The evolution of secular Judaism

Humanist, March-April, 1993 by Seth Kulick

Because religion is usually considered an essential part of Jewish identity, the concept of a secular, humanistic Judaism is puzzling to many people. Briefly put, secular Judaism is an identification with Jewish history and culture as the primary aspect of one's Jewishness, with supernatural belief either downplayed or nonexistent. While a significant number of American Jews have such an outlook, only a relatively small number of them are organized into explicitly secular, humanistic groups.

To best understand the meaning of secular Judaism, it is necessary to look at the phenomenon in historical perspective. Although secular Judaism is generally viewed as having arisen out of the European Enlightenment, some historians go back even further and consider Spinoza to be the first secular Jew. A former yeshiva student, Spinoza's philosophical views on religion caused him to be excommunicated by the Amsterdam rabbinic authorities for "abominable heresies" and "monstrous acts." For Spinoza, the identification of Judaism with religion meant that he was "locked in a paradox, unable either to live positively as a Jew or to shed his basic Jewish identification," according to Hebrew University philosophy professor Yirmiyahu Yovel in his book Spinoza and Other Heretics. Yovel concludes that, while Spinoza prefigured "what later generations would call |Jewish secularism:" he was not actually the first secular Jew because he did not claim "for himself the right to disavow religion yet remain within the congregation"

The changes brought about by the Enlightenment led to a corresponding upheaval in the Jewish world, beginning in Germany. This Jewish enlightenment (called the Haskalah, Hebrew for "knowledge" or "education") led to the notion of a Jewish identity that was not based exclusively upon religion, and thus eventually created the conditions that would allow a self-conscious secular Judaism to resolve the paradox for which Spinoza had no solution.

German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn is generally considered to be the founder of the Haskalah. As both an Enlightenment philosopher and follower of traditional Jewish religious law, Mendelssohn was probably the first to face the question of how to reconcile the new age of reason with the religious tradition of Judaism. An important advocate of Jewish civil rights and the separation of church and state, Mendelssohn endeavored to open up the Jewish communities to German culture and the ideas of reason and rationalism. One of his major accomplishments was the translation of the Torah into German, by which he sought to encourage Jews to learn the German language and thereby give them the chance to be exposed to the outside culture and the new Enlightenment ideas. For this reason, of course, the translation was opposed (with some exceptions) by the rabbis, who feared losing control over their congregants. Mendelssohn and his followers - the Maskilim, or "enlightened ones"-set up schools that taught both secular and Jewish subjects; they disdained Yiddish, which they considered a "ghetto language," and instead promoted Hebrew as the proper vehicle for the discussion of Enlightenment ideas.

Despite the other accomplishments of the Maskilim, their efforts to secure Jewish civil rights met with limited success until the French Revolution and the 1791 proclamation of general emancipation for the Jews, which was extended to the conquered lands, including western Germany. After many years of isolation in the ghettos, Jews were beginning to face the question of how (or whether) to retain their Jewish identity while remaining full citizens of their states. The answer for many was to distance themselves from Jewish culture and opt, in various degrees, for assimilation. Mendelssohn, despite his own deep affection for traditional Jewish law, could not successfully convey a logical argument for its continuation. (Even in his own family, three of his four children converted after his death.) One of the Maskilim, David Friedlander, even petitioned the Berlin Lutheran Church in 1799 for admission on the condition that he and his followers be exempted from a belief in the divinity of Jesus and from practicing Christian rituals. (They were turned down.) For others, all notions of assimilation with a dispersed Jewish nation were discarded; they considered themselves Germans or Frenchmen "of the Mosaic faith." The reform movement, which also started in Germany at this time, similarly downplayed Jewish national identity in favor of a greater identification with Germany, to the point of incorporating the German language into synagogue services.

The Haskalah had only partial success in Eastern Europe, where the Jewish communities maintained more of a distinct and separate national identity. Although Enlightenment ideas influenced some sections of these communities, there was not the same trend toward assimilation, partly due to the repressiveness of the Eastern European governments. The horrendous living conditions in these nations also led many Jews to emigrate, with the result that the influx of Eastern European Jews somewhat slowed the assimilatory trends in Western Europe.