From the desk of Rabbi Alex Greenbaum

Dear Friends,

In our society, spirituality is good and religion is bad. Spirituality is a one-on-one encounter with God. Religion is institutions and rules. Spirituality is spontaneity. Religion is conformity. Spirituality is freedom. Religion is restriction. In our society, "I can have a spiritual experience anywhere, no rules, no dues, no building funds, no rabbis, just one human being standing alone before God." But, that is not the Torah’s religious ideal. The Torah's religious ideal was not the individual standing alone before God, but rather the community standing together before God, a community organized to do God’s work here on earth. God made the heavens and the earth in six days, but the work was not complete, God created us to finish in the work of creation. Our very own Rabbi Michael Gold once wrote that the question is not “How can I relate to God as an individual?” but rather, it is “How can I join a community to do God’s work on this earth?”

Religion is spirituality. Religion is about organizing a community of people who share a vision of God and of what God wants us to do in the world God created. Religion leads to spirituality. The individual leads to the community and the community leads to God. It is how we, not just I, interact with God. Religion is community and Judaism teaches us that God dwells among us as a community. Our society got it wrong. Religion and spirituality are not opposites, we need both. And we are looking for both.

Judaism is in a state of transition. I believe that, until this decade we are in now, we had been in post-Holocaust Judaism. After the Holocaust, we kept the ritual, but threw away the spiritual. The Holocaust shook our belief in God to its core. "How could God let this happen?" "Where was God?" So, we survived, but did God? We kept the rituals, the laws, the customs, but, why? Because our ancestors died for them? How could we abandon a tradition that our grandparents died for? We kept the laws, but forgot about the Lawgiver. But, now, it seems that the post-Holocaust Judaism period is over. Our children today no longer say the Holocaust happened to "us." Now they say the Holocaust happened to "them," with a sense of history. I no longer hear "I must keep Judaism alive for those who died." Now I hear "Why should I stay Jewish when Judaism has no meaning for me?"

After the Holocaust, our theology changed. We no longer believed good people are rewarded and bad people are punished. We certainly questioned whether or not God is in control. Post-Holocaust Judaism kept the ritual, but lost the spiritual. We grew up in this post-Holocaust world for 50 years, never asking why, it was a taboo question. Back in Yeshiva, you'd get a potch on the hand with a ruler if you asked why. But that time is over, now one of the top books in Judaism is The Jewish Book of Why. Growing up, our rabbis rarely talked about God from the bima, politics, halacha (Jewish law), but not God. So, it was new to us in rabbinical school, this God thing, so new our professors called it "God Talk." We learned how to talk about God. We needed to learn, because we certainly didn't grow up with it and we certainly need it now. To lead a service today and not talk about God is to do a disservice to the congregation.

We are searching. Searching for God. Searching for meaning. Searching and blaming, always blaming someone else. "Give me spirituality!" "Give me God!" But it all matters what you are looking for. Are you looking for God? Or do you expect God to find you? Or do you expect the shul to give it to you? It's like I always say, if you are looking for it, you'll find it. If you're looking to be angry, you'll find it. If you're looking to be happy, you'll find it. I guarantee that if you're looking to be angry at the shul, the shul will give you a reason to be angry. But, I also guarantee that if you're looking to be happy, the shul will give you a reason to be so. The same goes for God and spirituality, it matters what you are looking for.

And you can't do it alone, it is relationship over religion. I remember my Presbyterian colleague in Augusta tell me, "I don't have a religion, I have a relationship, with God." Judaism is about community. Our society is about the individual. In Judaism, we mourn together. In our society, if we are sick, no one knows or can know. Judaism wants us to function in a community. Our society wants us to function on our own. You can't have a religion of one. We find God in the community. In Judaism, the goal, the ideal, is to mourn with the community. God created humanity to serve. God is our ultimate parent. And there is no greater joy for a parent than your children getting along. When we work together, we can find God.

Judaism's job, Judaism's responsibility, is to add meaning to our lives. I do not agree that if it is not in Jewish law, then you can't do it. Rather I believe that if it's not against Jewish law, then you can do it. Women wearing tallitot. Saying kaddish by yourself. Any way to bring more meaning. If there is a way to add Jewish meaning to our secular world, then we have a responsibility to do so, as long as it is not against Jewish law. Prayers for a marriage in trouble. Prayers for a couple hoping to conceive. Prayers after a miscarriage. Prayers when your child moves away. Prayers for healing from breast cancer. Menopause. Retirement. A lost pet. We can add meaning, Jewish meaning to our lives, if we want to. And, perhaps, we have to.

We might look for spirituality, but we also must work for it. "I don't need a synagogue, I can pray in my car, alone." But our religion teaches us that it is not good for people to be alone. We are not allowed to separate ourselves from our community, our religion, our God. We may be living in post-denominational Judaism, a Judaism where movements come second. Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jews now more likely go where they are comfortable. We look for communities where we can work together and pray together. And it is hard work to share, to share a religion, to share God. But, the reward is a connection to something bigger than ourselves, a feeling that we are never alone. A relationship with God, it is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children, as parents, as a religious school, as a synagogue - a sense that wherever you go, you are not alone. Perhaps we can survive on our own, but religion is about thriving as a and in a community. And, a community working together can lead to God. It is not spirituality vs. religion. Religion leads to spirituality.

Rabbi Alex Greenbaum
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