Beyond the Synagogue Walls 273
that’s one of the things. There’s no belief in afterlife as I understand in Judaism.
People who have an afterlife belief that are Jewish are, to me...that’s not Judaism I
believe in. It’s that we are here and we’re now. That we’re conscious beings and have
an opportunity to do things that other people might consider good.Yet even among those who did not espouse leftist political views, the majority
of my respondents stated that being Jewish is about being a “Good Person.” They
explained what it means for them to be a good person by describing practices such as
volunteering at soup kitchens, with elderly people, and/or giving to a wide range of
charities. Although being a good person is, of course, notnecessarilya distinctly Jewish
value, when pressed to draw connections between their values and being Jewish, they
related them to a particularistic Jewish upbringing.
One such example can be seen in my conversation with Henry, a man in his forties.
When I asked him, “What does it mean to you to be a Jew?” he replied,“It means it’s
my culture and my background, if not my practicing religion. It’s still my culture and
my background.” I then asked, “Can you say something more about what you mean
by culture?” and he said:
We’re getting down to the down and dirty. By culture, um...[long pause]...I think it
means having been given the identity of oneself as a Jew in all that that means, both
as um, being Jewish and being set apart from other people in some ways. Certainly
more as a child I felt that, and as a teenager. The teachings of what, um...I think
by what our family expected of.... The way they expected us to live, which was in
an honorable manner, and although they didn’t call it that, living by the Golden
Rule. Um, helping others, doing mitzvahs, things for which you...I would say that’s
another part of my life, of doing things for which I expect and want no reward, that
kind of thing. So I would say those are things, although I think maybe other people
of other cultures could say that, but I say that as a Jew because I was raised as a Jew.
But why is it special because it’s Jewish? That I don’t know. It’s just my background.These comments, which sound like “Golden Rule Judaism,” make me wonder
whether in this respect Judaism is distinguishable from Golden Rule Christianity, a
concept discussed by Nancy Ammerman (1997b). She argues that a significant number
of Christians in the United States define the importance of religion in their lives as
centered on their idea of the “Golden Rule.” This “Golden Rule” is an injunction to
treat people well, to care for others, and to help those in need. They base their every-
day values and actions on this principle and derive from its benevolence a basis for
faith in God. My respondents’ references to the Golden Rule as a central Jewish value
raise the question of whether being a good person as a Jew is necessarily distinct from
what the Christians might claim characterizes the good person. In the 1950s, President
Eisenhower was quoted to have said that he didn’t care what religion a person was, as
long as s/he had a religion, thus suggesting a possible blurring of religious boundaries.
Peter Berger, too, argued in the 1960s that because religions in a secular society are
competing for the same audiences, who are free to pick and choose among available
alternatives, their distinct contents and modes of presentation become blurred and less
precise (Berger 1967).
In showing the ways individuals rely upon their own conventions, authority, and
practices to establish their sense of Jewish identity, this chapter raises an interesting