Thank you for this insightful and probing essay. The progressive insistence on universalism (“we’re all the same!”) is simplistic and reductive, as it erases uniqueness and I always want to reply “which same? Whose same?” To me, the goal of progress - and true diversity - is the acceptance and celebration of all our particular differences - which as you say, is accorded to all except the Jews. Raised as a secular Jew, I never realized that I interrogate Judaism through a secular, progressive lens, rather than vice versa, which is only now changing. After 10/7, I told an observant relative what I had just learned: no one cares about the Jews except the Jews.
omg just followed the link and read it -- and saved it. Best thing, hands down, I've read in a long time. Can't wait to share with my kids. Thank you!!!!!
Judaism that focuses solely on progressive and universal values as purportedly rooted in a prophetic tradition without any particularistic Jewish values or traditions is not Judaism
Great essay. Progressivism has become so perverted that not only does it not recognize its own power, but it has misplaced power onto tiny Israel and Jews, 0.2% of the population surrounded by 2 billion Muslims. It mistakes skin colour as a measure of oppression and codes all Jews as white, even when they hail from Africa in the Middle East. So how can Progressivism possibly speak truth to power?
Despite its many virtues progressivism may be beyond saving.
This is a really thoughtful and timely reflection. It's necessary and frankly, overdue, to invite progressive Jews to interrogate progressivism through a Jewish lens rather than continually interpreting Judaism through progressive values.
Is this what they would call Jewish critical consciousness?
"Moreover, a purely universalist approach has been thoroughly tested, and it failed."
Paradoxically, so-called progressives allow every other nation, religion, ethnicity, and race the right to their Identity, as enshrined in their beloved philosophy of DEIÚ Diversity, Equity, Equality. Ityis only the Jews who are denied the right to their selfhood.
"Some have simply given in, taking a passionate stand against their own tribe, though this is relatively rare."
They are doomed to learn a truth the novelist Bernard Malamud articulated to well: If you ever forget you're a Jew, a Gentile will remind you.
This is nonsense. Maimonides looked at Judaism through the lens of Aristotle and concluded that all the mitzvot had to be rational. (For example, he--a physician--was the first Jews to associate the kosher laws as being intended for health, even though today we know that all cultures have non-rational food taboos.) You paint Reform Judaism with a single brush. Not nice. Also not accurate. Reform Jews fall along a spectrum just like ALL groups do. In fact, it is the lens of Judaism and its call for universal justice through which Reform Judaism officially interprets Torah and Jewish practice. The thugs in Israel who hate all Arabs and who burn olive trees in the West Bank and who claim to speak for and act on behalf of Israel as a "Jewish state" haven't a clue what a truly Torah based Jewish state ought to look like. Remember the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. There shall be one law for you and the stranger who lives among you. Read the first chapter of Isaiah where the prophet points out that God rejects the Jews' rituals because they have failed to defend and protect the neediest in society. Isaiah, Amos, Micah... the prophets of Israel demand ethics, not chauvinism, not bigotry, not hatred for those with whom one disagrees. And none of this denies Israel's right to defend itself against those who would destroy it. That, too, is Torah.
"Some have simply given in, taking a passionate stand against their own tribe, though this is relatively rare. Most wish to remain Jews and oppose antisemitism. But they have yet to begin to interrogate progressivism in Jewish terms. That is, they have yet to ask: If progressivism cannot accept the Jews, then what is it really worth? Does it actually have the right to interrogate anything?"
Most of the people I know say they changed after October 7 and that usually means recognizing progressivism for its weaknesses, its illiterate wokeness, its cult-like nature, and recognizing that their allegiance belongs with Israel. I myself "woke up" and said to myself "If we can pick ourselves up after every persecution and program and not only survive but contribute, so can others. Stop bellyaching and get to it!!"
One of the attributes of progressivism is feminism. Feminism has become hard-coded in the Jewish (and non-Jewish) communities for decades. Among the attributes of feminism is the lie that domestic violence and sexual assault are exclusively male-on-female, when the truth is that they are about equal between the sexes. Now the feminists are claiming that women's health is underfunded, when there are 10 offices for women's health and ZERO offices for men's health. In Israel, a woman that makes a provably false accusation against a man cannot be prosecuted, under Israeli law. An Isreali Supreme Court justice quoted rabid feminist Catherine Mackinnon in a decision. Among the many outcomes of this disease are that men will, and already have, increasingly walk away from dating and marriage. Which does not bode well for the sustainability of the Jewish community or any other community. Yet National Council of Jewish Women continues to get funding from left-wing Jewish foundations. Go figure.
If Judaism is true, then God will preserve the Jews regardless of whether they care about humanity generally as much as Jews. If not, then the relentless pursuit of ethnic separatism was pointless at best and harmful at worst.
Thank you for this insightful and probing essay. The progressive insistence on universalism (“we’re all the same!”) is simplistic and reductive, as it erases uniqueness and I always want to reply “which same? Whose same?” To me, the goal of progress - and true diversity - is the acceptance and celebration of all our particular differences - which as you say, is accorded to all except the Jews. Raised as a secular Jew, I never realized that I interrogate Judaism through a secular, progressive lens, rather than vice versa, which is only now changing. After 10/7, I told an observant relative what I had just learned: no one cares about the Jews except the Jews.
PS: here’s the cartoon that says it all! https://open.substack.com/pub/jfe3/p/no-more-mr-nice-jew?r=pe4nz&utm_medium=ios
omg just followed the link and read it -- and saved it. Best thing, hands down, I've read in a long time. Can't wait to share with my kids. Thank you!!!!!
Judaism that focuses solely on progressive and universal values as purportedly rooted in a prophetic tradition without any particularistic Jewish values or traditions is not Judaism
This is a marvelous and thoughtful essay. Thank you for posting.
Great essay. Progressivism has become so perverted that not only does it not recognize its own power, but it has misplaced power onto tiny Israel and Jews, 0.2% of the population surrounded by 2 billion Muslims. It mistakes skin colour as a measure of oppression and codes all Jews as white, even when they hail from Africa in the Middle East. So how can Progressivism possibly speak truth to power?
Despite its many virtues progressivism may be beyond saving.
Progressivism, unlike Liberalism, has no virtues.
This is a really thoughtful and timely reflection. It's necessary and frankly, overdue, to invite progressive Jews to interrogate progressivism through a Jewish lens rather than continually interpreting Judaism through progressive values.
Is this what they would call Jewish critical consciousness?
"Moreover, a purely universalist approach has been thoroughly tested, and it failed."
Paradoxically, so-called progressives allow every other nation, religion, ethnicity, and race the right to their Identity, as enshrined in their beloved philosophy of DEIÚ Diversity, Equity, Equality. Ityis only the Jews who are denied the right to their selfhood.
"Some have simply given in, taking a passionate stand against their own tribe, though this is relatively rare."
They are doomed to learn a truth the novelist Bernard Malamud articulated to well: If you ever forget you're a Jew, a Gentile will remind you.
This is nonsense. Maimonides looked at Judaism through the lens of Aristotle and concluded that all the mitzvot had to be rational. (For example, he--a physician--was the first Jews to associate the kosher laws as being intended for health, even though today we know that all cultures have non-rational food taboos.) You paint Reform Judaism with a single brush. Not nice. Also not accurate. Reform Jews fall along a spectrum just like ALL groups do. In fact, it is the lens of Judaism and its call for universal justice through which Reform Judaism officially interprets Torah and Jewish practice. The thugs in Israel who hate all Arabs and who burn olive trees in the West Bank and who claim to speak for and act on behalf of Israel as a "Jewish state" haven't a clue what a truly Torah based Jewish state ought to look like. Remember the stranger for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. There shall be one law for you and the stranger who lives among you. Read the first chapter of Isaiah where the prophet points out that God rejects the Jews' rituals because they have failed to defend and protect the neediest in society. Isaiah, Amos, Micah... the prophets of Israel demand ethics, not chauvinism, not bigotry, not hatred for those with whom one disagrees. And none of this denies Israel's right to defend itself against those who would destroy it. That, too, is Torah.
"Some have simply given in, taking a passionate stand against their own tribe, though this is relatively rare. Most wish to remain Jews and oppose antisemitism. But they have yet to begin to interrogate progressivism in Jewish terms. That is, they have yet to ask: If progressivism cannot accept the Jews, then what is it really worth? Does it actually have the right to interrogate anything?"
Most of the people I know say they changed after October 7 and that usually means recognizing progressivism for its weaknesses, its illiterate wokeness, its cult-like nature, and recognizing that their allegiance belongs with Israel. I myself "woke up" and said to myself "If we can pick ourselves up after every persecution and program and not only survive but contribute, so can others. Stop bellyaching and get to it!!"
The best think "progressive" Judaism can do is to commit suicide. It would be great both for Jews and gentiles.
One of the attributes of progressivism is feminism. Feminism has become hard-coded in the Jewish (and non-Jewish) communities for decades. Among the attributes of feminism is the lie that domestic violence and sexual assault are exclusively male-on-female, when the truth is that they are about equal between the sexes. Now the feminists are claiming that women's health is underfunded, when there are 10 offices for women's health and ZERO offices for men's health. In Israel, a woman that makes a provably false accusation against a man cannot be prosecuted, under Israeli law. An Isreali Supreme Court justice quoted rabid feminist Catherine Mackinnon in a decision. Among the many outcomes of this disease are that men will, and already have, increasingly walk away from dating and marriage. Which does not bode well for the sustainability of the Jewish community or any other community. Yet National Council of Jewish Women continues to get funding from left-wing Jewish foundations. Go figure.
Yes, indeed a very thoughtful essay, Benjamin Kerstein!
If Judaism is true, then God will preserve the Jews regardless of whether they care about humanity generally as much as Jews. If not, then the relentless pursuit of ethnic separatism was pointless at best and harmful at worst.