How We Define Religion
“If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion. As society progresses, the forms of religion change, but its essential functions remain.”
These words were written by Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) a French-Jewish Sociologist in his book The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912.)
Durkheim, some would say, is considered one of the “fathers” of the fields of Sociology and an important pioneer in its academic pursuit.
Durkheim was the son and grandson of Orthodox rabbis; however, when he turned eighteen he abandoned religion completely and became a full secular Jew. This sharp turn from his upbringing helps explain his approach to religion as it is laid out in his book.
In the heart of Durkheim’s book lies the claim that religion, all religions, are in their core a social phenomenon, rather than them being a form of communication with an actual divinity or deity.
Durkheim researched what he would call the most basic forms of religion, by observing Aboriginal tribes in Australia. His conclusion was that with the development of societies (scientific, technological etc) religions too, become more complex, but in their core, they are a social construct which was meant to hold society together.
The social cohesion, according to him, is created by separating the sacred from the profane and creating rituals around what is sacred.
In his words:
"A society whose members are united by the fact that they think in the same way in regard to the sacred world and its relations with the profane world, and by the fact that they translate these common ideas into common practices, is what is called a Church."
It is interesting to examine Durkheim’s ideas in the light of our Torah portion Naso.
The last chapter in our portion tells all about the dedication of the tabernacle and specifies its rituals.
Twelve chieftains, one leader from each tribe, received a detailed list of what their offering should be. It consists of some silver bowls filled with flower and oil, golden ladle for the incense and different animals for the different types of sacrifices.
Here is an example:
בַּיּוֹם֙ הַשִּׁשִּׁ֔י נָשִׂ֖יא לִבְנֵ֣י גָ֑ד אֶלְיָסָ֖ף בֶּן־דְּעוּאֵֽל׃
On the sixth day, it was the chieftain of the Gadites, Eliasaph son of Deuel.
קׇרְבָּנ֞וֹ קַֽעֲרַת־כֶּ֣סֶף אַחַ֗ת שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים וּמֵאָה֮ מִשְׁקָלָהּ֒ מִזְרָ֤ק אֶחָד֙ כֶּ֔סֶף שִׁבְעִ֥ים שֶׁ֖קֶל בְּשֶׁ֣קֶל הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ שְׁנֵיהֶ֣ם ׀ מְלֵאִ֗ים סֹ֛לֶת בְּלוּלָ֥ה בַשֶּׁ֖מֶן לְמִנְחָֽה׃
His offering: one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering;”
Midrash Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) goes deeper to explain the reasoning and the symbolism behind each offering:
“One silver [kesef] basin [mizrak],” this is Moses, who was cast into the Nile. Alternatively, that he was banished [nizrak] from Egypt, as it is stated: “Moses fled…” (Exodus 2:15). “Seventy shekel, in the sacred shekel,” these are the seventy elders whom Moses appointed, all of them prophets…”
Here in this Midrash we can see that the silver bowl which was used for the flour and oil, was named Mizrak, coming from the root Z. R. K. (ז.ר.ק) - To throw - because of Moses who was thrown into the Nile, or alternatively thrown out of Egypt after murdering the Egyptian guard.
The second silver bowl weighed seventy shekels because of the seventy elders that Moses was asked by God to gather.
This Midrash perfectly illustrates Durkheim's idea, that the religious rituals correspond with societal symbolism.
In fact, Durkheim suggests that what we worship when we engage in religious practices is our society itself.
The objects which we put aside as sacred are representations of our history, ethics and laws, and the rituals around them, are sacred only because of the way in which we hold them sacred.
As opposed to Marx, who viewed religion as a part of a superstructure which was meant to support material conditions, Durkheim views religion through a functionalist lense and suggests that religion has a crucial role in holding together society itself.
His view is of course very different for that of Rudolf Otto, who we talked about several weeks ago, who focused the religious experience on our individual emotional response to the divine.
For Durkheim, the religious experience is not individual but rather collective by definition. It forms societies and is dependent on them.
Durkheim’s secular analysis of religion, broadens its definition to include secular institutions, like the State of the Courts.
Designating objects such as flags as sacred, forming rituals around them such as The Pledge of Allegiance for example, are by definition forms of religion. Under this lens, nationalism, communism and even capitalism can be viewed as forms of religion.
In this light I’d like to encourage each and every one of us to think about what our lives are to separate as sacred and profane, what rituals do we form around what we hold sacred? Maybe we will discover that we are more religious than we think.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ye'ela Rosenfeld
