Time to embrace Jewish literacy

About 20 years ago, when I served as one of the rabbis at Brandeis University, a student organization invited a representative of Jews for Jesus to speak. Jewish and Catholic students protested this attempt to proselytize. As part of the protest actions, several rabbis waited in a room adjacent to the speaker, inviting students to have authentic Jewish conversations. For several students, this protest against what many see as classic antisemitism was the first Jewish event they attended. When harm to the Jewish people presents its ugly head, the process of searching for authentic Judaism comes in its wake.

The events of October 7th and its aftermath rocked the Jewish world. Watching mass protests against Israel, cheering on the terrorists’ agents of barbarism and destruction, and even the feeble responses of so many in institutions of higher learning have awoken within many Jews a sense of turning inward.  But how best can we channel the desire to connect meaningfully and authentically to the Jewish people?

In response to calamity and extended war, donations to the Israeli army flowed in. Many engaged in counter-protests and legal actions. Others utilized their social media accounts to counter lies and distorted news reports. All these actions deserve praise. However, on a more personal level, a critical way to engage with the Jewish people exists: Jewish literacy.

In the Winter-Spring 1985 issue of Salmagundi, literary critic and the progressive anti-Zionist, George Steiner penned a challenging piece titled “Our Homeland the Text.” Here, he delineates what seems to be the root of Jewish particularism:

It follows, proclaim a number of rabbinic masters, that the supreme commandment to Judaism, supreme precisely in that it comprises and animates all others, is given in Joshua, 1, 8: ‘The book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.’ Observe the implicit prohibition or critique of sleep. Hypnos is a Greek god, and enemy to reading.” (4)

Engagement with Jewish languages and Jewish text is not only the prime commandment. Jewish literacy is also the glue that binds the Jewish people together.

The ‘textual’ fabric, the interpretative practices in Judaism are ontologically and historically at the heart of Jewish identity. This is obviously so in a formal sense. The Torah is the pivot of the weave and cross-weave of reference, elucidation, hermeneutic debate which organize, which inform organically, the daily and the historical life of the community. The community can be defined as a concentric tradition of reading. The Gemara, the commentary on the Mishna, the collection of oral laws and prescriptions which make up the Talmud, the Midrash, which is that part of the commentary pertaining particularly to the interpretation of the scriptural canon, express and activate the continuum of Jewish being. “(7)

Torah, the other biblical books, Mishna, Talmud, Midrash, and other essentially Jewish books do not simply adorn library shelves. They are the defining markers, the soul, of essential Jewishness. For Steiner, the true realm of Jewish sovereignty resides not in land but in text.

Most of the Jewish people have rejected Steiner’s anti-Zionist stance. Especially now, when the “oldest hatred known to humankind” finds a comfortable home in the anti-Israel protest movement, more people are dusting off their Jewish stars and kippas and waving Israeli flags. For many, the challenge to the safety of Jews in Israel and the diaspora has motivated them to look for ways to celebrate their Jewishness. To be sure, some others, especially of the younger generations of Jews, have, unfortunately, joined the ranks of Israel’s critics.    Nonetheless, Steiner’s suggestion that at the heart of the Jewish project resides the Jewish textual canon can be embraced by all – Zionist and non-Zionist alike. The idealization of Jewish texts and literacy remains the potential glue to hold the Jewish people together and to instill a feeling of Jewish confidence and pride no matter one’s theology or belief system.

While wearing Jewish symbols, eating foods associated with Judaism (whatever that may be), and supporting Jewish institutions are beautiful ways to “do Jewish,” nothing replaces thick Jewish consciousness and textural-cultural literacy.

If we want to empower future generations toward a meaningful Judaism, the best method is to promote Jewish knowledge. If one wants to understand Israel and the present situation, nothing replaces the ability to read an Israeli paper, which requires knowledge of modern Hebrew.

Jewish literature, including and surpassing religious texts, opens grand vistas of cultural experience. As many donors pull donations from university programs, now is the time to invest in all projects to promote Jewish knowledge. There are many qualified professionals who can help lead the way. We must fund more high-quality programs to teach Hebrew reading and knowledge of the Jewish canon and welcome those lacking background into the Jewish conversation.

If you don’t know Hebrew, find a teacher. If you know, then teach. Whether one connects to a religious institution or wants one that begins without theological suppositions, the call of the hour is to cultivate Jewish experiences that foster Jewish literacy. There are many institutions and even a myriad of free or inexpensive courses online. Spend a few weeks or months in Israel studying and embracing your heritage.

As wonderful as it is to wear a Star of David on the outside, it’s even better to put the poems of David in your head and on your heart.