4 min read
There are big Jewish divisions, such as religious versus cultural Judaism. Among the religious there are also many denominations such as, inter alia, Orthodox, Charedi, Conservative, Reform, Reconstruction, and even among those there are further sub-divisions, such as Sephardi, Ashkenazi, and Mizrahi etc.
Similarly, among the secular, there are perhaps a dozen or so different groups with their own practices, most of whom have their own small archive of literature.
So Judaism is a huge "pot-pourri" of histories, practices, literary creations. Considering how small our numbers are worldwide, this makes for huge, and unmanageable divisions.
That is why, many centuries ago, the Sultan of Turkey asked the Jews under his control to create the position of "Chief Rabbi" so that he had a single individual to whom he could speak. Today there are many dozens of "Chief Rabbis" throughout the world, although none in North America, and none can speak for, or support, all Jews in the world, or even in one country.
Perhaps the only people in the world who look upon the Jews as one are the antisemites, who make no distinction between any of the various divisions of Judaism.
Children have typically been taught on religious lines rather than cultural
Now, if one looks at the issue of schooling for Jews in Jewish subjects, you will see that the majority of schools are controlled by the religious denominations, such as Orthodox, Charedi, Conservative, Reform, etc. To the best of my knowledge there are no schools, anywhere for the children of the secular majority in the diaspora although, a year ago, one American school started to change its curriculum, and take on Israeli teachers with experience in teaching the subject of Judaism as culture.
Whilst, historically, Judaism started as a religion, a major new influence appeared in 17th century, with the rise of the huge philosophical and literary movement of "The Enlightenment". This had a worldwide effect, and also greatly influenced the Jewish world, with many important writers and philosophers – such as Spinoza – writing about Judaism not solely as a religion. Many more followed in the 18th and 19th centuries onwards, and it is from this vast library of creativity and thought that courses have been produced on the subject of Judaism as culture; an approach that views Jewish culture, philosophy and creativity as the foundation of Jewish civilization, of which religion is only a part.
Students are exposed to the writings of Jewish philosophers and authors such as Simon Dubnow, Berdichevsky, Ahad Ha'am, Moses Mendelssohn, Tchernikovsky, and modern writers such as Amos Oz, A B Yehoshua, Hayim Cohen, and Yizhar Smilansky. Israel has, as a country, for the first time in its history recently agreed that its state school system will also teach the broad subject of Jewish philosophy, under which pupils can be taught on, and read the works of famous Jewish secular writers and thinkers from the past and present. It remains to be seen how this new approach will fare in Israel. From its initial inception I believe it will be extremely successful. Judaism as culture, in Israel, is now taught to different audiences, including the IDF.
If you look at the Jewish day school system in Europe, you will find it very wanting in terms of what is taught. Magnificent school buildings have been erected all over Europe, including in Eastern Europe. However, the content of the lessons is not only religious, but also being taught in the traditional, old-fashioned manner, and in a language that very few in the diaspora speak or understand, ie Hebrew. It is the out-dated Yeshiva-style technique, centuries old – and probably very successful in its early days – but surely no longer appropriate today for the majority of schoolchildren.
It is therefore no surprise that Jewish demography shows that, pretty much since the end of the Second World War, the numbers in Europe have been in a steady decline. In 1939 there were over 400,000 Jews in the UK, 313,000 when Rabbi Sacks became Chief Rabbi, and 260,000 today! This despite the Charedi's huge birth rate.
About 15 years ago, for the first time in Jewish history, a huge literary project – The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization – was undertaken. When finished there will be 10 volumes, each of over 1000 pages. The project is being worked on by about 120 scholars, and one volume has been published, with another three or four expected to be published by Yale University Press in 2016.
The whole project will also be digitised, with work already started. This library will demonstrate the extraordinary richness and diversity of Jewish literary and artistic creations and the march of secularity over the last two millennia. Volume I will probably feature 100 per cent religious literature, whilst Volume 10 perhaps less than 10 per cent.
My guess is that the volumes in between will also show the gradual, but steady move away from religiosity towards secularity, as far as literature is concerned. I choose also to believe this is essentially the result of historical changes in beliefs by Jews.
Since the majority of our people today are no longer religious, they should also know that the production of brilliant literature and artistic creations by Jews over the last many centuries has reflected this historical development. It therefore might, hopefully, attract some secular Jews to start reading Jewish literature with which they can identify, and find pleasure in.
Most secular Jews who do not believe in keeping mitzvoth no longer bother reading religious literature, or go to the synagogue, or pray. They have therefore become Jewishly-illiterate, and this is perpetuated in the religious day school system. I am a strong believer that we must do something to help this majority to relocate their Jewishness within the immensely rich Jewish culture that has developed over the last many centuries, and about which one can now read in the Posen Library.
For more details, go to www.posenfoundation.com
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