The Source of Value of Jewish Values

In a blog widely read on the internet last week, a “ba’al teshuvah” from Jerusalem wrote:

The big flaw and the unsolvable problem of Reform Judaism is that it does not acknowledge the divinity of the Torah and the obligation of a Jew to follow Jewish law (halachah) accordingly. If the Torah is not from G-d and G-d is not real, then why be Jewish? What’s the point?

For the aforementioned blogger, the divine Torah is his primary object of interest and value, and the rest of Jewish life is of interest and value only derivatively. That derivative value is strong enough that he has moved to Israel, sired seven children there, presumably fought in the army, and in general lived what I’m sure is an admirable Jewish life – all because he believes that G-d told him to. I do not want to denigrate this person at all. However, I cannot believe that he finds no value in Jewish life apart from a command of G-d. I cannot believe that if his faith in the “divinity of the Torah” should waver tomorrow, that the next day he would leave Israel, disown his wife and children, stop speaking Hebrew, and in every way abandon the whole array of culture, wisdom, religion, history, experience, and existential feeling called “Yiddishkeit.”

In contrast, for me, it is the Jewish people, our history, culture, values, music, food, languages, struggles, triumphs, and intense belonging with each other that is the primary object of interest and value, as far as religion is concerned. The Jewish people have an historic religion, partly based on but in no way limited by the Torah. To me the Torah (divine or not) has derivative interest and value, the primary interest and value for me being the Jewish people themselves. Like the blogger, my derivative values can be quite intense. I am intensely interested in the religious heritage of the Jewish people, including the part he considers the divine Torah. I study it a lot, and value it a lot. The fact that it is a derivative value for me does not mean at all that is of slight value.

To sum up:

• Jerusalem blogger values an idea about the Jewish religious heritage, and therefore values the Jews.
• I value the Jews and therefore our religious heritage.

G-d bless us both. For me, his point of view would be tremendously unstable and unsatisfying, relying as it does on a mere concept. My point of view makes much more sense to me. Maybe my brother in Jerusalem, if he tries hard enough, could understand why.