. The view of Judaism that one gets
in this manner is not only a distorted one, but it has the effect of
bringing all further reflection to a standstill. It lands one in a
blind alley. The conclusion which a person generally arrives at when
he consults these sources for information about the Jewish religion is
that, whatever else Judaism might be, it certainly offers no field for
the exercise of deep insight or broad vision. This largely accounts
for the manifest sterility and uncreativeness of present-day Judaism.
To give new impetus to fruitful and creative thinking in Jewish life,
it is necessary, in the first place, to counteract the paralyzing
spell of these routine and conventional interpretations of Judaism.

To be concrete, let us take a typical instance of the kind of
instruction that has been in vogue for more than a century. Here are a
few sentences from the article on Judaism in Hastings' _Encyclopedia
of Religion and Ethics_: "Judaism may be defined as the strictest form
of monotheistic belief; but it is something more than a bare mental
belief. It is the effect which such a belief, with all its logical
consequences, exerts on life, that is to say, on thought and
conduct. . . . A formal and precise definition of Judaism is a matter of
some difficulty, because it raises the question, What is the absolute
and irreducible minimum of conformity? . . . Judaism denounces idolatry
and polytheism. It believes in a universal God, but it is not
exclusive. It believes that this world is good, and that man is
capable of perfection. He possesses free will, and is responsible for
his actions. Judaism rejects any mediator and any cosmic force for
evil. Man is free. He is not subject to Satan; nor are his material
gifts of life inherently bad. Wealth might be a blessing as well as a
curse," etc., etc.

In an encyclopedia we do not expect to find original or striking
views. It is not the particular article from which this excerpt is
taken that fault is found with. That article is selected simply as
representative of the kind of information that is expected to help one
grasp the meaning of Judaism. It is typical of the baffling glibness
with which Jewish teachers and preachers usually talk about the Jewish
religion. One who reads or listens to such statements finds that
somehow or other little has been added to his stock of knowledge about
Judaism. He experiences how irritating words can be when they either
hide thought or