Rabbi Steinberg’s Judaism
By: Polina Rosewood
Tags: Culture, Books, Religion, Judaism

Rabbi Steinberg’s Judaism

Unraveling the “seven strands” of Jewish tradition.

Photo by David Holifield on Unsplash

Rabbi Hillel, who lived during the Second Temple Period about a century before the birth of Christ, figures prominently in Jewish folklore. Perhaps the most well-known tale about him can be summed up as thus: a Pagan man came up to Hillel one day and asked “Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” Hillel responded: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary, go forth and learn it.”

This fable, often recounted to young children in its full form, captures the essence of Jewish doctrine: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Known as The Golden Rule, this phrase crops up in almost every religion that exists today. It is derived from the phrase “Love Thy neighbor as thyself,” found in Leviticus, the third book of the Torah.

Beyond this slice of moral guidance, constructing an all-encompassing exposition of Judaism is nearly impossible. In Christianity, different sects distinguish themselves by denoting precise, often subtle differences in theological ideology. The sects depend on these distinctions to categorize believers and ensure that the said branch is not absorbed by another, slightly different tradition. This principle, however, cannot be applied to analyzing Judaism because Jewish identity is not defined solely by religious belief. Being a Jew means inheriting an ethnic identity, cultural traditions, and religious obligations.

In Basic Judaism, Rabbi Milton Steinberg attempts to unravel the tapestry of Judaism by separating out seven “strands” of the tradition. I will explore what it means to live a spiritual life according to Judaism through the examination of Jewish doctrine, morality, custom, law, literature, institution, and people-hood.

Jewish Doctrine: God, Man, and the Universe

Rabbi Steinberg characterizes the Jewish God as One: a force that continues to sustain and animate the universe, a spirit that consists of both a mind that contemplates, and a power that works. God is also the giver of natural and moral law, and a helper that aids humanity, his children.

In the Torah, God is traditionally anthropomorphized as a man, but Jews today do not wholly assume that humans are physical manifestations of God’s image; in fact, most modernists believe that God is not a tangible being, but an energy or conscious force that interacts with us in a multitude of ways. On the issue of the nature of God, most Jews share the belief that we as human beings are limited in our understanding and cannot truly know God.

This condition, however, does not exempt Jews from trying to know God. According to Steinberg, “the tradition expects the Jew to set up a private relationship with God.” In traditional Jewish practice, people foster their relationship with God through individual prayer, community worship, Torah study, the performance of rituals, the fulfillment of mitzvoth, the celebration of life cycle events, and more. These activities, when executed sincerely by Jews, renew their reverence for God.

In regard to the nature of man, Judaism holds that we are neither good nor evil, but contain both forces in our hearts. It is the responsibility of each individual to suppress one’s dark thoughts before they become dark actions. When we fail to do so, an inevitable occurrence, we are expected to repent before God and before the person or people we have wronged. Going back to Hillel’s summation of Jewish teaching, man is ultimately judged by how he treats his fellows.

As previously stated, no official doctrine of Judaism exists, raising the question: How does one grasp it? The blunt answer to this question is: You don’t, you grapple with it. As stated by Rabbi Steinberg, “Judaism…has cherished and encouraged freedom of thought,” for the length of its recorded history. The core of all Jewish beliefs and practices are derived from the pages of Torah, but the interpretations of these texts vary widely.

The refined answer to the question of doctrine is this: One cannot outline Judaism as a religion by listing conclusions and answers; instead one must approach it as a system of ideas that raise as many questions as answers. Ultimately, living in accordance with Jewish doctrine means studying the sacred texts to answer questions, deriving interpretations from these texts, and developing more questions.

Individual and Community Morality

In Judaism, the duty to live a moral life takes precedence over all other aspects of practice, including even the most holy of obligations. Steinberg states “piety toward God is meaningless unless it induces passion toward human beings.” Going back to the Golden Rule, Steinberg reinforces that morality is more important than law and logic, writing that “Judaism holds living a good life in higher esteem than the life of reason, or the importance of getting ‘the facts’ straight.”

As discussed earlier, Jewish doctrine holds that both good and evil forces control people, causing one to battle with perpetual internal conflict. According to the tradition, Jews live moral lives by obeying moral laws, recognizing God’s presence in all things, and committing righteous deeds that favor justice, love and truth.

However, man’s greatest moral obligation is to enjoy living. Contrasting greatly with Christian and Muslim traditions, living “the Good Life” in Judaism means gratifying both the needs of the flesh and the spirit. Jews have a moral obligation to enjoy feasting, sleeping, and sex just as much as they enjoy prayer, Torah study, and celebration of the Sabbath. In fact, husbands are actually required to pleasure their wives on Shabbat.

Hillel once said, “Separate not thyself from the community.” Beyond the advocacy of sensual and spiritual enjoyment, Judaism stands apart from Christianity and Islam furthermore in regard to its emphasis on relationships, family, and community.

Unlike the other two, no ascetic tradition exists in Judaism. All Jews, even Rabbis, are instead expected to get married, have children, and become active participants in the community. Almost all Jewish holidays and milestones in the life cycle are to be celebrated communally. Even some prayers in the siddur, or service book, require the presence of a minyan, or a gathering of at least ten practicing Jews who have completed the Bar (or Bat) Mitzvah rite, in order to recite them.

The congregation must celebrate the good and ask forgiveness from the wrong, communally sharing responsibility for good fortune and sin. I use the word ‘sin’ with caution, because the implications of it in a Jewish context are far less condemning than in a Christian one.

Rather than referring to a despicable act of wrongdoing that must be exorcised from the conscience, sin in Judaism refers simply to the instances when our desire for good is overcome by our desire for evil (again, I’m hesitant to use this word because of its Christian connotations). As mentioned earlier, transgression can be cleansed through repentance and ritual practice.

Aside from serving the community as a whole, Jews are expected to foster personal relationships with each other; the most important being what Rabbi Steinberg calls “the love relationship.” According to Steinberg, “the tradition looks on the love relationship as a high adventure of the human spirit.” In other words, one experiences God through love.

Congruently, sex is viewed as a holy act when shared by two people in love. This act is also necessary for fulfilling the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply.” Bearing children is a sacred act in Judaism because kids are physical manifestations of the love relationship and ensure the continuation of the Jewish people.

Jews have a moral obligation to lead physically and spiritually fulfilling lives. They are responsible for favoring their desire to commit good deeds, for serving the community, for cultivating personal relationships, and for guaranteeing the continuation of their people. In sum, the Jewish tradition holds that man must “bear himself warmly and well as kinsman, congregant, citizen and human being in order to find life worthwhile, to be his true nature, and to advance God’s design.”

Rite, Custom, and Ceremony

Enacting rites, performing customs, and observing ceremonies are all integral activities in Jewish spiritual life. Jews celebrate their religious and cultural heritage in countless ways over the months of the Jewish calendar year and from one’s birth to one’s death. At the heart of Jewish ritual is prayer, arguably the most intimate spiritual act. According to Rabbi Steinberg, “prayer is a bridge between man and God,” (116). It is the medium through which people communicate their deepest desires, fears, and admirations.

Steinberg argues that all types of Jewish prayer fall under at least one of nine categories: contemplation, adoration, thanksgiving, affirmation, penitence, resignation, protest, quest, and petition. Accordingly, a basic belief in Judaism is that God responds to prayer.

Traditionalists and modernists hotly debate God’s level of involvement in the lives of individuals, however, most Jews agree that certain conditions inhibit the fulfillment of prayer. God ultimately decides whether or not a prayer is answered.

Steinberg writes, “[God] helps men…by the inflow of His spirit into their hearts, either in response to prayer or through mystical communion or in the course of the normal respiration of the soul,” (48). In addition to prayer, which plays a role in almost every facet of traditional Jewish life, holidays exemplify the union of spiritual and cultural Judaism. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, and the Sabbath are a few of the most important Jewish celebrations.

Rosh Hashanah, which takes place on the first day of Tishri (around August-September on the Gregorian calendar), commemorates God’s creation of the universe and marks the first day of the High Holidays, a ten-day holy period that ends with Yom Kippur. Also referred to as the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur is known to draw even the most secular Jew to the synagogue to seek forgiveness for his/her transgressions. On this sacred day, Jews must repent before the individuals they have wronged as well as before God.

Pesach or Passover, celebrated for 7 or 8 days in the month of Nisan (around Easter time on the Gregorian calendar) commemorates the Israelites’ freedom from slavery and the Exodus out of Egypt. Known also as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jews celebrate Pesach by holding a ritual feast called a Seder, adhering to Passover’s exclusive dietary mitzvoth, and recounting the Exodus story through the reading of the Haggadah, the Passover service book.

Although these holidays are all very important in Jewish practice, one holiday takes precedence over the others. The Sabbath, the day of rest, is the most holy of celebrations in Judaism. The Torah commands Jews to observe the Sabbath, or Shabbat, because even God rested after creating the universe. Shabbat is a day of joy and a tribute to the happiness and welfare of man, meant to replenish the body and soul. The Jewish philosopher Ahad HaAm best described its importance to the survival of the Jewish people: “More than Israel has kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept Israel.”

Like the cycles of the calendar year, Jews also commemorate four important milestones in the life cycle. Birth, b’nei mitzvah, marriage, and death are all honored through unique ritual ceremonies and the recitation of prayer. Eight days after birth, baby boys in the Jewish tradition undergo the Brit Milah ritual or “the covenant of circumcision.” During this ceremony, the child is blessed, circumcised, and given a Hebrew name. Baby girls do not undergo a ceremony congruent to the Brit Milah, but are given Hebrew names in the synagogue after “an invocation recited during the reading of the Torah,” (132).

As adolescents, young Jews go through the next life cycle ritual: B’nei Mitzvah. This rite, comparable to Catholic confirmation, is celebrated on boys’13th birthdays and girls’ 12th birthdays. Described by Rabbi Steinberg as the time “when a child assumes the obligations of the Torah,” the tradition originally allowed only males to partake in it (133). Synagogues gradually began to permit girls to have Bat Mitzvahs during the 20th century.

The third milestone in the Jewish tradition is marriage. Because Judaism strongly encourages family life, it is not surprising that weddings are considered significant rites of passage. Traditional wedding ceremonies include prayers and several unique rituals that nod to religious and cultural influences.

The last milestone of the Jewish life cycle is death. Like marriage, the Jewish tradition specifies many customary practices that dictate proper burial and commemoration of the deceased. A few of these are the 24 hour burial rule, the recitation of the Mourner’s Kaddish, and the lighting of a memorial candle on the Yahrzeit, or anniversary, of a loved one’s death.

Sacred Law

Rabbi Steinberg argued, “The good of man is to perform the mitzvoth, the commandments of the Torah.” Traditional Judaism is preoccupied with the law, how people should live their lives and conduct themselves in relation to others. For over two millennia, Jews have been seeking understanding of Jewish law beyond the literal words of the Torah. The scholars that compiled the Midrash and the Talmud read between the lines to unearth hidden meanings contained within the Torah’s laws and commandments.

But the issue of sacred law in Judaism is a complicated one: it is simultaneously the least applicable strand of Judaism and most avidly studied. Of the 613 mitzvoth or commandments found in the Torah, at least 200 of them pertain to the proper operation of the Temple and execution of rituals such as animal sacrifice that are no longer practiced. Hundreds of others are extremely difficult, if not impossible, to follow in our contemporary world.

With all of these roadblocks, how does one find meaning in studying Jewish law? The answer to this question varies widely from the Orthodox to the Reform Jew. According to Steinberg, strict traditionalists follow many mitzvoth to a tee, adopting the relevant commandments and investing others with contemporary meaning. More liberal Jews, on the other hand, tend to adopt looser interpretations of mitzvoth and dismiss most, if not all, seemingly outdated commandments.

Regardless of their position on the religious spectrum, many Jews today still adhere to one set of laws: kashrut. Referred to in English as kosher laws, kashrut dictates what Jews are and are not allowed to eat and drink. One can only speculate about the original significance of these laws, but Steinberg argues that observing kosher laws appeals to many Jews because they serve as a perpetual reminder of one’s Jewish identity. He outlines the major kashrut laws as follows: Jews cannot consume the flesh of non-cloven hoofed animals, animals that eat other animals, the hind quarters of permitted animals, fish that lack scales and fins, birds of prey, all creeping things and insects (except locusts), and meat and milk products in the same meal.

In order for meat to be deemed kosher, the animals must be slaughtered in a prescribed manner and drained of as much blood as possible. Jews consider this method of slaughter to be the most humane, believing that it causes the animal the least amount of pain and suffering. Jewish law as a whole addressed conflict through a humanitarian lens: an unprecedented perspective at the time of its canonization.

Sacred Literature

“An ignorant man cannot be truly devout.” Judaism preaches that education is one of the most valuable assets a man can obtain. According to the Jewish tradition, learning is crucial to realizing spirituality. In earlier sections, I discussed what the Torah says about several different issues; I will use this space to briefly talk about Torah study as the seed from which all disciplines of Jewish study branch out. The Torah is the book that binds all that is Judaism together; without this sacred text, Judaism would not exist. Jews derive their beliefs about God from the Torah narratives, which assume God’s existence.

According to Rabbi Steinberg, this treatment of the Divine plays into the idea that Adonai (meaning ‘Lord’) is eternally present in the world and close to the Israelite people. He writes, “if [God] is present everywhere, [God] may everywhere be invoked,” (150). One of the ways God can be invoked is through the study of Torah. Torah is a medium between God and man, a finger that points to the Divine.

All practicing Jews are expected to read Torah, equally acknowledging its teachings and challenging them. Each week, the tradition holds that a specific section of Torah is to be read and discussed. These passages are also traditionally read aloud in Hebrew during Monday, Thursday, and Saturday services. Ultimately, the Torah is the backbone of Judaism and studying the sacred text is essential to fostering Jewish spiritual growth.

Institutions

On Mt. Sinai, God commanded the Hebrews to build a tabernacle in His honor. This commandment was realized by the construction of the temples in ancient Israel. The Babylonians destroyed the first temple in 586 B.C.E. and the second was leveled and looted by the Romans in 70 C.E. After the destruction of the second temple, Jewish practice drastically changed. The synagogue and the rabbinate, two institutions that already existed during that time, evolved to replace temple worship and continue to administer Judaism today.

Compared to elaborate Christian churches and Islamic mosques, synagogues are relatively simple structures; they have no prescribed physical appearance and are built in a variety of sizes and architectural styles. The objects contained within the synagogue unify them all. According to Steinberg, every synagogue contains one scroll copy of the Torah, a draped cloth to cover and adorn the Torah, an ark (place in which to store the Torah), a lecturn from which it is read, and an ever-burning lamp to commemorate the destruction of the temple.

In Jewish spiritual life, synagogues serve three purposes. First, they are houses of prayer, or sacred places of individual and community worship. Second, they are houses of study, places where children and adults come to learn about all aspects of Jewish life. Lastly, synagogues are houses of the people, or places where Jews can interact with other Jews and share their common heritage.

The second institution in Judaism, the rabbinate, is the organization of Jewish spiritual leaders. The word ‘rabbi’ in Hebrew means ‘teacher.’ Unlike many Christian spiritual leaders, who claim to have been “called” to their profession or to possess heavenly authority, rabbis obtain their position “by virtue of education,” not divine providence (Steinberg, 155).

Rabbis are the primarily teachers of Judaism who defer to the tradition and their own consciences to instruct the community and make moral judgments about Jewish practice. Rabbis also lead services, but any community member who has enough knowledge and a following my head a congregation.

People-hood:

“…the Jews as we have already observed, are not only congregants of a church, they are also members of a historic people and participants in a culture,” (Steinberg 34). The existence of Judaism doesn’t depend on creed, but on ethic identity as a people. Israel and Hebrew are sacred in Jewish tradition, being the holy land and the holy language. Jews believe that they exist as a group because God, out of all nations, chose the Israelites to be the closest people to Him. The Israelites, in turn, made a covenant with God by accepting the Torah and pledging to follow His commandments.

According to the tradition, the mission of Jews as the chosen people is to live by example for all other nations and to unite all of humanity under God. Once the people have completed this mission, they will be rewarded with universal redemption, Judaism will be rebuilt, and the messiah will come.

In the past, all Jews, in Israel and the Diaspora, were united by their proclaimed status as the chosen people, a belief that ensured the continuation of Judaism during even the most violent periods of Jewish persecution. Today, not all Jews subscribe to this belief. Some discount it as a bigoted assumption that the ancient peoples made to prove their religion was superior. Others, due to terrible tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the course of history, like the expulsion of Jews from Spain and the Holocaust, simply do not believe that God favors them. Despite dissention on the idea of chosen-ness, it remains a defining characteristic of Jewish identity today.

Conclusion

Judaism is not only a religion, but also a complex system of beliefs that touches and inspires every aspect of daily life. From the home to the synagogue, Jews make moral judgments, fulfill mitzvoth, observe holidays, study Torah, and connect with other Jews through the sharing of these obligations.

I cannot compose a better summation of Jewish practice than Rabbi Milton Steinberg’s: “Judaism, being more than a church, is broader in its interests than theology and ethic. It is, in fact, no less than a way of life. Wherefore it seeks to mold not only the beliefs, morals, and worship of the Jew, but his every act, his eating, drinking, work, and play. Ritual is the instrument designed to this end, carrying the Jewish religion into every nook and cranny of [one’s] being until nothing one does is untouched by Judaism,” (136).