Despite the headlines in this CNN story about “New Jews”, there is nothing really new here. Most of the new practices being described are not so new, as in the case of recently founded prayer groups or Hebrew school teaching techniques which are wonderful but hardly radical departures from that which preceded them. And for those that are new, such as tattooing, the newness lies in the practice, while the intent of those doing it is, in their own words, about ethnic pride and communal connection. What could be more traditional?
In fact, when Jessica Ravitz (Jessica Rabbit’s Jewish cousin?) writes, “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai about 3,300 years ago, he couldn’t have seen these Jews coming”, she is drawing on a Talmudic passage which anticipated the on ongoing evolution of Jews and Judaism, almost 2,000 years ago.

The story is told (Menahot 29a) of Moses entering the Beit Midrash, academy, of Rabbi Akiva and of his being totally befuddled by the substance of the Torah being studied there. Yet, the tale continues, he was totally at ease once Rabbi Akiva connected that which he was teaching to the Torah which Moses was given at Sinai. Is that not the case with these so-called “New Jews”?
If there is anything about which to be concerned, it is that neither the author nor her subjects experience how deeply traditional all this newness really is. Actually, without this kind of continual re-newing, there is no way to preserve a connection to the old. And, to stick with the Moses story, that is something which was true from the moment he broke the tablets in response to the people’s seeming disregard for the Torah he brought them from on high. If starting anew was not a deeply embedded part of the tradition, how could God tell Moses to carve new tablets for himself – for himself!, ones which would be as good as the first set?
The issue is not, nor has it ever been, new vs. old, or traditional vs. innovative. Success has always gone to those who rejected that dichotomy in favor of asking themselves what works for them, committing to it, celebrating it joyously, and using it to help others and the world at large. When we have that, we have everything, whether it’s recognizable to Moses or our grandparents. And if we talk about it that way, whatever we are doing will connect us to both of them.
We will not always agree about the practices, but if we agreed to see both what we do and what others do, with that kind of “big picture” approach, one which shatters the false dichotomies between old and new, traditional and innovative, whatever we do will be all four of those things. And that combination really works.