Is it Jewish or is it something else?

There is a cute joke that when a Christian appears before the heavenly tribunal on judgement day he expects to be found guilty and sentenced to eternal damnation and suffering.

The Jew, on the other hand, expects to be let off with costs!

Now let us ignore the antisemitic implication of "costs". The fact is that Judaism is an optimistic religion and one in which we do have a sort of special relationship with the Almighty.

We do indeed expect special treatment even if throughout history we seem to have blown it time and time again.

It is very hard, given our propensity to screw up time and time again, to explain Jewish survival against such heavy odds and for so long unless one assumes some sort of heavenly intervention.

Just think of Israeli politics. But is the price of this guilt? Consider the mishna at the end of Taanit.

"The happiest days of the year for Israel were Yom Kippur (and Tu b'Av) when the daughters of Jerusalem used to dress in white and dance in vineyards".

These were the great "singles events" of Jewish life in ancient Israel. Judaism seems to have been a much more relaxed fun religion. It all seems a world away from the serious heavy atmosphere we have come to associate with the High Holy Days!

Then, anyone who could would crowd into the Temple to witness the magnificent ceremonials led by the High Priest and his assistants and finally, confident that the day had atoned for their sins, they poured out of the Temple and into the city and the fields.

There must have been joy, relief and delight. So what happened to us? Why now are the Holy Days such heavy experiences, such penance to be suffered?

Can it be said that Jewish guilt has won? But what is Jewish guilt? The biblical attitude is pretty simple. Done something wrong? Admit it. Not to a priest but to God. Then determine not to do it again and finally bring a sacrifice.

That is it, start all over again, the past is forgotten. All the biblical words for "sin" imply no more than an error of judgement, to miss the mark, to step off the path, to fall short. There is no "state of sin," just mistakes that need to be avoided next time.

Just get back on the path. The biblical word for "guilt", asham, ys only once used of individuals. It is simply a category of sacrifice.

So where did it all go wrong? Some lay the blame at the door of Christianity and its preoccupation with original sin, the Greek dichotomy between body and mind so that body is bad , sex a concession, celibacy the ideal.

This explains their traditions of self-flagellation and monastic asceticism. But that is too easy.

You can find in Jewish sources of 2,000 years ago similar ideas. Perhaps it was a medieval Jewish response to Christian Crusader piety.

But similar attitudes are to be found in Sephardi Jewry.

All religions throughout the world have a very strong element of guilt and the need to purge it in various ways. And in every religion you will find those who treat it as a celebration of life and others as a discipline or an escape.

Perhaps in our case it is a post-destruction response to exile and suffering and the feeling that the more we suffer the sooner we will be forgiven and escape the constant and unrelenting antisemitism.

The Holocaust exacerbated things of course. Guilt is even stronger among the children of Holocaust survivors than survivors themselves.

In addition, since the foundation of the State of Israel everyone has lost a relative, a friend or has suffered in some way. Perhaps it is the guilt of survival that weighs heavily.

Or perhaps it's the realisation that the wonderful dreams and ideals of Zionism, of an ethical, just society have been lost and we are all to blame for our current greed and corruption.

We have lots of good reasons for guilt. But the response needs to be to change, to do something, not to wallow in it.

Guilt is a human phenomenon, not necessarily a religious one. The trouble with guilt like masochism is that it becomes an end in itself.

Suffering makes us feel better. It gives us an excuse to go on doing all the wrong things.

And that sadly is usually what happens.

We go through the process of atonement. only to carry on afterwards in just the same way as before as if nothing happened.

And if that's all these Holy Days are, salves to our consciences but of no tangible benefit to us or our society then, frankly a dance in the park or will be of much more benefit!

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