Jul

20

Would it matter if Jews disappeared?

July 20, 2005 |

Why do we occupy so much of our thoughts and energies trying to keep our religion alive? What does it matter to us if Judaism disappears? I know it sounds ridiculous. I’m sure everybody has a theory and the pundits will pontificate ad nauseum, but I really don’t know why we care so much.

Look at it this way: Jews, at least traditional Jews, believe that G-d created the World and chose the Jewish people as his special children to be a light unto the nations and to spread the word that there is only one G-d and He wants us to know him. And He gave us the Torah and the mitzvot as a handbook for living so that we will live our lives within the proper framework and fulfill His grand plans for the universe. Our great reward for this blessing will be a good life, material and spiritual fulfillment, and some say, even greater rewards in Olam Habah, the world to come - life after death.

Ok. Let’s say I buy into that. Let’s say that I believe that by being a Jew that makes me special somehow and that by adhering to the tenants of Judaism, whatever stream, I am living a life that is somehow better than if I were not Jewish. I would have to believe that in order to fight to stay Jewish, right? Otherwise what am I doing? I’m an idiot, right? If I don’t believe that being Jewish is better than not being Jewish, then I am a complete fool for caring about my own devotion to the religion of my mother (or father if you are Reform) let alone worry about the devotion my co-religionists. So what we’re saying is that being Jewish is good. It is good for me. The same way that exercising is good for me or reducing my salt intake is good for me. I may not be able to measure how good it is, but I am not able to accurately measure the amount of pleasure I get from not eating hamburgers every day as compared to the pleasure I would get from stuffing my face morning, noon, and night. So being Jewish is good. For me.

But it is good for me, it has to be good for me, only because I believe that it is G-d’s will. If I don’t believe that I am adhering to a higher standard of living than others who do not then I am again being foolish. I must be motivated by my belief in G-d, because the vast evidence of logic, reason and history shows me that religion is not a better way to live. One could argue that history would be even worse without religion reigning people in, but I find that difficult to accept. Find the worst occurrences of violence throughout history and tell me that religion doesn’t enter into the picture somewhere. One could argue that through religion, the world came to know the system of laws and morals. But who can really argue that those things would not have developed independent of religion? Morality is essential to the survival and the success of the human species. Without a doctrine of “women and children first” our species could not and would not survive. Similarly, rules of property and inheritance were necessary in order to prevent chaos once we evolved past the hunter/gatherer stage. Had we not adopted rules to govern our social interactions, we would not have left the caves. We would probably still be there. But how can we argue that religion, that a belief in the supernatural or in G-d, was beneficial to our survival and advancement as a species, if the worst man-made tragedies in history are directly related to the spread of organized religion. How can we claim that religion has enlightened us when throughout history it has been organized religion that has tried to fight the forces of progress and science? Fought it so vigorously that we Jews even burned the books of one of our most revered and intellectual scholars, Maimonedes.

Tune in later for more of this rant…

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