Open Judaism

May 15, 2023
Rabbi Schwartz (Path of the Prophets) makes a convincing case for “open Judaism,” a big-tent philosophy that embraces Jewish believers, atheists, and agnostics. He contends that there’s no one brand of “authentic” Judaism, and that the religion’s pluralism and capacity to “evolve over time... in radical ways” is precisely what has allowed it to survive. An open tent isn’t a “borderless” one, however, and Schwartz distinguishes between anti-Zionist Judaism, which has “a history as old as modern Zionism itself,” and messianic Judaism, whose adherents’ belief in Jesus as savior renders them, many in the Jewish community believe, essentially “gentiles in need of conversion should they want to reenter the Jewish faith.” Throughout, Schwartz elucidates the agnostic, atheist, and believer’s perspectives on theological issues. In a particularly illuminating section, he examines how prayer can serve as an obligation for the believer, a “primal human expression” of gratitude for the atheist, and a means of drawing closer to one’s community for the agnostic. Schwartz isn’t afraid to tackle hot-button issues—including abortion, euthanasia, and the climbing rate of intermarriage—and never forgoes nuance while doing so, adeptly balancing references to ancient Jewish thought with awareness of current sociocultural contexts. This is a valuable complement to Rabbi Michael Strassfeld’s Judaism Disrupted.