Discussion from Week 2 of my Religious Studies Class

Note: my class is full of very religious Xtians, so I really need to temper what I write. This is proving to be an interesting exercise in tact for me!

Please state in a couple of paragraphs why you think the book of Genesis is so important to the religious life and culture of Israel. Identify the one or two themes of Genesis that seem most important to you and explain why.

The Book of Genesis, in essence, sets the foundation for defining the entire culture of Israel. Not only does Genesis present the basis for the beginnings of the nation of Israel (including their belief system), but also for the rest of the world as well. Genesis helps to explain how the culture of Israel deals with the "big questions" of human thought: "How did the world begin?", "What role do humans have in the world?", and "How did our people come to be?".

The two themes I find to be key in Genesis both deal with creation. Ironically, I will not be referring to the Adam and Eve narrative which was the initial "creation". Rather the two creation stories that more solidify the culture of Israel -- the stories of Noah and of Abraham.

In the story of Noah, Genesis presents the background of all humans on the earth today. Noah, as Genesis presents him, is the physical and spiritual ancestor of everyone alive today. Although Noah had no written Bible to serve as a reference for ethical living, G-d did present to him a covenant; which would include him and all of his descendants (so all of us today). This covenant pre-dates the revelation of the 10 Commandments given at Mt. Sinai. Yet it seems here, for the first time since the creation of the world, G-d is giving specific instructions regarding ethical living. In Genesis 9:1 to 9:17, it seems as if G-d has made a "change" in how he relates to humans. The story of Noah presents humankind expectations of behavior, a clearer view of reward and punishment, and precedent of showing that G-d's involvement with the world shall be ongoing.

In the story of Abraham, Genesis presents the creation of the nation of Israel (and the seeds of Christianity and Islam as well). What is interesting is that Abraham seemed to have converts (Genesis 12:5) to his pioneering belief in one G-d, yet a great importance was placed on the fact that Abraham had a biological son, Isaac, through which the nation of Israel would descend. Undoubtedly, throughout the entire Bible, you have a strong emphasis placed on lineages, in addition to the theological teachings. This demonstrates how it has come to be that the culture of Israel includes both belief and biological ties. A "non-believing" member of the nation of Israel is still a member. This system of biology & belief has also made the nation of Israel a very "portable" group of people. Their essence is not intrinsic on the existence of any particular country, and they are not easily absorbed by other cultures.

Overall, I feel my response was super-simplistic. But it was still about double the length of what everyone else posted. It's the first "writing" week, so I'll see how the feedback goes and adjust accordingly.

Scholarly Religion

One of the courses I am taking this semester is Studies in Hebrew Scriptures.  It's an online class (just like my 3 other classes), and I figured it would be an interesting class to take in order to fill my upper-division elective requirement. From what I can tell, there are 14 students in the class.  Of that 14, 10 have proclaimed to be born-again Christians who seem to be approaching this course as "bible study for credit".

I attend a large public university; and without a doubt, such institutions will always have a religious Christian contingency. WVU would probably have a higher than average amount. Just by looking at the roster of religious clubs on campus will attest to that. But I have had little (no?) interaction with that side of the collegiate populace. When I was on campus and in Hillel, religion seemed to be not so important to us. The majority of the members were Conservative, and I was Reform -- but there were no theological discussions about why we were what we were. We had a very abbrieviated service on Friday night and holiday parties, and that was it. We focused on the fact that we were all Jewish and hung out and that was that.

The course only began on Monday, so there have only been 2 days of introductions and discussions.  Already I see a stark contrast in how religious Christians (like my classmates) and religious Jews talk about G-d. First of all, they use the word "love" a lot ("I love the L-rd"; "Ilove reading the Bible", etc.). I also notice that they refer the Creator also as a person -- as a friend -- or maybe even a lover, by saying things like, "He has stood by me through thick and thin" or "Jesus has turned my life around". I find this very interesting. And I also realize that there are a great many Jews who feel this way (in fact, Chassidus is centered on a "feeling" relationship with G-d). Yet it is still very different...and I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it is. My cursory conclusion is these particular religious Christians (no one revealed their denomination...but I'm pretty confident they are all Protestant) see G-d (and Jesus, at his right-hand side in heaven I guess) as the puppetmaster who is controlling the world. Whereas Jews take on a personal responsibility for maintaining the proper order of the world by doing their part of maintaining their covenant with G-d.

The following is from the class syllabus:

In this course the student will be able to:

1. Recognize and identify important people and events throughout Israel’s ancient history. 
2. Understand the historical, cultural, and religious settings behind the Hebrew Scriptures. 
3. Analyze the impact major events and people had on the life and faith of Israel.
4. Develop a deeper understanding of at least one Old Testament book. 
5. Evaluate how various theological concepts have shaped Israel, her existence, and her thought.
6. Compare, contrast, and critique ideas through collaborative learning.

Here you can see that in theory, someone should be able to objectively approach the course material to accomplish these goals.  Yet I get the feeling that this focus on the "Old Testament" may conjure up some discussions that will invariably lead the "...this is what I believe..." sort of discussions. We'll have to see.

Shedding Light On Halachaic Gierut?

Someone pointed me towards this article by Rabbi Marc Angel in regards to what really constitutes a conversion to Judaism al pi halacha, and what is deemed as...well..."excessive" (my terminology, not his). In many ways, I agree with his feelings regarding what constitutes "acceptance of the mitzvot"; but on the other hand, I see where it can very easily be misconstrued. For example, if a woman undergoes a conversion through an Orthodox Beit Din; and then subsequently, you discover this woman doesn't cover her hair after marriage and feeds Hebrew National hot dogs to her family, that should not make her Jewishness "null and void"*. On the other hand if you have a woman who underwent a halachaic conversion, and it was discovered that they were engaged in a forbidden relationship with a Kohen, in total defiance of halacha, then yes, there is a problem.

Shortly after reading this article, I found out that the Rabbinical Council of America launched a new website about their initiatives to help set a standard for Orthodox Jewish conversion. After reading through the website, nothing major was revealed that I already did not know before. However, I did notice that the tone of the writing on the website was far less draconian than the bits and pieces of information supplied to others regarding this issue. Understand that within the last two years, the mentioning of "RCA" and "conversion" in one sentence was enough to make the hearts of most gerim (or gerim-to-be) skip a few beats. A major factor of this, no doubt, has been misconceptions.

The most interesting thing that I have picked up on [by reading these two things so close together] is that the picture that Rabbi Angel paints is quite a bit different than what the RCA presents. While this is not a surprise, it makes you wonder which side is closer to the reality? The RCA's conversion website has an FAQ section, but in my humble opinion, it's pretty meager. Also, there seem to be some inaccuracies. For example, in regards to costs, the application fee seems to be $250, not $100. Little details like this make me wonder if the information contained is truly current (although the website is brand new...).

IY"H, in about 3 weeks I will be meeting with the Beis Din in Pittsburgh (an RCA Beis Din) and will see first hand their approach towards conversion. How much will they lean towards the side of having rachmoness and consideration for individual situation and how much will they be "sticking to the rules". Rules that quite possibly have little to do with an individual's commitment to live a Torah directed life and cast their lot with the Jewish nation. I do applaud the efforts to establish some sort of national data clearinghouse of halachaic converts in the USA to help alleviate some of the issues that arise when trying to verify someone's Jewishness.

* - the RCA openly noted that they do not "nullify" conversions. However, they do have the option of not endorsing a conversion done outside their network of recognized Batei Din. This could (obviously) cause problems of acceptance by the Rabbinut in Eretz Yisrael.