SPECIAL COMMENTARY

The Limits Of Words

Words significantly shape the way we
New York
think, but they also constrain our
have been struggling recently
imagination. I would love to find a
with the word Jewish. The word
way
to talk about Jewishness that
has begun to feel constraining
would mirror what that identity
and narrow. And I don't believe
evokes.
that I am an unusual case; this is
Maybe this brief look at the words
something I share with my "secular"
we currently use will help.
friends and colleagues who are not
"Religion" is clearly
associated with traditional
inadequate. Associated, as it
Jewish practices and institu-
is, with the notion of a
tions.
transcendent God, and
Maybe one reason that the
with
rigid norms and rules,
word Jewish can feel distanc-
it simply does not describe
ing is that none of the terms
my sense of connection to
that are ordinarily used to
something larger or to the
describe Jewishness — "reli-
deepest parts of myself. Nor
gion," "ethnicity," "heritage,"
does the term resonate with
"ethics" — quite resonate in
an entire generation of
spite of my deep Jewish con-
DR. SHARI
Americans
who prefer the
nection.
COHEN
word
"spiritual"
instead.
I think this is true for two
Special to
But "spirituality" does
reasons: Jewishness has always
the Jewish News
not work either. It suggests
been some sort of composite
an inward self-focus, not
of these concepts, though we
sufficiently oriented toward
tend to want to label it sim-
the larger world — a sense of ethics
ply — to place it in only one of these
and the larger good. It has also come
boxes.
to overlap with "New Age," a term to
Perhaps more importantly, we are
which
I have never been drawn.
in a period of change, when we might
have to think differently about the
Making The Connection
categories to which these words refer.
Again, I know I am not alone in this.
Dr. Shari Cohen is a senior fellow
Neither "religion" nor "spirituality"
and director of the Jewish Public Forum
captures how I, or many of the "secu-
at CLAL, the National Jewish Center
lar" Jews I know, would describe our
for Learning and Leadership.
connection to the big issues of life, or

I

LETTERS

LETTERS

Woodville, Ohio

Israel Needs
Our Support

I want to thank you for the incredi-
ble coverage you gave to the United
Jewish Communities' Solidarity Mis-
sion to Israel that Michael Horowitz
and I went on together ("Showing

40

fixed, "morality" is associated with
the Christian right. "Social activism"
is too connected to social move-
ments that have not been terribly
effective. I would prefer a term that
captures a deep commitment to
questioning conventions, the notion
of making the world better from
tikkun olam, but also the need to
ground idealism in the realities of
the world. None of the terms we
often hear do this.

ty with the people of Israel. I promise
all of you an experience you will never
forget nor regret.
It is so easy to go to Israel during

the good times. It is the hard decision
to go during the tough times.
Marta Rosenthal

What Jewish Means

Perhaps Jewish is as much a
"method" for engaging with the
world as it is anything else. This
means thinking in terms of adverbs
and verbs, not nouns.
Maybe I'd feel better if Jewish was a
word that referred to how we
"believe," "identify," have "faith,"
appreciate the "sacred," "reflect," are
"loyal," "engage," find or seek "mean-
ing" and challenge "idolatries." And
not just how we do each of these
things, but how these activities are and
will be combined.
It makes sense to move in this
direction during a transitional period,
when the ways we form communities,
our own identities, think about our
families, our work and politics are
changing. Once we become conscious
— or self-conscious — about words,
we can be freed to reinvent. ❑

from page 37

not, the Jewish people have always
considered all gossip as loshon horah:
evil and reprehensible.
The inclusion of this book review
in your newspaper is totally contrary
to your mission statement, "We
acknowledge our role as a responsible,
responsive member of the (Jewish)
community."
The book, as well as its review, were
tasteless and inappropriate.
David Temple

11/24
2000

to our Jewish identities.
What about "ethnicity" and the
whole family of words connected with
the tribal aspect of Jewish peoplehood,
oriented toward kinship and toward
inheritance of something from the
past? "Ethnicity" and "peoplehood"
feel too tribal, particularistic and
focused on survival. "Heritage" seems
too bland, and doesn't do justice to
the richness of Jewish tradition; it is
also strangely static. "Culture" might
work, but seems too broad and diffuse
and often focused on nostalgia.
There is another family of terms
that links to the notion of tikkun oldm
— a phrase that has come to mean,
roughly, making the world a better
place.
This impulse, combined with the
idea of questioning conventions or
idolatries, comprises the aspect of Jew-
ishness that focuses on "social respon-
sibility." But what do we really mean
by that? Social responsibility might
suggest the concept of "civic engage-
ment," which has been used in recent
discussions about the malaise and apa-
thy that seem to be threatening
democracy. But "civic engagement" is
reminiscent of forms of voluntary
activity that I connect with a previous
generation, and doesn't describe my
engagement with important social
challenges.
"Ethics" sounds too distant and

We Care," Nov. 17, page 6). When
the Jewish Federation of Metropoli-
tan Detroit called and asked me to
go, it never occurred to me to say
"no." My only thought was, "Is my
passport still valid?"
This was a very different kind of
mission to Israel for me and no doubt
my most important mission. Israel
needs us. They need our emotional
support most of all.
Now I am asking you, the Michi-
gan Jewish community, to join
Detroit Federation President Penny
Blumenstein, Unity Mission Chair-
man Richard Krugel and me, associ-
ate chair, on our own Michigan
Unity Mission to Israel, Jan. 14-19.
You will go directly from Detroit to
Tel Aviv on El Al Airlines.
This is an opportunity for members
of the Jewish communities from across
the state to show unwavering solidari-

Franklin

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