Manifesto of an atheist Jew

Israel is land where spirituality in all of its forms defines you. Putting aside the various divisions among Christians and Muslims with whom I am less familiar, the range of expression of faith among Israeli Jews is amazingly varied. At one end are Jews that refuse to speak Hebrew (and speak Yiddish instead) because it is a holy language and officially reject the state of Israel because its establishment was not in the manner foreseen in the Bible.  On the other extreme are those that are choose to eat cheeseburgers on Yom Kippur to express their complete rejection of Judaism. In between are a wide range of observant and non-observant behaviour and tolerance.

I am an atheist Jew. To explain, although I can accept that others believe in God, I not only lack that faith but simply find it sufficient to believe in probability. In short, I don’t require a chief engineer in the sky to understand and accept this world. From this state of point, it follows, in my mind, that the holy writings, e.g. the Bible, Mishna, Talmud and Halacha, to name only a few, are the product of human thought, albeit rather intelligent one in some cases, and can be criticized and even rejected outright. I therefore feel no obligation or even logic to follow the countless rules of behaviour expected of a good Jew, as largely codified in the halacha.

On the other hand, I do not want to throw away the baby with the bath water. Judaism carries a rich body of proscriptions regarding ethics, derech eretz, which should serve as a model of behavior. To oversimplify, I do believe in the ten commandments. For example, in a proper, healthy society, the vast majority of people do not murder, steal or lie. The key to satisfaction is worrying about your situation and not trying to “keep up the Joneses”. Sleeping with another person’s partner is clearly a stupid and dangerous thing to do, not to mention rather destructive for everybody involved (except for the lawyers). Within the family, honoring your father and mother creates stability for all members. As for converting people of other religions, it is a source of countless troubles. For that matter, blaming god or thinking that god makes you special often makes leads to irresponsible behavior. I am even for keeping the sabbath in the sense of not working at least one day a week as the practice is vital for physical and mental health. So, I am a proud Jew in appreciating and trying to practice its basic tenets in its spirit even as I reject the long record of the interpretation of those tenets.

In this way, I am a non-believing Jew. I fully accept my identity as a Jew and feel equally free to reject many, if not most, of its traditions and rules. Granted, there is a tension in this position, bordering on a contradiction. However, most manifestos carry those qualities as reality is more complex than any statement of belief. Not only that, I am one of many Jews, Israeli and others, that so believe even if they do not express their identity in this manner. Of course, there are countless more on both sides of the issue that would strongly disagree with me and even find them offensive.  That is quite normal and even acceptable. As they say, two Jews, three opinions.

Separate But Not Equal?

What a difference an ocean can make!  Ask the British and the Americans, who formally speak the same language.   Alas, the same is for Judaism.  Israelis, even not religious ones, and Americans view practicing their religion in a different light.

For Israelis, Ben Gurion’s “temporary” status quo agreement with the ultra-Orthodox in Israel, which gave them exemption from army service, had other consequences.  The only form of Judaism that is regarded as proper is orthodox, somewhere according to the practices of the national-Religious vein.  This means keeping kosher, separate men and women in synagogues, and set standards of “modesty”, i.e. women keeping their knees and elbows covered, to mention just a few items.  Most Israelis, including the most anti-religious ones, accept this as the only way to practice Judaism if you are going to do so at all.  Only in 2012 has the government been forced to recognize non-orthodox rabbis.  So, in Israel, all is clear, even if often ignored.

By contrast, the United States is the land of skepticism and variety.   In a recent poll, the second largest religious “sect” is the group of people who have doubts about religion (but not about god, to be precise).  The Pope and the protestant preachers continue to scream at their wayward flocks for failing to toe the line.  Jews are not exempt.  The vast majority of American Jews is not orthodox, but instead conservative or reform, whatever that means.  Therefore, families sit together with koshrut being often partial, if kept at all.  (Granted, many American Jews keep kosher homes.)  As for modesty, well, during my recent trip to L.A., the second largest Jewish concentration in the United States, I happened to walk by the nearby synagogue on Yom Kippur.  The men wore suits and ties.  As for the ladies of all ages, they were tastefully dressed for the most part, but many were showing knees and elbows, if not more.  My Israeli-born partner was a bit shocked and upset by this.  She remarked:  “How can they wear that to the synagogue?”  My comment that not everybody shared her values was not comprehended.  The issue of a different but still acceptable standard of modesty was beyond her grasp.  (To her credit, she could understand why people in L.A. drive to the synagogue on Yom Kippur.)

As an American Jew who has lived in Israel for so long, I explain the difference in perspective to the general attitude of skepticism in the United States.  In my opinion, most of the people at the LA Yom Kippur services do not actually “buy” the rules of Judaism, meaning they fundamentally think they are bubbameisis (old wives’ tales), but agree to pretend on Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Pesach in order to maintain some form of being Jewish.  By contrast, most Israelis believe that the Halacha, the Jewish guide to proper practices, is serious business, even if many openly ignore it.   Whether the two practices are equal, I choose to take the Fifth Amendment.

P.S. My apologies for the long break in writing.  I was on a family visit and then had to recover from it.