Rabbi Mishael Zion | Text and the City | Shavuot 2014
What is the language of
the Jewish Future? The world is increasingly speaking one thin language. Jews
are increasingly speaking three distinct depth languages. What is the role of
Judaism in a thin, flat world, and what kind of leadership will bring it to
fruition?
When the people of Israel
arrived at Mount Sinai, they arrived “as one person, with one heart,” says the midrash. It was the quintessential moment of Jewish unity. And
perhaps the only one. Since Sinai Jews have been in search of a unifying
language, mostly in vain. In the modern world this has become even more
challenging. Two hundred years ago one could still claim that the joint Jewish
language was the language of Halakha, a supposedly unified Jewish practice and
authority. One hundred years ago Modern Hebrew was revived in order to serve as
a secular language for all Jews, replacing common practice with vocabulary. But
today neither of those cast a wide enough net over the diversity of the Jewish
people. As we prepare to stand again at Sinai this Shavuot, it is time to ask: What
is the language of the Jewish future?
Well, first - what is the
language of the global future? Futurists talk about a world where local depth
languages are being forsaken in favor of a single language. Globish, a watered
down, internetized and simplified version of English, is fast becoming the
language of our flat world. Containing only 1,000 words, it is just enough to
be able to say anything in the most basic vocabulary. Which explains its other
name: Simplish. For every one person who speaks English – there are four who
speak Simplish. Websites such as Simplish.com allow one to translate any text
into this international language.
Some might see this as the perfect opportunity to
define the Simplish of Judaism. Seeking a single and accessible Jewish language
they would work to define the 1,000 words which allow fluency in “Jewish”.
Yet joining the trend of accessibility and
thinness would be a grave mistake. Simplish was created for financial
transactions, a world of consumers. It might be good enough to buy stuff with –
but Simplish remains mute and insufficient when faced with the emotional and
ethical complexities of life.
In a thin world
restricted to 1,000 words, people seeking to live with depth – emotional and
ethical – will seek a rich language that helps them make meaning of their lives
and communities. This is where the future of Judaism – and other depth
traditions – lies.
The need to find the
depth languages of Judaism forces us to face the fact that the Jewish people are
increasingly split between three distinct depth languages: Hebrew, English and
Yiddish – or rather - Israelish, Americanish and Yeshivish. Each of these
language presents a very different Jewish response to the modern world. At
their best, they each present a rich challenge to the Jewish people: Yeshivish
challenges us to be fluent in our tradition, in its wisdom and in its rituals. Americanish
challenges us to translate Jewish concepts into the wider world. Israelish
challenges us to take political responsibility for ourselves in our own
ancestral land.
A Jewish people that
speaks three distinct languages might sound terrible to some. But I’d argue
that our different and diverse languages are the key to our success – as long
as each one of them is spoken ethically, vibrantly and deeply. Independently
and in tension with the other, these Jewish languages present a foundation to
stand on, in a world of Globish.
The crisis occurs when
these three languages stop being in tension with eachother, stop being
challenged by the other. As we seek to stand at Sinai again, the question
becomes: How do we keep the conversation going between these three distinct
languages?
The Talmud offers us a useful
leadership model. Split between Bavel and the land of Israel, the two Talmudic
Jewish communities were rife with rivalry and alienation. Yet they kept the
conversation between them going thanks to the leadership of intellectual
connectors. Known as the “Nehotei”, those who “went down”, these cultural
agents would bring ideas back and forth between the two centers. Open any page
of Talmud and you’ll find that whenever Ulla, Rav Dimi or Rabin – or any of the
other nehotei - show up, they always revolutionize the conversation.
A vibrant Jewish future
that speaks three different languages requires such connectors, people fluent
not only in their own language – but skilled at travelling back and forth
between the other Jewish languages.
Such modern day “nehotei”
require three characteristics: They must be travel ready, committed to going
beyond themselves and engage Jewish othernesses. They must be idea driven, both
recognizing a good idea for its value, without bias or prejudice, and using those
new ideas as fermenting agents of change. And they must be translators, skilled
at taking an idea from one context and make it meaningful in another context;
transferring knowledge and practice across cultures and languages.
A vibrant Jewish future
that speaks three different languages requires not superficial unity, but
rather vibrant connectors, people fluent not only in their own language – but
travelling back and forth between the various Jewish languages. As we stand at
Sinai in the 21st century, these three depth languages and the
connectors between them offer an increasingly thin world a deep alternative for
modern life.
This talk was delivered as
part of the Jewish Education Project’s Jewish Futures Conference 2014. Speakers
were asked to respond to the question: What is your vision for the Jewish
Future in 2040?
