The future of Judaism

SARA NEWHAM

There is no easy answer to the question: What is Judaism? The responses are as diverse as the many trends in Judaism today, concludes director and host Martin Himel in his 30-minute documentary The Future of Judaism.

"The question [in Future of Judaism] is how to retain that identity in the future and I think the one common thing for all these strands is to know what you came from and who you are and to know it in a positive sense," said Himel, a Canadian Jew who lives in Israel. "It's a great history, it's a great tradition. Some of us will want to follow it more, some of us less, but I think it's extremely important to know who we are in a positive educational sense."

Himel begins his short film in Israel with an American family that had been non-religious but became Orthodox and made aliyah because they believed it is the only way Jews can survive in the world.

"Their particular view is that the only real way to maintain a Jewish identity in this global village is to be part of a nation-state that is intrinsically Jewish and that's not only intrinsically Jewish but that the Orthodox view of Judaism is intrinsically part of that Jewish country almost in a constitutional sense," said Himel from Tel Aviv.

Himel, however, explained that, while orthodoxy has a stronghold over the country's laws, many Jewish Israelis do not adhere so strictly to Jewish custom and would rather their nation become more secular.

From Israel, Himel travels to the United States, where Judaism is more of an ethnicity than it is a religion for the five million-plus Jews who live there. In America, Himel speaks with a clothing designer who was once a member of Lubavitch but who is no longer religious.

"He might not be keeping the Sabbath directly but he'll light candles or he'll be with his family ... because it's so much a part of him but he's not a religious person anymore," said Himel. "And he finds his Judaism more through his artwork and his fashion designs ... and he says that the traditions and the very strict way of Orthodox Jews is just not going to hold in America the way it held in the past."

For the final part of the documentary, Himel heads home to Canada, where he speaks with an interfaith and interracial family. In this case, it is a family where the mother is a Caucasian Jew and the father is a black Christian. The couple's child has been exposed to both religions.

"Intermarriage in North America is closing in sometimes at 50 per cent and there's an issue of how the kids are going to be raised," said Himel, noting that, in many cases, families do not choose to convert to one faith or another. "The children in many ways are living in interfaith families and this is becoming much more prevalent among people who are intermarrying as opposed to necessarily taking on one faith and giving one consistent faith to a child."

To accommodate these children, one group in Toronto holds unconventional bar mitzvahs that are more like ceremonies outlining the great Jewish people of our time and how they contributed to society.

Himel attempts to have experts from each strand of Judaism answer the question about the future of their faith and their commitment to it but each group sticks to their beliefs. While one family believes that intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews will destroy the Jewish faith, others believe that Judaism must adapt if it is to survive in today's integrated, multi-ethnic global village.

The documentary is well worth watching and provides a human touch to the question of the future of Judaism instead of having academics discuss the issue. It shows how Judaism – in all of its forms – can work.

"I think whether one's religious or not religious is a personal thing but I think we do have to understand that we are much more as Jews – much, much more – a part of the world and not so ghettoized as before and, therefore, I think that knowing the strengths of Judaism and the history of Judaism and the traditions of Judaism is very, very important in staying Jewish," said Himel. "But I think it's unrealistic to think that we're going to just live as Orthodox Jews marrying just other Jews. I think there'll be a lot more interplay between Jewish and non-Jewish spouses."

The Future of Judaism airs April 13, 7 p.m., as part of VisionTV's Twist of Faith series.

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