c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) There was the orthodontist who wore ritual Jewish undergarments at the office. And the magazine writer who created his own Shabbat on Sunday night because his job required him to work Friday nights.

And then there was the man who said a prayer each evening before going to bed. Not so unusual except that he was so uncomfortable admitting this outward expression of religion to anyone that not even his wife or children were aware he prayed each night.

What all of these individuals have in common is they are so aware of their own shortcomings in adhering to all of Jewish law that they have difficulty acknowledging what they try to do well. The debate over who is a good Jew, like similar discussions of who is a good Roman Catholic or a good Southern Baptist, often revolves around adherence to traditional guidelines.

However, in a new book, “Being Jewish: The Spiritual and Cultural Practice of Judaism Today” (Simon & Schuster), Ari Goldman turns around that perspective to see the positive in even the most modest attempts by individuals to identify themselves with their faith.

“In my book, I look for the good that Jews do … the melodies that Jews sing, not just what they do wrong,” said Goldman, a former New York Times religion writer who is a journalism professor at Columbia University.

With Israel relatively secure and independent, and anti-Semitism far less prevalent, tensions within the different branches of American Judaism have become more open in recent years. Differences on issues such as the validity of Reform and Conservative conversions and whether Jewish law permits the child of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother to be considered Jewish have widened the gap among Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities.

Perhaps even more than it does in other religions, a lot of the debate over authenticity in Judaism relates to disputes over practice. While Christianity makes greater demands on followers in terms of faith, Goldman said, “Judaism makes more demands on you in terms of practice.”

In his book, Goldman notes there are 39 official “don’ts” for observing the Sabbath, and they each have subcategories that add hundreds more, from prohibitions on mowing the lawn to boiling water. Modern restrictions added by scholars include bans on talking on the phone or turning on a computer.

Like Paul Wilkes in his book “A Good Enough Catholic,” Goldman chooses not to pick on people for their failure to observe all the rules.

“I tell what Jews really do, not just what they’re supposed to do, but really do,” he said during a recent talk at the Mandel Jewish Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb.

In his book, he tells stories of the unusual, sometimes inconsistent ways some people observe the Sabbath, known as Shabbat.

One stockbroker, for example, will take phone calls because he worries about his mother in a nursing home, but will not make calls. An executive of a Jewish agency in Los Angeles drives his car on the Sabbath, but not on the freeway since it “reminds me of work.”

Goldman said many Jewish people follow the informal “50-mile rule.” Within 50 miles of home, they observe Sabbath regulations. On longer trips, they feel freer to bend the rules.

In the yeshivas of his youth, Goldman said, he was told that accepting only some of the rules was hypocritical.

“You can’t pick and choose” was the message he received.

What he has learned since is “whether you can or not, people do.”

Goldman, an Orthodox Jewish writer, prefers to see these actions as people’s efforts “to reach for something larger than themselves … maybe reach for the holy.”

Rather than criticize, Goldman wants to recognize the good people do, and try to elevate it.

Take Joseph Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate and U.S. senator who walks to Congress during the Sabbath, but occasionally finds himself required to work during the time of rest.

“To me, Joseph Lieberman is not just an Orthodox Jew, but the ideal Orthodox Jew,” Goldman said. “I see Lieberman as the best that Orthodoxy can offer. He lives his faith in a practical way and struggles with the halachic (legal) implications.”

There are some limits to being Jewish, according to Goldman.

“The one border everyone doesn’t cross is a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord. Then, you’re not Jewish,” he said.

But it is possible to be Jewish and nonreligious, he said.

“I think it’s identifying with the community and its history and its people, rather than a relationship with God,” Goldman said.

He said there is a notion going back to Talmudic times that emphasizes identifying with the community first and sorting out beliefs later.

Let others find fault. Goldman looks around at the myriad ways people strive to connect with Judaism and listens to “the music of America’s Jews.”

DEA END BRIGGS