The Soul of One Jewish Folk

On the eve of the Christian millennium, I sit and do what most people seem to be doing right now: reflect back and look forward at the same time. This essay is based on a book with a similar title written ninety-six years ago by a Black man, The Souls of Black Folk. In it, W. E. B. Du Bois writes about a veil that closes between Blacks and whites. While I have not experienced the horrible racism and persecution he writes about, and that all who study history know happened to Black people throughout the world, as a Jew I do feel this veil. It is not based on skin color, but on faith, real or perceived.

I felt this veil long before I was told that I have "a Jewish soul." This has been one of the hardest concepts for me to accept, despite my own personal experiences. One of my strongest arguments against it is that, according to the Torah, G-d put one soul into man's body. Nowhere else in the Five Books will the reader find mention of a unique soul given to Jews. Rabbis, when asked about this, say it happened at Sinai, but even they concede that Judaism considers Abraham, who was not present at Sinai, to have been Jewish. Since the very nature of the soul is unscientific, I often wonder how anyone can have the market on it. In other words, how can any responsible person speak with such authority on such a subject?

Yet the rabbis are undeterred and continue to put all their evidence, stories and teachings on the table. I must note that while this has been a major difficulty for me, and I have asked many rabbis about it, I am always impressed by the breadth of their answers and how diverse the sources are. It seems to be a concept enshrined deep in this faith.

Another point I struggle mightily with is the messianic idea in Judaism. I am sure it is older in source than the Christian beliefs, but I still wonder: exactly how do we know who this person might be? There seem to be many qualified candidates in Jewish history, and today we find in one prominent Chassidic group a strong belief that their particular Rebbe was the Messiah. I write "was" because he died five years ago. I cannot appropriately comment on whether this person was the Messiah or not; I just continue to wonder. How would we know if he were?

As I mentioned, Judaism has had many people who seem to have the qualifications that the OU crowd says make one the Messiah. And there have been instances in the past (although not since the 1600s) of false messiahs. According to the religious, these historical mistakes led many people far from the Torah. Some believe that what is happening now in a certain community of Jews could lead to similar tragic results. But what if this group is right? And what if what Judaism has been saying the Messiah must do in his lifetime is wrong? That, I should mention, is not the position of this group. Their position seems to be: he is hidden from us, and when we are ready for the Messiah, he will return to lead us. There are other positions about the nature of this person and whether or not he is dead. It is an extraordinarily sensitive subject, and, as I said, one I am extremely unqualified to comment on. I bring it up because I feel it is closely connected to the question of what makes a Jewish soul, as opposed to a non-Jewish soul.

Orthodox Judaism believes in the resurrection of the dead. It believes that a man descended from King David will lead all Jews to Israel, rebuild the Temple and establish worldwide peace. Obviously, this is a hard task. This person must also be recognized by the whole world as the leader of the Jews, and apparently the whole world will know at once when it happens. There are so many places for a person like me to ask, "But what about this? What about that?" and the list of questions is almost as endless as the answers.

There are of course many other areas in Judaism that, once I became aware of them, I struggled with mightily, and still do. By the same token, there are ideas and beliefs that I seem to have believed for as long as I can remember. This, plus my adventures in Judaism, is the only thing that keeps me going. That, and G-d's sense of humor.