New Book Remixes Judaism for Secular Jews

The challenge that Roberta Rosenthal Kwall confronts in “Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World” is summed up at the outset of her book in a provocative but accurate foreword by Julie Wiener.

“Perhaps with the exception of sharing a history and not believing in the divinity of Jesus,” Wiener writes, “there is no single aspect of Jewish identity that all Jews can agree upon.”

Kwall herself picks up the gauntlet, with both strength of mind and the courage of her convictions, in “Remix Judaism,” a term that she uses to define a fresh approach to defining what it means to be Jewish without discarding its traditions and practices. Her goal is to address nonobservant Jews with “a different model, both conceptually and practically,” than Jewish outreach by observant Judaism has used until now.

“In twenty-first century America, meaningful Jewish identity must be actively cultivated if it is to continue,” Kwall writes. “With this book I hope to open a dialogue with all Jews, and other willing listeners, about how to strengthen their connection to the teachings and practices of the Jewish tradition in a way that comports with the sensibilities of Jews who are not, and likely never will be, observant by conventional measures.”

Kwall is entirely open-minded about that various elements that define Jewish identity in contemporary America. She points out the hard fact that ritual observance, adherence to Jewish religious law, solidarity with Israel and even belief in God are not necessarily shared in common by those who regard themselves as Jewish. And she stubbornly refuses to write off those who are less “fastidious” in their Jewishness. Indeed, the whole point of her admirable book is to call them back to the Jewish community in way that will catch and hold their attention.

Roberta Rosenthal Kwall’s goal is to address nonobservant Jews with “a different model, both conceptually and practically,” than Jewish outreach by observant Judaism has used until now.

Kwall is the Raymond P. Niro Professor at DePaul University College of Law. Her previous books include “The Myth of the Cultural Jew” and “The Soul of Creativity” and her articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Forward, Commentary and the Jewish Journal. Her background in the law inclines her to regard Jewish law and Jewish identity as “completely intertwined,” and yet she approaches halachah with willingness to ask penetrating questions.

She recalls, for example, a question she asked of a friend who embraced the tradition of wearing a wig. The friend answered: “I knew this is what God wanted of me.” To her readers, Kwall confides: “I remember thinking that I must have missed this memo! To me, the requirement of a head covering seems much more culturally imposed than a requirement issued from the Divine.”

Significantly, Kwall’s tool of choice in “Remix Judaism” is the accumulation of writings in the Talmud that are collectively known as aggadah, which is defined as the “narrative” and “nonlegal” passages of the Talmud and post-Talmudic rabbinic writings, but is perhaps better understood as the vast treasury of stories retold by the ancient rabbis and sages, many of which are inspired by the narratives in the Bible but also “incorporate wisdom, speculation, and even folklore.”

Storytelling as we find it in aggadah is essential to the concrete practice of what Kwall calls “Remix Judaism.” “Aggadah serves as a means of connecting with Jewish tradition in an authentic manner,” she explains, and provides the raw material that serves her goals of “remix and appropriation by future generations.”

But storytelling is only a tool of Remix Judaism. In Kwall’s program, the first step on the observance of Shabbat, and — as an historian of the movement called Cultural Judaism — she quotes Ahad Ha’am, founder the of the movement, for the proposition that “more than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews.” Kwall is less interested in the observance of Shabbat “to the letter of the law” and prefers to focus on its “celebratory” moments, a focus that offers the “tremendous potential to safeguard Jewish tradition in a world of increasing secularization.”

The same theme is carried forward through the Jewish calendar. Kwall acknowledges that observant Jews may find her “framing” of Shabbat and the holidays “largely unacceptable,” but she argues that the whole point of Remix Judaism is to address less observant Jews who “need to find a personal meaning in order to celebrate tradition.” She considers even the most awkward and even painful aspects of intermarriage, Jewish education, and the institution of b’nai mitzvah, always finding a way to reframe the conversation according to the values and techniques of Remix Judaism.

Thus, for example, she acknowledges that many Jewish families are celebrating the bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah of their children outside the synagogue — a “DIY Bar Mitzvah” — and she acknowledges “the Internet generation’s generalized preference for customization and personalized experiences.” But she emphasizes that preparation for a bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah need not be the occasion for the young man or woman to “become more observant, but rather to become more knowledgeable.” In Remix Judaism, then, the bar mitzvah is not a one-day event but “a milestone rather than a capstone to their child’s Jewish education.”

She even devotes a chapter to the appeal of food in drawing Jews back to Judaism. “In today’s food-obsessed culture, the linkages of special food with Shabbat can be a particularly compelling draw,” she argues. But she is not talking about a sentimental attachment to bagels and lox; rather, she proposes that an appreciation for the emotional resonance of Jewish foods can serve as a path all the way to “a remixed approach to kashrut.” For Kwall, it meant a family “contract” known as DODO (“our abbreviation for the Doctrine of Dining Out”), which meant keeping kosher at home and avoiding pork, shellfish and “blatant mixing of milk and meat during the same course” when dining in a restaurant.

The readers whom Kwall wants to reach in “Remix Judaism” include not only secular Jews and their non-Jewish spouses but every Jew, including observant Jews of every denomination, who share her goal of preserving the Jewish people by promoting what she
regards as a meaningful Jewish identity. That’s why “Remix Judaism,” a beautifully written and deeply personal book that is rooted in both wisdom and scholarship, deserves the wide readership that its author hopes
to find.

Jonathan Kirsch, attorney and author, is the book editor of the Jewish Journal.