In the United States, it's common to hear frequent and impassioned references to the concept of 'Judeo-Christian' culture, ethics, or values. Any cursory review of American media will demonstrate that the concept is used on both sides of the proverbial aisle - this nebulous Judeo-Christian ideal is evoked in defense of both liberal and conservative political agendas on a routine basis. Rarely does this conflation of Judaism and Christianity seem to be questioned. More often than not it is held up as representing the belief system of America's founders (who, in fact, were quite idiosyncratic in their religious doctrines). Despite its omnipresence in political discourse, I believe that the concept of Judeo-Christian tradition is bizarre, imprecise, and most importantly - dangerous.

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To begin with the bizarre: although the term first appears in the mid 19th century, it only gained its current implication - that of a shared value system and morals - in the 1940s. President Eisenhower made the concept a household term when he connected it with the Founding Fathers in a 1952 speech:

"all men are endowed by their Creator." In other words, our form of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don't care what it is. With us of course it is the Judeo-Christian concept, but it must be a religion with all men created equal."  

To the astute reader of history, President Eisenhower's statement seems incredibly bizarre in light of the balance of Jewish-Christian relationships. There is practically no precedent whatsoever for understanding Judaism and Christianity as sharing a common core of beliefs, practices, or morals. Moreover, there's a good argument to be made that the entire foundation of Western civilization (which is more or less co-terminous with Christendom) is based on opposition to Judaism and it's values (for instance, the work of David Nirenberg). The overwhelming history of Christian religious violence against Jews, from antiquity to today, including such highlights as blood libels, the Crusades, pogroms, expulsions, and book-burnings, all testify to the deeply ingrained rejection and revulsion of Jews by Christians. Even such prominent Church Fathers as John Chrysostom and Tertullian defined Christianity in opposition to Judaism. Chrysostom's infamous Adversus Judaeos contains the following gem: 

"The Jewish people were driven by their drunkenness and plumpness to the ultimate evil; they kicked about, they failed to accept the yoke of Christ, nor did they pull the plow of his teaching. Another prophet hinted at this when he said: “Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer.” … Although such beasts are unfit for work, they are fit for killing. And this is what happened to the Jews: while they were making themselves unfit for work, they grew fit for slaughter. This is why Christ said: “But as for these my enemies, who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and slay them.” [Luke 19:27]"

Reading the tirades of Adversus Judaeos, it's hard to imagine how anyone might imagine that there is a preexisting conception of a shared Jewish/Christian view of the world. In addition to the bizarre nature of such a claim, it is also shockingly imprecise. The Judeo-Christian value system that American political commentators love to reference has no precedent in history (in fact, quite the opposite), but it also has no basis in the theological and ethical systems of the two faiths. Advocates of the use of 'Judeo-Christian' as an acceptable adjective fail to acknowledge that the very core of their argument - that Judaism and Christianity share essential values - is simply untrue.

It's impossible to adequately compare two extremely developed theological systems - not even in a multi-volume work, much less in a blog post. For the sake of brevity, simply consider some basic principles of each faith. Law, salvation, afterlife, sin, hierarchy, ritual, monotheism - even belief, faith, and practice - nearly every component of an authentic Christian practice and an authentic Jewish one differ in an elementary way. If we wish to be precise (which we should), it simply doesn't make sense to consider Judaism and Christianity as sharing the same outlook on God or the world.

Most importantly, the concept of a Judeo-Christian value system is dangerous. Lest one think the days of supersessionist theology have passed, the contemporary fascination with conflating Judaism and Christianity can be read as simply a continuation of earlier supersessionist attempts. Stephen Feldman puts it well when he writes:

"For Christians, the concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition comfortably suggests that Judaism progresses into Christianity—that Judaism is somehow completed in Christianity. The concept of a Judeo-Christian tradition flows from the Christian theology of supersession, whereby the Christian covenant (or Testament) with God supersedes the Jewish one. Christianity, according to this myth, reforms and replaces Judaism. The myth therefore implies, first, that Judaism needs reformation and replacement, and second, that modern Judaism remains merely as a "relic". Most importantly the myth of the Judeo-Christian tradition insidiously obscures the real and significant differences between Judaism and Christianity."

Conflating Judaism and Christianity in the way that we see today in America is simply the latest polemic meant to eliminate Judaism and define the Western world as that which has conquered Judaism.

Even if we were of the opinion that it was productive and wise to talk about a shared inter-religious culture, it would definitely not be Christianity and Judaism. Were such a thing to be a useful concept, the only potentially accurate incarnation of it would be a Jewish-Muslim culture. Islam and Judaism actually do share basic concepts about law, behavior, faith, the nature of God, the obligations of people, the running of a society, etc. There's some notable exceptions to their surprisingly similar traditions, but all in all, their morals, ethics, and values are considerably more similar than different. And they're certainly both more similar to one another than either is to Christianity. Even Slavoj Zizek in A Glance into the Archives of Islam writes:

"We usually speak of the Jewish-Christian civilization – perhaps, the time has come, especially with regard to the Middle East conflict, to talk about the Jewish-Muslim civilization as an axis opposed to Christianity."

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Ultimately, no attempt to treat two disparate cultures as one is productive or useful - but were we to do so, there's very little reason (aside from supersessionism and anti-Judaism) to try and conflate Christianity and Judaism. When we talk about a Judeo-Christian civilization, we demean and endanger both Judaism and Christianity, and we do neither of them any favors by continuing to reference such an idea.

One of my favorite parts of the Passover seder is the singing that takes place after we finish eating. There are so many great, fun songs, from “Ehad Mi Yodeah” to “Chad Gadya.” Perhaps my favorite song is “Dayenu.” The words are fairly easy to sing in Hebrew, and the chorus is so catchy that even those who don’t know Hebrew can easily join in. But beyond its functionality, the content of Dayenu (literally “it would have been enough”) also carries a deep amount of wisdom.

Dayenu consists of 15 stanzas referencing different historical contexts the Israelites experienced, from slavery in Egypt to the building of the Temple in Israel. After each stanza, we sing the chorus, signifying that if this was the total of God’s miraculous intervention into the lives of the Israelites, it would have been sufficient.

One of the primary purposes of the Passover seder is to make us feel as if we personally experienced the exodus from Egypt and the redemption from slavery to freedom. This is no less true for the way we understand the Dayenu song. Dayenu provides a powerful contemporary hashkafah (outlook on life), a call to mindfulness about the way we currently lead our lives. We live in an era when capitalism is our state (and increasingly global) religion. Consumption is unfettered by any internal sense of restraint, from the amount of soda we can drink to how much money Wall Street executives can make. We live in a world where it is okay that the richest 85 people in the world have total wealth equal to that of the poorest 3.5 billion people on the planet!

Dayenu reminds us that there is another way. Judaism offers an outlook on wealth, consumption, and sufficiency (sova) that is very counter-cultural. In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) 4:1, Ben Zoma teaches: “Who is rich? The one who is content with what one has.” Even more austere, the Talmud instructs: “An individual who can eat barley bread but eats wheat bread is guilty of transgressing the law of bal tashchit (unlawful waste). Rabbi Papa states: one who can drink beer but drinks wine instead is guilty of transgressing the law of bal tashchit.” (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 140b). Judaism is not, to be sure, an ascetic religion. We are encouraged to carve out occasions for excess, for enjoying the finer parts of living—on Shabbat, holidays, and other joyous occasions. But the wisdom of Judaism is that, if we want to experience delight on these special occasions, we also need moments of restraint. It is the juxtaposition of restraint and largess that creates a life of meaning.

Beyond the individual experience, we also are becoming increasingly aware of the global consequences of championing unbridled materialism over a sense of sufficiency. From income inequality to climate change, our refusal to entertain limits on what we do and how much we consume are wreaking destructive consequences. By returning to a sense of Dayenu, of thinking deeply about what is enough, we have the potential to change ourselves and our world. May we be blessed, on this Passover and beyond, to replace the idolatry of consumption with an embrace of all that we have.

And if you have thoughts about the meaning of “dayenu” in your life today, of what it means to say we have “enough,” please add your voice to a Facebook and Twitter (@Dayenu5774) campaign we are running from now until the end of Passover. I’d love to hear what you have to say.