By Jake Levine
What will be the defining question of the next era of Judaism? The unification of a diversified people, so says Avraham Infeld. We met with Avraham to hear his perspective on how we, as Nachshon Fellows and as emerging Jewish adults, should be approaching our shared identity – a worthwhile perspective to hear, considering his extensive background in Jewish communal service. The takeaways were clear: We have entered a new realm of Jewish existence, one in which anti-Semitism is in many ways losing its power to unite the Jewish people in opposition to outside attacks. We are now tasked with selling (for lack of a better term) values-driven Judaism to the Jews of the world. In other words, Jewish engagement in the 21st century must reframe itself as appealing because of its unique set of values, rather than relying on the world to push Jews together by rejecting us from everywhere else.
Further complicating the future of Judaism, Infeld argues, are the realities of two thousand years of diaspora life: the Jewish people is fragmented. Jewish communities around the world exist in totally different environments, and therefore face totally different challenges. He best exemplifies this through the different answers given by Jewish college students to the question: Fill in the blanks - “Jewish, ______, ______.” In America, we answer “Muslim, Christian”. In Israel, they answer “Arab, Russian”. In Russia, they answer with different ethnic groups. The idea that Judaism is a religion, an ethnicity, a race, etc. is not a new one. However, we are just now beginning to face the real consequences of such a complex identity – the Jewish people needs a commonality between us. However, I’ve already answered the question (with some help from Infeld): we are a people. That’s our shared identity, tied together by thousands of years of collective memory. We are the Jewishpeople. We look different, we sound different, we have so many internal disagreements that it’s difficult to keep track, and at the end of the day we are all Jewish.
So what does this mean for American Jews? It means we must realize that we are not alone in the world. It is both our great opportunity and our obligation to work harder to link ourselves to the rest of the Jewish world. We must do this not to change our own outlook but to understand those of others. The breadth of Jewish practice, theology, and the ways we have allowed Judaism to shape our lives is so different from place to place, and only by intentionally creating bridges between us can we achieve the dream of a truly whole people.
