My first "real life" exposure to Torah observant Judaism was through the kiruv community (Aish HaTorah and rabbonim from Ohr Somayach namely). A big draw to kiruv is telling non-frum Jews that they are "special" and "unique" and poised and ready to be designated for a higher level of living. This nurtures the necessary "warm & fuzzy" feelings that are needed to rope in these people and bring them back to Torah observance; so in that aspect it's good. However, what is the response when a non-Jew starts to express interest in Judaism? "Oh, well, Judaism doesn't seek converts. You were born a certain way for a reason; you are just fine the way you are". The first part of the aforementioned statement is true; but what about the rest of it? Imagine being a non-Jew hearing this, and while you can get all sorts of logical (and illogical) explanations about why you are what you are -- I think it is rare that the non-Jew interprets this information without thinking, "Wow, I am just not on the same level as a born Jew". This is pretty comparable to a blind person feeling that they are less than a human because they cannot see. But it is not completely equivalent since blindness is an indisputable physical handicap while being a non-Jew is a debatable spiritual handicap.
I personally get a bit bothered when people say I have a "Jewish neshama". Actually, I feel that my soul is just mine. Like Rabbi Ben-Chaim said, becoming a Jew is not some sort of "improvement" over the old me. It's more of an honored designation; like becoming a doctor. Maybe I have the wrong mindset, but I see the process of becoming a Jew as something that is done; actions by myself and by the Jewish community. Therefore, I don't question Hashem as to why he saw that it was necessary for me to be born as a gentile (although I do struggle with all the difficulties I encounter while "walking my path"). Being a Jew is not really a state of "being" at all in my opinion. If that were the case, I would never be able to become a "true Jew" outside of some sort of miraculous divine designation along the lines of what happened at Har Sinai. Maybe this is why Jews have such a hard time digesting converts? You can act "like" us, but you can never change the fact that you were not born like us.
So returning back to the kiruv thing; yes, there is a dire need to help non-religious Jews recognize the truth present in Torah and the peace present in living a life directed by it. However these non-religious Jews should also understand that they are no better than a gentile who underwent a halachaic conversion or a Jew who eats in the Red Lobster once per week. The difference is in how we connect and relate to Hashem and how we believe our time on this planet will be maximized. For born Jews, there is the added fact that they are responsible for carrying out the mesorah of their ancestors (someone in their family probably remained a Jew at the peril of their lives, yet they have no desire to embrace an observant Jewish life!). But it all boils down to the performance of the mitzvot; and non-religious Jews "enjoy" the status of being a Jew because some of their ancestors took on the mitzvot. If they themselves choose to eschew the mitzvot, then they relinquish their claim to Jewishness (which may not be technically true for them, but will very likely be for their descendants who will be very unlikely to be Jews in any sense anyway).
I am not a social psychologist, but my guess is that minority religious communities hold on to superiority notions as a "security blanket" to help keep people in the fold. If the Jews are "chosen" by Hashem, what does this "choseness" impart? Although the Torah points out quite clearly that being "chosen" means to be involved in a covenant...so a spiritual relationship with Hashem. However, this has morphed into modern times as a "look at the Incredible & the Indelible Jews!". We love to enumerate the percentages of Jews who won Nobel Prizes, create lists of famous Jews, and talk about the amazing accomplishments of Israel. Similar to kiruv, this is fine; if the scenario were one-sided. But it is not. Take Anti-Semitism for example: you have some situations were anti-semitism is used to liberally describe mishaps and discrimination that occurs to the Jews. Yet what did we hear from many Jews during this election year? Various accounts of potentially racially motivated rhetoric against Obama. While it was addressed by some Jewish news outlets like Haaretz, the most bone chilling comments were heard informally in the Jewish community.
If my writing sounds too critical, it is not my intention in the least. I am simply trying to dig a bit to find the causes behind the Jewish people coming to embrace these superiority notions that teeter upon the very dangerous territory of projecting bigotry to non-Jews. This type of thinking has very little tolerance for "the others" who are trying to become like them (since it gnaws away at the inherent superiority notion). Therefore this seemingly benign issue is recognized as a red flag by Jewish converts right away.
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1 comment:
I think the reason why we encourage non-frum Jews but don't encourage non-Jews is becasue with fellow Jews, we have a responsibility to help them learn about their heritage so they can practice it, where as with non-Jews, we need to help them understand what a serious commitment it is so they know that if this is what they choose, they have to stick with it
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