From eden@siftac.easynet.co.ukTue Aug 29 20:01:29 1995 Date: Sun, 27 Aug 1995 12:41:40 +0100 From: Roger Eden To: hj@teleport.com Subject: A Reformation for Judaism through SHJ? I have been working on a declaration of principles, after all Luther nailed his principles to the door of the cathedral at Worms and the Protestant Reformation ensued. Reform Judasim has the Pittsburgh Platform (since heavily modified), I have an ambition that SHJ also manages something similar. This is my attempt at a draft for what might be the London Platform. It would be very helpful to get some thoughtful feedback, even to tell me that it is rubbish. I really feel a need to reach out to the community at large. Perhaps John Klein's postings reflect a frustration with what he perceives as too much reaching in, and insufficient reaching out. Can this form a part of reaching out? THE DRAFT LONDON PLATFORM 1. On being Jewish Every day, on television, we can discover new countries, peoples, cultures, languages and traditions. Individuals in each group may not share a common country or language with other members. The group is defined by the strength of belonging, and amongst these ethnic groups, few can compare with the strength of belonging that Jews have between each other. Being human, almost always involves belonging to some group of humans, and we belong to that group known as Jews. Historically the Jews as a people, did not build great structures, conquer great empires, or make great scientific discoveries (although individual Jews have made great contributions in all these endeavours amongst other peoples). The Jews did create a great code of ethics. A code that included a continuing search for rules of behaviour, and the rules that were adopted were sometimes so elegant, so precise that they formed good law, because there was no doubt over meaning, and they became adopted world-wide. It is almost impossible to avoid belonging to some group. Jews already belong, and have made a great contribution to other groups. Each group, with all the diversities of cultures, brings richness to the world. Unlike many other groups it is difficult to exercise choice in being Jewish, for if there is any meaning to the "Chosen People", we do not do the choosing. We can however, choose to be proud of being Jewish, and to behave in ways that make us proud. To quote from a Barmitzva Celebration from America "My people is not chosen: it is unique - as every people is unique". 2. Halakhah The Halakhah is the set of rules which defines Judaism, based on written and oral tradition, and based on the Torah (what is often called the Old Testament). The word Halakhah stems from the Hebrew to walk forward. At the height of "going forward" Halakhah was concerned with how to behave. Most of the literal rules are no longer applied by anyone, history and culture have moved on. We are no longer the agricultural or nomadic people of the Old Testament, requiring rules relating to agricultural practice, which itself has been replaced over the centuries by new methods. We still keep land fallow every seven years (Shnat shmitta) by pretending to sell the Jewish land of Israel to an Arab (and renting it back for the year), although rotation of crops has made this practice, agriculturally unnecessary for a thousand years. Unnecessary law invites disrespect, and causes some of our people to wander, to consider not being Jews, to believe, sometimes with tragic consequences, that they have ceased to be Jews. Today the Jews almost uniquely amongst ethnic groups, are a completely urbanised people, with little need of Agricultural rules, particularly ones that have been out of date for more than a thousand years. Historically the rules were enforced as religious rules, to be obeyed because it was divinely ordained. These ordained rules brought comfort in faith, the comfort that comes from acts of loyalty. They brought strength from dogma, that flows from unquestioning obedience. We should be careful of any path that leads us to be less civilised and less human. Some Theist philosophy (particularly non Jewish) considers that as God is not human, therefore to be closer to God means divesting themselves of human behaviour - abstaining from sexual relationships, blindly following rules, accepting without question that they have the one true path, and all else is false. People who have lost their ability to decide their behaviour or their thoughts for themselves, who rely on ready made solutions, run the risk of losing their humanity, and making themselves like all else in nature, things caused to move by events outside of themselves. The path of civilisation is harder to follow. Civilised society stems from the constant consideration of others. It is a continuing search. This is the true tradition we inherit from our Ancestors. The Jews claim their beginnings from the story of Abraham who overturned the belief in the stone idols of his father - Terah. Does questioning end with Abraham? If he had not questioned his father's beliefs would there be a people known as Jews? Abraham's descendants would have gone the way of other Biblical people. Abraham, Moses, The Prophets were concerned with how people should behave towards each other. The road is not fixed. It changes with the facts. We believe that we should continue this tradition we inherit from our ancestors. That would be in the true spirit of the Halakhah. 3. Understanding Judaism Today Biblical writers relied on a pre-scientific understanding of the world. In this scheme of things so many unknowns became manageable with the certainty of faith. Science has neither proved nor disproved religious claims, but they have made humility a more attractive option, and the certainty of belief (for instance that the world was created about six thousand years ago), a superfluous option. With the humility to say "I don't know"; an exciting voyage of discovery begins The Universe can be studied without reference to the biblical God, and the Universe itself proceeds as though no such God exists. In almost every Century of recorded history, our people were part of the human drama. Sometimes we were spectators of the grand events. Sometimes we were participants. Sometimes we were victims. There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin, Moscow, London and Paris were forest and swamp, there was a thriving Jewish Community in Jerusalem. We gave something to the world - nominally adopted by every other nation on earth - a humane moral code. The history, culture and traditions form the fabric of our sense of belonging. We can express these feelings through the celebration of our history and culture, and our pride in the specific contributions we have made as Jews to the course of human history. We celebrate our Jewish identity as part of an extended family whose shared history is commemorated in beautiful holiday celebrations. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Succoth, Chanukah, Purim, and Passover enable us to renew our relationship with our past and with one another while affirming the significance of universal values - freedom, peace, integrity, creativity, and love. The celebration of important turning points in a person's life enriches our existence as human beings and as Jews. The birth of a child, coming of age, marriage, and death all present opportunities for family and community to share the emotions and articulate the values that make life meaningful Israel has shown the way, in the development of a vibrant lifestyle for Jews. Judaism must rise to the task of bringing this excitement, this strength of purpose, this pride to Diaspora Jewry. The experience of Israel needs to be emulated for Diaspora Jewry, but it cannot be merely duplicated. The development of an Humanistic Judaism is an exciting task, strengthening bonds, developing integrity and humanity, and ensuring Jewish Continuity. 4. God In the Bible it tells how Abraham's experience and feelings led him to a concept of God. When, years later, the concept became separate from the original experience and feelings, it lost its reality, and becomes a device to play with in our more modern mind. God is an inner experience and feeling as expressed by Abraham with all the knowledge available to Bronze Age man. Today we might express such feelings differently. Many people today continue to have experiences of a God, but by no means everyone. God is one of many different poetic expressions of the highest values in Humanism - but not an external reality in itself. There is an increasing tendency to find the concepts of God - beyond belief. We are witness to overwhelming suffering of innocent human beings, and of unspeakable evil. Yet the All Powerful, All Merciful, perfectly loving God of religious liturgy is either not merciful and permits evil, or not powerful enough to exercise mercy, or simply not loving. These are just some of the concepts of God that do not make rational sense with today's experience of the world. Sometimes we are asked to accept that the concept of God is - beyond human understanding, but this would still require some feeling of God, otherwise it would be an irrational belief. Ultimately not everyone feels the presence of a God. Throughout human history, societies have functioned well with or without a biblical God. We cannot judge the value of a belief on the basis of strength of belief, but by the behaviour of the believers. Just because someone feels strongly about something, doesn't mean that they are correct. Just because many people feel the same way does not make their feelings more correct. We should expect others to judge us by the way we behave, not by the way we think or feel. Amongst the great Theistic religions, Judaism concentrates more than others on how to behave, than on how to think. All behaviour should serve human needs. That is the teaching of the Torah. Religious Judaism claims that we have equal obligations to God and to Man. Is it possible that we can judge how well, how sincerely a person fulfils his obligations to God? Surely this is entirely personal and certainly between them and God. However on our obligations to our fellow man, we can, we should and we do judge each other. Perhaps many religious people in the world feel that they are fulfilling their obligations to God, who can judge? All too many seem to be a little less scrupulous in their obligations to their fellow human beings. 5. Torah About two thousand years ago Rabbi Hillel was asked by a heathen to explain the whole Torah "whilst standing one leg". Hillel rose above the sarcasm and answered "Don't do to anyone else what you would not want them to do to you - all the rest of the Torah is commentary - Go and study". 6. Israel The creation of the State of Israel has been the major influence of the Jewish people world wide since 1948. Religious revival has taken place in all known religions but for the Jews, the founding of Israel is unique. Our Language lives and native Hebrew speakers can read 2,000 year old texts with greater ease than native English speakers can read Shakespeare. This has led to a flourishing of Modern Jewish literature (rather than general literature written by Jews). In fact to an unleashing of great energy in all areas of Jewish culture. Israel was founded by the most traumatised people this Century, yet still managed to establish a country reaching levels of civilised behaviour unmatched by most other modern countries, and this has been achieved in the face of extremely hostile opposition which almost no other modern country experiences, from neighbouring regimes with alternative views of civilised behaviour. Israeli Secular society has enabled Jews to express their Judaism in culture and ethical behaviour, that "goes forward" in the true sprit of the Halakhah. 7. Jews in the Diaspora Jews in the Diaspora have more limited options at present than the dynamic Judaism of Israeli society. Judaism in the Diaspora is limited to competing, mutually hostile forms of Rabbinic Judaism, which poses a threat to Jewish Continuity in the Diaspora, whilst a return to Humanistic values would breathe new life into the Diaspora, and bring us closer to the spirit of our Ancestors. We all want our children to understand the beliefs and behaviour of their forbears. We want our children to learn the real history of a real people. We want our children to develop their own convictions honestly - on the basis of knowledge. Most importantly, we want our children to have a philosophy of life that will serve them now and in the future. Therefore we should teach the entire range of Jewish experience, past and present - literature, personalities, events, and culture - so that we will achieve an accurate understanding of our identity as Jews and Humanists. We also need to learn skills that promote dignity and happiness. These skills - self reliance, co-operation, generosity, and rationality are as important as academic skills. They are not instinctive; they are acquired. They are nurtured through Humanistic Jewish education. Surely, we want to continue to be a "light unto the Nations". We will be proud, and we will once again bask in the admiration of the rest of the World. The World needs us to return to the true spirit of our Ancestors, almost as much we need to do so for ourselves. We should cease the fight between different factions claiming authentic Judaism, and establish an open Judaism that enables vibrant exciting expression to all Jews, but especially to the increasing number of Humanistic and Secular Jews. We should seek to create for the Diaspora, what Israel has done for the Israelis. A community in which we can be born, married, buried, counselled, and bring up our children; religious belief is an independent and personal choice, but is currently excluding a growing number. This is surely an aim that genuinely justifies a "messianic" purpose in us all. ............................................................ NOTE: The following is a separate subsequent statement from Roger and not part of the previous one. It is included here as it is related; ed. From: eden@siftac.easynet.co.uk (Roger Eden) Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 10:03:48 +0100 Subject: HJ/ Basic principles - discussion points As a consequence of disagreement on some political issues, we seem to have accepted that we can have differences of opinion - with which I agree; but almost to the point where there is no basic philosophy, with which I do not agree. I therefore make some suggestions for discussion, with the aim that there must be some basic Humanist principles that are Jewish, that both guide us and are our contribution to the world. Apologies that I can't make this into a short soundbite! 1. Hillel's dictum - do unto others..... so when we talk of others it should be in terms we would like them to talk about us, in disagreement perhaps, but without anger, indignance, derision, with respect and understanding. Not all postings have written about others in a way that we would welcome about ourselves. 2. Consistency - one of a number of principles I derive from the way the 10 commandments were formulated, i.e. they don't say - Don't Murder, but it all depends... - our attitude to Cuba and China should be based on the same criteria, and so should it with Israel and Palestine, where it definitely is not! In fact like any other group, we display a number of ethnocentric attitudes. 3. Charity/Tsdakkah, the English word comes from the Latin for heart and means that you have a disposition to relieve the wants of others, bound up with wanting to do some good, whereas the Hebrew word, comes from Justice. A simple anecdote to explain - two bankers exit from a Wall Street office and pass someone homeless and begging, it is the week before Christmas, one says, gee, I'd like to help but I have no cash, the other says - You Bum, go and get a decent job, but donates 10% of his salary to causes each January. One is a more traditionally Jewish attitude than the other! We have been educated within the Western Christian tradition and have a tendency to think that Charity stems from feeling sorry. The Jewish view is not better/worse, just different! Many of the Prophets talked about doing Justice and walking humbly i.e. Micah 6,8. 4. Precision, again from the 10. Where we can we should strive for rules, criteria, consequences that are easy to understand, and unequivocal in their meaning. 5. Consequence. As humanists we are concerned with the consequence of all of our actions, so we cannot say that we do something because it is so ordained, but because the consequence is desirable. 6. Behaviour. Maimonides (RamBam) talks a lot about behaviour, in an anecdote about Moses, for instance, who asks God what are his attributes and the reply is - my actions. We judge ourselves and everyone else, by behaviour, and we judge beliefs, thoughts, creeds, by the behaviour of the adherents. The fact that many believe in some fashion, or that they believe very strongly, or that the belief has been held for a long time, is not material, only behaviour should govern judgement. (and clearly people are free to think what they want). This has been quite a powerful argument for me, with many religious people struggling to explain how you can adhere to some philosophy and behave badly. 7. God, for most of us an irrelevant discussion, but things might be easier for us if we understood our literary heritage as a search for humanist principles, in which God is merely a poetic expression of such principles. In Maimonides Guide to the Perplexed, he says that man's goal is to become fully human...and to me it is clear that for him God is an expression of a behavioural goal, expressed in medieval thinking. God is also a feeling (quite strong in some cases) that many people experience. It is simply this talk of an external reality that is such a rational absurdity. We have a tendency to throw it all out, because we don't like the ubiquitous (but flawed) understanding of the text. 8. Responsibility to interprete. Clearly even the most extremely orthodox interpret the text, they do not take them literally. The debate, is not on whether things need to constantly be interpreted - they clearly are, and this would permit us to make an interpretation for ourselves. The test being, are the consequences and behaviour that emanate from our interpretation more or less desirable. A good example is the passage on Leprosy - (Leviticus 13) a rather gruesome diagnosis and treatment for Leprosy, which we know to be medically useless. Fortunately we have interpreted this passage for a long time, so although quite explicitly about leprosy, all rabbis (and I mean all), understand this as an allegory about psychosomatic illness - talk badly about others and you'll suffer. Pity they don't apply this to themselves! I don't think that so many years thinking about behaviour has not resulted in some wisdom, and for instance another understanding of Charity would not be adrift in this modern world. Otherwise, it would be like abandoning all folk medicine, and relying purely on the Laboratory, in which case we wouldn't have aspirin. In general the list has been more concerned with tactics than strategy (I have been quite guilty). To explain the difference, strategy is the art of grabbing a man by his private parts, tactics is knowing when to squeeze. It is also inherent in Anglo-Saxon culture to be adversarial, spectacularly seen in litigation. Roman Law, as practised in Europe (not Britain - which is also Anglo-Saxon) doe not pit people against each other in the same way. Maybe we would be more part of Judaism, if we were less adversarial, it doesn't have to affect our thinking, only our behaviour? We seem to let our behaviour as humanists affect our thinking, leading us to be more rejectionist than is really required - that's Cognitive Dissonance at work! Apologies if I've bored you. Roger Eden eden@siftac.easynet.co.uk