Wednesday, January 23, 2008

08-01-23 'Outed' as a Reform Jew

I was speaking to a nice woman at the JCC about our kids' college experiences. She told me this story. Her daughter and a friend, both high achieving high school students, found a site on Beliefnet, the spirituality website, called Beliefomatic. The site provides a questionnaire that ask about your basic religious beliefs. At the end of the test the site gives you a list of religions that best match up with the beliefs you indicated in the exam.

 
 

These two high schoolers, who were in their own religious quest, took the test and discovered that the religion that best matched up with their answers was Reform Judaism (both girls were not Jewish). They were surprised, but took the results very seriously. They got up the nerve and went to a local Reform Temple to inquire about an Introduction to Judaism class. They were told that indeed there was a class, but it cost $300. No scholarship was offered. As high schoolers they did not have this type of money. The ardor of their religious quest cooled and they never took the class. They are now both in college finding their own way in the world.

 
 

After hearing this story my curiosity drove me to explore the Beliefomatic site. I wondered what religions this site would recommend for me? So I answered the theological questionnaire. (You can find out your best fitting religion by clicking on: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html. ) My results are copied below. According to my answers I am 100% compatible with Reform Judaism. According to the test I should seriously check out Bahai, Sikhism, the Quakers, the Unitarians, and Islam before checking out Orthodox Judaism. I am starting to make calls today.

 
 

So I have been outed as a Reform Jew (I am a Conservative Rabbi.). Checking out the site I discovered they do not even have Conservative Judaism as a category which may say volumes about the standing of this movement in the eyes of the broader world. So anyone on a serious religious quest on Beliefomatic would never be steered to my Movement or to my synagogue. It is lonely being a Conservative Jew.

 
 

I thought about those two girls inquiring about Judaism. They probably came to the front office and were officiously given the information about the class, told about the cost, and left alone in the office to contemplate their next move. Obviously religion is much more about specific beliefs. It is also about how you are related to, how you are welcomed or regarded. The failure of the synagogue here is a failure of hospitality. It is a failure to understand that at the margins, one must be ready to keep the door open.

 
 

We live in a world where identity is so fluid and so confused that many of us try to figure out with the help of sites like Beliefomatic. Fewer of us are brought up in a richly contextual home, both filled with tradition, links to community, second languages (Robert Bellah) but also an openness to the world. Beliefomatic starts to make sense when we appreciate how wide open the world is. People want to find their place in it. But while Beliefomatic might send you careening in one direction, it all depends on the reaction of the unsuspecting person or institution who will encounter this cyber seeker.

 
 

As for me, Beliefomatic cannot quite grasp my nuanced identity. I am left wondering where nuanced people should turn religiously. Maybe I should start the Nuanced Religious Movement for people seeking interesting and eccentric religious groups that don't fit any conventional categories. Stay tuned.

 
 

Dov Gartenberg

 
 

 
 

Your Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

 
 

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

 
 

How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our
message boards.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Inserted from <http://www.selectsmart.com/PRO/beliefnet/index1.html?im_fact1=3&x=33&q4=8&im_fact10=2&q11=1&im_fact11=3&im_fact12=2&im_fact13=1&im_fact14=2&im_fact15=2&im_fact16=2&im_fact17=2&im_fact18=2&im_fact4=2&q5=2&q1=2&im_fact9=2&q17=1&im_fact7=2&q10=2&im_fact2=2&q3=3&q13=1&q2=1&y=8&q12_a8=8&q15=2&im_fact3=3&q6=2&q18=2&im_fact5=2&q7_a2=2&q8=1&q14=2&im_fact6=2&q16=2&im_fact8=2&q9=2&q19=2&im_fact19=2&q20=1&im_fact20=2&submit.x=25&submit.y=0&doit=1>

 
 


 

 
 


 
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Rabbi Gartenberg's Beliefomatic Results

 
 

Your Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

 
 

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

 
 

How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our
message boards.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

Inserted from <http://www.selectsmart.com/PRO/beliefnet/index1.html?im_fact1=3&x=33&q4=8&im_fact10=2&q11=1&im_fact11=3&im_fact12=2&im_fact13=1&im_fact14=2&im_fact15=2&im_fact16=2&im_fact17=2&im_fact18=2&im_fact4=2&q5=2&q1=2&im_fact9=2&q17=1&im_fact7=2&q10=2&im_fact2=2&q3=3&q13=1&q2=1&y=8&q12_a8=8&q15=2&im_fact3=3&q6=2&q18=2&im_fact5=2&q7_a2=2&q8=1&q14=2&im_fact6=2&q16=2&im_fact8=2&q9=2&q19=2&im_fact19=2&q20=1&im_fact20=2&submit.x=25&submit.y=0&doit=1>
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Sunday, January 20, 2008

There is a long way which is short and a short way that is long.

There Is A Long Way Which Is Short And A Short Way That Is Long
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg Parshat Beshalah
Given, 08-01-19

The Sidrah begins with the word Vayehi. The first two letter read וי
That is Woe!.
Pharaoh said, Woe, because the Israelites, his best workers had left;
Moses said Woe because when God led the people by the circuitous route, he knew they would misuse their freedom.
Israel said Woe because they now had to look after themselves.
God said Woe, because God knew Israel's weakness. (R. Hacohen)

This is the Oy parsha because it starts off in such a strange way
Let's consider the famous verses.

‘Vayehi’-Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, "The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.: So God led the people round about, ‘Vyasev elohim’, by way of the wilderness at the Sea of Reeds. Es 13:17-18

Why did God not take Israel the shortest way to the land of Canaan and to escape a potential pursuit of the Egyptians? Why did God not consult Moses who would bear all the burdens of the people's wanderings? Why did God have so little faith in the people he liberated? What is the benefit in causing people to wander?

For generations students of the Torah have asked these questions. I share with you a few suggestions for your consideration.

This is an act of kindness and consideration on God's part. Ki karov hu " because God was near to them and loved them, and therefore, did not want to risk having some of them killed in a battle with the Philistines (Minhah blulah)

Rashi: God did not lead Israel through Philistine territory precisely because it was close, and it would have been too tempting to become discouraged and return to Egypt.

Nahmanides: Although the way to through the Phillistine territory was more direct, God was afraid that the people would be discouraged if they had to fight their way through.

All these commentators are aware of an older Midrash which gives specific reasons for God's fear of Israel's potential weakness.

"Israel had spent 180 years in Egypt, in peace and prosperity, not in the least molested by the people. Suddenly Ganon came, a descendant of Joseph of the tribe of Ephraim. He said, The Lord has appeared to me and He bade me to lead you forth out of Egypt. The Ephraimites were the only ones to heed his words. Proud of their royal lineage as direct descendants of Joseph and confident of their valor in war, for they were great heroes, they left the land and betook themselves to Palestine. They carried only weapons of gold and silver. They had no provisions, because they expected to buy food and drink on the way or capture them by force if the owners would not part with them for money.

After a days' march they found themselves in the neighborhood of Gat. There the local shepherds refused to provide provisions for the hungry and thirsty Ephraimites. Angry by the refusal, the Ephraimites attacked the shepherds of Gat, who then called on their fellow Philistines. They gathered a large army and annihilated the Ephraimites, leaving only 10 of them who escaped with their bare lives.

They returned to Egypt to bring all of Israel word of the disaster that had overtaken them. The disaster at Gat was followed by disgrace, for the bodies of the fallen lay unburied for many years on the battlefield. To add insult to injury, Pharaoh, alarmed over the possibility of all of Israel leaving initiated the first acts of oppression that led to Israel’s enslavement. Thereafter, the Egyptians exercised force to keep Israel in their land.

The Midrash concludes, Therefore, God chose the longer route to spare Israel of the sight of those dishonored corpses. Upon seeing the corpses the Israelites would become discouraged and would return to Egypt. (Legends of the Jews)

This Midrash (which has no historical basis) is fascinating because it suggests that God avoided the coastal route because of a previous traumatic incident. Think about this in your own lives. Have you ever steered a child or a spouse away from falling into a trap which you had fallen into yourself? How do the traumas of our past effect how we guide others today? How much do we hide those traumas to protect our children or grandchildren? Or should we allow our descendants to know about the trials of our past so they may learn as well.

In the case of this Midrash, God does not want them to see this indignity and guides them away from it. Going back to Egypt is not an option.

The final interpretation I will offer is my favorite.
The long route was necessary because the Israelites would need to develop qualities to be able to conquer and settle the Promised Land.
i. Ibn Ezra: God did not want them to arrive at the Promised Land too soon. Slaves could not conquer the land.
ii. Maimonides: God wanted to accustom them to hardship, to prepare them for the task of being a free persons and a free nation.
Maimonides writes, “ It is impossible to change a person instantaneously.” When a person or community undergoes a profound change in condition, it will take a long time for that person and that community to adjust to the new reality. Therefore God has Israel wander to help them adjust to the new reality of their freedom and their service to God.

Isn’t this true for us? We are not built for quick pivots or sudden turns. So much of the difficulties we have in modern life stem from this super fast pace of life in which our bodies and our minds have trouble keeping up. Modern life does not allow the wandering time for us to catch up. No wonder we feel so out of sorts so much of the time.

That is the wisdom of our passage today. God knows that we need time when faced with radical change. He let us wander so we can adjust and get used to the new reality. The Talmud captures this wisdom in a wonderful expression.

There is a long way which is short and a short way that is long. (BT Eruvim 53b)
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