Encounters Prompt Jews to Rethink Beliefs on God

Military service, encounters with Christians and other developments are prompting more Jews to examine their own beliefs about God, according to several participants in the 91st convention of the Rabbinical Assembly.

The recent convention in Kiamesha Lake, N.Y., featured a special session on “The Modern Quest for God,” during which several of the 1,500 Conservative rabbis in the organization discussed the growing interest in the topic they find among their congregants.

“You cannot be a Christian without believing that Jesus is God,” said Rabbi Elliot Dorff of Los Angeles’ University of Judaism. “You can be a Jew--and many are--without believing in God, because Judaism embraces an entire civilization, and therefore one can identify ethnically.”

“However,” Dorff said, “authentic Jewish identity requires that Jews wrestle with what they believe about God, creation, human relations and ultimate hopes and desires.”

Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff, a chaplain at a military base in Orlando, Fla., related that “in the military, the Christian fundamentalist faiths and many others hold regular Bible classes and discussions. This has prompted Jewish servicemen to engage me in in-depth conversations about Jewish beliefs and God concepts.”

Rabbi Gerald I. Wolpe also of the University of Judaism told the Rabbinical Assembly that “previous Jewish generations concentrated their energies on building the basic institutions of Jewish life--the synagogues, day schools, federations, senior citizen centers and hospitals.

“Today, Jews of all ages desire to know what can make their lives more meaningful, beyond the institutions they still support,” said Wolpe, author of the book, “The Healer of Shattered Hearts: A Jewish View of God.”