Wednesday, August 29, 2007
WHAT CONSTITUTES JUDAISM TODAY ?
Since we see that our pope has knighted Rabbi Leon Klenicki, knowing what Jews believe would seem to be an important key to understanding who the pope is honoring. One cannot read of such events in the news without becoming curious about the Jewish faith.
First off, a Catholic assumes that Judaism is Biblical Judaism, the roots of our Catholic faith. We note that the God we worship who took human form came to earth as the son of a Jewish woman, and foster son of a Jewish man. We see that throughout the Old Testament Jewish prophetic utterance predicted His coming. This pre-disposes us to accept the teachings of Nostra Aetate. The Holocaust draws us in compassion to open our hearts to the Jews. We assume that the Jews believe what is written in the Old Testament, and that thus we share, at least partially, one faith.
An article, sent in by a reader, linked at Spirit Daily recently, titled "More Jews Raising Children as 'Nothing in Particular'" presents a rather different picture. The article is a review of a book by Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal, Executive Director of the National Council of Synagogues. The book is titled WHAT CAN A MODERN JEW BELIEVE? It is written for the contemporary Jew and outlines the core beliefs of Judaism. It was written because
Increasing numbers of Jews are marrying and raising their children outside the faith. Even some Jewish scholars suggest that ethnicity, community, or culture--rather than religion--defines a Jew.
How does one go about interreligious dialogue with Judaism when the Jews do not believe in religion? Does this little-known fact account for the heavy emphasis on community in the modern American Catholic Church, to the detriment of worship of God?
I've said it repeatedly, Judaism is not monolithic. Some Jews believe very strongly in their traditional religion. Others have taken a much more secular approach to religion. Some are into a sort of non-denominational Judaism that can accommodate Buddhism and other faiths.
A reader sent in a link to Volume 10, No. 3, 2005 of the "Middle East Fertility Society Journal" in which Sherman J. Silber, M.D. discusses the Jewish faith. He presents some statistics about the divisions:
For most Jews, Judaism is not well defined.
There are three main branches to Judaism:
"Orthodox," "Conservative," and "Reformed."
Only about 10% of Jews worldwide are Orthodox,
and only Orthodox Judaism is quite well defined.
Approximately 85% of Jews worldwide are
"Reformed," and these Jews are, for the most part,
secular. About 5% of Jews are "Conservative,"
which is a sort of a hybrid between Orthodox and
Reformed Judaism. Thus, with the exception of
Orthodox Jews (10%), most Jews would have a
very difficult time defining their belief system. In
fact, Orthodox Jews often define themselves as
"religious" Jews so as to distinguish themselves
from the other 90% (Reformed and Conservative)
who are viewed by the Orthodox as ethnic and
historical Jews, but who are not following the
traditional Jewish religion. Thus, to simplify the
discussion of Judaism and modern reproductive
technology, it is much easier to concentrate on the
more clearly defined "Orthodox" branch of
Judaism since it has the most severe set of rules.
Should one assume that Nostra Aetate applies only to 10% of Judaism? Are the Jews who have received a Papal Knighthood all Hasids?
There is also a developing sort of religion that is coming out of Judaism and embracing a non-denominational approach. New York's "The Jewish Week", 12/29/2006 reported it in an article titled "Kabbalah: The Newest Denomination?" Of particular interest to me in the article is the following:
Some 100 scholars, teachers, students and practitioners of Kabbalah gathered at a seaside hotel here in an attempt to make sense of Kabbalah’s explosion in popularity. Their only clear agreements were that the phenomenon is incontrollable, that it will continue to grow at breakneck speed, and that it will always be controversial. “We live in the recommendation age,” said Rabbi Yakov Travis, whose Cleveland-based Tiferet Institute sponsored the day-and-a-half conference last week. “There’s so much Kabbalah information out there. There’s more than you can imagine. All we can do is provide guidance.”
To varying degrees, most at the “Kabbalah for the Masses” conference favored Kabbalah’s wide dissemination, although they disagreed over the manner in which it is occurring and the degree to which it should be tied to mainstream rabbinic Judaism....
In an interview, Rabbi Travis, a professor at Cleveland’s Siegal College of Judaic Studies, cautioned that if the mainstream Jewish community continues to reject the Kabbalah Centre outright – even as many Jews in the United States, Israel and elsewhere continue to takes its classes and read its books – there is a risk of spawning “another offshoot of Judaism, like Christianity.”
“We must find a way to keep the Kabbalah Centre -- and Jews into Kabbalah in New Age and other settings -- within the community. This can’t be ignored,” he said.
Rabbi Berg’s appearance was the conference’s dramatic highpoint. A distant second was the joint appearance via computer hookups of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Jewish Renewal’s unofficial spiritual leader, and Rabbi Arthur Green, the former Reconstructionist Rabbinical College dean who now heads the “transdenominational” Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Newton Centre, Mass. ...
Kabbalah, he [Rabbi Green] said, is Judaism’s version of what is commonly referred to as the perennial philosophy that crosses religious boundaries.
Tiferet Institute, sponsor of the conference, a Cleveland enterprise founded in 2006 by Rabbi Dr. Yakov Travis, which evolved from Rabbi Travis' organization, Ruach Cleveland, bills itself as a global network, and offers to teach Jewish Spirituality to all comers via the internet. The fall lineup of classes includes "Introduction to Kabbalah: History, Mystery & Essence", "Kabbalistic Mussar: Insights from 'The Palm Tree of Deborah'", and "Kabbalah & The Feminine".
If the Kabbalah teaches channeling of angels, what does this trend foretell for the future of America?
