8 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022 

PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion 
Judaism Without God? God Forbid.
I

n a recent Jewish Telegraphic 
Agency column, Andrew 
Silow-Carroll identified 
a trend in American Jewry, 
which he described as “fiction-
alism.
” In the article, he defines 
it as “pretending 
to follow a set of 
beliefs in order to 
reap the benefits 
of a set of 
actions” and cites 
the philosophy 
professor Scott 
Hershovitz, who 
explains that 
he fasts on Yom Kippur and 
observes Passover even though 
he doesn’t believe in God.
“It’s just what we Jews do,
” 
Hershovitz explains. “[I]t keeps 
me connected to a community 
I value.
”
For fictionalists, God is 
a useful fiction, and Jewish 
practice has value only in its 
pragmatic utility. As Hershovitz 
puts it: “When it feels like the 
world is falling apart, I seek 
refuge in religious rituals — 
but not because I believe my 
prayers will be answered.
”
This trend requires a well-
thought-out, clear response 
because of the serious problems 
it presents. 
Firstly, denial of God’s exis-
tence or the truth of the Torah’s 
narrative is utterly incompatible 
with Judaism itself. 
Take, for example, the 
Passover seder. According to 
fictionalism, the Haggadah 
that parents read to their 
children is the equivalent of 
a collection of the writings 
of Hans Christian Andersen. 
“We were slaves to Pharaoh 
in Egypt, until the Almighty, 
the Holy one blessed is He, 
took us out.” Welcome to 

Hansel and Gretel: “Once 
upon a time …”
When we read the about the 
Exodus — when we tell our 
children that our ancestors 
were slaves in Egypt and that 
God liberated us with miracles 
— that is a fraud, according to 
the fictionalist. 
This approach drives a 
dagger through the heart of 
Passover and places Jewish par-
ents in an invidious position. 
When do you tell your children 
that the story of the Exodus is 
one of the greatest frauds of 
history, perpetuated by gen-
erations of Jewish parents and 
grandparents? Should the seder 
night begin with a disclaimer: 
None of what you are about to 
hear is true? 
The point is, if you remove 
God from Judaism, it ceases to 
be recognizable as such. When 
we say “may the Omnipresent 
comfort you” at a funeral or 
“God who blessed bride and 
groom” at a wedding or “God 
created the world in six days 
and rested on the seventh” 
during Kiddush or “God is 
one” every morning and eve-
ning, and on our deathbed 
— these are all just fictions? 
If so, Judaism is meaningless; 
it becomes a system based on 

falsehoods. 
Strip away the psychobabble, 
and these aren’t just “useful 
fictions” or “principled self-de-
ceptions” — they are, simply, 
falsehoods. And, who wants to 
live a lie?
This brings us to the second 
major problem with the fiction-
alist approach to Judaism — it 
is a formula for the self-implo-
sion of the Jewish people. If 
Judaism is a fairytale, then we 
must not be surprised when 
our children discard it along 
with the Tooth Fairy when 
they grow up, dismissing it as 
just another tale to make their 
childhood more charming. 
Why should they live a delu-
sion? Why should they pay any 
more attention to their heritage 
than the “Magic Faraway Tree?” 
A new generation of Jews is 
being born into a world over-
flowing with real, compelling 
and competing ways of think-
ing and living. Fed a Judaism 
that is a quaint cultural relic, 
a fairytale of false claims, they 
have quite naturally concluded 
that it can be jettisoned at a 
whim. That is why we are hem-
orrhaging young Jews, who are 
exiting our people in droves, 
raising questions of who and 
what will be left. 

MAINTAINING 
JEWISH IDENTITY
The only form of Jewish identi-
ty that has proven itself capable 
of surviving more than a few 
generations is one rooted in the 
complete embrace acceptance 
of the truth of all the factu-
al claims made by Judaism, 
including belief in God and 
His authorship of the Torah. 
Throughout our long history, 
no Jewish community has ever 
survived without a belief in 
the foundations of our faith. A 
pretend Judaism won’t cut it. 
Only the real thing is worthy 
of us and our children — and 
a guarantee for a bright Jewish 
future. 
So where does this leave 
us? As a first step, we need to 
acknowledge the problem: that 
the fictionalist approach is both 
incompatible with Judaism and 
unsustainable. This means that 
we cannot accept with equa-
nimity the trend of fictionalism 
and become comfortable with 
this as the new normal.
We need to formulate an 
appropriate response. There are 
many proud Jews with genuine 
doubts about their heritage, 
and genuine crises of faith. The 
answer is not for us to reject 
those who harbor those doubts. 
Neither should those doubters 
give up hope in faith or shape 
their doubts into a new philos-
ophy that celebrates the false-
ness of Judaism. The only way 
forward is to engage directly 
and honestly and fearlessly with 
doubt, embracing the struggle 
to find faith and make that the 
goal. There are many who have 
grappled with these issues — 
and have discovered their faith 
through intellectual inquiry 
and rational argument, rather 

“Emet” is the Hebrew word for “truth.” 

JTA GRAPHIC

Rabbi 
Warren 
Goldstein
JTA

