Asking Jews What They Believe
Asking “what American Jews believe,” the Jewish opinion magazine Commentary published the essay responses of 47 male and female religious leaders and intellectuals in its August issue. Five Southern Californians were included.
Divisions within Judaism and the eroding effects of a secularized society weighed on many minds. The New York-based journal, sponsored by the American Jewish Committee, asked questions ranging from basic religious beliefs to assessments of Judaism’s future.
Here are excerpts from the replies of the Southern Californians:
* “To me, ‘God’ refers to the creative power at work in bringing order out of chaos and maintaining the interrelatedness of all things. Who or what ‘God’ stands for--a process, a being, a force--I do not know, nor does anyone else. What is clear is that ‘God’ is a human construct which enables us to enter into a personal relationship with that power. . . . What is sad is the continuing fracturing of the religious community, frequently accompanied by mutual recriminations.”
--David L. Lieber, president emeritus of the University of Judaism; president of the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative).
* “The chief distinguishing characteristic of most American Jews is not what they do believe, but what they do not believe. They do not believe in Jesus as the messiah . . . the only issue on which Jewish Americans from the militantly secular to the militantly Hasidic are ready to draw a common line. . . . 7UP might attempt to market itself as ‘Un-Cola,’ but Judaism will never survive as ‘Un-Christianity.’ ”
--Michael Medved, film reviewer for PBS and the New York Post; co-founder of the Pacific Jewish Center in Venice (Orthodox).
* “We are here to bring the world to ethical monotheism; i.e., the one God and his one universal moral law. . . . I do not call for Jewish religious unity because anyone who calls for unity really means, ‘Unite around my beliefs.’ Instead, I work to make Jews serious Jews. By this I mean becoming learned in Judaism, using Judaism as the basis of their value system, and practicing essential Jewish ethical and ritual laws.”
--Dennis Prager, author of “Think a Second Time” and a bimonthly newsletter; daily talk show host on KABC.
* “The narrative of Judaism provides the framework within which I situate my life. . . . [Yet] I do not attach metaphysical significance to either the Holocaust or the establishment of the state of Israel. I hear no 614th commandment emanating from Auschwitz that implores me . . . not to hand Hitler posthumous victories. Nor can I recite that phrase in our liturgy which asserts that the state of Israel constitutes the beginning of the flowering of our redemption. Such supernatural readings of the seminal events of the modern Jewish experience rub against my naturalistic grain.”
--David Ellenson, professor of religious thought at Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles (Reform).
* “I find Judaism to be incredibly wise. Like Amos (3:2), being a chosen people means, for me, that we are called to special responsibility to lead exemplar lives and to improve the world. . . . The Holocaust is undoubtedly a most egregious example of the depths to which humans can sink, but it does not, despite the arguments suggested to the contrary, pose a philosophical problem for Judaism. . . . A small child dying of leukemia is, in fact, philosophically more difficult to reconcile with a benign God than is the Holocaust.”
--Elliot N. Dorff, rector and professor of philosophy at the University of Judaism (Conservative).
GRANTS
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The Ahmanson Foundation has given a $30,000 grant to Pueblo Nuevo, a thrift shop and employment project in Los Angeles associated with the Episcopal Church, in order to purchase a truck. The Rev. Philip Lance said the thrift store expects to triple sales by year’s end. (213) 483-2000.
* The Southern California affiliate of the Congress of National Black Churches has received a $25,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The gift will help local congregations and the Community Health Council place trained volunteers in the homes of people living with disabilities, including chronic illnesses. Churches of eight African American denominations belong to the Congress’ Southern California affiliate. (213) 778-8066.
CONFERENCES
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The 25th annual convention of charismatic Catholics will begin three days of workshops and liturgies Friday at the Anaheim Convention Center. The gathering, which draws Catholics from around the country, is organized by the Southern California Renewal Communities, based in Redondo Beach. (310) 371-6433.
* Continuing a series of district conventions at the Long Beach Convention Center Arena, about 10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses from South Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino began their three-day summer convention on Friday. New ministers will be baptized at the 11:30 a.m. service today. One hundred people were baptized at last weekend’s regional convention. (818) 887-6308.
DATES
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The annual Summer Beach Mass of St. Cross by the Sea Episcopal Church in Hermosa Beach will be celebrated on the sand at 9 a.m. Sunday. Participants are asked to dress casually and provide their own chairs or blankets. They may park at the church, 1818 Monterey Blvd., and walk the few blocks to the beach or use a shuttle service from the church, a spokeswoman said. (310) 376-8989.
* A four-hour seminar on the “spirituality of marriage” at the Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, will be led by Msgr. Kevin Kostelnik on Aug. 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Designed for married couples, the seminar costs $45 per couple. (310) 377-4867.
* Obadiah Harris, president of the Philosophical Research Society, which specializes in unconventional religious ideas, will lecture on “alchemy and the soul” at 11 a.m. Sunday at the organization’s building at 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles. Free-will donation. (213) 663-2167.
* Two upcoming retreats will take their departure points from the Gospel of John: At Mount St. Mary’s Doheny campus in downtown Los Angeles, Jesuit priest Peter van Breemen will center on four passages in John and lead two days of “quiet pondering” and discussion Aug. 17 and 18. The fee is $25. (213) 746-0450. At the High Desert St. Andrew’s Priory in Valyermo, near Pearblossom, Father Vincent Martin will examine the “Spirit of God in Scriptures,” especially in its mysterious nature depicted by the Fourth Gospel, Aug. 19 through 23. The five-day retreat is $260 for a single room. (805) 944-2178.
FINALLY
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The favorite Bible verses of some Christian athletes, politicians and celebrities were collected by a publishing house in connection with its release recently in Anaheim of the New Living Translation Bible.
The 23rd Psalm was named both by former Vice President Dan Quayle and singer Andy Williams. Entertainer Pat Boone named John 1:12, and Shirley Jones, Psalm 118:24. California Angel slugger Tim Salmon said he prefers Proverbs 3:5-6.
Ex-Marine Col. Oliver North of Sterling, Va., likes the armament imagery in Ephesians 6:10-19, best known for the line “Put on the whole armor of God.”
Dodger outfielder Brett Butler, a team leader who hopes to bounce back from a cancer operation to finish this baseball season, likes Matthew 5:16. In that verse, Jesus advises people to “let your good deeds shine out for all to see. . . .”
Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion Desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive about three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.
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PEOPLE
Educator Genethia Hudley Hayes has been appointed executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, a position she has filled on an interim basis for a year. Hayes taught in Los Angeles public schools and was principal at Holy Nativity School in Inglewood, and was director for 10 years of a local SCLC project involving parents.
The SCLC, founded by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., needs to increase membership at the local level, she said. “It’s the only way to connect with people and identify their needs and what we should be advocating on their behalf,” Hayes said. She succeeds Joe Hicks in the administrative post. The SCLC’s Los Angeles office is at 4182 S. Western Ave., (213) 295-8582.
* Donna Douglas, who played Ellie May on “The Beverly Hillbillies” television sitcom in the 1960s, will be the guest speaker Sunday night at the True Life Foursquare Church in Studio City. Douglas, who has recorded three gospel albums, will be speaking at the 6 p.m. service of the congregation, which meets at the Sportsmen’s Lodge, 12833 Ventura Blvd., (818) 982-4498.