|
|
 |
|
SINCE THE SECULAR (HAVE TRANSGRESSED) UNWITTINGLY
by Rabbi Elisha Wolfin
Ha'aretz, Sept. 26, 2004
The secular public waived its right to interpret Judaism and adapt it to the
spirit of the times, to its world and to its needs. Now this public comes with
complaints of religious coercion.
The time: the month of Elul, two days before the start of the school year. The
place: a prestigious high school in the north of the country. The audience: teachers,
mainly women, who have been meeting for over a week in preparation for the new
school year – dealing mostly with technical details… and a bit with issues of
the soul.
I was invited mainly for the “soul.” They asked me to run two workshops in order
to help the school connect the older kids to Jewish heritage. Not a simple task.
I chose two topics: “Jewish time” – the Jewish calendar and the way in which Judaism
perceives the dimension of time; and “Teshuvah (Repentance)” as a unique
and authentic Jewish concept.
The topic of “repentance” – the changing person, the improving person, who mends
his ways, the person who is capable of forgiving and asking for forgiveness and
the person who actualizes himself and presents his/her gift to society – all these
have always captivated me. I saw the concept as a unique Jewish gift to civilization.
The first part went smoothly and the reactions were good. A week later I brought
up the topic of Teshuvah. I presented the participants with several sources
that always move me anew: the words of Franz Rosenzweig who talks of Teshuvah“as
a unique concept with no match anywhere in world culture”, and the words of Rabbi
Abraham Isaac Kook: “All that there is (in the universe) is built on the foundation
of Teshuvah. The entire world reality is none other than one great Teshuvah.
Teshuvah in the original sense of the word: return, return to the source
of all existence”. These sources do not deal at all with Teshuvah in
the modern Israeli sense of Hazara b’Teshuvah (a secular person who accepts
upon himself the yoke of the commandments).
And then a surprise awaited me and from that moment on I could not continue with
my lesson plan. A sharp debate began with a “dialogue of the deaf,” the likes
of which I have not seen in a long time. The main objection I heard was that I
was presenting a distorted and beautified interpretation (and I’m toning down
the criticism). After all, “the facts” proved otherwise; the hozrim b’teshuvah
(“the newly observant people”) that they know (a brother of one, a friend of another,
etc.) are not at all connected to their deepest internal existence. The opposite
is true – they seem like lost souls who fell victim to an awful brainwashing.
“So why are you even talking to us about Teshuvah!”
It is important to note that the debate was not over the issue of whether the
newly observant are a real example of Teshuvah or the complete opposite
– lost souls, brainwashed and lacking any backbone. The debate was over the essence
of the concept of Teshuvah.
I again suggested that they read the sources for themselves with their eyes wide
open to see the deep wisdom hidden in them, specifically for them as secular people.
I asked (or more precisely, I begged) them not to let the newly observant dictate
the meaning of the word. It didn’t help a bit. As long as “they” (the religious)
act as they do, there is nothing to discuss – the expression “Teshuvah”
(like other expressions) was not to be touched with a ten-foot pole. And thus
Teshuvah, which is perhaps the most important Jewish contribution to
all of humanity, remains in solitary confinement and no one is willing to redeem
it.
The secular Israeli has waived the wellsprings of Jewish wisdom and handed them
on a silver platter to his religious brother (and primarily Haredi [ultra-Orthodox]
brother). On my way to the next in-service training program, it occurred to me
that our challenge is not religious coercion. Somewhere back in the early days
of Zionism, the secular public gave the religious public a monopoly on Jewish
commentary and left itself with the “secular religions” only (from the socialism
of Tabenkin to the capitalism of Netanyahu; from the nationalism of Jabotinsky
to the civil rights of Shulamit Aloni, and today – from the gatherings of adherents
of New Age concepts to the television industry of “A Star is Born”).
The secular public waived its right to interpret Judaism and adapt it to the spirit
of the times, to its world and needs, and now it comes with complaints – complaints
about religious coercion, about the monopoly of the Israeli rabbinate over its
life. But when you suggest that it take back the reins of interpretation and wisdom,
it is unwilling to do so.
Our religious brethren did not sit with their arms folded all these years – they
interpreted, learned and taught, gained followers for their perception of the
Jewish world – and that is their right (it is however unfortunate that they do
not recognize the legitimacy of other, non-Orthodox interpretations, but that
too is their right).
The time has come for the secular public to stop running away, retake ownership
of its heritage, study it, interpret it, struggle with it and primarily, enjoy
it. It really does not matter if the newly observant Jew claims ownership of the
concept of Teshuvah. The concept is not his, unless the Jewish majority
in our state forfeits it, as it has done until now. If there is no willingness
to take responsibility, then there is also no place for complaints.
The time has come to do Teshuvah, to truly return, to return to ourselves,
to return to our wellsprings of wisdom. A school cannot presume to impart to its
students a connection to our ancient wisdom if the teachers are not willing to
take ownership of and responsibility for this wisdom. It is still not too late.
It is never too late – that is the way of Teshuvah and the beauty of
Teshuvah. It is always possible to change, to correct and to return.
There is always a way back: “If a person repented on his dying day… all of his
sins are forgiven” (Maimonides, Laws of Repentance 2:2).
|
|
|
