History Intersects the Present

Rabbi Michael Paley, who has held the position of scholar in residence at UJA-Federation of NY for more than a decade, was recently interviewed for Kerem, an inter-denominational magazine that focuses on Jewish spirituality.  During the interview, Dr. Paley offered the following observation:

I was talking to a man at a UJA event who said, “I’m really not very Jewish.” I asked him what he meant, and he said he didn’t do “any religious stuff.” I asked him about his job, and he said he was a neonatal oncologist. His work was saving infants after other people had given up on them. “What about the other doctors in your group?” He said, “Come to think of it, they’re all Jewish.” He thought he wasn’t Jewish because other people have defined what it means to be Jewish. But what about the injunction to choose life? He was playing out the Jewish narrative even if he didn’t realize it. In a post-ritual world, some of these secular values are a continuation of our fundamental religious values.

Dr. Paley’s story reminded me of a conversation that had occurred many years ago at a Board meeting.  Someone had made a comment about the Orthodox being the most religious denomination in Judaism, to which my friend and board member Dr. David Sonabend responded in force.  A committed Reform Jew, he retorted that he was just as religious as any member of the orthodox community – he was just not as observant.  I’ve always remembered that comment, and often thought about it in relation to the JCC.

JCCs are not set up to be religious organizations per se.  But because our people come from so a powerful history of compassionate thought, the values inherent in our rituals have now made their way to what Dr. Paley called “the post-ritual world.” In other words, we may not be a religious organization (or “religious” individuals for that matter), but our value system makes us as Jewish as if we were.   To care for the sick . . .  to help the poor  . . . to treat others as we would want to be treated . . . to repair the breaks in the world – all of these precepts which are so integral in our work derive from ancient Jewish thought and ritual; from scholars like Rabbi Hillel, Rabbi Tarfon and others whose words can still be heard in our laws, our work and our ethics. 

All true religions – Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and more – have within their basic structure a system of values meant to guide us to live well and act well toward one another.  We need not be religious to espouse these values, and our institutions are a reflection of that.  When I think about that man that Dr. Paley met at UJA  . . . the one who saves children’s lives yet doesn’t consider himself “very Jewish,” I also think about the lives that have been either saved or enhanced through our work here . . .   the smiles we bring to sad faces . . .  the many days we’ve brightened for people living alone.  I think about the programs we make possible through tzedakah, and the years we’ve added to people’s lives by getting them healthier.  We are what we are because of who we have always been; our history intersects our present and gives us the tools to create Jewish institutions filled with Jewish values and Jewish precepts.  And that’s what makes a JCC.

B’shalom

Arnie