rolling around in my head

i've been reading all this stuff by this guy Rushkoff and working at it, bit by bit. i'd like to point out that i haven't used my brain in this manner since Israel (hello, i went to stern and majored in art and creative writing). it's nice to be thinking again.

i don't mean to knock the man here when i say this stuff - i respect that he's trying to reconnect, trying to create a future for Judaism. i just happen to think that he's missed the point, and by missing it he's found something terribly sad.

that's what i'm discussing today (well, the first half. i haven't yet fully collected my thoughts on the second half)

i agree that Jews should stand for iconoclasm, and monotheism (but i'll define mine as ethical, not abstract), and social justice - not just in the manner of tikun olam. i agree that there's too much focus on the numbers game. but that's about as far as i go in agreeing with Mr.(?) Rushkoff. (sorry, i'm assuming he's a Mr. and not otherwise titled, if he is, my sincerest apologies).

now, to get nit-picky:
first of all, he takes umbrage at being referred to as a lapsed Jew by "NY's official institutions of Judaism". i don't know the exact policy, but i have the general impression that far from saying that he is not a Jew, the institutions and studies that he is referring to say that he is not an affiliated Jew. Perhaps there is an overly strident focus on numbers, but if we choose to blind ourselves to the dwindling numbers, we will never take action to correct it, whatever that action may be. If a Jew is not religiously affiliated with a practicing group, what holds him to being a Jew other than his race and heritage? a latent Jew is a Jew by birth, but lapsed in a greater sense. it's also unclear to me here if he means to implicate Jews or the Jewish institutions, or if he thinks of Jews as the institutions and vice versa.

Now, he says that
"I wrote eight well-received books about what was happening to our culture, and how to navigate its new "do-it-yourself" terrains.

Then, just a few years ago, it occurred to me that Judaism had attempted to do the same thing to religion. The mythical Israelites of the Torah left their idols behind in order to forge a new way of life–one in which they weren’t dependent upon the gods to do everything for them."

If Judaism was do-it-yourself, there would be no codes or rules to live by. (And why refer to the Israelites as mythical?) While we aren’t dependent upon numerous gods to perform good deeds for us, we are quite cognizant of the fact that we rely upon G-d for everything. In Shema, taken straight fromthe Bible in Deuteronomy, 11:13-21, we read the following (this is the translation in my Artscroll siddur. If anyone wants a translation from a different source, I can translate it for you myself):
" And it will come to pass that if you continually hearken to My commandments that I commanded you today, to love Hashem, your God, and to serve Him, with all your heart and with all your soul - then I will provide rain for your land in its proper time, the early and late rains, that you may gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil. I will provide grass in your field for your cattle and you will eat and be satisfied. Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and bow to them. Then the wrath of Hashem will blaze against you. He will restrain the heaven so there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its produce. And you will swiftly be banished from the goodly land which Hashem gives you. Place these words of Mine upon your heart and upon your soul; bind them for a sign upon your arm and let them be tefillin between your eyes. Teach them to your children, to discuss them, while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates. In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the ground that Hashem has sworn to your ancestors to give them, like the days of the heaven on the earth."

Where does he include the commandements in his assesment of the pillars of Judaism? To review, he states them as “continual smashing of your false idols (iconoclasm), a refusal to pretend you know who or what God is (abstract monotheism) and being nice to people (social justice)”. How does he propose Jews serve God without presenting the Mitzvot? Does he think Jews *serve* God? Second, as it states quite clearly here, we are dependent on God to do everything for us. bring rains, provide grass, even to keep us in the land on which we live.

to continue:
"The reason Jews have such a hard time explaining Judaism, "the religion," is that we aren’t about beliefs. "

Now, if Judaism isnt about beliefs, how does one explain the statement that “Judaism boils down to a 3500-year-old debate about what happened on Mount Sinai and what we’re supposed to do about it.” or that “Judaism isn’t a religion at all, but a way human beings can get over religion and into caring about one another.” What are those if not beliefs, the belief that we have an obligation of some sort because of what occured on Mount Sinai and the belief that we are supposed to care about one another?

With all of the good works done by the world-wide Jewish community in the respective countries, cities, and communities in which they reside, how can one say that a Judaism of caring for one another does not exist today? Also keep in mind, as much as we are supposed to be a light to the world, we aren’t necessarily supposed to be converting the world to our way of thought. Judaism is for Jews, and we need to get that part straight before we start applying it to all human beings. As such, the threat of assimilation is a serious one, as is intermarriage. Not because non-Jews are bad, but because, as he should appreciate, that dilutes the message, the chinuch. Someone who wants to sincerely join the Jewish people and take part in our religion is welcomed, and as much as you hate the numbers game, there have been a lot of converts and ba’alei tshuva in the past 30 years. The need to protect the current State of Israel is not a religiously mandated one per se, but largely an emotional one (with some basis in halacha). In fact, it directly relates to his idea that we should care for one another. I’m not sure why he sees this as a negative image - we not only are preserving our homeland, but helping our brothers there.

Rushkoff keeps focusing on Jewish organizations and what they do, where the money goes. What about all the private work done by Jews? The money sent for the Red Cross, cancer research, The March of Dimes, supporting schools and shuls across America and the world that couldn’t continue without the donations from strangers; dont’ any of these factor in for him? What about the volunteer work done? Also, if we begin to define spirituality by eras, then we have no standard to work from regarding what we’re supposed to be doing here. When he cites a people that has turned inward, I think that he is seeing problems which really do exist, and simply misreading them, perhaps due to his lack of familiarity with the scenarios in which they occur. these issues have to be adressed and fixed, but not by taking God out of the picture.

and that right there is the knee jerk reaction that keeps from appreciating much of what he has to say, as much as i'm trying. what is judaism without God? for me, life without God is meaningless, painfully so. humanitarianism for humanity's sake alone seems to me to be somewhat redundant - i feel good helping you, you feel good getting the help. let's scratch each others' backs some more... where's the altruism if all the parties involved are getting something out of it? how about that higher connection, the striving to be close to God?

side note. i read a line in one of his pieces, and i'm so sorry that i don't remember where, but it was abut 4 am at the time, where he made reference to Jews having a commandment to be holy, and that we should be bringing that holiness to the world and sharing it through intermarriage. let's go the source, mythical as it may be.

Leviticus, 19:2: Speak to the entire assembly of the Children if Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, HaShem, your God.
now, for the transliteration, because frankly i've never studied Ta"NaCh in english...
Da'ber 'el-kol-'adath Bnei-Yisra'el v'amarta aleihem kdoshim tih'yu ki kadosh 'ani HaShem Elokeichem

this pasuq, which Rushkoff believes in, is followed by a number of commandments in the next few psukim. Leviticus, 19:5: When you slaughter a feast peace-offering to HaShem, you shall slaughter it to find favor for yourselves.

how does he resolve that with his statement that "I don’t believe in an all-powerful creature with the white beard who rejoices in animal sacrifice."
(more to come, working on Ramban at the moment, so consider this to be part one)