Jewish Identity
Who is a Jew?
Of course this is a difficult question. When has anything Jewish ever been simple or straightforward? Yet for those who have faith in God, one answer might be something like this: the Jew is a beacon to the world of God's faithfulness as demonstrated throughout history, and a sign of God's promised presence in a future that is yet to be revealed. Surely the rabbi in the shul next door could have no quarrel with this.
The Hebrew Scriptures that form the basis of Jewish self-understanding tell a story of struggle. "Israel" means one "who wrestles with God" - a sovereign God who manages matters in spite of the imperfect humans He has to work with. Throughout the Scriptures, we learn that life has meaning because it points to something beyond itself. And the Jewish people are an integral part of our movement toward that goal, for we were formed and have been preserved for a purpose.
This sense of the Jewish people's special role has been expressed in various forms over the centuries. As the Jewish people have struggled to understand a God who sometimes seems more absent than present, we have realized something that might not have been learned in any other way: that suffering has a redemptive dimension and connects us to our Creator in a unique way. Although the shouts of victory have often eluded us, the often silent witness of the martyrs who have sanctified the Name have testified to the unshakeable belief in our Creator.
Who is a Jew? A Jew is one who lives and even suffers for the sake of God.
But it is not so simple, for there are many Jews who are wary of God. Repulsed by "true believers" of any stripe and appalled by the unholy marriage of religion and greed for political power, many Jewish people would rather not bring God into the conversation. Where was God when...? - and you can fill in the blank with any of history's atrocities, tragedies, blunders or mysteries. Perhaps one of the greatest mysteries of all is the Jew who has determined to turn his back on God, but who will never turn away from his Jewishness.
Who is a Jew? A Jew is one who dares to question a God he is not even sure is there.
Jewish history is the story of suffering and survival, skepticism and faith, and discouragement and hope. In a world that alternately dazzles us with beauty and terrifies us with calamity, the Jew is the quintessential human being: the Everyman who laughs and cries his way through life with eyes upraised, because he or she can do nothing else.
