tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post113046679467412893..comments2024-01-07T05:17:58.943-05:00Comments on Orthoprax: Flexibility With a Firm UnderstandingOrthopraxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11649055168953784384noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130702969602789992005-10-30T15:09:00.000-05:002005-10-30T15:09:00.000-05:00Alex,You're right, on this blog I mention little o...Alex,<BR/><BR/>You're right, on this blog I mention little of what I do like about Judaism and the Jewish people. I do that more in my posts to the Frum Skeptics Group.<BR/><BR/>But the things I connect to is the strong sense of peoplehood that exists among Jews. I love Jewish history and I can identify with Jewish protagonists. I like the sense I get through the year as we go through the holiday festivals and we go back and recall what happened to us in our past. Judaism is very history-conscious.<BR/><BR/>I am also proud of the strong Jewish thread in the commitment to ethics and morality and civic responsibility. I am proud of the sense of scholarship and learning and reading that underlines so many Jewish heroes and helps to define what Judaism is. I like the sense of a strong family. I love the Shabbos.<BR/><BR/>Of course I have issues with much of modern Orthodoxy, but I wouldn't bother talking about it if I didn't care.Orthopraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649055168953784384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130677118385930542005-10-30T07:58:00.000-05:002005-10-30T07:58:00.000-05:00Ortho,Excellent post.Ortho,<BR/><BR/>Excellent post.Shlomo Leib Aronovitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10407211641091145197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130660196656359062005-10-30T04:16:00.000-05:002005-10-30T04:16:00.000-05:00"every Jewish thing I do reaches and connects me b..."every Jewish thing I do reaches and connects me back to my People's deepest past "<BR/><BR/>I've searched your site pretty thoroughly and have found very precious little that you are proud to connect TO. Elisha ben Avuyah, maybe.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130640074946597952005-10-29T22:41:00.000-04:002005-10-29T22:41:00.000-04:00Prince,"Just go Reform - they beat you to the punc...Prince,<BR/><BR/>"Just go Reform - they beat you to the punch."<BR/><BR/>How do you figure? They've left most of tradition. Reconstructionist would be much closer.<BR/><BR/>"What people, your a homosapien. Who says your a Jew, what does that even mean?"<BR/><BR/>I have a cultural (and to some degree a biological) connection to a people that recognize themselves as a distinct entity with a distinct history and culture. I _could_ remove myself from this cultural heritage, but I don't want to. I have received it and I desire to pass it on.<BR/><BR/>"Jewish" is as much a part of my identity as is my family name.Orthopraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649055168953784384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130639586883038922005-10-29T22:33:00.000-04:002005-10-29T22:33:00.000-04:00Ben,"Are we orthoprax because we have developed a ...Ben,<BR/><BR/>"Are we orthoprax because we have developed a love and respect for our ancestral customs, or because deep down, religious inference systems in the subconscious, are still successfully pulling the strings…" <BR/><BR/>Yeah, like Sarah, I'd say really it's both. But the fact remains that if I had no love for the customs then the subconscious feelings of "mustness" would have no standing. And there are still a number of halachic obligations that I recognize as what I should be doing according to the "rules," but which hold little or contrary meaning to me and so I don't do them.Orthopraxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11649055168953784384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130520956717701972005-10-28T13:35:00.000-04:002005-10-28T13:35:00.000-04:00I think it's probably a combination of both. For e...I think it's probably a combination of both. For example, I can't sing in front of guys by myself. Not because I think it's wrong, but because I grew up hearing that it was wrong, and it stuck. The action just makes me uncomfortable even though rationally there's no reason for me not to. <BR/><BR/>However, there are other things that are the opposite: every morning when I wake up and think "wouldn't it be nice to just stay in bed instead of going to minyan" I go anyway - knowing that halachically there's not even a real point to it - only out of respect for the connection it creates among Jews.<BR/><BR/>In the end I think we have to realize that no person is going to be 100% logical and consistent ... it's just not possible.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18303570091171816093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10333247.post-1130506800479563202005-10-28T09:40:00.000-04:002005-10-28T09:40:00.000-04:00I often wonder about this, and weather or not I ca...I often wonder about this, and weather or not I can sustain my orthopraxy in the post-atheistic realizations state. I wonder if the drive that makes me want to celebrate the laws and customs is not just a concession to my earlier religious feelings that still insist, despite all logic and rational, that to do anything else is wrong.<BR/><BR/>Are we orthoprax because we have developed a love and respect for our ancestral customs, or because deep down, religious inference systems in the subconscious, are still successfully pulling the strings…Ben Avuyahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08814145983874592449noreply@blogger.com