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November 24, 2000/Heshvan 26, 5761, Vol. 53, No.9
What does 'Jewish' mean?
SHARI COHEN
Special to Jewish News
I have been struggling recently with the word "Jewish." It has begun to feel constraining and narrow. Maybe one reason is that none of the terms ordinarily used to describe Jewishness - "religion," "ethnicity," "heritage," "ethics" - quite resonate in spite of my deep Jewish connection.
Jewishness has always been some sort of composite of these concepts. We are in a period of change, when we might have to think differently about the categories to which these words refer. I would love to find a way to talk about Jewishness that would mirror what that identity evokes.
"Religion" is clearly inadequate. Associated, as it is, with the notion of a transcendent God, and with rigid norms and rules, it simply does not describe my sense of connection to something larger or to the deepest parts of myself. Nor does the term resonate with an entire generation of Americans who prefer the word "spiritual" instead.
But "spirituality" does not work either. It suggests an inward self-focus, inadequately oriented toward a sense of ethics and the larger good. It has also come to overlap with "new-age."
Neither "religion" nor "spirituality" captures how I, or how many "secular" Jews I know, would describe our connection to the big issues of life, or to our Jewish identities.
What about "ethnicity" and other words connected with the tribal aspect of Jewish peoplehood, oriented toward kinship and toward inheritance of something from the past? "Ethnicity" and "peoplehood" feel too tribal, particularistic and focused on survival. "Heritage" doesn't do justice to the richness of Jewish tradition. "Culture" seems broad and diffuse and often focused on nostalgia.
Another family of terms links to the notion of tikkun olam - a phrase that has come to mean, roughly, making the world a better place. This impulse, combined with the idea of questioning conventions or idolatries, comprises the aspect of Jewishness that focuses on "social responsibility." But what do we really mean by that? Social responsibility might suggest the concept of "civic engagement," which has been used in recent discussions about the malaise and apathy that seem to be threatening democracy. But "civic engagement" is reminiscent of forms of voluntary activity that I connect with a previous generation, and doesn't describe my engagement with important social challenges.
"Ethics" sounds too distant and fixed; "morality" is associated with the Christian right. "Social activism" is too connected to social movements that have not been terribly effective.
I would prefer a term that captures a deep commitment to questioning conventions, the notion of making the world better from tikkun olam, but also the need to ground idealism in the realities of the world. None of the terms we often hear do this. Perhaps Jewish is as much a "method" for engaging with the world as it is anything else. This means thinking in terms of adverbs and verbs, not nouns.
Maybe I'd feel better if "Jewish" was a word that referred to how we believe, identify, have faith, appreciate the sacred, reflect, are loyal, engage, find or seek meaning and challenge idolatries. And not just how we do each of these things, but how these activities are and will be combined.
It makes sense to move in this direction during a transitional period, when the ways we form communities, our own identities, think about our families, our work, and politics are changing. Once we become conscious - or self-conscious - about words, we can be freed to reinvent.
Shari Cohen is a senior fellow and director of the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.
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