Jewish Identity in an Individual Age: A Theoretical Analysis of Interpersonal Religious Connections and Commitments

"Among its many functions, political theory opens discussion and engagement and forces people to confront their political beliefs and practices."¹

Over the course of their history, Jews have operated within a variety of political contexts. These experiences have generated a rich body of political thought that tends to focus on wide-scale frameworks such as State, Nation, Peoplehood, etc. In a religious era that is described by many as the "age of the individual," i.e., the age of religious independence, authenticity, and freethinking, it seems reasonable to expand the boundaries of Jewish political thought by looking at the issue of Jewish political contexts from the micro rather than the macro point of view.² Therefore, this study will focus on small-scale social religious associations.³ What kinds of relationships constitute these interactions? How do participants interpret them? What, if any, effect do they have on the way Jewish religiosity is experienced?

To answer these questions regarding interpersonal religious engagements, we will adhere to Gordon Schochet's suggestion to apply political tools and definitions as a means to open discussion about beliefs, practices, and engagements. Focusing mainly on the atomistic-relational debate (concepts we shall further develop below) we will utilize this perspective to obtain insights into the characteristics of micro Jewish/religious associations. Consequently, this exploration will provide us with more than just a mere taxonomy with which we can better analyze Jewish/religious connections. Alongside the development of an analytical tool for studying different approaches to the conflicting impulses of communal tradition and modern individualism, our analysis strives to offer a reformulation of the interpretive foundations of Jewish identity. In an individualistic age, in which many define religion/Judaism in primarily individualistic terms, our notions of what constitutes Jewishness must accommodate the twenty-first century's Jewish experience. Hopefully, this study will provide an opportunity to rethink concepts such as private, common, communal, etc., and draw attention to the pivotal part micro bonds and associations play in current Jewish life.

Interpersonal Religious Interactions in an Individual Age

We believe in the dignity, indeed the sacredness, of the individual. Anything that would violate our right to think for ourselves, judge for ourselves, make our own decisions, live our lives as we see fit, is not only morally wrong, it is sacrilegious.⁴

Individual religiosity, one of the central trends of the twenty-first century's religiosity, focuses above all else on the individual's private religious life and conscience, thus endowing her with great power (as well as the responsibility) to shape and make sense of her own religious experience.⁵ Accordingly, it is the individual, rather than an outside person or establishment, who ought to determine the nature of God/Higher Reality,⁶ her duties toward that God/Higher Reality, and what practices necessarily follow.⁷ Otherwise, there is no relevance or authenticity, and therefore no validity or value, to her religious experience. How, or even why, do we discuss interactions, connections, and commitments in such an individual environment?

Although the individual-oriented approach recognizes the inner realm as the main religious arena, it does not necessarily understand religiosity as a hidden and exclusive experience. Accordingly, albeit its tendencies toward seclusion, it will include (in most cases) external aspects that introduce otherness, publicness, and socialization to the private religious experience.⁸ Therefore, it can be claimed that even though individual religiosity/Jewishness is indeed oriented inward, it is not a project of solitude confined within the intimate sphere exclusively comprising the individual and her God. Let us consider these outer aspects and the influence they might have on our understanding of Jewish connections and commitments.

A Functionalist Approach to Jewish/Religious Connections and Commitments

We can speak of common space when people come together in a common act of focus for whatever purpose, be it ritual, the enjoyment of a play, conversation, or the celebration of a major event. Their focus is common, as against merely convergent, because it is part of what is commonly understood that they are attending to, the common object or...