Today, writes Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove, few Conservative Jews see Jewish law as a set of divinely ordained obligations, while few Reform Jews see Jewish ritual practice as entirely antiquated—both in contradistinction to the formal theology of these denomination’s founders. Moreover, he argues, their attitudes reflect those of the overwhelming majority of American Jews. These facts, to Cosgrove, suggest a positive way forward for Judaism in the U.S. and elsewhere:
Mitzvot and the aspiration to perform them abound in the souls of American Jews. The decision to order from one side of the menu but not the other, the decision to purchase t’filin for their children as they reach b’nei mitzvah age, the decision to study Torah or to participate in communal prayer—the subset of American Jewry I serve, in their own inchoate way, often perform and continue to aspire to perform mitzvot. For many (but not all) of the Jews I serve, the non-performance of mitzvot is not so much a “no,” as it is a “not yet.” Even if they are not observing mitzvot, they feel they should, they could, and might one day do so. Moreover, nearly 25 years into my rabbinate, I believe that my congregants hold the expectation that as their rabbi, I will urge them to do so.
There is more than enough work to go around, and while our ideologies, practices, and tactics may differ, [rabbis and lay leaders of all denominations] would do well to remember that we stand united in our unyielding mission to secure the future of Judaism. The task of religious leadership must be to facilitate the modern individual’s retrieval of the Divine by way of a life of mitzvot. God’s presence may have receded, but it has not been utterly eclipsed.
We must show Jews that the riches of Jewish practice are compelling to the spiritually searching and God-thirsting soul and can more than compete with the marketplace of secular alternatives.
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