Hear Oh Israel, “Can’t we all get along?”
As a child in Iran, I recited a poem wherein Moses witnesses a simple shepherd offering his prayers to God: “Where are you my God so I may offer myself as a sacrifice? If you have torn clothes, I will sew them for you. I want to sit by you and comb your hair, brew you tea and ensure your comfort.” Moses, angry, yells at the shepherd, reminding him that God has no body, wears no clothes. The Sheppard puts his head down in shame and walks away in tears. God appears to Moses that night: “You are here to close spaces, not to create distance.”
Since the publication of the Pew Research, and recent responses to the aftershocks and sub-analysis made by many authors including Daniel Gordis’ “Requiem for a Movement” I have been saddened to see the finger pointing, ridicule and celebration of the burial of certain sects of Judaism. I’ve been reminded of the games politicians play with statistics during elections. Have we really reduced Judaism to political battles between lobbying movements ensuring their own success?
Having grown up as a Persian Jew, we had no movements! You were either a Jew or not. We coexisted on the bell shaped curve of observance, as the wide range of Jews do in the US even within proclaimed movements, and our rabbis were “Orthodox.” We argued back and forth about the validity of the rituals in the modern age. We asked “Did Moses have a car to drive in the desert on Shabbat?”
Categories: Asia, Israel, Jewish Faith, Judaism, Religion, Sectarianism