The Role of Story (Part 2)

In my last post I conceded to Michael’s point that my attempt to formulate a Jewish Narnia in which each book is permeated with a theme of one of the Sefirot (God’s character traits as perceived by man) could not encompass the entire essence of Judaism. Nonetheless, I believe there would be great value in such a series for the reasons I will outline in this post. 

First, let me expand on the minimalist answer I suggested in reply to Michael’s comment. Jews have a tendency to try to demonstrate the truth, beauty, and, dare I, superiority of their religion and culture. As a minority living in exile this need for self-validation is certainly understandable as it is constantly necessary to identify sources of pride and arguments against assimilation. Thus, while a Jew may not dispute the intellectual greatness of Greek philosophy, the argument was made that they learned it from Jeremiah. Similarly, the beauty of Arabic poetry in Muslim Spain was a source of motivation for Jewish poets to demonstrate the beauty of the Hebrew language. 

Along these lines, we have seen in the United States Jewish religion-based versions of everything from self-help books to children’s stories. Part of the rationale for the existence of these versions is so that Jews will not be influenced by what may be perceived as the pernicious thoughts and attitudes of the non-Jewish works. Yet, some motivation is also to demonstrate that self-help, children’s entertainment and instruction and everything else must be found in Judaism. This approach is supported by the statement of Ben Bag-Bag in Ethics of Our Fathers (5:22), “Turn it (the Torah) over, and [again] turn it over, for all is therein.”

If we are to adopt this attitude, how much more so should it be applicable to a popular and deeply religious work like the Chronicles of Narnia? If Christianity can produce such a work so should Judaism.

Second, a Chronicles along the lines I suggested (if done properly) would impress upon its readers God’s multifaceted interactions with man. Though one can be a good Jew without ever having heard of the Sefirot, it is much more difficult to claim the mantle of a religious Jew without ever having considered man’s relationship with God. Our most basic liturgy speaks of God as our Father, our Master, and our King. Judaism’s most fundamental stories such as the Exodus, the Flood, and Abraham’s trials uphold God as man’s Savior, Judge, and Guide. A Jewish Narnia attempts to organize and present the basic elements of this relationship. Thus, while perhaps not capturing the entire essence of Judaism it certainly would capture an essence of Judaism. 

Finally, and perhaps this is the most appropriate response, there is a fundamental difference between Christianity and Judaism. Christianity strives to be a universal religion, Judaism does not. However, Judaism does have a universal message, one which is minimal in terms of law (restricted to the Noahide laws) but maximal in its scope: all of Creation should join together to follow His will. 

The goal of a Jewish Narnia would be to impart the universal message of Judaism and to demonstrate that universal morals and ethics come from Judaism. Jewish rituals of the kind I mentioned in the last post are not relevant for a Jewish Narnia attempting to provide a universal message. Therefore, in a sense Michael’s question is off-base (though likely due to my implications that a Jewish Narnia would be Jewish in all ways), so let me rephrase. How does one encompass and relate the universal part of Judaism? The part that is applicable to the entire world?

Stories, I believe, is now a pretty good answer, and has been shown to be so in the United States. It was the Jews wandering in the desert towards the promised land that inspired the Puritans and others. It was the eventual freedom of the Jewish slaves that gave hope to African slaves. The Maccabees, David, and Esther (see here, for example) continue to demonstrate to Americans that, in the battle of good versus evil, good can triumph even against all odds. 

So, I’m going to end this part here. I haven’t yet related to all of Michael’s comment but hopefully this is a start to help others (but mainly myself) think through these elements of religion and how to transmit them to others.