Timothy Birdnow

Ever the intrepid reporter, our own Jack Kemp attended a recent event featuring the ever-brilliant Dennis Prager, and gives us the details below:

Dennis Prager’s “The Case for Judaism”

Well known talk show host Dennis Prager came to New York’s 92nd Street Y(MHA) this past week to speak about Judaism and why it was worthy of practicing. The talk was also broadcast via the internet to various synagogues across the US.

Mr. Prager attended Jewish religious schools (yeshivas) until he entered Brooklyn College. After graduation, he studied Russian at the University of Leeds in England. He later studied at the Russian and Middle Eastern Institutes of Columbia University, leaving before completing a masters degree. Mr. Prager went on to teach tenets of Judaism to adults in California, later becoming the moderator of “Religion on the Line,” broadcast on KABC in Los Angeles. His current syndicated radio show originates from Los Angeles, where he still lives. He is also the author of many books on Judaism and religious thought in general. Wikipedia describes him as:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Prager

‘Prager is both a leader in Jewish life (”One of the three most interesting minds in American Jewish life” according to The Jewish Week) and an outspoken supporter of the conservative Christian movement in the U.S., with whom he often shares political views, even to the point of holding that Jews should publicly swear on the Bible.[2 ‘
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The talk Mr. Prager gave was a condensation of his longer lectures on Judaism, brought up to date with his latest thoughts on both Judaism and religion in general. He began by raising the issue that has bothered him since childhood, namely that Judaism was taught as something to memorize with no explanation given as to why Jewish practices existed other than “it is the law” or written in the Torah. Questioning the origins or reasons for Jewish practices was treated as all but a heresy. But there were some major differing counter-teachings within Judaism - and Mr. Prager.

Judaism tolerates dissent, not ignorance. The Talmud teaches that an ignorant Jew can’t be a pious Jew. This motivated Prager, when he was invited to a yeshiva to give a talk as an adult to ask a basic question: “Raise your hand if you keep kosher” (eating habits and kitchen items). All the hands went up, not surprisingly. Then he said, “Pretend I’m not kosher. Tell me why I should keep kosher?” Perhaps one hand went up in the room with this reply: “We were taught that you don’t give reasons.” That was - and is - strict Orthodox education. But Prager believes that G-d doesn’t give Jews imperceptible laws, they can be explained. And one can’t teach Judaism to others if one can’t explain why practices are done. Mr. Prager wanted (and wants) to widen the understanding of Judaism in the world. He often invites Christians for Sabbath dinner. This is rare in the Jewish community because he admits that nonpracticing secular Jews, who know many Gentiles socially, don’t accept his invitation to Sabbath dinner. And most observant Jews don’t know any Gentiles to invite to their Sabbath table. One observation Dennis made is that the Gentiles love the ritual (of the prayers and blessings) in his home while nonobservant Jews shy away from it.

From all these thoughts and observations, Prager concluded he wanted to bring Jews to “Judaism with Reason” because people in the modern world want reasons (for what they do). Either Judaism has to say something to everyone of any faith, or it will not be considered even by Jews. One can’t say it only has wisdom to depart just to Jews. “It’s like saying vitamin C only works for Baptists,” Dennis quipped.

Having stated he was raised Orthodox, attends a Reform synagogue and speaks in front of religious groups both Jewish and non-Jewish, Prager felt he was giving (and living) a normative case for a non-denominational Judaism. “I came here to sell you Judaism. What form you do it in is between you and G-d,” Prager stated.

Another observation Mr. Prager made was that politically left-leaning Jewish synagogues were mostly involved with politics and politically right-leaning synagogues were mostly involved with ritual. Prager wants to emphasize doing good because he states that goodness is the number one point of the religion and that Jews should be preoccupied with doing good and fighting evil. “G-d doesn’t care if you’re Jewish. He cares if you’re good. G-d measures you by your goodness,” Prager emphasized.

To give a small but illustrative example, Prager noted a book he and boyhood friend Joseph Telushkin wrote which stated that, in Judaism, you are not allowed to ask in a store what something costs unless there is some chance in your mind you will buy that item. This is uniquely Jewish, because it considers the wasting of a salesperson’s time and falsely raising their hopes of making a sale is a theft of time. And it is considered a sin. Now Mr. Prager is the first to admit that many people go into a camera store, one of his favorite places, to ask details about which camera is best, then they walk out to buy it cheaper on the internet. And he noted many women where he lives in Los Angeles will “buy” a dress for a party on Saturday night, only to return it on Monday for a refund. In conclusion on these observations as they relate to Jews, Prager stated, “Judaism is supposed to make people better. If you are religious, don’t cheat (salespeople), but if you still cheat, quit being a religious Jew.”

Prager returned to the issue of fighting evil, stating that many years ago the Berkeley (CA) City Council declared Berkeley a “Hate Free Zone.” Mr. Prager stated he “couldn’t go along with that. Those of you who love G-d must hate evil.”

Then Mr. Prager discussed the Christian audience of his radio program. He lead in with this teaching, “Noah was saved because he was good - and he wasn’t Jewish.” (That’s news to me, too). Taking the theme further, Prager noted that Christian callers marvel at how pro-Christian he is. He believes there are other paths to G-d. “Judaism doesn’t celebrate Jews as a whole. It celebrates good Jews - and good Gentiles,” he added. “Judaism changed the world, gave the world Christianity and Islam (they don’t acknowledge this). Maimonides (the famed Twelfth Century rabbi and philosopher) stated that Christians brought the Torah to the world,” Prager stated.

Changing the topic, Prager stated that Judaism gave the world the notion of progress, moving forward. In contrast, Eastern and indigenous South American cultures are cyclical with cycles of good and bad.

Contradicting the secular view that we are all intelligent animals, Prager stated that “We are crated in G-d’s image and not in animals’ image. It wasn’t coincidental that Hugh Heffner chose a rabbit as his symbol.” Much of Jewish law relates to this separation from the animal. For example, Judaism forbids eating in the bathroom. “When I saw an elephant at the zoo (defecating), I knew the elephant didn’t go to a yeshiva,” Prager said. “Secular society wants to destroy the difference between people and animals.” An obvious example he could have then used was former NY Governor Spitzer, but Mr. Prager purposely avoided any partisan politically-related statements.

Continuing this theme, Prager talked of PETA claliming that there is a Holocaust on your plate. They make no moral distinction between Nazi murder, The Creation and chickens being barbecued. In fact, the only time Dennis Prager yelled at a radio guest was at a PETA spokesperson saying she considers a dog a member of her family and would grieve the death of that dog equally as she would the death of a child.

Mr. Prager went into a discussion of the Sabbath by first stating the word “holy” means separate in Hebrew, thus the holy day (holiday) of the Sabbath must be separate from the rest of the week. An event that changed his life occurred when he was twenty-one, traveling in a train to Helsinki. Living as a somewhat secular college student then, the days “started to run into one another” for him. Friday night was just like any other day - and he realized he missed the holiness of the Sabbath, where he can leave the world one day a week - and he considers that “awesome.” Prager feels sorry for people/kids that play video games frantically seven days a week. On Saturday, Mr. Prager doesn’t read newspapers, even though Judaism permits it. Reading newspapers to be informed on world and local events is part of his job as a radio host and he wants his mind turned away from his weekday job on the Sabbath. He has been asked to appear on the Larry King Show on Friday night more than once, and has refused that valuable media exposure. Prager didn’t consider it a conflict. It gives him “inner peace not available outside the practice.” And he stated that the G-dly punishment for missing the Sabbath - is missing the Sabbath. It gives him happiness, he stated. He urged people to “don’t’ go with the flow of society.” He also once turned down a very lucrative offer to be an afternoon radio talk show host in drive-time because half a year, he would be required to work when Friday afternoon turned into Sabbath time.

In the middle of this discussion, Prager did vaugely admit that he doesn’t now strictly observe all the Orthodox Sabbath practices. I have some of his audio CDs and videos, where he states he drives to a synagogue on the Sabbath, only listening to soothing music. He calls it “Sabbath in his car.” I personally recall spending some time in my late father’s Florida retirement community where elderly Jews, often with arthritis or broken hips that made walking difficult, either drove a car or rode an electric disability scooter to get to nearby synagogue services. While I’m in no position to speak for G-d (Amen), I don’t believe riding to get to worship services when you live far away from a synagogue in Los Angeles, like Mr. Prager, or when you can’t walk because of age or infirmary, are considered egregious sins. They are not the equivalent of selling heroin or being an ax murderer.

Getting back to Mr. Prager’s speech, he then stated he was born mature. Even as a child, he thought of what he wanted said on his gravestone when he died. Then comparing this thought with the Christian athlete in the movie “Chariots of Fire” who would not run on his Sunday Sabbath, Prager said it was a choice between the runner wanting to make a statement to the world with his life - or just being able to say he ran in the Olympics.

Skipping to the next idea, Mr. Prager said that it wasn’t a coincidence that psychology was invented by Jews because Judaism oversees your behavior and lets your mind “go free.” In Judaism the Yether Hara (in Hebrew, “excess bad” meaning one’s tendency to do bad or very selfish acts) is the equivalent of Freud’s Id. In fact, Prager quipped if you add a Y in front of Id, you get YID, a common term for Jew.

On a radio show (I believe his own), he was discussing lust with a priest, a rabbi, and a minister. No, as Prager himself said, this isn’t an old joke you heard in somewhere. The Catholic priest stated that it was a sin to lust. The Protestant minister stated that lusting in one’s heart (Prager quoted the famous remark of Jimmy Carter) was wrong. But the rabbi said, “Lust…smust.” In other words, Judaism is preoccupied with your behavior, not your thoughts. G-d holds you responsible for your deeds, Prager concluded.

Now Mr. Prager turned to one of his pet peeves, something he sees around him in Los Angeles and elsewhere, namely adult children who don’t talk to their parents. Unless one’s parents tortured or abused you as a child, it is a sin to not obey the Commandment Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother. To illustrate this, he mentioned a woman caller to his talk show who doesn’t talk to her parents. Prager queried if she were abused as a child. She replied no, but said her mother was a domineering person, so she doesn’t want to speak to her. He replied that it is required of her to deal with your uncomfortableness as a responsible adult and talk to her parents. Generalizing, Prager noted that the ratio of secular adults who don’t talk to their parents is greater than the ratio among religious people (no surprise there).

Continuing on the theme of secularism’s shallowness, Mr. Prager talked about one of the cruises he goes on with groups of his listeners and an interview he had with a Swedish woman at sea. Dennis asked her, at one point, “Do you believe in G-d? Are you religious?” She replied no to both questions. Prager further asked, “Where do you get your knowledge of rigth and wrong?” Her reply was, “From my heart.” In answer to this (at least in the lecture), Mr. Prager said he gets his sense of right and wrong from the Torah (the five Books of Moses).

Mr. Prager went on to talk about the rootlessness of Western society these days, saying that most kids are not given a sense of membership in a group. If Prager is asked if he is a Jew or an American, he answers, “Yesh li stei avim,” that “I have two fathers,” George Washington and Abraham from the Bible. Young people who are taught that they are “Citizens of the World” do not have an identity. “I am part of something bigger than myself. To be part of the Universe? It is mostly dark matter,” Prager responded. Explaining further, he stated, “You’ll know when you are a serious Jew when you consider what the Torah says on some matter, not just what you feel like that Swedish woman.”

In conclusion, Dennis Prager stated, “That is the case for Judaism. As a boy I learned to build a Sukkah (outdoor shack for the Feast of the Tabernacles). Now I need to build a rational argument for (the) faith.” Not willing to spare words of explanation (as you may have guessed by now), Prager went on to say that he will be debating at the American Atheists Convention in Minneapolis in a coming week. And that he respects the intellectual honesty of atheists, even though their worldview essentially considers humans as “self-conscious rocks.” I took this to mean that they don’t prevaricate, so he has a starting point with them, unlike a liberal who refuses to admit they are a liberal.

The remote internet broadcast allowed for questions to be emailed to Mr. Prager in New York. He answered a few of them at this time. The first one was: Why Are Jews drawn to the Left politically? He joked that he would have to be at the podium for weeks to fully answer that, but briefly, he stated the following: “Jews are the most religious people in the world. Their most favorite religions, other than Judaism, are all ‘isms’ except Nazism.” The more Jews believe in Judaism, the less likely they will become leftists, he stated. Mentioning George Soros, he called him an example of the problem of “the non-Jewish Jew.” They have no identity and want everyone else to have no identity as well. They want an international identity they think that nationalism equals chauvinism equals Nazism,” Prager concluded.

The question of Jewish opposition to gun ownership came up. Prager said he was stunned by this opposition. The opponents only have to look at the Warsaw Ghetto Revolt in World War II to see that lack of guns is is a bad idea for Jews. The greatest massacres were done by governments who controlled all guns. I would add that many a leftist Jew considers President Bush as someone similar to Hitler, but the leftist wants only the government, who he or she considers fascist, to have all the guns. Does this make sense? And even if a president were in office more to a leftist’s liking, are such gun fearing people willing to concede there would be no criminals or fascists roaming the country looking to rob or kill Jews (and others) - before their now-favored president showed up to protect them? These people are impossible to talk sense to because they have little or none of their own.

An email arrived asking Mr. Prager to explain the meaning of anti-semitism. In a nutshell, Prager replied that this came “from Mt. Sinai,” in that it is often a hatred of G-d based morality.

The next question was on how to answer the feminists complaints about the Orthodox Jewish prayer, written by rabbis, that men are required to say, stating “Thank G-d for not making me a woman.” Prager replied objectively as he could by saying that if you look at the suffering of women, in childbirth and through most of history, that it is an honest thing to thank G-d you don’t have to deal with all that. Until recent times, men used to outlive women considerably because women had a harder lot in life. The prayer, Prager noted, doesn’t thank G-d for making men superior to women - a significantly different viewpoint. Using the example of the Bible, Prager further noted that Rebecca who maneuvered to get the paternal blessing for Jacob instead of Essau. Her husband didn’t know what she was up to. And when G-d asked Adam why did he eat the apple, he gave the dumb answer that Eve said to do it. Mr. Prager said there is a reason Judaism doesn’t require women to obey all the formal religious laws and obligations that are required of men, such as praying three times a day. He implied this meant women knew better how to behave without having it spelled out for them in all those laws.

Finally, the last email question came in from San Francisco. Not surprisingly, it was on the requirement in Judaism for circumcision. Jokingly, Mr. Prager said he doesn’t miss his foreskin and he didn’t consider this the “mutilation” of boys. Many other cultures have male circumcision, he stated. What he opposes is so-called female circumcision which is essentially mutilation of females. Concerning pain for an male infant, Prager said the infants don’t feel it after five minutes.

After the applause at the end, the audience filed out to have Mr. Prager autograph some of his books. I saw his parents at the table, both tall like he. It was at this time, I got to tell Mr. Prager that one of his tapes had informed me years ago that his brother was a doctor and head of the Medical Ethics Department at Columbia University. After my own father had died, I located his brother’s email address and wrote him a note about the last month’s of my dad’s life. In that year, I had no status, even as a blogger, and no professional or family connections to mention in my email. Dr. Kenneth Prager sent me a very kind return email within two hours. That is a fitting line with which to end this account of an evening with the Prager family.

Jack Kemp