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