What Are We?

By Richard S. Moline
KOACH Director

Pop Quiz. Define Judaism and the Jewish People. Here are your choices. Tell me why Jews are a race. Or an ethnic group. Or why Judaism is a culture. Or a nationality. Or a religion. Or a lifestyle.

I suppose we could make equally strong arguments for almost all of the above. I’d leave out the race card, myself, since those who sought to destroy us in the past attempted to impose that one on us – and to me, it’s the least definitive of all. But the others?

Our ethnicity is evident in many arenas. Granted, most of the world is unaware of our internal ethnic differences (Ashkenazi, Sepharadi – and then some), but Jewish culture pervades much of our modern-day, North American life. Whoops…did I say culture? OK, I guess I mean we’re a culture. Look at the Yiddish words that have crept into the North American lexicon. Hutzpah and shlep come to mind immediately. Lox and bagels are no longer considered to be an exclusively Jewish delicacy. For God’s sake – they’re even making jalapeño bagels these days! Movies and music and TV regularly feature Jewish themes. It’s not a novelty anymore. It seems the Jewish People have made a mark on modern culture, as well.

Whoops…did I say Jewish People? Well, then I must mean we’re a nationality. After all, the American People fit that definition, but not, seemingly, any of the others. So I guess if we’re a people, we must be a nationality. We have our own State with its own defense forces, its own currency and its own flag. So I guess that makes us a nation –and a proud nation at that. Where sukkot are prevalent in the fall and practically every home has a hanukkiah in the window in the winter. A nation where we are not a minority, but where we choose to practice (or not practice!) our religion without concerns about being "different."

Whoops…did I mention religion? An argument can certainly be made that we coalesce around our religious heritage and ritual practices. The beat of Jewish life revolves around the Jewish calendar – around Shabbat and holidays. Jewish cuisine has defined itself through dietary laws. Jewish art is largely identified by the religious themes it depicts. Whether one is observant or not, there is little argument that the rhythm of Jewish ritual has pervaded the other categories we’ve defined. Even if they don’t always pronounce it correctly, evening news anchors report on the observance of Yom Kippur.

So maybe Judaism is a lifestyle. Maybe that combines our other categories. Or maybe the definition varies from person to person, from place to place, from time period to time period. Is there a "right" answer? Is there one answer? What would your definition include?

Mazal Tov to on the completion of another academic year – and special congratulations to those who are graduating this semester. Consider registering with Project Reconnect (www.projectreconnect.org) where you’ll be able to keep in touch with others and learn about opportunities to continue developing your communal involvement. We hope to stay connected over the years and want you to know that regardless of where you are in your journey – we are here to help. Enjoy the summer!

[Posted 4/27/06]