At times, I believe, the Orthodox world loses sight of what is happening in the general Jewish community. We have a certain vision of the non-Orthodox and relate to them through this perception. While this perception may have been more correct in the past, it may be totally inappropriate today. The question, of course, is what to do. Clearly our first step is to correct our perceptions so that we truly understand the greater world of those who identify as Jews. It is then that we can determine how to relate.
In this spirit, I direct you to the following article on CNN.com.
http ://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/28/increasing-diversity-redefining-americas-jewry/?hpt=hp_c2
I would then direct you to the link it presents to Be'chol Lashon -- and read between the lines.
In the end, you have to conclude that, in this world, what makes someone Jewish is simply that they call themselves a Jew. (Maybe, one also has to not believe in Jesus but that may also be changing. Although this article does not mention it, there are some, albeit still weak, voices out there advocating, under the platform of pluralism and diversity, that Jews for Jesus should also be accepted into the fold.) When we look at the gerut issue, we believe that we are advocating for one set of standards over another set of standards being advocated by the non-Orthodox. What we don't recognize is that the real argument that we are confronting is not a different set of standards but the absence of standards. To the world, if you call yourself a Jew and you sort of identify thereby with the Jewish community (however loose that definition may be), that's enough. Not only that you get diversity.
Also take note how a negative view of intermarriage that there will be people who challenge a view against intermarriage because of racism for thereby you are distinguishing one person from another based upon some grouping. That challenge, however, can be met with a reference to religion and an argument that one is simply promoting the faith and encouraging members to marry other members who share their beliefs and convictions. But in this article, because the intermarriage cited is one between a European and an Asian, the discrimination is presented as a discrimination against Asians thus changing the whole tenor of the issue. By being against intermarriage, you are portrayed as being against inter-racial marriages and then you are open to easy attack. Diversity becomes a further banner for no standards in any definition of a Jew.
The real question for us is what will be in 25 years (absence the coming of the Mashiach)..
Rabbi Ben Hecht
2 comments:
There is a practical reason for loosening the definition of Judaism - numbers of authentic Jews are declining. There used to be 6 million Jews that everyone could agree were Jewish in the US. Today I'm told that number is under 4 million and dropping. The only reason it hasn't been lower is because of patrilineal descent, Reform conversions and this whole "I'm Jewish because I think I am".
And with all this happening, do you wonder why the Chareidim want such stringent background checks?
The real question is how to deal with this. They are not going away so we will have a reality of people calling themselves Jewish who halachically really aren't and what is even more problematic who the majority of Jews now think are.
A similar problem, although in many ways still different, emerged with the Karaites and it seems that the Sephardic approach was to relate to them while the Ashkenazic approach was to maintain distance to the extent of even declaring them all mamzerim and thus not able to really enter the klal even if they converted. While indeed there are many differences between that case and the present one, what it still shows is that unity at any price was not clearly accepted.
Rabbi Ben Hecht
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