Funny, He Doesn't Look Pewish

(^ So many Pew/Jew jokes, so little time…)

 

First, a confession: I am terrible at understanding statistics. When I read things containing the words “causal connections,” (which I always, ALWAYS, read as “casual” connections. Like, “Me and this other fact get together sometimes, but it’s not serious”), or “percentages” or “correlated,” well, it all kind of swims before me in a jumble of letters. So it was with some trepidation that I read the latest Pew research study: “A Portrait of Jewish Americans.” (And when I say “read the study,” I mean “read the one-page overview.”) But as it deals with some of the topics so central to this site—defining Jews, Judaism and the relationship between the two—I knew that I owed it to you, dear JVO-niverse, to bury my fear of correlated percentages and dive right in.

 

After I read the summary and a few of the articles written on the subject, I found that I am inclined to agree with the sentiments of this blog post. The author says that, basically, every media outlet has taken away what they like from this survey. It’s a smorgasbord of Jew stats! There’s something for everyone! The doomsayers can point to the increasing rate ofintermarriage and gravely announce, “This is the end of the Jewish people,” while the optimists can point to the statistic that 94 percent of US Jews are proud to be Jewish and say, “See? See? Look how far we’ve come!”

 

How you interpret the results of the survey depend in large part on how you define Judaism. Is Judaism a religion? Or is it a culture, an ethnicity, a nationality? Since I myself am a religious Jew, I thought I would answer (A.) But one of my chief tenets of, well, living, is that my lifestyle is what is right for me, not what is Right, Period. So I don’t think that Judaism, for everyone, is defined by religion, by a strict set of laws. In fact, even for many (some? most?) religious Jews, Judaism is about a lot more than religion and halacha.

In fact, I think one reason Jews have gotten this far is because we don’t just define ourselves by religion. We are more than just a do-this-don’t-do-that people. We have a rich history, tomes upon tomes of academic writings and multisensory traditions that allow people to engage with Judaism however they like. Attending Shabbat dinner or Passover seder, learning Jewish texts, supporting Israel, giving charity, connecting with your Jewish community, even Holocaust remembrance—these are some of the ways people are defining what it means to be Jewish.

 

There are those that say Judaism isn’t a buffet. You can’t pick and choose, they say. I say, why not? Why not pick and choose what works for you? By defining Judaism more broadly and inclusively, we are inviting more Jews to connect—proudly—to being Jews. Maybe it’s not about Jews keeping Judaism, it’s about allowing Judaism to keep us. To keep us connected and engaged, through its numerous, diverse, intricate, beautiful facets. To make us proud and eager to pass on our traditions, heritage and history to the next generation