Why Be Jewish?

From Biblical times until today, Jews have been reviled, demonized and accused of every calumny one can name. Every generation finds a new way to blame it – whatever “it” may be – on the Jews.

So, why be Jewish? Well, many throughout history did decide to exit the drama. Many were forced to decide between conversion or death; others chose to convert to advance themselves. The great composer Felix Mendelssohn’s father converted the family, and his son was allowed to have his compositions played publicly as a result. It was the only possible path to success. In countries where Jews were accepted, countless Jews assimilated, forgoing their Jewish identity for the prevailing culture. So, in fact, Jews did leave the fold, writing themselves and their children and grandchildren out of Jewish history.

And why not? Being hated for 3,500 years is no fun. Can kugel, chocolate babka, kishka and Jewish jokes compensate for being the bad guy of history?

Well, I, for one, will not renounce the kishka and the jokes and want to remain what Rabbi Jonathan Sacks called “a letter in the scroll.” The scroll is the Torah, and every Jew is considered a letter in that scroll, the covenant made by God and the Jewish people. That ancient, sacred covenant has never been revoked. It is responsible for the idea of one God of love who created humankind for a life of purpose and meaning. Its vision constitutes civilization as the Western world understands it. The message was given to the Jews – that’s what “chosen people” means – but it was meant for the whole world. Judaism gave birth to Christianity and Islam, who grew up to become elder abusers.

Judaism gave birth to Christianity and Islam, who grew up to become elder abusers.

Among the myriad emotions I feel as a Jew – notably anger at the betrayal of the nations – includes great pride. The achievements and contributions to an ungrateful society – in values transmitted, medical and scientific discoveries and the arts – are mind-boggling. Israel is isolated and reviled, but look at the country after fewer than 80 years since its rebirth. It should stand as a model for the world. What country, in less than a century, constantly attacked for existing, has developed a vibrant democracy and prosperous society, leading the world in so many areas? The Jews’ return to their ancestral homeland should be celebrated and emulated.

Enough talk about scientific advances and building a state. I am a Jew not only on a global and historical level. I am a twenty-first century Canadian Jew in this time and this place. My whole being is grounded in this century and the last, in my country, my career and many other influences. I am an academic, a Jewish academic; a husband and a father, a Jewish husband and father; a friend of non-Jews, a Jewish friend. There is no contradiction or even limitation in that natural blend. One nurtures the other; one enriches the other. I believe that my Judaism, with its drive, energy, positivity and determination enhance my contribution to my academic life, to my country, to my community and to my family. Some may turn away from their Judaism. I embrace it in all its complexity and diversity.

Though I have my serious doubts about the lacunae in some Jewish study today, there is no denying that there is a very long line, going back to the Babylonian exile in 586 BCE, of serious study, analysis and profound scrutiny of the Biblical text. It is a standard of scholarship that evokes in me a sense of respect and even awe. Rashi, Rambam, Ramban, Abarbanel and Ibn Ezra, to name only a few: the more one studies them, the more one is astonished by their breadth of scholarship and their creative thinking.

In spite of millennia of adversity, Jews maintain faith expressed in Jewish teaching – that all humankind is made in the divine image, and therefore human dignity of all is central to one’s attitude and behaviour; that peace is a necessary and achievable goal; that one who saves a single person has saved a world; that each and every person has the responsibility and the capacity to make the world a better place; that freedom is a right, but also a responsibility – in other words, the values of ethical monotheism. Paul Johnson, a Catholic historian, writes in “A History of the Jews” that Jewish history teaches that there is a purpose to human existence and that there is meaning in Creation.

Jewish prophets emphasize the message in their powerful and inimitable way, from Isaiah’s command to “share your bread with the hungry, take the wretched poor into your home (58.7) to Amos’ “Let justice be revealed like water and righteousness like a mighty stream (5:24) and Michah’s “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8). These universal values are the gift of the Jews to all humanity.

What demented world rejects a people whose fundamental beliefs are grounded in human dignity, peace, making the world a better place, justice, righteousness and mercy?

Why be Jewish? Because the meaning of Judaism isn’t antisemitism or Holocaust. Those were horrors inflicted on the Jews. Judaism is the healing rest of Shabbat, the comfort and support of community, the triumph over adversity. Because being a Jew is a responsibility, an honour, a precious gift, a treasured inheritance.

The meaning of Judaism isn’t antisemitism or Holocaust. Those were horrors inflicted on the Jews. Judaism is the healing rest of Shabbat, the comfort and support of community, the triumph over adversity.

The Jew is a mirror that reflects the state of the world – at times its openness, kindness and generosity of spirit, at other times its spasms of ferocious barbarism.

Only when Jews are duly recognized as full, permanent and equal partners will there be peace in the world and hope for humankind. Unless all are free, none is free. Until all are respected, none are. That is the meaning and the message we carry.

Dr. Paul Socken is Distinguished Professor Emeritus and founder of the Jewish Studies program at the University of Waterloo