Permeable Judaism and the Wealth of Networks

What is “permeable Judaism?” In my mind, it means a faith and culture without rigid boundaries. In my imagination the fence around the Torah is made of chain link rather than 10 feet of concrete with barbed wire on top. The first Rabbi of the State of Israel, Rav Kook, said it best:

“The unification of our thought through joining its various trends and expressions is what effects the unification and integration of the substantive manifestations of life. All that we suffer from defective thinking embodied in life and in literature comes about only from an ideational fragmentation, in which partisans of one ideal refuse to countenance the perfection of the other, failing to rise to the level of seeking the amplification of their own view by integration with all views, seemingly different from their own, in an organic unity that bears within itself the light of life and peace.”

“Ideational fragmentation” is indeed a nasty thing. Like the Jewish folktale says, the irreversible damage of speaking badly about someone else is like a feather pillow whose contents have been thrown to the wind. The vitriolic venom that the Jewish community reserves for some of its own members is mind-boggling. Permeable Judaism to me equals a tolerant and flexible Judaism–a religion and culture built by individuals without hierarchy, or an oligarchy saying what is proper and what is sacrilegious.

Jewish tradition is rooted in distinguishing the holy from the profane, but this action can have dangerous results when it is turned on members of our own community (um, Hello! Second Temple destruction!). Rigid interpretations of “who is a Jew?” literally cut off the fringes of our community. And here I thought that tzitzit were integral to the whole of Jewish life and practice?!

Wouldn’t it be cool if the Jewish world could take a page from the techie world and embrace the wealth of diversity in our “network”? Harvard Business School professor Yochai Benkler dedicates an entire book to the wealth of networks and how they are changing society on all levels.

“My basic claim is that people are diversely motivated, and that large-scale collaboration platforms, with permeable boundaries, freedom and capacity of action, on materials modularized for diversely-sized contributions, allow for the pooling of a diverse range of human talent, insight, experience, and wisdom—much more so than was feasible in more slow-moving organizations…”

Permeable Judaism does not have to be threatening, in fact it can enrich our culture and help it adapt and grow so that it can continue to have meaning for future generations.

All around us people are predicting the fall of American Jewish culture and the divisions between Jews are either retrenching or disappearing all together. “The Jewish network” can thrive and look forward or we can remain insular and look backwards hoping and praying really hard that nothing else changes. Sites like Jewneric or conferences like this weekend’s Jews in All Hues, sponsored by BirthRight Next, are the future of our people.