Of Saints and Syncretism (Temple Beth Or)

In—what may be for an average Reform Jew—an obscure law from the Shulchan Aruch (a significant code of Jewish law from the 16th century, written by Rabbi Yosef Karo), we are told that Jews are forbidden from doing business with non-Jews during the three days preceding a non-Jewish holiday.  The idea (originating in the Mishnah) apparently was that by doing business with a gentile at such a time, a Jew might be helping to enable “idolatrous” practices. Additionally, in the same section of text, it is generally suggested that Jews ought to avoid helping non-Jews celebrate their non-Jewish holidays.

OY. First, at a very basic level, I don't think I am terribly comfortable with the idea of this particular law. It is astoundingly out of touch with the ethics that I think make Judaism into a meaningful religion. Second, this law would seem to indicate that this particular rabbi (i.e., me) is in some hot water: The month of March contains one of the holidays which I hold most dear in my combined Jewish and secular calendar—St. Patrick’s Day. As someone who is—on a yearly basis—actively involved in celebrations of this holiday, I don’t think that I can even pretend that I am not “guilty” as far as the letter of the law is concerned.

Alright then, Yosef Caro- you caught me! But in my defense, let me say the following: While I might be the only rabbi out playing bagpipes on St. Patrick’s Day, I am hardly the first Jew to have explored a holiday tradition which isn’t exclusively Jewish. In fact, Jews have been exposed to non-Jewish holidays and festivals at least since what is commonly thought of as the creation of the first Diaspora, the First Temple’s destruction (in 586 BCE). In all likelihood, Jews were living in foreign lands even before this time; as they lived in lands other than (what we now call) Israel, our ancestors no doubt were exposed to and probably participated in festivals which were not of Jewish origin. In the 2600 years since, Jews have lived in all corners of the world—Ireland included!—and have frequently integrated local customs into their own Jewish lives.

So why the antagonism on the part of Yosef Karo? In his defense, he is neither the only nor the first historical Jewish source to be anxious about Jews getting too cozy with non-Jews, or (heaven forbid!) sharing in cultural-religious celebration with them. Ultimately, though, I think the main fear of such writers—at least as we can recognize and translate it into the terminology of modern, liberal, American Judaism—was syncretism. At its core, the fear which generated such laws was based in a concern that if Jews were to participate in non-Jewish festivals, without any limit, that they would someday cease to be Jewish in any meaningful way.

For many people, this emotion still rings true. Even as Reform Jews define themselves in a vastly different fashion than Jews of earlier generations and different times (those who may have had compunction engaging openly in non-Jewish celebrations), we still work to discern when certain practices or behaviors might be beyond the pale. In particular, even in Reform Jewish dialogue, we still occasionally have lively disagreement about whether some non-Jewish (that is to say, customs which did not originate specifically with Jews, but may arguably be “secular”) customs or celebrations should be permitted. While Yosef Karo might have drawn his boundaries differently, even to a point of extremism, his general pursuit in drawing them is not so different from our own.

While Karo’s law reminds me how important it is to be mindful of the boundaries between Jewish and non-Jewish practices in my life, I think that I will go on celebrating St. Patrick’s day for now: I am willing to place it within the bounds of my own Jewish life, and I am perfectly comfortable celebrating it in a “secular” way. For all of you who might be willing to do the same, I’ll wish you a l’chaim for your St. Patrick’s day—or perhaps more fittingly—sláinte!