Thursday, March 1,1990 - THE BULLETIN — 5
Jewish Way
By ARNOLD AGES
Ever since the time of Saadia Gaon and his classic defense of Judaism, The Book of Beliefs and Opinions — which appeared in the year 933 — rabbis and scholars have been composing treatises in which'they expound on the beliefs and practices of Judaism. The other great Jewish manual from the past is Joseph Cavo^ Shulkhan Amkh (1555), the definitive codification of Jewish law as interpreted by a master Talmudist.
Never, however, has there been such an explosion in this genre as within the past two decades — which have seen the publication of scores of volumes in English alone dealing with the contours of Judaism. Many reasons have been offered to explain this phenomenon: pervasive Jewish ignorance, the quest for ultimate answers about birth and death, the problem of evil or the challenge of anti-Semitism. Some have suggested that the proliferation of intermarriagehas also been a spur to thegrowthof this particular kind of book. ~
The books selected for review here are suggestive of the general shape of this literature; they do not exhaust the titles available because, for one reason, new titles seem to be appearing weekly.
Abraham Bloch*s treatise has the distinction of providing strong historical background material for every holiday and festival described. If one is desirous of learning about Talmudic of Midrashic antecedents of contemporary practices, this is the best source. The Shaiom Zachar, the celebration of the birth of a son on the first Friday night aft^r the birth, is based says the author, on a festival mentioned in the Talmud called Yeshua Haben — the salvation of the son {BabaKama
Heieaiter
ATreasuryof Spiritual Wisdom from the Bible to Our Time
Lionel Blue and. JonathanMagonet
SOa)!" While it was discbntinued In the post-Talmudic age, it reaippeared in the Middle Ages and was approved by the Rema (16th century) in his annotations to the Shulkhan Arukh{ Yoreh Dea 265.11) (3). The thoroughness exhibited here is typical of the approach taken by Rabbi Bloch.
Although Hayim Halevy Donin*s Tb Be A Jew does not purport to be as exhaustive as Bloch*s manual, his text has a charm of its own — which must explain why Basic Books has decided, 17 years after its first publication, to bring out a new edition. Donin died tragically at a very young age after making aliyah, but his literary legacy has earned him posthumous fame.
In his guide Donin tried to provide the learned arid the beginner with basic ingredients in the Jewish life style and he did this by supplying basic information about beliefs and practices. It should not be thought, however, that Donin*s book lacks philosophical profundity.
Here is what thesays about belief in G-d: "Not only is man finite physically, but his perceptual and intellectual abilities are also finite. If G-d were part of the framework of man's five physical senses, such a Gnd would have to be someone or sdme-, thing more restricted than the omnipotent, the omnipresent Spiritual Being in whom we express.our faith. Such a "G-d" would be reduced to the finite, thus capable of being altered and transformed by man, even killed and destroyed.** 1 Mainiionides couldn't have said it better. •
Lionel Blue and Jonathan Magonet are two English liberal rabbis who have collaborated on a compendium of Jewish responses to the perplexing problems of life. Organized along completely different lines from the conventional guide to Jewish belief and practice, this text brings together pithy sayings from the Bible, Talmud and modern sources, especially Chassidic ones, in order to excavate religious sensitivities.
Using rubrics such as the "business of life,*' "going home,** "riddles,** "the religious quest,** Blue and Magonet furnish apt quotations that point up the paradoxes of Jewish life. The following is a sample of the excellent fare which the authors have culled for this text: "The Baal Shem Tov once refused to enter a certain synagogue because he said it was too fu|l of prayer. Noting his followers' astonishment at his attitude, he explained that so many routine insincere prayers were uttered there that they could not rise to the heavenly throne and stayed on earth, cramming the synagogue full.*'
Those who were involved in those insincere prayers were laboring under certain misconceptions about their efficacy. That is but one of the numerous misconceptions that invade Jewish life, according to Ottawa-based Rabbi Reuven Bulka who reached the number 341 as he enumerated the errors he had encountered among even learned Jews. He has divided those misconceptions into 12 categories relating to personal conduct, Jewish law, food taboos and ethical questions.
How does Rabbi Bulka deal with the problem of evil in his treatise? Under the misconception rubric he provides the following statement: "The belief in evil spirits or demons is an irrational superstition.**
In response he says that modern minds have difficulty understanding this weird notion, yet it may not be as irrational as first imagined. It is common, for example for us to say that an individual is "possessed.** The manic-depressive often exhibits tnis syndrome. "The terminologies are different but the ideas are the same. The idea of a demon needing to be exorcised^ is in modern parlance, a depression that must be cured by therapy. A goodtherapist will be able hopSfffUy to "ex6rcise**^a depression.
a depression being a foreign, demon-like force that enters the system, terrorizes it, and eventually overwhelms it.*'
Bulka, who holds a Ph.D in psychology, shows great creative and scholarly talent in his exegesis of Jewish inisconceptions.
Talent of another kind is found in David Gross's primer on Jewish custom and practice. As a former journalist with The Jewish Week of New York City, Gros& has the journalist's gift for snappy writing, good use of anecdote and interesting approaches. He even has some very profound things to say about traditional Jewish indifference towards art.
Bloch, Abraham. The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonii^s (Ktav. 402 Pages. U.S. $8.95); Donin, Hayim Halevy. To Be A Jew. A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life (Basic. 336 Pages. US. $24.85); Blue, Lionel and Magonet, Jonathan. The Jewish Guide To The Here and Hereafter (Collier Macmillan. 226 Pages. $26.50); Bulka, Reuven. What You Thought You Knew About Judaism: 341 Common Misconceptions About Jewish Life (Jason Aronson. 436 Pages. $30.00); Gross, David C. How To Be Jewish (Hippocrene. 198 Pages. U.S. $14.95); Kurshan, ° Neil. Raising Your Child To Be A Mensch (Atheneum. Ill Pages. U.S.$14.95); Wine,SherwinT. Celebration:A Ceremonial and Philosophic Guide for Humanists and Humanistic Jews (Prometheus. 439 Pages. U.S. $24.95); Neusner, Jacob. The Enchantments of Judaism: Rites of Transformation From Birth Through Death (Basic. 224 Pages. U.S. $15.95); Greenberg, Irving. The Jewish Way: Living The Holidays (Summit. 463 Pages. U.S. $22.95); Fackenheim, Emil L. What is Judaism? (Summit. J20 Pages. U.S. $15.95).
Judaism, he says is not a closed chapter or a finished book; it is rather an ongoing process, a cycle of changes, maturation and development. Art, however, has a finality to it. When the painter or sculptor finishes his work, he is finished. Being a Jew, however, is never finished. Perfection is always over the horizon, unattainable. Thejob of perfecting the world — tikun olam — is incompatible with the idea of finitude and completion that is part of the artistic vocation. That is a highly unconventional but insightful explanation of Gross's part.
Some of the same anecdotal style arid pithy commentary th^t is found in Gross's manual is also a feature of Neil Kurshan*s small but highly interesting guide to being a mensch. The New York Times reported several years ago that this book came into existence because a publisher's representative happened to be present when Rabbi Kurshen was giving a sermon on the theme of being SL mensch. The result of this delightful volume which is fuliof Jewish wisdom on child-rearing. The adage from Abraham Joshua Heschel — "When I was young I admired clever people. Now that lam old I admire kind people," — is Kur-shan's motto in this book.
Teaching by example, says Kirshan is indispensable-in
contains some deeply moving ideas about community and the need for a sense of belonging.
Like the Blue-Magonet guide. Wine's contains thematic treatments of issues such as happiness, equality, growing up, anti-Semitism, Jewish survival, self-respect, loye reason and maturity. On the question of self-respect Wine writes: "Self-respect is never a given. It is always an achievement. Neither the flattery of friends nor the reassurance of family will give us the feeling of self-worth. Neither the counselling of therapists nor the comforts of religion will elevate our dignity. Self-esteem is the child of competence. It is the offspring of personal skill. If we think we are unable to help ourselves or to help others, we cannot respect ourselves."
While there is considerable merit in all the manuals and guides explored to this point it must be understood that the level of discourse in all of them is directed at a popular audience. Therefore each of the authors has had to sacrifice some depth in the^ interests of reaching the widest possible public. There is nothing invidious in this and the books in question can be of great value — if they lead the reader toa higher plateau in his Jewish consciousness.
Some of the more recently published manuals on Judaism do just that but they require an effort of concentration that goes beyond the normal
Jacob Neusner's The Enchantments of Judaism is thus more than a conventional recapitulation of the basics of Judaism but rather an essay on the shape and shaping of Judaism today. His sections on the dual Torah and on what he calls the Judaism of the Holocaust are provocative and enlightening because he views developments in modern Jewish life not as a cheer leader but as a critic.
Aronson Jacket
BULKA
Robert Edel FACKENHEIM
Jetf Kenyon/Basic Jacket NEUSNER
Arnold Ages, author/journalist/columnist, is professor of Romance languages at University of Waterloo. He is a long-standing commentator on the Canadian Jewish scene and frequent Jyg contributor.
imparting the lessons of m^mc/t/ir/tA:^/. "Children do not have office hours," he comments, in a section where he-d^als with parental attention. You^nnot impart values if you do not pay attention to your^hildren. It's not merely quality time that is relevant, moreover, because quality time is related to quantity.
"The more time that we spend with our children, the greater •the possibility .that we will be together when the important moments in life occur. A relationship Avith a child cannot be compressed into an hour a day or one day a week .. .No one on his death bed ever said, -I wish I had spent more time on my business.***
The ideals conveyed in Rabbi lCurshan*s book would no doiibt be endorsed by Sherwin T. Wine, spiritual leader of a Jewish Humanist congregation in Michigan. The volume which he has compiled is iquite unlike any of the other manuals in this discussion because Jewish Humanists do not start out with any belief in the deity, the question then isl how to create a Jewish fellowship based on secular or humanistic values. The prayers, recitations, meditations and thoughts found in this work are designed to do just that.
Whether or not one subscribes to the ideology or lack thereof found in this group, the fact remains that Wine*s anthology
Neusner's approach is not always critical: he sees enchant-_ ments in the life style of the observant Jew and it is from this ^ perspective4hat he^ waxes eloquent in describing the blessing after meals, circumcision and the Adamic experience that occurs under the bridal canopy. Marriage, he suggests, is the making of a new Eden.
Neusner's views on the importance of Halacha are significant: "Accordingly, rules held in common turn individuals and families into a community. Then, but only then^the enchantment of rite transforms the shared experience of the community, asking questions urgent not to individual or family p|imliirily, but to the community first of all: questions of culture and value, of work and leisure; of all together, foir instance. Second the^group expresses its sense of self in a world view formed on a shared imagination, a pretense of as if held in common. For4he as if becomes the is only when enough people join the drama—when the audience is on stage, to speak. (118) ^
The two most profound manuals on Judaism available todajr are Irving Grcenberg*s77ie 7ewK/i W^a^ (Summit) and Emil Fackenheim*s What is Judaism? Both approach the issue of defining Jewish belief from the broad perspectives of Jewish history and philosophy. Although both contain, especially Greenberg, copious amounts of detail regarding correct observance of Jewish holidays and other mitzvot^their purpose is elsewhere — to establish an intelligent and sensitive rationale for observance in the first place. Rabbi Greenberg argues in his long treatise (463 pages) that is - through analysis of the Jewish calendar and holidays that one can grasp the major principles which animate Jewish faith and
THE JEWISH WAY^ Page 8