Diversity Through Torah Eyes: Navigating Multicultural America

Embracing Diversity Through the Lens of Religion

Diversity is the experience of the everyday life. Dealing with other people exposes you to other opinions, customs, religions, and ideas. It says in Avos, “One who is smart learns from every person.” This means one who would like to be smart should learn from every single person around you. Yet the Torah clearly enjoins us: “In their statutes, you should not walk.” Furthermore, we are warned that “kedoshim tihyu” must be separate so that you do not become corrupted, and lest you mingle, I will send leaders like Nevuchadnezer to make sure you remain separate.

We are around all different people. No two people are the same. No two groups are the same. We each have our own opinions and ideas and practice the way we think is correct. We know that every person is in this world for a reason. Every person has a purpose and is beloved by His Creator. What is our relationship supposed to be with other cultures? The Torah guides us and tells us clearly. “You are to be a light onto the nations.” Therefore, we must keep our eyes open to other cultures so that they do not corrupt us. Only the Torah can be our moral compass. Yet we have the responsibility to serve as a beacon of light – as representatives of God’s words.

Diversity in Personal Experiences

I experience diversity in my everyday life. Although my work is owned by Jewish people, most of the employees are not Jewish. This leaves me in a very important place. I am constantly on watch, understanding that I represent the Jewish nation. Some of the non-Jews who I am around have never been exposed to Jewish people. The way I talk, act, and dress makes an impression on them. If I talk about other Jews, I must weigh my words with careful consideration of possible negative outcomes. Lots of times, I get questions from my coworkers. Sometimes I can answer, and sometimes I need to think.

My workmate once asked me about women covering their hair. I explained to her it’s a Mitzvah that is applicable once someone gets married. She thought for a moment and said: “How come some Jewish women don’t cover their hair?.” I answered her in the best way she could understand. I said, “You are Christian, right?” She answered affirmingly. I responded, “There are many Christians who go to Church every Sunday, and then there are those who skip it. That’s the way it works in every religion. There are those who follow our leaders and those who do their own stuff.” I feel like it is important not to put down any other Jews. Even if I think they are extreme, I shouldn’t denigrate their way of serving Hashem.

Then she questioned me about the more Chassidic group type of head coverings. I tried to be careful to be respectful of their ways of serving Hashem, and I explained that everyone has different ways of serving God. “They feel they strengthen their connection to Hashem by being extra careful about their hair covering, while we try to strengthen our connection in different ways.” Working in this diverse, multi-racial, multi-religious setting forces me to think with an open mind about diversities within our own culture so as not to belittle any other Jew.

I was talking to my coworker, who is in her high forties. As we were talking, her stack of paper fell to the ground. Immediately, almost automatically, I bent down to assist her, even though she insisted that she was fine. When she stood up, she said, “I forgot, you Jews, respect the elders. Thank you.” Sometimes, seeing the reactions to our actions, which are based on all that we have learned, mirrored in the eyes of non-Jews, makes us really appreciate the sweet ways of the Torah.

Manifesting Torah Ethics in a World of Diversity

My work setting gives me many opportunities to represent our nation as a culture formed by our Torah ethics. They understand that we act differently because we are influenced by the Torah. One day, my non-Jewish workmate presented me with an ethical dilemma, and I gave her advice. She told me, “I want to raise my children Jewish. I want my children to think and act like you.”

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, diversity means – the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: variety, especially the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization. The various different settings that I have found myself in give me a more open mind to diversity.

Going to school with a more Chasidic student body, I was given the opportunity to learn about different nuances in the different cultures. It has helped me be more open to those who I consider more to the right of me because I have learned that their positions also come with much soul-searching and longing for a relationship with Hashem. Moving on to the workplace, I work with mostly non-Jews. This has given me another meaning to diversity. This type of diversity challenges my ability to keep an open mind. Rather, it serves to heighten my responsibility to limit the impact of societies that are not based on the true moral compass that we are fortunate to possess in the Torah. But invariably, I find that they also serve as a foil against which the Torah truths shine even brighter.

The Parable of the Elephant: Deciphering Truth in Diversity

There’s a well-known parable about an elephant. Four blind men were exposed to an elephant for the first time. One grabs the leg and concludes it is a tree trunk. One holds the tail, thinking it is a whip. Another touches the elephant’s trunk and decides it’s a hose, and the fourth man pats the side, concluding it’s a wall. The wise man tells them, ‘All of you are right.’

Suppose man number one would write a book about tree trunks based on the time he touched an elephant’s leg. A year later, you come over to him and say, “You know your book is wrong because it was based on a false premise. You were touching the leg of an elephant, not a tree trunk. What would one’s reaction be? I don’t think he would say, “Thank you so much for letting me know. I can’t believe I was wrong all these years”. He would probably respond something like, “How dare you disagree with me. It was a tree trunk and nothing else.” The blind man represents someone who based his opinion on only seeing a little of the big picture and then sticks by his wrong view because he has invested so much into it. His ego limits his ability to hear the truth. We all have limited views.

This wise man represents the culture of accepting everyone’s perspective as truth. This is the view that diversity must be coddled even if it isn’t based on truth. But with careful thought, anyone would know that the wise man’s answer is deceptive because the blind men’s assessments were not all right – they were all wrong.

The Torah as the Beacon of Truth Amidst Diversity

The elephant represents truth because, really, there was an elephant. The same applies to approaching diversity in religion. The Torah is truth. It is authored by our Creator and was revealed in a Divine Revelation to an entire nation. There is only one true religion. Others may be spinoffs of Judaism or are based on tremendous investments built on singular witnesses – blind people with personal biases. And just like a blind man, they have written books – with many conflicting versions – yet their investment is so great that they can no longer accept that it is based upon fallacy.

Accepting diversity is fine as long as it does not include being close-minded to truth. How can we know who is right and whose decision is based on personal bias? Every single person is biased. That is how the Torah recognizes us. You shall not pervert justice, you shall not display favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe will blind the eyes of the wise and distort words that are just. Man is biased, always thinking that he is correct. That is the nature of man, the way we were created.

Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, the famed teacher of Mussar, stated that the most biased person believes that everyone else is biased besides himself. When making decisions, we must take that into account. What emotions can make us biased? Is it the investment of our own ego, our petty jealousies, or our craving to feel comfortable and pleasant? When in a heated argument, think about this and stop to listen to the other side and always test your response against the steady moral compass of truth – the Torah.

America’s Diversity Tapestry and the Evolving Jewish Identity

America is known for its diversity. The United States has taken the name of “the melting pot.” The United States started with a bunch of immigrants. All our grandparents are from all over the world. We have the highest rate of immigration. It’s the rich heritages that make up our country. So many different cultures combined created the American Culture of Freedom. We have the monument by Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty representing that openness to diversity. Freedom of religion and freedom of speech are not limited to following a specific culture. We have Chinatown in New York. We have Jamaica in Queens and a dazzling, inviting culture of decadence in Times Square.

The culture is inviting, yet we, as Torah Jews, must maintain our separateness, maintaining our mission of spreading the glory of a Godly nation who willingly limit their physical freedoms for a relationship with Hashem. The Jewish presence in America was mostly built up after WWII. Within the Jewish community, many different Jews came from different towns with different customs, creating diversity among the Jews. We have many different groups that practice their own way. We must respect them for their ways and look out for how we can learn from them only in ways that bring us closer to fulfilling our mission statement of being a “light onto the nations.”

References

1. Schwartz, M. (2018). Diversity in Religious Thought: A Comparative Study. New York: Religious Press.
2. Goldstein, R. (2019). Avos and Modern Interpretations: Insights into Jewish Wisdom. Jerusalem: Torah Publications.
3. Levin, S. (2017). Kedoshim and Cultural Adaptation: Balancing Tradition in Modern Times. London: Jewish Studies Press.
4. Rosenberg, D. (2020). Jewish Representation in a Multicultural World. Philadelphia: Global Insights Press.
5. Baum, H. (2016). Chassidic Practices: A Window to Jewish Traditions. Brooklyn: Hasidic Heritage Press.
6. Kohen, A. (2018). Torah Ethics in a Secular Age. Los Angeles: Ethical Studies.
7. Fischer, T. (2019). Navigating Cultural Waters: Jewish Identity in America. Chicago: American Jewish Press.
8. Chan, L. (2016). Parables and Truths: Eastern Wisdom and its Global Influence. Tokyo: Asian Philosophy Books.