Rabbi Dovid Markel
Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929) was a Jewish thinker and Philosopher. At one point in his life, he was about to convert to Christianity. He decided that before he would convert, he would say one last good bye to Judaism.
However, when he told his mother his intentions, she told him not to come home for the holidays. Stranded in Berlin, he ended up in some Orthodox shul and had a decidedly mystical experience.
Realizing that he had a deep connection with his Jewish G-d, he concluded that he could not convert. He later wrote to his cousin Rudolf regarding his experience, that “It [conversion to Christianity] seems unnecessary and for me impossible now. I remain a Jew.”
What is interesting, is that his decision to convert to begin with was based on the notion that in truth, he was really Christian all along. In his words from a letter to his mother, “We are Christians in all things, we live in a Christian state, go to Christian schools, read Christian books, our whole culture is based on a Christian foundation.”
When I read his words, I could not help but thinking that he has a point and I believe an important critique on many Jews living in the western world.
His words elicit the truism that for many Jews today, living in western society, their values, ethics, morals, books that they read, weltanschauung, etc. is almost exactly the same as their non-Jewish counterparts.
I believe this is true even with so-called orthodox Jews. They espouse the same views as their neighbors but give them Jewish sources.
While there is talk of so-called “Judeo-Christian” values, it is really a misnomer, as from my experience, people are much more comfortable with those values that their Christian neighbors adopted but become exceedingly uncomfortable with the values that are distinctly Jewish, which run in contrast with the zeitsgeit of their surroundings. (Case in point: Judaism’s view of slavery, capital punishment, idol worshipers etc.)
While a person’s Jewishness is always deeply embedded in the soul, as seen keenly in the episode of Franz’s conversion, the question is: are your morals Jewish or are they western?
I think Jews need to truly reevaluate their morals, ethics, and what occupies their minds, and truly examine if they are using Jewish quotes to explain secular morals, or if in truth, they really have a Jewish perspective to the world around them.
