Secular Jewish Spirituality
Spirituality! Secular, humanist, cultural Jews (hereinafter
referred to as
Secular Jews) and members of secular, humanist and cultural Jewish
movements, are talking and thinking about spirituality, in our era. By
its
nature spirituality is immaterial. Traditionally it has been associated
with the supernatural and religion. The concept has therefore often been
rejected as incompatible with a scientific, rational outlook. This article1
takes a look at the meaning and relevance of spirituality for Jews who
have
a scientific and rational approach to life and Jewishness.
Secular Jews, among others, need to experience the emotional
underpinningsof their philosophy and to understand what enables people
to transcend the material and ordinary elements of life. How and why,
for example, do we gain satisfaction from the struggles for a just world
and from
identification with the Jewish people? I suggest that spirituality
continues to be of the utmost importance in dealing with the seemingly
intractable problems of life and that it plays a role in secularism and
secular Jewishness.
John Dewey gave a non-supernatural definition of spirituality.
He
suggested that it was guiding one's life by and giving it over to an ideal
that offers direction, purpose and a depth of meaning to daily living.
Such
spirituality has always been part of the scientific, secular, humanist
philosophical and ethical traditions, both general and Jewish.
Even for rational and scientific people, it is hard to be purely
rational
and scientific in the face of the utter mystery of life itself-love,
heroism, beauty and evil; the expanse of the universe; the beauty and
development of children; the dedication of some humans to others' welfare
and freedom even at the risk of their own; the strength of individuals
in
overcoming difficulties, even horror, in their lives; even the selfishness
and evil found among humans. Many people need a commitment to abstract
ideals such as religion, peoplehood and/or social justice. This is
difficult to explain rationally. These essentially spiritual elements
can
and do stem from the secularist philosophy. Before expanding on this I
would like to present a context. Who are secular Jews and how did they
get
here?
Secular Jewishness developed primarily in the 19th and 20th
centuries as a
response to the growth of secular knowledge and negative social conditions.
It was a very distinct break from earlier ideas. Traditionally, Jews waited
for God and God's emissaries to relieve the suffering to which they and
other humans were subject.
During the 19th Century many became convinced that God was
neither able nor going to relieve human suffering and oppression. Among
them Jews became convinced that it was up to people to change society
and the plight of humanity, including Jews. This concept entered the European
Jewish
community (the majority of Jews in the world at the time) with the Haskalah
or Enlightenment. They looked around and saw their own suffering and that
of their neighbors and refused to wait any longer for God to act. For
as
long as they could remember, Jews had been faced with hatred and
oppression. Poverty, disease, insecurity and war were the normal life
experiences of the vast majority of all people. Exploitation of the masses
by the few was the norm everywhere. Slavery or semi-slavery, short lives
and susceptibility to whatever came along, seemed inevitable and
preordained.
Many began questioning if there was a God to do anything.
They saw parts
of European civilization developing scientific, humanist and secular
approaches to life. They read about people trying to change the world
and
society; to eliminate poverty, exploitation, oppression and injustice.
They
wanted to be part of this process. Women became dissatisfied with their
low
status. Yeshiva bokherim (yeshiva boys) read secular materials inserted
in
religious tomes. Workers and others became involved in movements to end
exploitation and poverty. As part of this, Secular Jews rejected religion
and ritual while maintaining their identification with the Jewish people
and its culture.
All the religious establishments of the times, including
the rabbinate,
supported the status quo. Many religions enshrined these conditions as
necessary and ordained. The vast majority of religious leaders and
organizations fought long and vehemently against the introduction of new
ways of viewing life and approaching knowledge.
In the 19th Century many thinkers, Jews prominent among
them, began
postulating new ways to organize society so that the common peoples' lives
would not be ones of misery. This was part of the scientific, secular
humanist revolution. This philosophy includes three main concepts. Modern
science holds and has demonstrated that humans have the power through
rational, empirical observation to learn about, understand and influence
life. Secularism holds that what happens in life, in this world, is the
proper focus of our interest. Humanism maintains that people can and ought
to try to change and control what happens to them in life. It postulates
that humans are responsible for society, war, prejudice, poverty, abuse
and
other ills of human life.
Together these concepts produce a view of life which endows
each person's
life with meaning and value in the here and now. Secularized Jews
introduced these ideas into Jewish life. They saw that secularism and
humanism, although often repressed, had always been present in Jewish
culture. Some wanted to leave all of Jewishness behind. Others also wanted
to free themselves, but within a Jewish cultural context. Secular Jews
follow the second path. They continue to develop a Jewishness incorporating
science, humanism and secularism that is rooted in Jewish culture.
Many secular Jews rejected as repressive and backward anything with
supernatural overtones or with "religious" meaning, including a restrictive
shabbes, second-class status for women and spirituality. Many rejected
all
ritual and the "religious" holidays, keeping only Hanukah, Purim and Pesakh
(Passover) because of their essentially national character.
Secular Jews share with other Jews a culture, some say a
civilization,
with many compatible elements. Those include primary concern for this
life
and one's relationship to it; the major mitzvah (commandment) of respect
for all people and life; other non-ritualistic mitzvot pertaining to
helping others; shared historical stories; the right to rest as well as
work (shabbes); and the concept of tikkun olam, the responsibility of
humans to repair the world, with the goal of a "messianic" age, a besere,
shenere velt (a better more beautiful world), a world of peace, sufficiency
and sister/brother hood. Secular Jews are part of a people with an often
sad and tragic, often beautiful and glorious history. They share the many
contributions of their Jewish forebears and contemporaries to world
civilization. And they share with other Jews a concern with maintaining
Jewish culture and civilization as one among many.
Secular spirituality is a non-material force in human life
that is
non-supernatural. It helps overcome people's immediate drives, and
integrates one with others. It is comprised of compassion, dedication,
emotion and knowledge. It includes identification with one's own and all
people. It urges one to care for and help others, to seek love and
understanding. It helps one to be understanding and tolerant. This
spirituality includes the ability to see long-term consequences for life
and the planet so action can be taken to preserve and enhance them.
Secularists care about what happens to people and our beautiful world
not
only because it is good for oneself. We are dedicated (at times at great
personal cost) to helping to change the negative conditions of life and
the
environment and the internal factors that lead to suffering. As Jews we
are
committed to the survival and continued creativity of the Jewish people
as
a progressive force. This spirituality moved many of the early secular
Jews
who produced Yiddish and other secular Jewish literature and theater;
who
devoted their lives to improving the human and Jewish condition; who
organized unions, participated in revolutions and other movements for
social change and the kibbutzim and Labour Zionist movements which founded
Israel. Some made profound mistakes, which is ultimately human.
This spirituality continues. Through it we maintain belief
in the
importance of life and the world; in the equality of all people; in the
power of people to affect their own lives and improve society. We believe
in people's ability to learn about and influence their physical and social
environment. We believe in the Jewish people and its culture, and in its
continuation. We want to continue to contribute to world civilization.
We
believe in the power of love and compassion to transform life and society.
A ll of these things are non-material and many are unproven. They provide
joy and strength, often against tremendous odds. They enable us to go
against the social grain, to maintain our integrity and focus. They provide
us with a sense of meaning and purpose. We are humanists, when often
humanity fails. We work for social justice when often the cause seems
doomed. We are Jews, when often it is difficult.
To support and enhance life, independent of belief in the
super- or
supra-natural, Secular Humanist Cultural Jews draw on the secular and
humanistic elements in Jewish civilization and the larger civilizations
of
which we are a part. We celebrate our humanness and love of life, connect
with all humanity through our Jewishness. Our beliefs and our spirituality
help us remain optimistic about life, people and Jewishness, in spite
of
all setbacks.
1Adapted from an article printed in Jewish Currents, New
York, NY, March
2000. It was based on a paper given at the May, 1999 biennial meeting
of
the North American Federation of Secular Humanist Jews, at Rutgers
University, NJ.