Rose Is A Rose

[In a little less haste I rewrote an essay I had assembled already – The Changing Jewish Heritage http://theimperiousloudmouth.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-changing-jewish-heritage.html– because I was looking for words that better reflected my point of view. I ask your indulgence.]

Ironic, isn't it. On Halloween, just over five centuries ago, Martin Luther doffed the garments of a position in the Pope's church and donned those of his new calling. With his 95 Theses he split with Rome and opened a wound that had existed in the church for hundreds of years. Wycliffe and Hus had expressed their dissatisfaction much earlier, but no significant movement followed.

Knox, Zwingli, Calvin, and others (even Henry VIII, though he was not noted as a theologian), however, soon followed Luther's lead and the Protestant Reformation was born. And there were new religions. Each had its own churches, rituals and beliefs – its own costume. From one, many. That's not to suggest there weren't commonalities. To paraphrase Gertrude Stein, Christian is a Christian is a Christian. At least in one respect. An Episcopalian is an Anglican is a Presbyterian – or, for that matter, a “Moonie” or a Mormon. They're all Christians, accepting the divinity of Jesus. They subscribe to the idea of a common heritage from which had arisen many different, but linked, religions – a common origin with a variety of different coverings. Humans wearing different costumes. Halloween. A day of sanctification.

The Jewish Reformation began toward the end of the eighteenth century and the start of the nineteenth. That was the start of Jewish protestantism. There had been “heretics” before, but no unified trend. The establishment of Reform Judaism marked the beginning of a movement to group Jews according to beliefs and rituals. It makes sense: a havura member is certain not to follow the practices Haredi Jews. But both, having Jewish mothers, are Jews.

Another irony. Neither sees the validity of the other's beliefs and (if any) rituals, but both pass the religious test. We are obsessed with the question “Who is a Jew?'” while ignoring the fact that it is not a relevant question. It was settled long ago. A Jew is the child of a Jewish mother (that excludes “patrilineal Jews) or someone who has undergone a valid conversion – whatever that means. Anyone fitting that definition is a Jew. But there are differences between a “social” Jew and one who practices “modern orthodoxy,” and it is self-deception not to recognize that they are different religions: they believe different things and their practices are different. As are their houses of worship.

It is not necessary to decide who is right – only to admit that we have different views and we worship in different ways. Jews have a common heritage. We are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But while we all believe that ours is the only “true” Judaism rather than the perspective of one of many “protestant” Jewish religions, the infighting is inevitable. We're all Jews, but we practice different religions. Ideally we'll take “Jew”out of the title of our religion and identify ourselves as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or whatever. Better still, a “Minyanarian,” “Schechterite,” and “Egalitarian.” Costumes reflective of their beliefs.

But the Messiah will come first.

January 21, 2018