If a wave of theologians in the 1950s, post-Shoah world proclaimed the death of God, then it is only fitting that theology too would soon receive its own eulogy. This week in the Forward there was a provocative piece by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove entitled, "Where Have All the Theologians Gone?" He argues that, "We are so focused on Israel, antisemitism and intermarriage that we have come to ignore the linchpin for all discussions on Jewish continuity — namely, a compelling case for Jewish belief."
Personally, I was struck by the list of theologians whose passing [or whose prime has passed] Cosgrove mourns: Eugene Borowitz, Neil Gillman, Yitz Greenberg, David Hartman, Harold Kushner. In the 16 years since I entered rabbinic school, I have had the pleasure of studying with all but one [Harold Kushner]. Each has had great influence on my own thinking--though I certainly have not seen eye to eye with them all. I am returning this summer to begin again a 3 year cycle of study at The Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem [The Rabbinic Leadership Initiative]; though I will be studying more with David Hartman's son Donniel, David's influence is still greatly felt.
Is Jewish theology dead? I hope not. Yet this may not be the time of its blossoming. Cosgrove is correct; we are as a community distracted by immediate needs and threats, often unable or unwilling to pause and reflect on the larger picture. Will the Jewish people be able to survive the challenges and assimilatory power of diaspora without a return to theology? Probably not as we know it. The purpose of Jews is not just to exist or survive, but to be an instrument of the divine will as refracted through Torah as best we can understand/interpret it. The more secular version of this can be seen in the moves towards tikkun olam - recasting Jews as an essential agent in the struggle for social change in our world. Whichever way you cut it there is always a need to understand the role of Jews in the diaspora as more than just an ethnicity. We make demands of ourselves and other Jews that will only be valid if they can be traced back to a coherent world view.
The challenges of our age, therefore, are very different to those faced by the post war generation. For the Jew today the question is not one of secularism versus faith. Rather, it is one of finding a coherent and compelling Jewish identity within this world in which global concerns are paramount (hunger, HIV ) and other faith traditions are sometimes felt to speak more directly to the heart/soul (thus, the rise of the so-called "Bu-Jew," the Buddhist Jew). I hope Cosgrove's pessimism proves to be misplaced.
BTW, read the comments on his article; many points are well taken.
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