Jewish Values Network
Values Pack
Doug Chandler
Published by Jewish Week Online Edition November 05, 2007
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach came with a list; Michael Steinhardt came with a list; and Noah Feldman, perhaps the most controversial figure of the evening, joked that he had no list at all.
All three men, each a thought-provoking figure in the Jewish community, shared the same stage last Thursday night for "A Debate on Jewish Values." Sponsored by the Jewish Values Network, a new organization created by the rabbi, and New York University's Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, the event took place at the Great Hall of Cooper Union.
Rabbi Boteach, an author and TV personality who has been described as "America?s rabbi," was the first to take the floor, suggesting to a packed hall that Jewish values have been so co-opted by other religions and cultures that they are no longer identifiable as Jewish. But, pacing the stage and raising his voice, he urged Jews to reclaim their values and promote them to the world as specifically Jewish.
The rabbi told the audience of a list he has developed - and named for its acronym, DREAMS - of six identifiable Jewish values. But he only had time to name four: the belief in "destiny," or the here and now; the idea that world "redemption" precedes personal salvation; the sanctity of "marriage;" and, finally, the embrace of "struggle" as something positive.
Steinhardt, the Jewish philanthropist who co-founded Taglit-birthright israel, offered his own list of what he believes makes Jews "special." Hampered by time constraints, like the rabbi, he rushed through them: their devotion to education, their support of charity, their belief in the here and now, the extent to which they care for their own people and their success in countries that emphasize individual merit.
Feldman drew laughter by saying he thought of beginning with a list rather than ending with one. More seriously, though, he disparaged the idea that Jewish values are inherently good or worth keeping. "We're not in the species-preservation game," he said. The only thing that is "uniquely Jewish" is Torah, said Feldman, a professor at Harvard Law School. But even there, he added, some ideas are enriching while others are hard to accept in modern times.
While most of the event focused on Jewish values, the debate included references to the controversial article Feldman wrote last summer for The New York Times Magazine. The article, "Orthodox Paradox," took issue with his former day school, which he believes has snubbed him because of his marriage outside the faith, and with Modern Orthodoxy, which he described as inconsistent. Rabbi Boteach condemned the Orthodox reaction to Feldman, describing much of it as hatred, and called the professor a "prince" of his people.
Feldman also fielded a question on how he hopes to raise his children. "I'm raising my kids Jewish," he replied, saying that that's an essential part of who he is, but he's also raising them in his wife's Korean-American tradition, an essential part of her.
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