Editor's Letter

Enriching Moments

W

e raise our kids Jewish because God chose us.
"There's no other rational explanation for the
centrality of the Jewish people in history or in the
world today',' says Dennis Prager, the provocative Los Angeles-
based radio talk show host.
Prager, whose weekday show is syndicated nationwide, is on
to something.
"If we are not the Chosen People,'
he writes in his Moment magazine
column, "there is little compelling rea-
son to raise our children as Jews. After
Auschwitz, and with significant parts
of the Muslim world today advocating
another Holocaust, it takes a powerful
reason to do so."
I agree.
But I also think the enduring
vibrancy of our ancestral culture and
homeland in combination with our
unmistakable bond with Torah — despite the many enemies
of Zionism — is another reason to believe.
The beauty of life, not the allure of death, drives us as
Jews. We take delight in goodness, not evil. Family is integral
to who we are. We were raised Jewish and our parents were
raised Jewish. However religiously observant we are, most of
us embrace the passage of our tradition and heritage to the
next generation. It's a badge of honor for Jews of all back-
grounds.
Even secular Jews embrace
the Jewish state of oneness,
which amazingly transcends
our many religious streams
and factions.
That we're chosen makes us
distinctive and has helped us
survive as a people. But I don't
think it consciously propels
us as parents. The distinction
Dennis Prager
does give us extraordinary
influence far beyond our
population percentage, though. Like Prager says: "Even anti-
Semites recognize the pivotal role of this tiny group of people
on the world stage."

can vouch for the joy that radiates from Judaism if you let it.
Prager, 59, further talks about Judaism's capacity to spur
meaning and moral values — essential components to a
happy life and sense of community.

The Final Turn
In a controversial answer, Prager says Judaism is uniquely pre-
occupied with good and evil. While applauding Christians for
founding America, he argues that Christianity is "concerned
mainly with faith and salvation, and Islam is focused on sub-
mission to Allah:' On a strictly faith-based plane, that's true.
But on a personal level, mainstream Christians and Muslims
certainly place goodness above evil even as they spiritually
separate the "faithful" from the "unfaithful."
I have no argument with Prager's blunt assessment that
Jews believe in afterlife but cherish life while radical Islam,
in contrast, rests on "a preoccupation with heavenly rewards
and a consequent disdain for this life." His example resounds:
Hamas terrorists indoctrinate Palestinian Arabs in the Middle
East to glorify suicide bombers who murder Jews. The impe-
tus is to honor Allah and reach the promised rewards in the
life beyond.
Prager's final answer, that Judaism encourages Jews to argue
with God, really pulsates. You don't hear about Christians or
Muslims talking openly about arguing with God or Allah.
Prager astutely reinforces this point: "The very name of the
Jewish people, Israel, means wrestle with God."
Prager is a political con-
servative whose politics fly
far right. His personal motto
is "Clarity is more important
than agreement."
In the Moment article,
Prager takes issue with Jews
who distort Judaism by
breaking it into quasi-reli-
gious doctrines, whether the
cause is socialism or envi-
ronmentalism, rather than
keeping it whole as "a means
to the higher values rooted in God and Torah."
Dennis Prager — a moralist, ecumenist and dreamer
obsessed with what is right and wrong — certainly gets you
to think more critically and profoundly about why you are
Jewish. Boring or dry he's not.
His conclusion is simple yet powerful: Judaism is one of
life's great enrichments, a gift from God worthy of absorbing
into your soul because its enriching essence is "difficult to
find elsewhere."
With that, I wholeheartedly agree.
Prager isn't suggesting that Jews are better than others.
Rather, he's saying that our profound journey as a people has
given us the backbone, drive and fortitude to withstand the
harshest of enemies.

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Dennis Prager
certainly gets you to
think more critically
and profoundly about
why you are Jewish.

Reaching Stride
Prager is one of Jewish America's most insightful commenta-
tors. In the August issue of Moment, he serves up 10 thought-
ful answers to "Why I Am A Jew" Time spent with the piece
won't be wasted.
Prager quickly sets the stage with some baseline answers:
• Judaism provides the best "instruction manual on how to
lead a good, holy and meaningful life:'
• The Torah is Divine. "No book comes close in influenc-
ing the world and changing the way human beings behave
and think. Divine means that God is, ultimately, the Torah's
author."
• Judaism teaches moderation. I interpret that to mean the
edges of life are best explored from a centrist perspective; you
then understand what's at play and at risk.
Prager goes on to argue "no religion provides such continu-
ous joy-filled moments as Judaism." I don't know enough
about other religions to make such a blanket statement, but I

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What impact does the label "Chosen
People" have on your life?

judyburnett@jarc.org

Are there times that you fear conse-
quences for being Jewish?

JN

August 30 • 2007

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