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The Jews and Their Judaism Page 3-THE NEWS-September, 1984 By Morris Speizman PeriodicaUy, much of the ac tivity on the radio and TV throughout the country will be prefaced by the following remarks: “The opinions that you are about to hear are those of the speaker, and do not necessarily represent the policy or opinions of this sta tion.” In the same sense, what foUows reflects the opinions of a layman who has the temeri ty to rush in where rabbis fear to tread. Who are the Jews and what is Judaism? Is it a religion? A race? A nation? A way of life? Some thinking Jews have evolved a theory that Judaism is a “religious civilization”, as is Catholicism, Islam and many other similar religiously- oriented groups of human beings. All of these so-called civiliza tions cross national boun daries at will, and we often have the spectacle of the Catholic in the United States, for example, who engaged in the service of his country dur ing a war with Germany in which Catholics were his opponents. In the same sense, we have seen Jews serving in the Army of the United States in World War I against Austrian Jews. This is but one aspect of the “civilization theory” — a civilization is more than merely a group, a race, a nation or a way of life. If this description of a civilization holds true, then we do have a bond which unites mankind through the various sub-civilizations within the framework of our Western World. And by Western World, we really mean the en tire world, for a civilization must of necessity include the incompatible as well as the pleasant. So we must refer to Communism as a sub-civili zation. One of the earliest known historians was a Greek by the name of Herodotus. He wrote at length and in extreme detail about all of the nations of his day. It is thought that he wrote at the time when Nebu chadnezzar destroyed Judah and the first Temple in Jerusalem. And yet, there isn’t a single mention of the Jews in his entire volume. Why not, we wonder? Perhaps it was because the Jews alone stood forth for the sanctity of the individual person, made in God’s spiritual image. All of the other nations of that day have perished, but today the Jews alone can trace their historical continuity, back to the days of Abraham. The question arises — why? I choose to believe that it is because Judaism has given dramatic and lasting expression to the great ideals by which we live. Students of ancient histories and civilizations tell us that monotheism was not the exclusive conception of the Jews. But, it was Abraham who gave dramatic and lasting expression to the ideal of one G^ and to the dignity of the human being (Isaac’s Sacrifice). There may have been other, and there un doubtedly were other codes of ethics long before the time of Moses, but it was he who gave dramatic and lasting expres sion to the ideals of ethical conduct through the divinely given and divinely inspired Ten Commandments. Later on, Amos and Jonah gave dramatic and lasting expres sion to the idea of a Universal God, a God of the Philistines as weU as the Jews. (The story of Jonah emphasizes this so well!) Later on, another prophet, Jeremiah — surprisingly enough — in addition to being the conscience of mankind, also gave dramatic and lasting expression to the ideal ex pressed in Chapter 9, Verse 23, “I am the Lord who practices kindness, justice and righteousness in the Earth, for these are the things that I reenspon Associatesf Inc. ' ^ 12S Cottage Place 376-7434 Providing a complete line of life insurance products, medical plans, disability plans, group-employee benefit plans. STAN GREENSPON SCOTT SWIMMER HARRY SWIMMER DAVID SWIMMER delight in.” Isaiah gave dramatic and lasting expression to the ideals of God’s Kingdom of Univer sal Peace and Equity. Hosea portrayed a God of Forgive ness, Mercy and Love. These are eill basic religious values which have affected not only Jews throughout history, but have by their transmuta tion, affected the daughter religions of Christianity and Islam. They are ideals, guideposts and ground rules for living, which have been evolved by all peoples. The on ly claim that Judaism has in this respect is that it gave dramatic and lasting expres sion to those ideals through the Bible, the greatest in heritance which has been vouchsafed to Western civilization. Judaism is a blend — a blend of idealism, of the highest monotheistic thought, bound up with a very earthy approach to the reality of God as a Divine Power, who dic tates every action, of every life, in all the Universe. On one hand, Maimonides, the greatest rabbi of the Mid dle Ages, reiterated the con cept which has always been true of the highest level of Jewish theosophical thought — namely, that God is Univer sal, that He is incorporeal, that there is no way for mere human beings to envisage His existence, unless it is by the product of His mighty acts. On the other hand, we have the constantly recurring per sonal approach to the Deity which is repeated over and over again, from Abraham’s dialogue at Sodom, down through the centuries. A per sonal plea, a spiritually “facc to face” contact between man and his Maker. While this may seem a curious anomaly, the contradiction is not to be seriously considered. Jews do not take literally the human attributes used to describe God. They consider these as Happy New Year From the Staff Of The Queens Gallery | 1212 The Plaza Linda Ostrow Director The New an experience in fine dining and entertainment Specializing in French-Continental cuisine with specialties prepared tableside for your enjoyment. Featuring music from Greg James and Kim Brunnemer with music from **the 40*8 to the top 40V* for listening and dancing. Entertainment Mon. - Thurs. 8-12 Fri. & Sat. 9-1 Dinner Mon. - Sat. 6-10:30 4809 SOUTH TRYON (1-77 AT WOODLAWN) FOR RESERVATIONS CALL - 527-3064 figures of speech used to ex press God’s Grandeur and Power. In Isaiah, for example, we find the expression, “The mouth of the Lord has spoken.” This does not mean that God has a mouth and speaks as human beings. When Isaiah used the phrase, he meant that the words which had come out of his own mouth were inspired in him by God, and that he was merely the instrument of God’s message to the people. What Isaiah intended to convey was that God is the source of all in spiration, the author of all wisdom. In this poetic state ment, he paid tribute to God’s presence, which had imbued him with the strength of heart and mind, to speak words that would endure for all time. We Jews have very few, if any, dogmas. None, as a mat ter of fact, aside from the one central dogma of the existence of God. “I am, I was, and I will be.” This belief in the Supreme Being is basically aU that is re quired of Jews, in order to become children of God, in the spiritual sense. And if we return to the ideal expressed by Amos of a Universal God, we find again that the God whom we worship is the same God Moslem worships today, yes — the same God that aU of us worship. “He is the Eternal timeless rock of Faith and Love on which rests our Universe and which is the original source of being for all life in all the Universe.” Judaism is not only a mat ter of belief in the great goodness of the Divine Power of God. Judaism also com mands its followers to so discipline themselves that they will live their lives to be worthy of God’s mercy here on this Earth as well as in the Hereafter. (Continued on Page 16) Make Yours A Sparkling Event From brunch to dinner, or anything in be tween, Adam’s Mark has the extraordinary range of facilities to meet your every need. 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