WHO IS A JEW?

I am increasingly distressed and stymied by the issue of Jewish identity. And this is one thing which should really be crystal clear. Who is a Jew? One born of a Jewish mother or one converted according to Halacha. Why does it sound so uncomplicated? And yet it is so muddied.

I have been invited to a Barmitzvah. Of a Non-Jewish boy. Yes, this boy is the son of a woman, now sadly deceased, who was not Jewish and never converted. And this boy has a Jewish father. It is absolutely clear that this child is not Jewish and therefore is not required to put on tefillin or to keep mitzvot, which is what being Bar-Mitzvah is all about. I mean, if he just wants to have a big party, then fine! Have a party! So why is he having a Barmitzvah? And where? Well, at Temple Beth Israel, of course. Where else? Where else but in a Reform temple. Here in Melbourne, we call Reform ‘the Liberals.’

Who thought of these terms? When was Jewish- observant or not, ‘frum’ or ‘frei’- broken up into these classifications? Orthodox: ‘Holding correct, ie currently accepted opinions’ ‘Right, correct, true’, according to the SOED. Well, OK. But then, what is ‘Ultra-Orthodox’? Ultra: Beyond.  Also, ‘Showing the highest degree of the quality denoted by the simple adjective’, in this case, ‘orthodox’. So, ultra-Orthodox is either beyond right and true, which makes no sense; or ‘showing the highest degree’ of being correct, right or true. Which also makes no sense; last time I looked, the qualities of truth and rightness were absolute and unmodifiable. No ‘truthiness’ here.  True is true. Right is right. So what does ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ actually mean? It means, in this usage, ‘fanatic’. It means, ‘this person wears a funny hat’. ‘This person is a religious extremist, because he does more than I do’. So ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ is actually a pejorative term.

OK, so what of ‘Liberal’, ‘Reform’, and ‘Progressive’ Judaism- all the same thing I believe. So assume these terms are used as a reaction to the ‘Correctness’ of Orthodoxy. I am Liberal! Free! Liberated! Unrestrained! You are restrained, narrow. I am Reform, I improve that which is faulty! You believe in a faulty religion. I am Progressive! You are regressive. The very names used to describe this branch of Judaism are, in a way, offensive to the Orthodox. This was expressed some years ago by Rabbi John Levi, rabbi emeritus of the Temple Beth Israel, when he said words to the effect of  ‘Liberal /Reform Judaism is Judaism without the bad bits.’ How offensive is that? Did any Orthodox protest this? Well, apart from me? I don’t think so.

And what of Conservative, or Masorti Judaism? These people have me scratching my head a bit, let alone ‘Conservadox’. I think the principles are gender equality and you can drive to Shul. I think of it as a shy, sidelong approach to Orthodoxy, but without the Kabbalat Ol, the acceptance of the Yoke of Heaven, ie, doing as you’re told without too much protesting, Na’aseh veNishma- ‘we will do, first; and then we will listen’. Rather, picking and choosing to do stuff which you like or which appeals to your sense of logic, or conversely, not doing things which upset your worldview; in other words, the person is at the centre, rather than G-d. But that argument is for another time.

But you know, if you want to have men and women sitting together at services, fine. If you want to have female rabbis and cantors, fine. If you want to call girls up to the Torah wearing cute little silk-screen printed tallitot, fine. If you are into Tikkun Olam, mending the world, wonderful! But if you want to redefine Jewish identity by saying that patrilineage is a fully acceptable decider for Jewishness, no, that’s not fine. Not at all.

For 2000+ years, the definition was clear: born of a Jewish mother or converted according to Halacha. At first, in the late 19^th to 20^th centuries, Reform made things difficult enough with their own version of conversion, which was not usually acceptable to what was then mainstream Judaism. The divorce, or Gett, was also questionable, raising problems with remarriage and consequent status of offspring of the second marriage, Mamzerut or illegitimacy. This was already difficult territory. But then suddenly, you didn’t even need to have a Jewish mother, or to convert at all, to be Jewish! And if I stand up to protest this, I am the one who is shouted down as ‘anti-pluralist’ and ‘ultra-Orthodox, ie fanatical’, beyond all reason.

So what, in the end, is Jewish? Maybe it’s anyone who calls themselves Jewish- just ask the so-called Messianic Jews! Why, they believe in Jesus, sorry, Yeshua, the Saviour, and they still call themselves Jews! As if that can make any sense at all!

So will I go to this Barmitzvah? No, I will not go to the Temple for the boy’s call-up to the Torah and be a part of what I think is a travesty. But I will go to the party for a bit (where the food will of course be non-Kosher and maybe I will get a little plastic-covered plate of hors-d’oeuvres just so I can fit in even less) because we were friendly with this couple and we are sad that this boy lost his mother at such an early age.

We are still menschen, even if we are Ultra-Orthodox.