It is said that people are basically conservative, and that this
shows up nowhere more than in religious life.
Before I continue, I
should define ‘conservative’ because the word has come to have so many
meanings. For example, I consider myself
to be politically ‘conservative.’ I
therefore identify, back home in the USA, with the Republican Party, which is
understood to be the one of the two major parties that leans ‘conservative.’ If
I were an Australian voter I would most likely identify with the Liberal party,
which sounds strange to my ears because I know ‘liberal’ as the polar opposite
of ‘conservative.’ But never mind…
We also know that
there is a branch of Judaism that is called ‘Conservative Judaism.’ In this
part of the world it is called, ‘Masorti Judaism.’ This type of Judaism generally advocates and
practices a ritual life resembling that of traditional Judaism more than our
Progressive ritual, which we allow to change and evolve far more over
time. On the other hand, back in
Colorado Springs where Clara and I lived before we came here, there was a Conservative
shule. Its rabbi, my local Conservative colleague
was far further than the ‘traditional’ philosophical underpinnings of
traditional Jewish belief than I am.
So ‘conservative’ can
be a somewhat confusing term. But for
purposes of the statement I made a moment ago, it means favouring the
preservation of established customs, values, etc., and opposing innovation. In this sense, most of us are ‘conservative.’ It doesn’t mean that we don’t like change at
all. It means that we get comfortable
with familiar patterns and practices.
When people ask us to change, we have to have a good reason to go along
with it. In this way, we are all
conservative to one degree or another.
Jonathan Saks, the
recently-retired Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, published a book about Judaism
a few years back. It was entitled Radical
Then, Radical Now. His thesis was
that the law and philosophy of Judaism presented nothing less than a radical
departure from what the near eastern man had known up to that point. And that ‘authentic’ Judaism even today
should represent a radical parting of the ways from other legal and
philosophical mindsets that are at work in our midst. Judaism, to Rabbi Saks, was never about, and
should never be about, accommodation.
Not one to take
issue with such a learned and distinguished rabbi as Jonathan Saks, I
nevertheless would frame the thesis a bit differently. You’ve heard me opine before that Judaism was,
from its very outset, ‘conservative’ in nature. As evidence of this, the Torah does not outlaw
slavery. But it ameliorates it. It imposes restraints and limitations upon
one who would ‘own’ other human beings. It requires that slaves be treated humanely
and enjoy Sabbath rest just as their Jewish owner does. It requires they be manumitted in the Seventh
Year, unless they choose to continue serving their master. Most of us today believe that the Torah’s
meta-message on the subject is that slavery is wrong and needs to cease as a
practice. But the Torah’s specific
instruction allows it to continue under certain restraints. A close reading of the Torah reveals a similar
‘attitude’ towards other then-common practices.
I believe that the Torah
takes this ‘conservative’ path for a very specific reason. God wanted His people to break from the
conventional behaviours and ethics of the age.
But He didn’t want to process to be onerous. Recognising the inherent conservatism in the
human beast, He legislated in a way that was calculated to move His people away
from the worst practices but in a way they could tolerate. I know it’s hard for us to see God as being
pragmatic, but I believe that Torah offers a glimpse into a God who is somewhat
pragmatic.
If this makes
sense to you, and if you think that I’m on to something, then that raises a
question. If Judaism was intended
to be Conservative Then, Conservative Now, then why does it seem that
traditional Jewish values and practices are so radically out of synch
with the developing societal ethic today?
This, as asserted by Rabbi Saks. My
answer to this question is actually quite simple. It is because the developing societal ethic
is, itself, quite radical. So much so
that Judaism, a ‘conservative’ legal and ethical system, seems radically out
of synch with prevailing and developing sensibilities.
The explanation to this is in another thesis
you’ve heard from me before which concerns my generation, the Baby Boomers,
born between 1946 and 1964. We came of
age in the Vietnam years. We were the
first generation to achieve a lot of things.
Chiefly we made the overturning of established norms and values into a
virtue. The specific acts of my
generation – for example refusing en masse to serve in an unpopular war,
and overturning existing sexual mores when technology made it easier to avoid
unwanted pregnancies – paved the way for a popular mindset that sees radical
change as a virtue.
That being the
case, I do not see the disconnect between traditional Judaism and popular
culture as indicating a radical streak within Judaism. Rather, I see Judaism as counselling a ‘wait-and-see’
attitude towards change. A mindset that says
that change may be good, but it carries the burden of proof. A mindset that advocates the retention of
existing values and practices unless and until the ‘new, improved’ version is
proven to be better. An essentially conservative
mindset.
So this leads
to the question: Why does it matter
whether Judaism is, by definition, Radical or Conservative? I think it matters because, if we
recognise the truism that we are essentially ‘conservative’ people, particularly
in the area of religion, then it follows that a ‘radical’ religion would not
resonate with much of humanity. But I
can tell you that Judaism does, indeed resonate with humanity far-and-wide. Come on Tuesday night to my class and see the
excitement of my students, many of whom are taking the big step of converting
to Judaism from some other faith or from no faith at all. Spend a few hours with me in the office and
listen as I take call after call from those who find Judaism attractive on some
level and are thinking about conversion.
Take a trip with one of members who has worked with Christian groups in Papua
New Guinea, who are moving away from Christianity and towards Judaism.
Many of you
fret about your grown children and grandchildren, who show little or no
interest in Jewish life. I fret along
with you. But I think this is, as much
as anything else, the syndrome of the truly blessed not recognising the extent
of their blessings. I addressed it last
night with regards to Australian nationalism, to Australians not recognising
the value of what they have. It’s just
as true of Jews who were born into the Covenant of Abraham. But at the same time, there is a great
ferment of interest in Judaism by others. If we had more trained rabbis and outreach teachers,
and the resources to employ them, we could be experiencing growth far in excess
to what we have now.
Conservative
of Radical? It’s easy to see this as a
rhetorical exercise. But I think that it
matters. If we agree that Jewish faith
matches human nature, then that changes how we see, and internalise that faith.
Does it not? Let’s therefore draw comfort from our
Tradition, and let it resonate deeply in our souls. And draw comfort from sharing it with those
souls, for whom it also resonates. Shabbat
shalom.
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