Posted on 08/14/2003 5:50:38 AM PDT by RJCogburn
With 12 million Americans tuning in daily, controversial syndicated radio-show host Laura Schlessinger — known to all as "Dr. Laura" — is arguably the best-known Orthodox Jew in the United States.
Rather, she was.
In a shocking if little-noticed revelation, Schlessinger — who very publicly converted to Judaism five years ago — opened "The Dr. Laura Schlessinger Program" on August 5 with the confession that she will no longer practice Judaism. Although Schlessinger said she still "considers" herself Jewish, "My identifying with this entity and my fulfilling the rituals, etc., of the entity — that has ended."
And with that, Orthodox Judaism lost its loudest mouthpiece and its most prominent "rabbi," as it were, with the largest American pulpit — with the exception of, perhaps, presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman.
Syndicated nationally since 1994, Schlessinger has won over listeners with her hard-edged advice and razor-sharp tongue. Yet her brash style, not to mention her espousal of a strict "moral health" code — including controversial condemnations of homosexuality as "a biological error" — put her at odds with wide swaths of the Jewish community. Many found her moralist, black-and-white, you're-with-me-or- against-me stance to be more representative of Evangelical Christians than of Jews, who were often among her most outspoken critics.
Nonetheless, even Schlessinger's detractors were shocked by the news. "I can't tell you how significant this is," said fellow Jewish media star and "Kosher Sex" author Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, who has sparred with Schlessinger over her comments on homosexuality. "Dr. Laura always equated her morals and ethics with Jewish morals and ethics. That placed the American Jewish community in a real fix; on the one hand, she made Judaism very popular, on the other, she made it vilified and hated by many people."
"I think Judaism is better off not being saddled and directly associated with Dr. Laura's means," he said, adding, "although she is still a Jew."
Schlessinger's office said she was unavailable for comment.
Schlessinger began her August 5 program by noting that, prior to each broadcast, she spends an hour reading faxes from fans and listeners. "By and large the faxes from Christians have been very loving, very supportive," she said. "From my own religion, I have either gotten nothing, which is 99% of it, or two of the nastiest letters I have gotten in a long time. I guess that's my point — I don't get much back. Not much warmth coming back."
Schlessinger even hinted at a possible turn to Christianity — a move that, radio insiders say, would elevate her career far beyond the 300 stations that currently syndicate her show. "I have envied all my Christian friends who really, universally, deeply feel loved by God," she said. "They use the name Jesus when they refer to God... that was a mystery, being connected to God."
In her 25 years on radio, Schlessinger said she was moved "time and time again" by listeners who wrote and described that they had "joined a church, felt loved by God and that was my anchor."
Michael Medved, a conservative, nationally syndicated, radio talk-show host, celebrated the Sabbath with Schlessinger about a year ago. "We had talked about having Shabbat again," he said. When he heard of Schlessinger's defection, "My first response was to pick up the phone and try and expedite [the visit]."
"I think it's a shame," he said. "Though, of course, she was controversial in some eyes, she is one of the most admired women in America. Having the most admired woman in America speak joyously about Passover, Shabbat and Jewish lifestyle events — all of that was quite wonderful."
Of her conversion to Judaism, Schlessinger said, "I felt that I was putting out a tremendous amount toward that mission, that end, and not feeling return, not feeling connected, not feeling that inspired. Trust me, I've talked to rabbis, I've read, I've prayed, I've agonized and I came to this place anyway — which is not exactly back to the beginning, but more in that direction than not."
"Was Laura naive to think, 'gosh, I'll be the queen of the Jews'? Yes, she was naive," said Medved. "Part of that comes from not growing up in the Jewish community. It's so rare to find a celebrity embrace of Jewish religiosity of any kind, I can see why Laura would think her very public embrace would have led to a more enthusiastic reaction. But given all the crosscurrents and controversies that divide our community, I can see why that expectation was wrong."
In 2001, despite the controversy surrounding her, the National Council of Young Israel honored Schlessinger for her "traditional American values." Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the executive director of Young Israel, was surprised by Schlessinger's defection but declined to comment on it.
Born to a Jewish father and an Italian Catholic mother, Schlessinger was raised in Brooklyn in a home that was without religion. Approximately 10 years ago, prompted by a question from her son during a viewing of a Holocaust documentary, Schlessinger, 56, began exploring her Jewish roots.
Yet last week's revelation was far from the first time Schlessinger has been wracked with religious doubts. Lacking a religious background, she has spent a lifetime searching for that missing something, and "each thing I tried left me feeling empty," she told Philadelphia's Inside magazine in 1998. Having already undergone a Conservative conversion in 1997, after a debacle with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas — a now-legendary affair in which she allegedly rejected three hotel suites, wouldn't ride in taxis and offended the entire audience at a $500 plate fundraiser — Schlessinger was tempted to give up on Judaism completely, but decided to undergo an Orthodox conversion instead.
"A large part of me wanted to make a statement after that experience, to stand even taller about Jewish values," she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2001. "Besides, if you don't have an Orthodox conversion, you can't get buried in Israel. I want to be close to ground zero."
Rabbi Reuven Bulka, a fellow radio host who presided over Schlessinger's Orthodox conversion, said he was "stunned" by his friend's 180-degree turn. "It didn't make my day, shall we say."
"She obviously has a tremendous impact," said the congregational rabbi from Ottawa, Ont. "When she went through the evolutionary stage of her journey, a lot of people were inspired by her own excitement about it. I can't tell you I know 100 people who became Sabbath observant because of it, but certainly it was a feel-good message for a lot of people. That these feel-good messages won't be coming anymore is certainly a loss."
Other Jews within earshot are far from sad to see her go. "I don't think this is any great loss to the Jewish universe," said Susan Weidman Schneider, the executive editor of Lilith magazine. "I don't think she was a particularly effective or useful spokesperson. She doubtless alienated more people than she drew toward Judaism."
"So, let her say she's no longer a practicing Jew," she added. "Let her be just a garden variety, anti-choice conservative."
"I still see myself as a Jew," Schlessinger said on the air last week. "But the spiritual journey and that direction, as hardcore as I was at it, just didn't fulfill something in me that I needed."
"All I know is, in my experiences with her — which have been considerable — I haven't known her to do anything less than 100%," Bulka said. "Anything she did, she did fully. The scary thing is if she said she's leaving, it's very forboding."
"I thought she was a tough little lady — I didn't think she'd chicken out so easily," said Rabbi Isaac Levy, the chairman of Jews for Morality, who has staunchly supported Schlessinger's conservative agenda. "She's gotten a couple of kicks in the chin and she's succumbed to it."
"It seems incredible that an ethicist and moralist of her standing would invoke such shallow arguments," said Boteach, who was en route to an appearance on the titillating syndicated television show "Blind Date." "I never got great applause for my work from the Jewish community — but my people are my people, whether they love or hate me."
Paul, who was not merely a Jew but a Pharisee, argued that it was *not* necessary to convert to Judaism first, and eventually he won, thus giving rise to evangelism as we know it today.
But there are many who believe that, just as conservative is a liberal who's been mugged and a Republican is a Democrat who's grown up, a Christian is a Jew who has seen the light and accepted Christ.
A. Because they can't tell the difference between a bishop and a queen.
Which really baffles the dickens out of me. One would think she would be deluged with letters from religious Jews begging "please come back to the faith, we miss you." Instead she gets catcalls... reaping what she sowed?
This hasn't gone away; it has simply morphed into new rights and wrongs.
First, she did not say that she has completely abandoned Judaism, orthodox or otherwise, so we Christians need not get too excited. She has merely said that she's experiencing a type of spiritual malaise, a disappointment. People who believe deeply sometimes go through these valleys, or emotional troughs. There are times when even the greatest saints have felt that God is letting them walk alone. Dr. Laura, it seems, doesn't have enough time in the faith to know that this happens, that faith is not an emotion but a choice. Faith, by its very definition, means you have to keep slogging and a richer but more quiet feeling will eventually return.
Second, Dr. Laura had a difficult childhood in which she was essentially emotionally abandoned by her mother, and she has responded to this by searching throughout her adult life. When she was very young this took the form of searching for a sense of fulfillment in academic pursuits--thus, the PhD in physiology from Columbia. Later she turned to psychology and counselling to find essential truths. She has been on a path of increasing morality and truth-seeking for years, and those who have listened to her for a long time can confirm that while she used to be a typical "non-judgemental" therapist, she has become increasingly conservative. Turning to Judaism was a natural next step. Then she turned to orthodoxy.
A faith in Christ is the next natural step in her maturation, as Christ is the fulfillment of Judaism. It's the prayer of millions that Dr. Laura will turn to Jesus for the fulfillment that nothing else in the universe can offer.
Turning to Christ would be a spiritual benefit to her, of course, but considering her public relations abilities I'm not sure it would be an asset to evangelism! She's a pretty well-hated person.
In a way, that might be partially true. She does report that almost all of the correspondence she's gotten from Jews has been negative and almost all from Christians has been warm and encouraging. When you're confronted by these differences, you've got to say to yourself, "What's going on here? What's with Judaism that it confronts a newcomer with such hatred merely because she urges people to adhere to traditional Jewish moral values? Why are Christians more loving? Is it possible the Christians have something the Jews don't?" If her past behavior is any prediction of the future, right now she's studying her head off trying to learn about Christianity.
Keep in mind that only 7-10% of American Jews are Orthodox. The rest are split between Reform and Conservative, with Reform having a slight edge (plus a few Reconstructionist thrown in). There are many secular and nonorthodox Jews who would have a problem with Dr. Laura's message. Liberal Christians would probably react the same way.
If her beliefs are so poorly grounded that she changes religions every five years, she is hardly qualified to lecture other people about moral questions.
James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt[1] water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.
My own personal take on it is that Judiaism is different from most other religions in that so many people who consider themselves Jews are referring to ethnicity and culture, to "being a member of the tribe" as a friend of mine puts it.
So was she welcomed? Well, not in the way a Baptist might be welcomed into a congregation. It's more of a welcome to the family, glad to have you, and one doesn't stand on ceremony when you disagree with family.
That sounds way more interesting than anything else on this thread -- tell us about it. :)
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