CLAL Special Features

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Jewish Public Forum Seminar: “What Is Religion For?”
November 19, 2001 

Pre-Seminar Response to the Question:

“What Is Religion For?”

By Brad Hirschfield 

In the past weeks I have found myself increasingly bothered by the thought that what is commonly understood as religion seems better at providing simplistic, dichotomizing, overly narrow answers at moments of pain, than it does at shaping our questions, framing our pursuit of answers, and remaining relevant at moments other than crisis (note all those clergy who can not wait to tell stories of their packed pews).  Of course, this is not a particularly new concern for many people, but when trying to wrestle with it while remaining within a particular religious framework, it seems to be getting harder all the time.  We seem to be a culture divided between those whose outward focus is not all that different from those who they claim to most oppose, and those who confuse seeking spiritual depth, with turning inward. 

The Jewish tradition that I know and love best feels increasingly small - even constraining - in ways that it never has before, and simultaneously more important than ever.   I do not remember a time when the need for familiar connections and contexts was quite so acute.  Yet, how do we use those experiences of connection that are the hallmark of religion (at least, as it should be), to heighten our awareness and connection to wider networks of individuals, communities, and ideas?  How can we create sufficiently loving and nurturing experiences that enable people to ask tough questions of themselves and their most deeply held beliefs?  How can a particular tradition be about doing that, more than about it’s own self-justification or promulgation?

 


    

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