On Tuesday of last week, that question was posed to just such a panel at a San Francisco forum sponsored by the Open Circle of the American Jewish Committee. It was the first of two such meetings. Leaving aside whether the question was bordering on the realm of angels dancing on pinheads, all four panelists were almost entirely in accord.
Of course had the question been, “Who is a Jew?” it would have been a different story. But the panelists and audience had been asked to avoid that morass.
The only disagreement was in response to a question regarding the sex of the Messiah. Male, female or all of the above? The only strident note was when the panel was asked about the importance of learning Hebrew. But then again, they all agreed: Learning Hebrew, they decided, is non-negotiable.
It’s the language of prayer; it allows Jews to be at home in any synagogue in the world and it unites us as a people.
An audience of more than 60, ranging in age from mid-20s to 60s, came to the Jewish Community Federation offices for the panel discussion on “Jew” or “Jewish.”
The panelists didn’t try to differentiate the term “Jew” from “Jewish.” But they agreed that either or both requires having a Jewish soul and living a Jewish life.
Rebbitzen Hinda Langer of Chabad of San Francisco was sitting in for her husband, Rabbi Yosef Langer, who was away on an emergency. Wearing a wig, and with her Tanya (the book of Chassidic laws) and other books stacked in front of her, she discussed her assimilated background and her youth in an average Jewish family in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn.
She talked about the Yiddishe neshama, the Jewish soul, comparing it to tablets of the Torah with the letters covered in dust.
“Brush off the dust and the soul is there. We need everyone in order for the Torah to be complete,” said Langer.
“To my very great surprise, I agree with you 100 percent,” said Rabbi Ted Alexander of San Francisco’s Congregation B’nai Emunah, “except that there is no average Jewish family in Flatbush.”
What many would call the embodiment of the rabbinical archetype — wise, warm, witty, intellectual and reasonable — Alexander even has an Eastern European accent. He is a fourth-generation Conservative rabbi.
He recalled declaring himself an “emancipated Jew” while studying at the Sorbonne. While sitting in a Paris cafe during Pesach, eating a sandwich, he realized to his surprise and dismay that no one cared.
“Judaism is the religion of reason,” he said. “Christianity is the religion of romance.”
Judaism’s intellectual quality brought him back to a stronger faith after leaving Paris. He talked of the partnership between God and the Jews. Referring to Abraham’s argument with God over the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he said the partnership is one that allows for disagreement.
“We do not have a creed except to say the Sh’ma,” he said. “Nowhere in the Torah is there a commandment, `Thou shalt believe.’ God is only glorified by our tzedakah.”
Unlike other religions, Jewish holidays do not celebrate people; they celebrate historical events, he noted. He once told a member of the Christian clergy who wanted to understand Judaism to go through our calendar.
Rabbi Pam Frydman Baugh of the S.F.-based Or Shalom Jewish Community represented the Jewish Renewal movement.
“Regardless of our level of observance or faith, being a Jew is in the experience,” she said.
Periodically closing her eyes while formulating thoughts, Baugh talked of the 613 mitzvot set out in the Torah. Practicing every mitzvah is not necessary to be a Jew, she said.
“They are the road map and we’re on a tour,” she said, explaining that some Jews have signed on for the full tour while others go along for only a weekend.
“Judaism is not about equality,” said Baugh. “We are all equal in the eyes of God.”
As the head of Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco and San Rafael, Reconstructionist Rabbi Henry Shreibman is well-versed in the art of educating while entertaining. Animated, energetic, Shreibman drew on a board; he posed like a Greek statue and pulled a shofar from his pocket.
“The Torah is full of wise one-liners,” he said. “Head and heart make Judaism work.”
The richness of Jewish life is something to enjoy, he said. He used the example of a symbolic peg on a wall from which Jewish symbols are hung.
“That’s how you become Jewish,” he said. “Each symbol has a reason or it would not have survived.”
To travel down the road of Jewishness, he challenged everyone in the room think of mitzvot or rituals they didn’t do yesterday that could be done tomorrow.
“While you think, I’ll blow,” said Shreibman, putting the shofar to his lips. With an encouraging cry of tekiyah from the audience, he let loose with a healthy, long-winded call to worship.