Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life

CHAPTER XXIII THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN JEWISH LIFE

CHAPTER XXIII THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN JEWISH LIFE The relation of religion to the rest of Jewish life as conceived by the different Jewish groups-The dichotomy between the natural and the supernatural assumed in NeoOrthodoxy -How the non-orthodox religionists view the divine aspect of realityThe meaning of the God-idea in the group religion-The fallacy in the Reformist conception of the Jewish religion-The fallacy in the Secularist conception-Some illustrations of the Religious-Cultural conception-When religion is vital. IT IS futile to deplore the loss of credal uniformity which marked Jewish life in the past. The number of Jews no longer content to accept unquestionably the religious traditions of their people is definitely on the increase. They insist upon the right to think for themselves. The only limitation to which that right should be subject , if they want to remain Jews, is at least an unqualified acceptance of Jewish survival. No doubt diversity of belief will put a strain on Jewish unity, but, on the other hand, without the recognition of the right to differ Jewish unity would be disrupted. "A controversy which is for the sake of heaven," say the Sages, "will in the end lead to permanent results." A controversy in which the parties credit one another with well meaning purposes is bound to lead to constructive thinking and fruitful effort. From the standpoint of the relation of religion to the rest of life, Jews who take an affirmative attitude toward Jewish survival may be divided into four distinct groups whose philosophies of Judaism are herewith given in outline form. A. The Neo-Orthodox I. The Jews have been in possession of a written and an oral Torah supernaturally revealed to the Israelites through Moses in the course of their journeying to the Promised Land. 2. Only those truths which are supernaturally revealed by God to man constitute true religion. 3. The Jewish differentia must consist henceforth, as it did hitherto, in the possession and cultivation of the religion supernaturally revealed at Sinai. 31I 312 JUDAISM AS A CIVILIZATION B. The Reformists I. In the past the Jewish differentia consisted of a distinctive national-cultural life and a unique religion. 2. The national-cultural life was bound up with Palestine and gave rise to a distinctive Jewish civilization. 3. In that civilization the element of religion as the sum of beliefs and practices which center about the relation of man to God developed into ethical monotheism. 4. Though the element of religion was until modern times closely associated with the national-cultural life of the Jews, it achieved sufficient content of its own to be worthy of being fostered in its own right. s..Now that emancipation makes it necessary for the Jews to surrender their national-cultural life, they can dispense with the cultural elements of their heritage and retain only the element of religion. 6. The Jewish differentia is henceforth to take the form of the historically evolved religion of ethical monotheism. C. The Secular-Culturists The Secular-Culturists agree with the Reformists in the first three propositions. But they add the following: 4. Now that the enlightenment has taught us to regard religion either as superfluous or as a matter to be left entirely to the individual, the Jews should cultivate their national life along secular lines. S. The Jewish differentia is henceforth to take the form of secularized national culture. D. The Religious-Culturists* The Religious-Culturists agree with the Reformists in the first three propositions, but add the following: 4. Religion and national-cultural life are so integrally related to each other as to be unable to function separately. S. The emancipation and enlightenment have necessitated many changes in both concurrently. 6. The Jewish differentia is henceforth to take the form of a historically evolved civilization which is to reckon with the social and spiritual needs of the Jews as individuals and as a national entity. It is evident from the foregoing outline that the point at issue is the nature of religion and its relation to the rest of human life. • The group which is at present emerging and whose conception of Judaism it is the purpose of this book to crystallize. THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN JEWISH LIFE 313 The principal division of opinion is that between the Neo-Orthodox group, on the one hand, and the three non-orthodox groups, on the...