When Jewish leaders talk about the dangers of assimilation they often point to statistics like increasing rates of intermarriage, decreasing enrollment in formal Jewish education and dwindling memberships at synagogues. Less Shabbat candles being lit, the sounds of our collective voice quieting down, and perhaps on the most personal level, a missed connection of faith leaving so many without the steadfast hold of trust in God. We know these refrains well. When I think about the most concerning deterioration of the Jewish community in 2020 though, it’s the assimilation into hard-line religious zealotry that weighs most heavily on my heart.
It has never been a Jewish value to conform to a tyrannical doctrine, to lose our free-will to examine our religious choices, to be criticized or ostracised for not conforming. Unlike other faiths, the leaders in our community don’t have a better connection to God than any one of us. If you need strength you can ask God for it, if you need to repent you can go directly to God with your burdens. One of the most beautiful aspects of the Jewish faith is that it is allowed to be so personal, that the spark of divinity exists within us all. This is the beauty of the creation story we celebrate each Rosh Hashanah.
This year as the political climate polarizes American citizens, Jewish communities are not immune. Stories continue to surface of ultra-religious communities tightening their restrictions and creating additional burdens to limit free speech, free internet access and other ‘moral’ necessities. One recent flashpoint of this are certain right-wing Orthodox publications not allowing women’s faces to be seen in advertising or print. More recently there have been Rabbis who have encouraged groups to gather in large numbers for religious observance despite government mandated COVID-19 restrictions. To me this type of zealotry in defiance of health and safety is a chillul hashem, a desecration of God’s name.
To me this move to control the free thinking spirit of a community is inherently unJewish. To me when I see the alignment of right-wing ideology at the edges of the Jewish community I see assimilation. One page of mishnah study will show that Jewish law has always been created by dialogue, interpretation, re-interpretation and discussion.
As macro as this issue is, as a Jewish mom I’m going to work on my little micro Jewish bubble, my home. This Rosh Hashanah I hope to teach my children and remind myself that our faith is there to support us as God created us, as individuals, as free-thinkers and as good stewards of the Earth.
