 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Jan. 23, 2004
/28 Teves, 5764
‘Not yet’ Jews by choice
By Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
| 
|
|
|
|
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
As we are confronted by a most serious increase of Jews who not only have left the fold but are actively
involved in anti-Jewish sentiments, it is perhaps of great meaning to study an episode in the life of a non-Jew
who decided to join the Jewish people at all costs.
Indeed, reading the story of Yisro (Jethro), (Moses' father in law and one of the earliest converts to Judaism), is a
serious challenge not only to many anti-Jewish Jews but also for those who are actively involved in Jewish
life but are lukewarm about Judaism and its message. For sensitive souls Yisro's story is not just a meaningful
narrative but above all a painful confrontation with one's own Jewishness.
After many years of separation, Moses and Yisro meet again. Moses has just taken the Jews out of Egypt and
miraculously led them across the Red Sea. Yisro, together with his daughter, Moses' wife Tzippora, and their
children, were left behind when Moses took on this great and almost impossible task. But now that the exodus
had been realized, it was possible for them to meet again. The text tells us that this meeting took place in the
wilderness:
"Yisro, the father in law of Moses came to Moses with his sons and wife to the wilderness where he was encamped….." (Exodus 18:5)
This piece of information seems to be superfluous since earlier on we were already informed that Moses and
his people found themselves in the desert. Rashi, the foremost commentator, recognizing the problem explains that this is a reference to the tremendous sacrifice Yisro made when he decided to become a Jew:
"He lived in the world of glory. Still his heart moved him to leave it all behind and to go to the wilderness and hear the words of the Torah" (ad loc)
Indeed tradition teaches us that Yisro was a man of great wealth. He had occupied the prestigious position of
the high priest in Midian ( see Rashi on 18:1). He was also surrounded with servants, glory and abundance. The verse now informs us that he gave all this up to go to a "desert", a place that would no longer give him any of these honors. As a Jew he would become one of the many, no longer a man in his own right but just "the father in law of Moses".
Tradition informs us also that Yisro had become an outcast. He had rejected all forms of religion and philosophies known in his days and had been banned and abandoned by the societies in which he lived. He had turned into a "lonely man of faith". His love for Jewish values and the Jewish people made everything else seem of secondary importance. Only this and nothing else moved him: To be part of the Jewish people and participate in their observances.
Yisro confronts us, for the first time after the exodus, with a new phenomenon: To be a Jew by choice. And
by doing so he confronts all Jews with a major challenge: How to become a Jew by choice even when one
have been born in the fold. How to feel the same "brenn" the burning need to live as a committed Jew as he did.
This is only possible when one is able to re-enact and experience Yisro's way to Judaism in one's own life. No doubt it must have been a long and difficult road — a heart rending challenge in which there were moments of ascent and descent before arriving at the top. To do so, Yisro must have made use of a ladder of observance. A step by step involvement with the world of religious observance and all other aspects of Jewish life. Like a baby which takes its first steps, he must have tried to engage the world of Halacha and its spirit. To feel its touch, to integrate it in his life and to feel absorbed by its spirit, like a man who swims in water and is touched at all points of his consciousness.
For many who are born in the fold, Yisro's desire to become Jewish should consequently be a major problem.
First for those Jews who left the Jewish world and opted for an often comfortable secular life style. Questions
such as why a non-Jew should be prepared to give everything up so as to become Jewish or what there is in
Judaism that makes a non-Jew conclude that it surpasses everything else, should haunt each one of them.
But also for those who are "observant", Yisro's engagement with Judaism is a major challenge. Here the
questions are somehow different. Am I as much in love with Judaism as Yisro was? Would I have opted for
Judaism if I had not been born Jewish? Does this not mean that I may have to start all over again so as to grasp
"real" Judaism? If Yisro started his road to Judaism step by step in order to fully grasp its beauty and truth, I
may have to re-engage myself with every mitzvah, religious duty, as if I had never done it before. As such I have to become a
"Jew by choice". Perhaps I should begin a process by which I take hold of every mitzvah which I am observing
and transform it into something radically new as if I had never observed it before?
It is told of the great Jewish philosopher and "ba'al teshuva" Franz Rosenzweig that, in his earlier days, he was
once asked whether he put on tefillin. "Not yet" was his answer. Although he may not have felt ready at the
time to take on this great mitzvah he made it clear that he looked forward to the day when wearing tefillin
would become a real religious experience. This does not mean that he should have been waiting till he was
fully ready.
After all, it was Rosenzweig himself who taught that "it is in the deed that one hears the mitzvah".
Only when one actually preforms a mitzvah can one hear and feel its profundity and not the other way round. But
what it does mean is that when one "just" puts on tefillin, one has not yet really performed the mitzvah. Only
when one comes to the mitzvah as a novice, like Yisro, can one experience its full power. Not out of tradition
or habit but out of a genuine desire to fulfill the word of G-d.
This is the road which Yisro took and because he realized the enormous religious profundity of Judaism and
every mitzvah he was prepared to give everything else up. As such he challenged each Jew.
It was the famous non-Jewish literary historian A.L. Rowse in "Historians I have Known," who at the end of his memoirs turned Yisro's decision on its head when he wrote: "If there is any honour in the world which I should like, it would be to be
an honorary Jewish citizen. For him it stayed an unfulfilled dream. For many Jews it is a reality about
which they would never dream.
Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JJWR contributor Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo is a world-renowned lecturer and ambassador for
Judaism, the Jewish people, the State of Israel and Sephardic Heritage.
To comment, please click here.
© 2004, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
|
