Jewish author Benyamin Cohen asks, ‘WWJD?’
Creative Loafing
10.25.08

by Debbie Michaud

When Atlanta native and former editor of American Jewish Life Benyamin Cohen felt his Jewish faith faltering, he did what any other lost soul in the Bible Belt would do - he went to church.

The son of an orthodox rabbi, Cohen spent a year going from Christian rock festival to megachurch service to Catholic confession on a quest for higher learning. He chronicles his experiences in the funny and insightful memoir My Jesus Year. Cohen appears at the Barnes & Noble in Buckhead this Sunday and again at the MJCCA’s 17th annual Book Festival in November.

I was particularly intrigued by the following quote of yours: “What are they [Christians] doing so right that we Jews are doing so wrong? Is their church experience simply more fun?” Would you describe your pre-book perceptions of Christians and modern Christianity and explain what you mean by “right” and “wrong” in the above statement?

Wow, that’s a tough question. I never looked at it like that. I certainly don’t see one religion as being right and another as being wrong. What I do think, though, is that there are a lot of aspects - in any religion - that has room for improvement. Judaism may be thousands of years old, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve on, say, how we reach out to newcomers. Churches do an amazing job of outreach and marketing themselves to new visitors. In the book, I tell a story of how I got preferential treatment (first-time visitor parking in the front next to the handicapped spots) at a megachurch in Lithonia. Once I walked inside, I was treated like a rock star. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same thing when a wandering Jew walks into a synagogue for the first time. That’s my long way of saying we’re doing something “wrong” and Christians are doing something “right”.

So, your mission was ” to understand why Christians are so excited about Christianity -- hoping to find the key to reinvigorating [your] own flagging enthusiasm for Judaism.” What made Christianity look so exciting to you and why do you think that religion should be fun and exciting? (Because I have to say - I was raised Catholic and that’s not so much fun.)

Ha ... I actually figured that out during my journey; Catholics have a lot in common with Jews - boring services, guilt, etc. The truth is, one of my favorite chapters in the book is the one where I went to Catholic confession. On the one hand, it felt so foreign. On the other, it felt so right.

To answer your question, I think anything that’s forbidden is, by definition, tempting on some level. Growing up the son of an Orthodox rabbi here in Atlanta, I was constantly told what I couldn’t do. I couldn’t eat unkosher food, I couldn’t have a girlfriend, I couldn’t watch cartoons on Saturday. These were all things my Christian counterparts could have. Christianity, and all the freedom it represented to someone like me, was my snake, my apple, and my Garden of Eden all wrapped into one.

As for why religion should be “fun and exciting”... I grew up with religion being forced down my throat, which is the furthest thing from being fun and exciting. And from personal experience, I can tell you that’s not the way to get people interested and engaged in their faith. When I have children of my own, I certainly don’t want to force Judaism on them; yet, at the same time, I want them to be religious. It’s that secret ingredient that I was searching for during this year.

You say you’re from a family of “rabbinic rock stars.” What do you mean by that?

My dad’s a rabbi, my three brothers are all rabbis, my older sister married a rabbi, and my younger sister works in Jewish education. I’m the only one who didn’t go into the family business. They’re rabbinic rock stars ... I’m more like the roadie.

There’s an underlying notion in the book that Christians have stronger ties to pop culture than Jews. How would you respond to the argument that not only are Jews a huge part of the entertainment industry, but that their work is often more culturally relevant?

Yes, Steven Spielberg and Jon Stewart and countless other members of the tribe play a major role in the entertainment industry. But my point is exactly that - despite the fact that Jews are so prevalent in Hollywood there is very little “Jewish” paraphernalia in pop culture. I wrote a whole chapter on the myriad Christian toys, board games, Jesus candy, etc. Have you ever seen a VeggieTales cartoon? We have nothing like that. All we have all are just chintzy knock-offs.

You seemed enamored initially with some of the more gimmicky aspects of Christianity, TV preachers and the like. How did you separate the “real” from the hack?

There’s a phrase in Hebrew called “Mi toch shelo lishmah, bah lishmah.” It basically translates to, “Go into something for the wrong reason, and eventually you will do it for the right reason.” I think the same can be said about my journey into Christendom. Their slick TV preachers or a whole host of other peripheral aspects may have been what initially tempted me, but what eventually kept me on the pilgrimage and taught me life lessons was the actual practice of Christianity. Not to mention the Christians I met along the way, most of them fine exemplars of Jesus’ teachings.

Did you achieve all that you’d hoped with this experiment?

I did, and more. I had initially hoped to just cross Christianity off my “bucket list” and hoped it would make me a better Jew. Which it did. But I learned so much more. I learned that no religion holds the copyright on God. There are many pathways to God and we all connect with the Divine in our unique way. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And Amen to that.

Link to the original article: http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/freshloaf/2008/10/25/jewish-author-benyamin-cohen-asks-wwjd/