THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A New Paperback Is a Fine Handbook on Judaism
By RICHARD C. HERTZ
(Editor's note: Rabbi
Hertz is rabbi emeritus of
Temple Beth El and dis-
tinguished professor of
Jewish studies at the
University of Detroit.)
I have long been search-
ing for a brief handbook
about Judaism and the
Jewish people for my stu-
dents in a course I teach on
"Introduction to Judaism:
An Ecumenical Approach."
A new book, "Judaism — An
Eternal Covenant," by
Howard R. Greenstein (For-
tress Press), is just the key.
It is written for both Jews
and non-Jews who want an-
swers to the basic questions
of Judaism — its beliefs, its
practices and customs, its
holidays and its concerns.
That is the easy part to
understand.
Much harder is an
analysis of the inter-
relationship between the
religion of Judaism and the
Jewish people. Many Jews,
and many non-Jews, do not
understand that Judaism,
though primarily a religion,
is not exclusively so.
Christians vaguely
realize that Christianity
has its roots in Judaism,
but few can explain the
nature of those Jewish
origins or their impact
upon the newborn faith-
community centered
around Jesus and or-
ganized by Paul..
For Jews as well as for
Christians, how Judaism
became the religion of the
Jewish people and was
cemented by the Covenant
is something of a mystery.
Not all Jews accept the reli-
gious component of their
identity. Still, they are
Jews, committed to the
Jewish past and the ideals
of the Jewish future.
"Peoplehood" is a word
Christians find difficult to
comprehend; even Jews
often misunderstand its
inner meaning. The
spiritual context of the con-
cept is imbedded in the word
"Covenant," the agreement
or contract between God
and the Jewish people
cemented at Sinai. Simply
stated, it means a compact
was forged between God and
theJewish people if they in
turn will obey the statues
commanded by God and
written in the Torah.
This agreement made of
the Jews a "chosen people,"
chosen not for special
privilege but rather for spe-
cial responsibility, a model
for others to emulate in
their search for truth and
goodness.
Greenstein, a Reform
rabbi with a PhD from
Ohio State University,
now serving a congrega-
tion in Jacksonville, Fla.,
has written a splendid
handbook on the mean-
ing of that Covenant, the
multiplicity of its in-
terpretations, and the
major components that
impact on the Jewish
people today. He was
commissioned by Carl
Herman Voss, well
known friend of the
Jewish people and editor
for Fortress Press, to
bring out a triad of books
on Judiasm, Catholocism
and Protestantism.
Howard Greenstein
speaks for Judaism. He has
taken the traditional com-
ponents of God, Torah and
Israel and applied their
theological and theoretical
ideas to the Covenant. In a
remarkably brief composite
of words and ideas, the
author has summed up the
very essence of the tradi-
tional God-concept of ethi-
cal monotheism, including
the problem of evil in recog-
nizing the reality of God.
Greenstein says that to
understand Judaism, one
must understand what
Torah means, not simply in
its limited sense as the first
five books of the Bible but
rather in its larger scope.
Torah refers to the entire
domain of Jewish learning
as a discipline and as a
storehouse of values, the re-
pository of all Jewish learn-
ing from earliest times to
our own.
Torah in practice applies
the ethics of Judaism to
everyday life. "Mitzva" is
the way to do that, every de-
liberate act which enables a
person to approximate di-
vine activity. Mitzva is the
way to holiness.
The author identifies
What can dignify or
enhance the meaning of
life. His explanations of
the Sabbath, the Holy
Days, the major pilgrim
festivals as well as his de-
tailed explanations of the
life-cycle events- from
birth to death, all illumi-
nate the Jewish way of
life.
Greenstein's discussion of
"Israel: The People" is espe-
cially relevant in its modern
context. It is impossible to
understand the meaning of
the most catastrophic event
in all Jewish history, the
Holocaust, without under-
standing the centrality of
the Jewish people.
He defines the Holocaust
as encompassing the period
from Jan. 30, 1933, when
Hitler became Chancellor of
German, to May 5, 1945,
when the Nazis surren-
dered. The term Final Solu-
tion is traced from the
Wannsee Conference in Be-
rlin in 1942, when the Nazis
detailed their plans to liq-
uidate physically all the
Jews of Europe.
But "Israel" is not only a
term that has identified the
Jewish people. It is the
name of the land sacred to
that people since time im-
memorial. What is difficult
for non-Jewish lay people to
understand is that profound
fidelity to the covenant
linking God and Torah to Is-
rael, both to people and to
land.
No other religion has
that combination. The
closest parallel might be
the Catholic connection
to the Vatican as an inde-
pendentjurisdiction over
a small parcel of land in
Rome. For Jews, the
claim to inheritance of Is-
rael, the land, is a matter
of history. Religious,
RABBI HERTZ
ethnic and historic roots
in a parcel of land made
precious by centuries of
love are thus interwoven
with belief and practice
that. makes God, Torah
and Israel a unique fab-
ric.
But what of today?
The latter part of the book
is devoted to four fact-full
chapters, each outlining the
main positions and prac-
tices of Reform Judaism,
Conservative Judaism, Re-
constructionist Judaism
and Orthodox Judaism.
While precise in defining
each interpretation, the
author himself concludes
that these variables in in-
terpreting the Covenant are
becoming increasingly
blurred.
A generation and more
ago, the lines were sharper
and more distinctive.
Moreover, many young
people today are finding the
distinctions between the
movements "less significant
if not trivial."
Mixed marriage is
likewise a subject of
grave concern to all
groups, though the prob-
lem today is not so much
how to prevent it as how
to cope with it.
Greenstein's epilogue
deals with the contempor-
ary concerns for all Jews
who want to preserve the
Covenant. Along with in-
termarriage and assimila-
tion is the alarmingly low
birthrate among American
Jews.
Anti-Semitism too con-
stantly `simmers beneath
the surface of the Jewish
agenda, diverting immense
sums of time and moeny
from otherwise more prod-
uctive means of furthering
Jewish identity.
But by far the most criti-
cal item on the agenda for
preserving the Covenant is
American Jewry's commit-
ment to the state of Israel.
For Jews in the Diaspora,
says Greenstein, "Israel has
served variously as a source
of identity, peoplehood,
pride and dignity, as a
potential haven or a
spiritual center, and for
many others as a surrogate
for Judaism, if not a secular
religion."
Greenstein
adds:
"Jews in America cannot
depend for their own
spiritual vitality upon a
vicarious, sentimental af-
finity for an independent
secular Jewish state."
Judaism must remain, in
spite of any adversities,
an eternal Covenant.
This paperback volume of
only 160 pages is packed
with information that will
help the American Jew or
non-Jew understand the
meaning of the. Covenant,
what it means to be a Jew in
Every. production of
genius must be the produc-
tion of enthusiasm.
—Disraeli
America, and how the links
between Judaism and the
Jewish people form an eter-
nal Covenant to be contin-
ued . . . forever.
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