This is the Commentary given at Rosh Hashanah services on September 13, 2007
 at The Congregation for Humanistic Judaism by Sim Lesser, Co-President 

The World Without Jews 

Try to imagine it—The world without Jews!

Go beyond the loss of bagels and lox and corned beef and pastrami.

Go beyond the fact that we would not be sitting here today as are thousands of Jews throughout the world thinking and celebrating our survival to this year of 5768. 

Think about no Jews ever having existed and what that world would be. 

Is it arrogance on our parts to think about the importance of our stubborn survival? 

Consider this:

"I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations … They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern."

- John Adams, Second President of the United States

 

And moving right along in time:

"Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights. But we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and so a personal redemption; of collective conscience and so of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal and love as the foundation of justice, and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind. Without Jews it might have been a much emptier place." (Paul Johnson, Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity)

And now--- what is happening in 2007 in Poland:

I quote excerpts from a New York Times article by Craig S. Smith sent to us from Roy Turrett, one of our congregants:

KRAKOW, Poland — There is a curious thing happening in this old country, scarred by Nazi death camps, raked by pogroms and blanketed by numbing Soviet sterility: Jewish culture is beginning to flourish again.

“Jewish style” restaurants are serving up platters of pirogis, klezmer bands are playing plaintive Oriental melodies   and derelict synagogues are gradually being restored. Every June, a festival of Jewish culture here draws thousands of people to sing Jewish songs and dance Jewish dances. The only things missing, really, are Jews.

But with relatively few Jews, Jewish culture in Poland is being embraced and promoted by the young and the fashionable.

More than the people disappeared. The food, the music, the dance, the literature, the theater, the painting, the architecture — in short, the culture — of Jewish life in Poland disappeared, too. Poland’s cultural fabric lost some of its richest hues.

 “You cannot have genocide and then have people live as if everything is normal… It’s like when you lose a limb. Poland is suffering from Jewish phantom pain.”

Can you imagine the world without the scientific work done by Jews? Between 1901 and 2006, more than 750 Nobel Prizes were handed out. Of these, at least 158 were to Jews.

Can you or the world imagine the world without the contribution of Jews to the world of music---both composers and performers? A world without Yitzhak Pearlman and Isaac Stern. And what about our world without the humor of Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner.

And what about the world of literature and the visual arts? No Arthur Miller and no Frank Gerry

The Jewish contribution to the world both past and present has been disproportionate to our comparatively small number.

Why are we so productive beyond our numbers? An article in the magazine “Commentary”, April 2007 states that “Since worship of God involved not only prayer but study, all Jewish males had to read if they were to practice their faith—and not only read in private but be able to read aloud in the presence of others…In short, during the centuries after Rome’s destruction of the Temple, Judaism evolved in such a way that to be a good Jew meant that a man had to be smart… The law was so extensive and complicated that this process of learning and reviewing was never complete. Moreover, Jewish males were not free to pretend that they had learned the law, for fathers were commanded to teach the law to their children.”

A great deal of mental dexterity is derived from Talmud study. The study of Jewish law is required by ordinary man whereas in other religions it is the priest who studies and interprets the laws to his flock.  Education has always been a priority in the value system of Jews.

So is it just that Jews throughout history have been more literate than other groups? Is that enough to explain the disproportionate productivity? There is another factor that needs exploring. From almost the beginning of our history, our uniqueness caused us to be the object of persecution. As a result, high on our list of things-to-learn-to-do was survival. Survival frequently requires inventing new pathways. Theorists who study creativity have found that creative people are risk takers. They think outside the box. So combine education with risk taking and you may have found the formula for success in scientific research as well as composing major pieces of artistic work.

Is that it? Education and risk taking?  Any there any other variables to explain the disproportionate number of contributions of Jews to the world?

It would seem that there are two more very important ingredients to ponder as we consider why the Jewish contributions to civilization are so many, and the two are very much intertwined; integrity and courage.

It has been said that one’s integrity is perhaps the most important personal possession. Think of the greats in history. The Einsteins, the Freuds, the Salks They stood true to their beliefs even though their thoughts were frequently poles apart from popular ideas. They did not compromise or back down but instead forged ahead. And they had the courage to share their daring ideas.

There is no one that I know personally who was more of a risk taker, who was extraordinarily well educated, who had a tremendous amount of integrity and who had the courage to daringly share his ideas with those who were willing to listen, than the founder of Humanistic Judaism, Rabbi Sherwin Wine. It is doubtful that we would be sitting here today sharing this innovative Rosh Hashanah service if it had not been for Rabbi Wine. 

It would seem that when we consider innovative contributions to Judaic thought and practice, that the same attributes are required: education, risk taking, integrity and courage. At present there are at least five major sects, each appealing to a different portion of the Jewish population.

One size fits all does not seem to work in Judaism. There is not one Judaism. Each period in our history called for some adaptation to the philosophy and practice of our heritage. But for some, changes were not comfortable and thus the Orthodox retain what some would call the old time religion.

It is this diversity that is appealing to so many. The celebrations of our heritage have differences in the practice and rituals. Yet, there are common threads that connect us all. The fact, for example, that most Jews throughout the world are seated in temples today contemplating a new year binds us together rather than separates us. The moral teachings of Judaism are basically the same for Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstruction and Humanistic Jews.

It is satisfying for Jews to take pride in our accomplishments throughout the centuries. But our moral obligations are far from over. We all need to take seriously our basic commitment to continue to be a “light unto the nations”.

We need to remember the words that tell us it is not our job to finish the task of repairing the world but neither can we walk away from beginning it. Humanistic Judaism’s commitment to social action and community service is one of the hallmarks of our movement.  We don’t just say, we do. We are concerned with the dignity of all people and do our best to help all of humanity. It is our responsibility to repair the world, Tikkun Olom.

Let us this year live up to the memory of Rabbi Sherwin Wine who wrote: “We humanistic Jews are believers. We believe in the power of people to change the world for the better. We believe in the right of every individual to be the master of his or her own life. We believe in the adventure of reason as the best way to pursue the truth. On the foundation of our positive beliefs, a powerful philosophy of life can be built.”

Literacy, Risk Taking, Integrity and Courage---All part of the secret to the stubborn existence of our people. These values have brought us to this day. May they keep all of us strong throughout this year and many more years to come.

L’Shanah Tova