Lekh Lekha: Two Covenants
“When I identify as Jewish, do I describe my religion, or my nationality?”
As a long time Jewish educator and as a recently ordained rabbi, this is probably one of the most asked questions I have encountered regarding one’s Judaism.
This confusion is not surprising, since being Jewish does pose a unique case of identity.
A quick examination of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions shows that identification as Christian or Muslim almost always describes one’s religion.
A French Christian and a Lebanese Christian, for example, don’t view themselves as belonging to one nation. Nor a Bengali Muslim and a Turkish Muslim. However when it comes to Jews, it gets a little more complicated.
Complexity, of course, is synonymous with our tradition. Our Torah brings us two different covenants, each one describing a different aspect of our Judaism, and in a way, they also compliment one another.
The first covenant appears in our portion Lech Lecha and it is the covenant which was made between God and Abraham. It is also known as Brit bein Habetarim. The concluding verse, describing the covenant is as follows:
״בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא כָּרַ֧ת יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־אַבְרָ֖ם בְּרִ֣ית לֵאמֹ֑ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֗ נָתַ֙תִּי֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את מִנְּהַ֣ר מִצְרַ֔יִם עַד־הַנָּהָ֥ר הַגָּדֹ֖ל נְהַר־פְּרָֽת׃
“On that day יהוה made a covenant with Abram: “To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates—״
There are many aspects of this text to explore, but to understand the nature of this covenant, I would suggest that the key word here is “offspring.”
The text makes it clear that whomever is entering this covenant enters it by birth. This covenant is what Soloveitchik would call hundreds of years later Brit Goral, or the Covenant of Fate. This covenant makes it clear that the choice of religious practice does not matter.
“Can I still be Jewish if I don’t believe in God?” I am asked by many of my students. “Do you have a Jewish parent?” I ask back. I then of course proceeded to explain to them how Jews in Germany who did not practice Judaism for a single day in their lives, were murdered because it was discovered that they had a Jewish grandparent…
Many hundreds of years before Soloveitchik, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers, the Medieval era Rabbi Judah Halevi, claimed in his philosophical book The Kuzari that there was an inherent divinity in those who were born Jewish. He specified what is known as Madregot Habriah - Levels of Creation. From the lower to the higher - Inanimate, Plants, Animals, Humans, Jews.
To the modern eyes and ears, this concept is, of course, horrifying. To be fair to The Kuzari, it proceeds to describe those levels as levels of responsibility, the higher you are, the more responsibilities you have with most responsibilities falling on the Jews. More so, one must never abuse those who are on a lower level but rather the opposite, have more responsibility towards them.
Even so, I think that most everyone reading this column would agree, this concept is problematic, to say the least.
The second covenant in the Torah is of course the covenant of Mount Sinai, of receiving the Torah as a nation:
"וַיִּקַּח֙ סֵ֣פֶר הַבְּרִ֔ית וַיִּקְרָ֖א בְּאׇזְנֵ֣י הָעָ֑ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה נַעֲשֶׂ֥ה וְנִשְׁמָֽע׃
"Then he took the record of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. And they said, “All that יהוה has spoken we will faithfully do!”
This covenant, as opposed to the one in our portion, is a covenant of choice. Here is a book of rules that we can choose to adapt. This covenant is what Soloveitchik called The Covenant of Destiny.
In that Soloveitchik was continuing the line of thought of another great Medieval scholar, the Rambam (Maimonides,) as a complete counter to The Kuzari. The Rambam viewed divinity in anyone who chooses to accept Torah and Mitzvot, and even saw in converts greater Jews for choosing Torah and Mitzvot regardless of their traditions and upbringing.
Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz, whom I like to call “The Rambam on Steroids,” claims that there is no meaning to being Jewish unless you choose to work for God by accepting the burden of the commandment.
Where does that leave those of us who are secular and non-observant Jews? Jews who do not follow the Halacha - the Jewish law, and yet identify as Jewish?
Liberal Judaism has answered that question by promoting the concept of Tikkun Olam and the interpretation of the Jewish laws to fit modern needs. But is that enough? Isn’t there more value in choosing to practice what is not always comfortable?
Luckily by providing both covenants our tradition left us with a tension to reconcile — and as people who identify as Jewish, what can be more fun than that?
