Torah Portion - May 1, 2008

When polls and surveys are taken on the religious life of Americans, an interesting category pops up in increasing numbers. People claim to be “spiritual but not religious.” What does someone mean when they declare this? Perhaps he is a seeker who yearns for meaning beyond the mundane details of his humdrum life, but was never taught anything about religion. Maybe she rejects organized religion as an adult because her childhood Hebrew school services were boring and pointless. Maybe both of them are critical of our culture’s materialism, but never felt that traditional Judaism offered a means to transcend the limits of consumer culture.

I understand people who call themselves “spiritual but not religious,” but that very phrase saddens me. As a Jew who has found deep spiritual nourishment within Judaism, I cannot quite understand how someone can truly be spiritual without also learning from religion. It reminds me of a statement I once heard which, unfortunately, I cannot attribute: I could no more be spiritual without practicing a particular religion than I could be verbal without speaking a particular language.

What, then, is “Jewish spirituality”? How can we be spiritual within our religion? Many answers to this question can be found in an unexpected place: in Parashat K’doshim (Leviticus 19:1-37, 20:1-27), which offers a roadmap for how Jews might infuse their lives with spirituality.

And yet, for many centuries Judaism didn’t even have an understanding of “spirituality” as distinct from “religion.” The Hebrew word for spirituality is a loan translation borrowed from the Christian separation of that which is spiritual from that which is material. Jewish spirituality, on the other hand, has never separated the world of substance, matter and action from the world of the soul. The world rests on three things, taught the Sages: on Torah, on serving God, and on acts of love and kindness. Our relationship with the Divine, our behavior toward other people, and the development of our own souls are interconnected. Judaism does not separate spirituality from the acts of growing and distributing food, teaching and learning, creating safe communities. Rather, it teaches us to elevate every act so that every aspect of life is a step on our spiritual journey. This week’s Torah portion reminds us that, since ancient times, Jewish spirituality can be found in human interactions, in our treatment of the earth, and in our individual questions about the nature of the universe. We no longer practice Judaism like our ancestors did, but the goal of the Jewish life remains the same: to bring kedushah, holiness, to all aspects of our lives.  

When we read that God told Moses to speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, Adonai your God, am holy (Leviticus 19:1-2), we are reminded to act in a Godly way. Then we read the various ways to be Godly: to leave some food so that needy people can pick the gleanings of your harvest; to leave behind some fruits of the vineyard for the poor and the stranger; to refrain from deceitful acts or lying to others…To pay fair wages and not keep a worker’s pay over night; to treat disabled people fairly…. (Leviticus 19:9-15) Our Torah portion teaches us that justice and spritiuality go hand; stewardship of the earth and spirituality go hand and hand; kindness and spirituality go hand and hand. The word “religion” actually has roots in words that mean “bound together” and “acting carefully.” How can one walk a spiritual path carelessly and alone?  To paraphrase the sages, the spirituality of Torah can only be acquired in community.

Our Torah portion teaches us that justice and spritiuality go hand; stewardship of the earth and spirituality go hand and hand; kindness and spirituality go hand and hand. The word “religion” actually has roots in words that mean “bound together” and “acting carefully.” How can one walk a spiritual path carelessly and alone?  To paraphrase the sages, the spirituality of Torah can only be acquired in community.