I have been struggling recently with the word “Jewish.” The word has begun to feel constraining and narrow. And I don’t believe that I am an unusual case; this is something I share with my secular friends and colleagues who are not associated with traditional Jewish practices and institutions. Maybe one reason that the word “Jewish” can feel distancing is that none of the terms that are ordinarily used to describe Jewishness — “religion,” “ethnicity,” “heritage,” “ethics” — quite resonates in spite of my deep Jewish connection.
I think this is true for two reasons: Jewishness has always been some sort of composite of these concepts, though we tend to want to label it simply — to place it in only one of these boxes. Perhaps more importantly, we are in a period of change, when we might have to think differently about the categories to which these words refer. Words significantly shape the way we think, but they also constrain our imagination. I would love to find a way to talk about Jewishness that would mirror what that identity evokes. Maybe this brief look at the words we currently use will help.
“Religion” is clearly inadequate. Associated, as it is, with the notion of a transcendent God, and with rigid norms and rules, it simply does not describe my sense of connection to something larger or to the deepest parts of myself. Nor does the term resonate with an entire generation of Americans who prefer the word “spiritual” instead. But “spirituality” does not work either. It suggests an inward self-focus, not sufficiently oriented toward the larger world — or to a sense of ethics and the larger good. It has also come to overlap with New Age, to which I have never been drawn. Again, I know I am not alone in this. Neither “religion” nor “spirituality” captures how I — or how many “secular” Jews I know — would describe our connection to the big issues of life or to our Jewish identities.
What about “ethnicity” and the whole family of words connected with the tribal aspect of Jewish peoplehood, oriented toward kinship and toward inheritance of something from the past? “Ethnicity” and “peoplehood” feel too tribal, particularistic and focused on survival. “Heritage” seems too bland and doesn’t do justice to the richness of Jewish tradition; it is also strangely static. “Culture” might work, but seems too broad and diffuse and often focused on nostalgia.
There is another family of terms that links to the notion of tikkun olam — a phrase that has come to mean, roughly, making the world a better place. This impulse, combined with the idea of questioning conventions or idolatries, comprises the aspect of Jewishness that focuses on “social responsibility.” But what do we really mean by that? Social responsibility might suggest the concept of “civic engagement,” which has been used in recent discussions about the malaise and apathy that seem to be threatening democracy. But “civic engagement” is reminiscent of forms of voluntary activity that I connect with a previous generation, and it doesn’t describe my engagement with important social challenges.
“Ethics” sounds too distant and fixed; “morality” is associated with the Christian right. “Social activism” is too connected to social movements that have not been terribly effective. I would prefer a term that captures a deep commitment to questioning conventions, the notion of making the world better from tikkun olam, but also the need to ground idealism in the realities of the world. None of the terms we often hear do this.
Perhaps Jewish is as much a “method” for engaging with the world as it is anything else. This means thinking in terms of adverbs and verbs, not nouns. Maybe I’d feel better if the word “Jewish” referred to how we believe, identify, have faith, appreciate the sacred, reflect, are loyal, engage, find or seek meaning, and challenge idolatries. And not just how we do each of these things, but how these activities are and will be combined. It makes sense to move in this direction during a transitional period, when the ways we form communities, our own identities, think about our families, our work and politics are changing. Once we become conscious — or self-conscious — about words, we can be freed to reinvent.