Galutist Jew

8/14/2019 Galutist Jew

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Im a Galutist Jew

Let me start by relating two of my own experiences.

The first happened in July 1999 in Israel. My brother, Jeremy, and I were

studying at Pardes summer program in Jerusalem and being Conservative Jews

from Stockholm, Sweden, we decided to really experience as wide a religious

spectrum as the holy city had to offer. One Friday evening, after attending Erev

Shabbat services in the reform synagogue Kol haNeshama, we made our way on

foot through half of Jerusalem, in order to reach the Kotel. We had made

arrangements, earlier in the week, with an organization that finds Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) families to host lost Jews who want someplace to be for Erev

Shabbat. We found our designated family and walked with them back to their

small apartment in an eastern suburb of the city.

Our hosts were quite astonished when they discovered that we were not just

another pair of secular, religiously ignorant Jews. Rather these Jews could sing

zemirot and even teach them some tunes for Yah Ribon and Yom Ze LeYisrael!

It was clear that we confused them, because, according to conventional wisdom

among Charedim, the corruptors of Judaism were not supposed to be this

comfortable with their tradition.

It was quite an experience for us as well: we didnt expect a non-Lubavitch

Charedi family to be that friendly and open.

Our walk back to our rented room on Emek Refaim that evening took an hour

and a half, but Jeremy and I did not mind in the least. Our heads were buzzing

with new perspectives.

As we walked through Jerusalems silent Shabbat streets, we felt like the Jewish

people were really a unity and that our differences were really not so great.

But strolling down Ben Yehuda we passed a disco were drunk kids were

partying the night away. It could have been a disco back home, in downtown

Stockholm. We felt a bit like shouting Shabbes, Shabbes! at them, as people

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Why do I then bother relating the first story? Both experiences represent two

paradigms of Jewishness. One focusing inward, the other outward. In one,

Judaism is felt through commonality, in the other, through contrast.

I hold that both are completely valid and acceptable way to experience

Jewishness, but I wouldnt be having this talk today if I didnt side with the

second over the first. I feel more Jewish The question is why?

Even though I greatly appreciated experiencing a Shabbat dinner with the

Charedi family, I knew that if they could have their way, we as Conservative

Jews wouldnt exist and the rabbinate in Israel (not to mention England) is still

doing everything it can to make non-Orthodox Judaism disappear. And even

though I didnt feel any connection to the revelers on Ben Yehuda that night,

even though I felt they affected my Shabbat atmosphere negatively, I understand

and strongly sympathize with the reason so many Israelis feel alienated from

their religion. If being religious meant being ultra-Orthodox to me, I wouldnt

either be very religious either.

Im bothered by Judaism in Israel. Judaism to me is about plurality, discussion,difference of opinion, but that kind of Judaism is in danger of extinction. Being

a majority in our own land has led to Judaism developing something akin to the

Church in Europe. Dogmas and monopolies replacing discussion and pluralism.

And Judaism isnt a viable option for secular Israelis searching for spirituality.

I am seriously bothered by the secularity of secular Israelis. Because one change

the Jewish state has brought about is to provide secular Jews with an alternative

identity to being Jewish while not being accused of assimilating and abandoning

the Jewish people. It is not hard to be Jewish in Israel. Shabbat and chagim are

public holidays. Everybody speaks the holy language. There is a Parashat

haShavua column in the newspaper. You dont have to do anything to be Jewish

in Israel. It is wallpaper. Ive even had religious Jews tell me that that is OK.

That living in Israel and serving in the army are such big mitzvot that its alright

that theyre secular.

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After 2000 years of Galut we have a Jewish state for 60 years and devoutly

religious Jews tell me its OK to abandon your religion as long as you serve in

the army?

I live in Sweden. I live in the Diaspora. I live in the Galut. Materialistically, its

an easy life, the streets are clean, education is good and healthcare is available to

everyone. It is a secular country. Most people dont consider themselves

Christian, but nearly everybody will celebrate Christmas and will talk about how

they really like the ethics Jesus introduced to the world.

When I point out to them that we actually introduced those ethics to the world,

the response I get is a shrug.

15000 Jews live in Sweden and about half belong to the three Jewish

communities, one in each of Swedens three biggest cities.

What is interesting that even a very secular Jew, who has never set foot in a

synagogue will still profess to being Jewish, even express a certain pride in this

heritage they know nothing about. Many feel more Jewish than Swedish, many

feel about as Jewish as Swedish. Contrast that with secular Israelis who will saythat they want nothing to do with that Jewish stuff because its not a part of their

identity, or if it is a part of their identity its of far lesser importance than their

identity as Israelis.

But as a religious Jew it is a difficult country to live in. I cant wear my kippah

on the street without being nervous, although Ive never experienced any threats.

The papers are thoroughly anti-Israel all the time. I always have to explain to my

professors at the university why I cant take the exams on Saturday and they

give me home assignments that are much harder. There are no kosher restaurants

in Stockholm these days, there was one, but it closed down not enough

business, even though it was about 200 m from the Jewish community center.

Talking to my friends who have made aliyah and theyll tell me they made

aliyah because they were tired of never being able to eat out, of always having

to negotiate with their boss just to take off for some of the holidays, tired of

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paying 4 times the price of a treif chicken, for a kosher one. Its just not worth it,

theyll say. And when they read the one-sided anti-Israel articles daily in all the

major newspapers and there are attempts by left-wing politicians to outlaw brit

milah, my friends just throw in the towel.

What am I doing here! theyll say and put their apartments up for sale.

Im I a masochist? Why do I not follow them?

Because I, unlike them, am a Galutist Jew.

What is Galutism? Is it another word for anti-Zionism? Not in my vocabulary. I

Googled the term Galutism and Galutist. I only got three hits on one and four onthe other (two were from the Limmud website displaying this session) so, while

I may not have been first to use the term, I do take the liberty of providing the

first definition for it.

Galutism to me is the belief that the Galut, the Diaspora, is an important place

for Jews to be. Not because somebody needs to stay behind and advocate for

Israel while the rest of us make aliyah, but because we Jews have a God-given

mission to engage ourselves in the world and make it a better place. This God-

given mission is essential to my idea of Galutism. Galut means exile. It is a

negative term and I hold strongly to the idea that we should feel in exile. It isnt

a fun place to be, but it shouldnt be.

The Talmud explains that God let both Temples be destroyed and His chosen

people go into exile because we were not living up to our mission and purpose

in the status quo. The first time we reverted to Avodah Zara idolatry, and the

second time we fell victim to Sinat Chinam, senseless hatred, Jew against Jew.

Is modern Israeli society free of either of these elements?

In my personal theology, God exiled us from our land because we couldnt grow

there anymore. Much can be said of the last 2000 years of Galut, but one cannot

claim that the Jewish people has not grown. I dont mean in numbers, but in

maturity. Our entire tradition of questioning and plurality and tolerance of

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difference is just now coming into fashion with the rest of the western world. I

believe we are the bees that pollinate the flowers of the ethical intellect in this

world and this is our purpose. Or laGoyim, a light onto the nations, is what God

told Avraham we would be to the world and in the last 2000 years we truly have.

It hasnt been easy and we certainly have been punished more than rewarded for

our efforts in the Galut, but are we to do it for the sake of reward? Are we to

stop if we are persecuted for it?

This is the nature of Galutism for me. It is a painful state. It is a state of

otherness, of discomfort if not worse. I AM more Jewish because I have make

an effort to be Jewish. I AM more Jewish when I with ancient mourning, walk

through a crowd of non-Jews partying for the moment. For me that IS what

being Jewish is! Did God send Avraham to Canaan because it was an easy place

to live? On the contrary, Avraham, born and raised in Babylonia, was in the

Galut when he settled in the land. He was known as the Ivri, the one from the

other side of the Jordan river. Ivri means outsider.

Galutism isnt a political concept, it is a religious state of mind. It is being theIvri, the Hebrew. Our Jewish tradition teaches us independent thought,

questioning of authority. Avraham started it when God wanted to destroy Sodom

and Gomorrah and we havent stopped since. Its the propheticness of

demanding the ethical no matter what, to be the ultimate nudnikim to those in

power.

The Judaism I practice cant survive as a majority culture because it chokes on

itself. Theres the joke: what is wrong with Israel? Its a country of 5 million

prime ministers! Yes, debate is good, but not if we tear each other apart with it.

So what do I think of Israel. Im a Zionist, a proud one because I know that

when the world of the Galut will threaten my life again, simply because I am a

Jew, then Israel is there. Yes, its a selfish way to think about it, but that is what I

believe. To me, the Galut doesnt exist for Israels sake, Israel exists for the

Galuts sake. But the law of return is one of the purposes the Jewish state was

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founded upon.

But one could look at it the other way too. Theres a Talmudic passage, found in

Pesachim 87b where it is proposed that God exiled us so that our enemies would

not be able to find us all in one place and wipe us out entirely. Think about that!

I wish to point out that I even want to make Aliyah! Temporarily. I want to live

there for several years and learn to speak Hebrew fluently, for it is the language

of my people. (It bothers me that my mama loschen, mother tongue, the

language of my intellect is this west-Germanic Christian language.)

So yes, I love my country, my Israel, but I cannot make it my home. For me to

live there for the rest of my life goes against the very deepest grains of my

Jewish/Galutist soul.

What a contradiction, huh? Defining Judaism as wrestling with being bothered

and then stating that I could never live my whole life in Israel because it would

bother me too much to not be bothered. Or maybe its the other way around

But seriously, being bothered is the nature of being Jewish. Our texts our filled

with nothing but bothered characters wrestling with what bothered them.Jaakov never experienced a moment of peace in his life, Moshe only reached

his full potential when he accepted a job he didnt want to lead a people hed

never really been a part of. We dont have one prophet in the Bible who ever

said Things are good as they are. Lets make life easy on ourselves.

Do I think life in Israel is easy to live? No, but religious Jews have everything

they need right there. The one part of their lives that should be the most

challenging isnt at all. And that bothers me.

Allow me to end with this insight I had a few years ago. The Torah gives us a

holiday to commemorate the Exodus from Egypt, a holiday to commemorate the

Receiving of the Torah, a holiday to commemorate the wandering 40 years in

the desert. But why werent we commanded to commemorate settling the land

with a holiday? Yom haAtzmaut doesnt count. Its modern and certainly not

near the status of the three chagim I mentioned.

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One might answer that this is because settling the land occurred in the book of

Joshua and not in the Torah, but this opens up an even bigger question. The

narrative of the last 4 books of the Torah is hurtling towards the inevitable point

when the formerly enslaved people will enter the land and be at peace at last,

safe within their own land to live in wholeness and faithfullness with God.

Why then does the Torah end when the people are on the verge of entering the

land and Moshe dies? Shouldnt the first chapter of the Book of Joshua be the

last chapter of Deuteronomy?

My answer is no. We have not really reached the land and fulfilled our true

purpose. In reading the Torah, we conclude with the death of Moshe and return

to the beginning with the creation of the world. We, Hebrews are always left

hanging on the banks of the river Jordan, haIvrim beEver haJarden, before

returning to Bereishit to read the Torah for another year. Simchat Torah is the

biblical Groundhog Day.

When will we cease this circular seemingly never-ending process? When will I

cease being a Galutist Jew? When will the Zionist and the Galutist sides of myJewish nature cease their struggle against God and man and be at one?

Bayom haHu Yiyeh Adonaj Echad, uShemo Echad.

The day God will be one and His name one.

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Galutist Jew

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