EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

The Essence Of Judaism

Minneapolis
ix days before the quintessential American holiday of
Thanksgiving, I find myself deeply thankful that we
Jews continue to thrive as a people despite odds that
would demoralize others.
Anti-Semitism is up, synagogue affiliation is down, too
many younger Jews seem spiritually lost, the lures of assimila-
tion continue to test our religious will and apathy is more
widespread.
Worse, deadly terror continues to target Israelis and Jews
elsewhere. Non Jews also are targets when they are in the way.
Witness the synagogue terror in Istanbul last
Shabbat, likely tied to Al Qaida. Meanwhile,
Israel presses on despite 37 months of
Palestinian terror. Says Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon: "Our enemies have got to understand
that the Jewish people cannot be broken."
For Jews in America, identity is more of a
reality than the threat of ter-
ror. The latest National
ROBERT A. Jewish Population Survey
SKLAR
reveals just 28 percent of all
Editor
Jews light Shabbat candles.
Less than half who are ages
35 to 44, many with younger children, say
that Judaism is very important in their lives.
The survey affirms that the most observed
of all Jewish customs is the Passover seder, a
symbol of religious freedom and family values,
as is the Thanksgiving dinner.
But the survey relates that many Jews have
grown parochial. They are less inclined to wear
Judaism on their sleeve and less interested in
repair of the world, in tikkun clam. That's why Michelle Sa
they feel less bound to Jews beyond our
shores, even in Israel.
Despite ill winds, World Jewry courageously regroups fol-
lowing each terrorist attack against Jews, allies or Jewish inter-
ests. The two car bombs ignited outside two Istanbul syna-
gogues on Nov. 15 killed at least 22 innocent people and
wounded more than 300. The blasts remind us — again —
that we express our Judaism at our peril as flames of hatred
toward Israel whip out of control worldwide. Six Jews were
among the Istanbul dead.
Coming during a bar mitzvah and a religious school rededi-
cation, the bombings were as shocking and barbaric as any
Israel has suffered from terrorism. Hate knows no borders.
When you think you've seen terror at its worst, you see an act
equally horrid or more deadly.
To do something like this when people are praying, this is
truly beyond the pale of human conduct. Even animals don't
commit evil like this," Turkey's Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva told
Israel Radio.

S

Power of People

So what makes Jews a people? What gives us our unique char-
acter and resilient will?
An ancestral homeland? Our love of kugel? The Hebrew
language?
"Judaism defines the Jewish people," said Rabbi Eric Yoffie,
who leads the fastest-growing movement in American
Judaism. He's president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
"Judaism," he said, "makes us a people."
Yes, but there must be more, I thought, as he gave the

Shabbat sermon at the Reform movement's Nov. 8 biennial in
the Minneapolis Convention Center.
He called Judaism something more than a religion. He
called it a "complex, many-splendored thing wherein people-
hood, faith and ethics interact."
What he then said rang true. .
"But Torah," he said, "is its central pillar."
He nailed it, I thought. He got it just right.
"We are not Jewish because we like bagels or Borscht-Belt
humor," he said. "It is Jewish learning and religious practice
that make us Jews."
Here was a powerful rabbi from a liberal stream of Judaism
reinforcing Torah's supreme role in linking Jewish identity
with something larger and cohesive. He was saying that no
matter which of Judaism's Divinely grounded streams we
identify with, we share a faith in and covenant with God.
Cutting to the core, he added, "More than a thousand years
ago, Saadyah Gaon said it plainly: Israel is a
people only by virtue of its Torah."
Young people often reject learning because
Torah isn't a comfort zone for them. We haven't
made learning linger for them. We haven't fash-
ioned it as a window into their history and her-
itage while also a spiritual connection.
All streams are re-engaging to bring younger
people closer to their Judaism through hip,
interactive Torah experiences.
A leader of Michigan's Reform-based syna-
gogue youth groups stressed that Torah study is
integral to organized Shabbat weekends.
"The kids are more well versed than we give
them credit for," said Michelle Sage Chekan,
regional director of NFTY, the North American
Federation of Temple Youth.
Shabbaton experiences typically relate Torah
lessons to current times. "Our hope," said Chekan, 36, "is for
the kids to learn something they can take home and use in
their everyday lives."

Light Of Torah

Ultimately, salvation of the Jewish people is tied to one thing:
making Torah echo for Jews everywhere.
I try to learn each week. And I've found revelation a special
gift. It wraps itself around you.
Lest we forget, the covenant at Mount Sinai was made with
the Jewish people, not individuals or tribes. We're a people yet
diverse, which is a positive. However different our upbringing
or beliefs, we have a binding influence. What divides us emo-
tionally or halachically doesn't seem to pierce our bond to
stand together as one — as the Jewish community:
Moments after the Istanbul carnage was reported, Israel sent
support teams to Turkey World Jewry grieves equally for
everyone who died or was hurt, Muslim or Jew. Their lives
intersected when the knell of terror displaced the ring of
prayer at the Neve Shalom and Beth Israel synagogues.
Whatever our commitment as Jews, Torah is a constant. It
sustains us as a people. It defines who we are in the pantheon
of religions.
Rabbi Yoffie distilled the essence of what I'm trying to con-
vey this Thanksgiving. "There is no such thing as Lone
Ranger Judaism," he said. "It is right to search for spiritual
meaning in your life. But if your Judaism is exclusively per-
sonal, it is not Judaism at all." I 1

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