CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnInner Israelrnby Jacob NeusnerrnChristmas, ThatrnWinter FestivalrnWhen the Supreme Court declaredrnChristmas a secular occasion, to be celebratedrnfor its lowest-common-denominatorrncultural value in the public schools,rnI expected serious Christians to protest.rnHere a powerful public body officiallyrnsecularized what for the history of Christianityrnhas represented a most sacredrnmoment. But so deeply have the forcesrnof secularization, organized and otherwise,rnpenetrated the body politic thatrnChristians held their peace. Christmasrnno longer marked the birth of JesusrnChrist, but only a winter festival: SantarnClaus without sanctity, snowflakes butrnno manger.rnFor a long time, these same forces ofrnsecularization have assaulted the organizedrnJewish community, insisting thatrnthe Jewish community stand apart fromrnthe religion, Judaism. In fact, Judaism itselfrnwas turned into a means for the survivalrnof the Jewish people. It, meaningrnthe religion, is considered a “good” thingrnbecause it keeps Jews together. A concreterncase shows the parallel with whatrnhas happened to Christmas. When earlyrnin this century the secular Jewishrnphilosopher Ahad HaAm said, “Morernthan Israel [the holy people] has kept thernSabbath, the Sabbath has kept Israel,” herndowngraded the Sabbath from an end inrnitself to a means toward the end of preservingrnthe Jewish people as a distinctrngroup. So the subject of one of the TenrnCommandments—keeping the Sabbathrnholy—became a tool toward anotherrngoal altogether, one that the Ten Commandmentsrnmanaged to miss: keepingrnthe Jewish community going.rnFirst the secularists came for Christmas,rnand now they are mounting anrnattack on the sacred character of the synagoguern—different players, same tune.rnThe secular world found itself unable tornresist the powerful aspiration of Christiansrnto celebrate Christmas in the publicrnsquare, so it gave in, by subverting thernsuccess of Christmas to its own ends.rnSimilarly with Judaism and the role ofrnthe synagogue. Long treated as the organizedrnJewish community’s stepchild, oftenrndenied access to community fundsrnon the principle of “the separation of organizedrnJewry from the synagogue,” dismissedrnas divisive, denigrated for its principalrnwork—Torah study and worship ofrnGod—as boring and irrelevant, the synagoguerntoday finds itself at the center ofrnattention. It works, as nothing else does,rnto keep Jews Jewish, so they say.rnThe only institution of Jewry that todayrnmore than holds its own, that canrnshow a clear correlation between the activitiesrnit sustains and the nurture of loyaltyrnto Jewry expressed in circumcision,rnthe dietary laws, Torah-study, marriagernunder the canopy of Judaism, and familyrnlife of observance and study, is the synagoguern(inclusive of the day school). Inrnother words, the religion, Judaism, flourishes.rnAt the local level, where people actuallyrnact out “being Jewish,” when itrncomes actually to changing people andrnimparting loyalty to Jewry, only the synagoguernmakes an impact. Philanthropicrnfederations, fundraising, and political actionrnin support of the State of Israel, andrnsecular organizations such as the AmericanrnJewish Congress and the AmericanrnJewish Committee, do not.rnThat is the judgment of Gary Tobin ofrnBrandeis University, a sociologist for secularrnJews. As he says in “An Assessmentrnof Synagogue Inreach and Outreach,” arnKoret Synagogue Initiative ExecutivernSummary based on a survey in the SanrnFrancisco Bay Area: “American Jewishrnidentity has been undergoing a massivernshift during the 1980’s and 1990’srnThe Jewish organizations that emphasizernfundraising and institutional loyaltiesrnprovide less satisfying answers to thernquestion of Judaism’s relevance to life inrnlate twentieth century America. ManyrnJews have begun to look for direction byrnengaging more intensely with Judaism.rnAt the same time, the trend toward religiousrninvolvement among AmericanrnJews is part of the larger religious resurgencernin America.”rnWhat then is to be done? Dr. Tobinrnand his coworkers find impressive thernpower of the synagogue to change people:rnto sanctify. So they would like tornmake the synagogue a more effectiverninstrument for saving Jewry at large.rnThis they propose to do by secularizingrnthe synagogue.rnThey recognize that “Most Jews arernrelatively apathetic toward Judaism.rnMost do not belong to a synagogue, therncentral institution sustaining religiousrnworship. . . . Judaism, understood inrnterms of ritual and worship, plays a minorrnrole in the lives of most American Jews.”rnHere we have conflicting facts: one, inrnthe crisis facing American Jewry today,rnsynagogues succeed, for their members,rnin keeping Jews Jewish; two, synagoguesrndo not succeed, for nonmembers, inrnmaking Jews Jewish.rnSo Tobin wants synagogues to reachrnout to marginal Jews. Who can differ?rnBut what does he want the synagoguernto do for them? As he oddly puts it,rnto “generate community.” The synagogue’srnleast effective role is religious, sornhe says. Synagogue members “appear tornbe less interested in religious practicernthan they are in enjoying a sense of communityrnand seeing that their children arerneducated as Jews, and participants inrnone-time events are less satisfied withrncertain religious aspects of their relationshiprnto the Jewish community. However,rnthe data also indicate a desire for morernintensive religious and spiritual experiencernand study.”rnBut the people Tobin surveyed do notrnbelong to synagogues because they dornnot believe in what synagogues believernand do. For instance, those surveyed dornnot care whether their sons are circumcisedrnor whether their children marryrnJews. For them, says Tobin, the synagoguernmust change, by “generating community.”rnIn Tobin’s account, peoplernwant both less religion and more; lessrnobservance but more association. Out ofrnthis confusion comes Tobin’s proposal:rnsynagogues should appoint program directors.rnThese program directors willrnorganize all kinds of activities that fallrnoutside the range of typical synagoguernprograms. The new programs willrnpromote “Jewishness” for Jews who wantrntogetherness but no Torah.rnWhy not let well enough alone andrnencourage synagogues to continue to dornFEBRUARY 1997/31rnrnrn