Lessing, Spirituality and Sensuality, and the Jews

Gotthold Lessing, an 18^th century German philosopher, wrote about distinction between “the Sensual Jew” and “the spiritual Christian.”

Mr. Lessing, I am your worst nightmare. I am a Jew who is both sensual and spiritual. And I see it quite possible not only to be both, but by being both to get the most out of life.

A Soviet appartchik described Anna Akhmatova, a great Russian poetess, as “part-nun, part-harlot.” What it truly meant is that she was spiritual and erotic at the same time. Her poetry paid homage to both romance and spirituality; and that, I see as the best combination possible.

Really, there is no reason for there to be any contradiction at all between spirituality and sensuality. Sensuality can in itself be a path into higher states of mind. As for spirituality, true wisdom – and true knowledge – build respect, even awe, for nature in its richness and complexity; and a true practicioner of spirituality is respectful toward such things.

In fact, among the Jewish people I know I've found very profound spirituality, and it does not teach them to beat their wives or to kill infidel or to put innocent people in concentration camps. If you go to a synagogue, you will most likely hear sermons with a lot of wisdom and insight. Probably the wisest things I've ever heard, I heard in a reform Jewish temple. It is outrageous that Jews be portrayed as less spiritual than Jew-haters; and doing so profanes spirituality.

Really, who is more spiritual: A Jewish rabbi who has put huge hours into studying the Torah and the Talmud and in helping people in his congregation solve their relationship and family problems, or the neo-Nazi who knows nothing but hatred and brutality? Who is more spiritual: a Jewish scientist or doctor who is preoccupied with building useful knowledge and implementation, or the idiots who picket the funerals of their own country's soldiers for defending “f*ggot America”? I have known magnificent people who were Jewish, but very few who were Jew-haters. In cases of most Jew-haters, they are simply jerks; and they are attracted to an ideology that gives them the right to be jerks.

Mr. Lessing is completely wrong about both the Jews and the Christians. Not all Christians are spiritual, and many Jews are spiritual. Whereas Christianity can be taken into any number of directions, and it has been taken into any number of directions through history. The worst of these have been conquest against the rest of the world, abuse against women, and hatred of Jews. I also however know that Christianity is not limited to these errant directions, and I've known Christians who were operating from the position of genuine good faith and good will; and they have had harsh things to say about those in Christianity who militate against Jews.

A friend of mine at a local church told me that Jews and Christians have a lot in common and that they should be able to work together. A creed of tolerance and forgiveness demands nothing less. As for spirituality and sensuality, the two can very well work together; and in doing so they both advance wisdom and give people a richer experience of life.