The ``New Age'' Trap

In a Zen parable a man searches for a lost object. He is crawling on his hands and knees when a friend approaches him. ``What are you doing?'' The friend asks. ``I am looking for something that I lost,'' he replies. ``Where did you lose it?'' the friend asks. ``Over there,'' the man says, pointing to a nearby place. ``Then why are you looking over here?'' ``Because the light is better here,'' the man replies. Many Reform Jews are searching for God in a place where the light is rumored to be better --- at the intersection of beliefs, philosophies, and techniques called ``New Age'' religion.

If you visit a Barnes and Nobel superstore, you will see what much of American religion has become. There are three bookcases for Judaism; three bookcases for general religion and Christianity; three for general inspiration; two each for Bible, eastern philosophy, and myth; and nine bookcases for New Age. The New Age menu is diverse, including spiritualism, astrology, and psychic phenomena; alchemy, tarot, goddess worship, and Wicca (witchcraft); out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and reincarnation; angels, Satanism, and the occult; the channeling of spiritual energy and faith healing; yoga and transcendental meditation; holistic health; unorthodox psychotherapeutic techniques; and healing crystals. New Age follows the time-hallowed American proclivity for creating new religions. It has been called ``microwave'' religion --- instant karma.

Not all New Age religion is incompatible with Judaism. Jewish mysticism is clearly the major point of contact. Long before books about angels became a mega-industry, Judaism taught (or rather sang) about angels. Shabbat opens with a song of welcome to the malachei ha-shareyt, the ministering angels. Long before the current healing fad, Judaism recognized the healing power of prayer combined with traditional medicine. Long before New Age speculation, Judaism acknowledged the immortality of the soul, and the Talmud records near-death experiences. Long before New Age, Judaism developed rich traditions of mysticism and mediation. Even astrology is not foreign to the Jewish experience. The Talmud and Midrash discuss the Jewish implications of the Zodiac; in Israel tourist can visit a glorious mosaic of the Zodiac on the floor of the ancient Bet Alpha synagogue.