Dear Editor,
I have much to be thankful for and owe a debt of gratitude to family, friends, and community members who have given me so much love, support and entrusted me with the privilege of leadership in community institutions. Thank you to the AJC for the Community Service Award. Most of all I want to thank God for my many blessings and for the privilege of being a modern Jew. In our morning prayers, we give thanks that we are created as Jews — “sh’Asani Israel” — and I am so fortunate to be a Jew.
Many feel isolated and alone in our modern world and struggle for a sense of purpose or connection. As Jews, our tradition has been fixing these problems for 3000 years! We are commanded to live in community and connection with other Jews, to embrace the wisdom of our past in service of our future, and with a profound obligation to work for our own and the world’s collective redemption. We have a single God who loves us and a tradition that gives us tools to appreciate our blessings, to connect with others, to act justly and seek truth, and a guide for how to lead meaningful, fulfilling lives. In short, Judaism is a spectacular operating system for modern life!
Sadly, as community leaders, we often focus on crises and challenges and are reluctant to celebrate and embrace the beauty and value of living a Jewish life. We are uncomfortable talking about the “god thing” or scared that open expressions of faith or practice will sound evangelical or scare people away. Sadly, even many engaged “civic” Jews lack an adult understanding of Judaism and have not invested the energy to learn and internalize the wisdom of our tradition. It is difficult to lead a connected Jewish life without some actual knowledge of Judaism.
Today we struggle with modern Jewish poverty: Jews with financial resources, education, and social status but who are tragically bereft of any substantive knowledge of Jewish history, theology, or tradition. We may be the people of the book, but too few of us have taken the time to sit and read the books, much less discuss them with others, or engage with the accumulated wisdom of our tradition. Our knowledge of our history barely reaches back a generation, and too often dwells on our failures, not our successes. The little that many of us know about our past comes from Fiddler on the Roof (the Hollywood movie, not Sholem Aleichem’s “Tevye the Dairyman” stories), and we are tragically unaware of the accomplishments of Yiddish art, culture, and scholarship. I dare say that many know the names of more concentration camps than Rabbinic commentators and can recite more Seinfeld episodes than Torah stories.
Do not misunderstand. I am not nostalgic for some Judaism of the past, or an advocate for some rigid orthodoxy. Our tradition can and does adapt to the modern world. I think we are all better off as some antiquated practices, particularly around gender roles, adjust to modern norms. Nor do I fetishize some non-existent past when all Jews were Jewishly literate. But today, we have the resources, education, and freedoms to embrace and appreciate Judaism and learn and live rich Jewish lives, we are just too uncomfortable or “busy” or lazy to make the effort.
Addressing this poverty of Judaism does not require new buildings and cannot be “solved” by writing another check, and paradoxically, that is why it remains such a challenge. We cannot pay someone to “fix” this problem. We must commit to finding the time to do the work ourselves. The books, podcasts, adult education classes, and chavrutas (in person and online) are all readily available, we have synagogues, rabbis, and educators waiting for us, but we as Jews need to lean in and do the work to claim our great inheritance. So, at this challenging time when many ask, “What can I do?” — let me suggest that you take this time to learn and embrace Judaism and accept the challenge of discovering and internalizing its wisdom into your daily lives; both you and the world will benefit.
John Stein
Cincinnati, OH
John Stein is the recipient of the 2023 AJC Annual Community Service Award. The preceding is taken from his remarks at the reception. He is the immediate past Chair of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati and previously served on the boards of HUC-JIR, AJC, and the JCC.