In The Fractured Republic, Yuval Levin has analyzed the various divisive forces in American public life. Among them is the decline of religion (even if only in the form of lip-service identification) as a unifying force—a decline accompanied by, on the one hand, growing hostility to religion and, on the other hand, the rise of vibrant if often isolated communities of the devout. In his review, Meir Soloveichik argues that these latter communities can learn much from the example of Orthodox Jews:
Levin wisely counsels believers in America not only to fight for religious liberty but also to allow their flourishing communities to teach by example. They should offer, he suggests, an alternative moral order that is not only negative but also positive, drawing people’s eyes and hearts “to the vast and beautiful ‘yes’ for the sake of which an occasional narrow but insistent ‘no’ is required.” . . . [In addition], they must learn to balance being both part of and apart from society, confident in the face of a much more secular society and even in the face of Americans who may at times be hostile to their faith.
Levin is undoubtedly correct about the state of American religion, both in diagnosis and prescription, and reading his book has made me more convinced that at this moment, American Orthodox Judaism may have found a unique calling. As Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik has pointed out, religious Jews have always sought to embody Abraham’s identification of himself in the Bible as a ger v’toshav—a stranger and a neighbor, aware of what makes one different while engaging the world and, like Abraham in Canaan, speaking candidly and eloquently about why one is different.
More about: American Judaism, American Religion, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Orthodoxy, Religion & Holidays
