal
designation of the Jewish People as a mentor for spiritual and moral guidance
for the entire world. "I the Lord have called unto you in righteousness,
and have taken hold of your hand, and submitted you as the people's covenant,
as a light unto the nations" (Isaiah, 42:6)
[ii] Leviticus
19:18 “…thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.” Also quoted
in the New Testament, Mark 12:31, “'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is
no commandment greater than these.”
[iii] Joshua
Loth Liebman (1907-1948) was an American rabbi and best-selling author, best
known for the book Peace of Mind, issued
in 1946, which sought to reconcile religion and psychiatry, and spent more than
a year at #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
[iv] The Talmud
is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic
discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history.
[v] Akiva ben
Joseph (ca.40–ca.137 CE) simply known as Rabbi Akiva was a great authority in
the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential
contributors to the Mishnah, the first
major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions.
[vi] Inherit
the Wind, a play by Jerome Lawrence and
Robert Edwin Lee which debuted in 1955, is a story that fictionalizes the 1925
Scopes "Monkey" Trial which resulted in John T. Scopes' conviction
for teaching Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to a high school science
class, contrary to a Tennessee state law that prohibited the teaching of
evolution.
[vii] Deuteronomy
30:14
[viii] Sanhedrin 105a
[ix] Leo Baeck
(1873-1956) was a 20th century German Rabbi, scholar, and a leader of
Progressive Judaism. “There is only one complete and flawless optimism, and
that is ethical optimism.”— from his best-known work, The Essence of Judaism, 1905.
[x] Turning the
other cheek is a phrase in Christian doctrine that refers to responding to an
aggressor without violence. The phrase originates from the Sermon on the
Mount in the New Testament.
[xi] In the Sermon
on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus
says: “But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them which
hate you.”
[xii]
Deuteronomy 30:19
