[HANASHIR:8087] Re: What makes a song Jewish (Tu B'Shevat songs)

[Eric Simon <erics...>]

At 05:07 PM 1/25/01 EST, Rglauber (at) aol(dot)com wrote:
>Eric,
>
>Well that makes twice that you have responded to one of my posts with at 
>best, a dismissive attitude, or more likely, one of smugness and 
>condescension.  That is your right

I apologize if my messages appeard that way to you.  That was most
certainly not my intent at all.  I was merely expressing disagreement.

>I'd be cusious to see your response to my main point, because you didn't say 
>anything about it.  Here's the point.  
>
>It is precisely the fear-based model, the one that is determined to fill the 
>kids with information, content, literacy, a vast amount of Hebrew text, 
>liturgy etc....   that is responsible for the majority of young poeple to 
>turn away from Judaism.  

I will respond, then, directly with two major points:

1.  I don't think that we _are_ basing kids on the "fear" model.  That may
have been true a generation ago, for those that lived through the
Holocaust.  I recall my own parents, and older rabbis talking about
Fackenhiem's "614th Commandment: Thou shalt not hand Hitler a posthumous
victory", but most teachers today were born after that event, and I don't
think that mode of thinking is very prevalent anymore.

To the extent it is, you are right.  This is a very empty, negative, reason
to be Jewish, and I think the exodus of Jews from Judaism in the 1970's or
so was in part because of this.

I don't think that attitude is prevalent anymore.  But, more importantly,
what I am advocating has nothing to do with that.  I am advocating a
positivist view: that Judaism is good, has an almost overwhelming rich
heritage, and that we need to transmit that to the next generation.  Since
we have limited time with our students, and since our students already
spend so much time in the secular world, we ought to maximize the Jewish
content of what we teach during the limited time we have them.

2.  I think that the main reason so many young people _today_ have turned
away from Judaism is precisely the opposite, indeed, precisely what it
appeared you advocated.  You said that we should be "working to end those
distinctions."  I think it is the minimizing of those distinctions which
are precisely the problem -- that we have preached so much universalism,
that young people today don't understand what the point of being Jewish is.  

If a young person can not dinstiguish between a "good person" and a "good
Jew", then it is a perfectly reasonable view to think that there is nothing
wrong with intermarriage or total assimilation.

Of couse we should teach Judaism out of love.  The whole reason why I teach
Judaism is because I love Judaism.  But there _are_ distinctions about
being Jewish.  

>And lest you think that I advocate _no_ Jewish content and language, (which 
>you have implied in your responses)

With all due respect, you yourself implied it.  You wrote: "To base the
success of Jewish Education in 
America 2001, on literacy and content is to make a mistake."   If you
didn't mean that, then I don't think I disagree.

>that is not the case at all.  Perhaps 
>you could ask me, I'd be happy to share my ideas privately or on the list.

If we both advocate teaching Jewish content, then we both agree!   Happily!

-- Eric


------------------------ hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org -----------------------+