Why I am a Jew - The Jewish Standard

Recently, I wrote that we American Jews must free ourselves from our obsession with responding to critics and focus instead on understanding and articulating our own core beliefs.

I followed that up with a discussion why I am a Zionist. Here, I want to dig deeper and explain why I am a Jew.

I am a Jew because I believe in God. And I believe in God because I believe that our universe’s existence, order and boundlessness all testify to a creative source that vastly exceeds our comprehension as space- and time-bound beings.

I am a Jew because I believe in God’s presence, not simply as history’s initiator but as its continuing driver. I believe that reality reflects design rather than randomness.

I am a Jew because I believe that humanity is more than yet another mammalian breed. That our capacity for understanding, retaining, and transmitting knowledge and driving progress makes us an inherently singular species, and endows each human with value.

I am a Jew because I subscribe to Judaism’s belief that what sets humans apart is what vests them with responsibilities. We do not merely exist, but have a role — to be caretakers. To “work the garden and protect it” (Genesis 2:15). To partner with God by both maintaining and developing what God created.

I am a Jew because I believe that our ability to reject instinctive urges and pursue transcendental and values-based considerations, as Judaism teaches, is consistent with the role humans were meant to play. It trains us to leverage our distinguishing characteristics and to serve as a bridge between the divine and the mundane.

I am a Jew because Judaism embraces human nature and seeks to refine rather than deny it. Judaism rejects the notion that aspects of human life are profane, too carnal, to carry the potential for holiness. Judaism asserts that God can be found anywhere.

I am a Jew because Jewish life synchronizes rather than detaches its adherents with the natural order. Jewish holidays tie to the seasons, prayers to times of day. Judaism treats the lifecycle like the well-ordered movements of a timepiece. Each tick is a thing of beauty. Each beat reminds us of its craftsman’s care and intentionality.

I am a Jew because Judaism celebrates life’s potential. It eschews death and does not obsess over future fantasies. Its object is not to sell us on a better world to come, but to better the world that is.

I am a Jew because Judaism is a religion of truth. It does not hide flaws and failings. To the contrary, if anything, the Bible is a compendium of criticism and failures — to the point of occasionally making the reader uncomfortable. So much so that during ancient public synagogue readings, certain Biblical verses were read in the original Hebrew but explicitly forbidden from being translated into the local vernacular (Megillah 4:10) — a sentiment that lingers in modern times in the hushed tone we use when publicly reading certain passages.

I am a Jew because Judaism finds greatness in imperfection and reframes frailty as the source of heroism. Jewish heroes — Joseph, Judah, David — are not demigods, but human beings who fail spectacularly, and whose greatness is measured in their ability to overcome that failure.

I am a Jew because Judaism values all humans as possessing a divine spark, and renders spirituality our collective inheritance rather than the province of a chosen few. Judaism is a uniquely democratic faith — it posits that any person can pray to God anytime, without the need for interlocutors or intermediaries, and casts God’s accessibility as a testament to, rather than detraction from, God’s greatness.

I am a Jew because I believe that history tells a story, and that story is clear. The Jewish people are an unbroken chain, and their survival notwithstanding the challenges are singular and a testament to God’s presence.

Yigal Gross is an attorney and community organizer. He lives in Teaneck. All his opinions here are expressed in his personal capacity.

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