A Thought From Rabbi Rachel Adler

[RabbiO]

Rabbi Rachel Adler wrote a D'var Torah that largely echoes a position I hold. I have taken the below sections out of their specific context, which dealt with kashrut, and I confess to altering a tense or two, but I do not believe I have violated the integrity of what she wrote by making it a more general proposition. (I can already predict my friend Avi's response.)

"How [are] we to avoid being swamped by the majority culture? How [are] we to maintain our own integrity as a specific community called Israel? Most important of all, how [are] we to live as a holy community, in the kind of purity our God asked of us? The answer, in part, is in boundaries that we set for individual bodies and the communal body....

Jews still need boundaries to maintain our distinctness as a culture and religion, so that we can preserve continuity with the "Judaisms" of the past and pass on a Judaism with integrity to our inheritors."

 

[Akivah]

I agree. Assimilation is the biggest threat. We don't live in Jewish communities, we don't associate mostly with Jews, we don't keep strict kosher, so our generation is meeting, fraternizing, and marrying non-Jews. The children of those inter-marriages have less interest in Judaism than their parent. And so it goes. I'm uncertain of the generational continuity of the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism.

 

[Levite]

Rabbi Rachel Adler wrote a D'var Torah that largely echoes a position I hold. I have taken the below sections out of their specific context, which dealt with kashrut, and I confess to altering a tense or two, but I do not believe I have violated the integrity of what she wrote by making it a more general proposition. (I can already predict my friend Avi's response.)

"How [are] we to avoid being swamped by the majority culture? How [are] we to maintain our own integrity as a specific community called Israel? Most important of all, how [are] we to live as a holy community, in the kind of purity our God asked of us? The answer, in part, is in boundaries that we set for individual bodies and the communal body....

Jews still need boundaries to maintain our distinctness as a culture and religion, so that we can preserve continuity with the "Judaisms" of the past and pass on a Judaism with integrity to our inheritors."

Wise words from a great scholar.

 

[metis]

As Jews, we have since our beginnings we've tended to question a great many things-- after all, which other group answers a question with a question? Should this stop? I don't think so, but there's no doubt that our differentiation is causing and is going to continue to cause some difficulties for us. So, do we stop questioning?

Traditionally, we thought God created all in six busy days, Noah somehow managed to herd two of each kind of animal (seven of the clean), Moses wrote all of Torah except for maybe the ending of Dt., etc. Today, I would suggest the most Jews probably don't agree with this, at least in its entirety. Should we have avoided asking these questions that challenged our conventional wisdom?

To me, we can't do that. We have to question. And questioning whether we should be more or less insular is "kosher", imo, and we're going to have some differences of opinion between us on this.

As you know, I converted to Judaism about 20 years ago. Today, my wife, who hasn't converted and probably won't, which is quite OK with me, loves our synagogue to the point whereas if I were to leave it, another Jew would be crucified. About 10 years ago, our oldest daughter and her two grandkids of ours converted to Judaism as well. Our oldest granddaughter teaches Hebrew to kids preparing for their bnai mitzvah and was in Israel last summer and loved it. Both her and our youngest granddaughter do volunteer work at the Friendship Circle, working with special-needs children.

My point is not to brag, but to point out that they have added a lot already to our Jewish family, and I often see other people converting and coming into our family with great enthusiasm and a willingness to commit themselves.

Is this bad news for Jews and Judaism? Personally, I don't think so.

Shabbat shalom

 

[Bunyip]

Rabbi Rachel Adler wrote a D'var Torah that largely echoes a position I hold. I have taken the below sections out of their specific context, which dealt with kashrut, and I confess to altering a tense or two, but I do not believe I have violated the integrity of what she wrote by making it a more general proposition. (I can already predict my friend Avi's response.)

"How [are] we to avoid being swamped by the majority culture? How [are] we to maintain our own integrity as a specific community called Israel? Most important of all, how [are] we to live as a holy community, in the kind of purity our God asked of us? The answer, in part, is in boundaries that we set for individual bodies and the communal body....

Jews still need boundaries to maintain our distinctness as a culture and religion, so that we can preserve continuity with the "Judaisms" of the past and pass on a Judaism with integrity to our inheritors."

With respect, this seems an unnecessary fear. Jewish communities in many places are the minority and yet have demonstrated an ability to maintain and preserve their culture and traditions. Majority cultures can not 'swamp' you, they have no such power in free democracies.

 

[RabbiO]

Get a tattoo if you want your uniqueness seen by a passer-byer

Just a suggestion

I have reported all of the posts you've made on this thread. Apparently, after being a member for almost a year, you've not taken the time to read the rules of the forum. I'd prefer to believe that you are ignorant of the rules rather than you've just chosen to ignore and violate them.

Speaking of ignorance, if you don't know why your suggestion above is both funny and offensive, take the time to find out.

As for your anti-Israel diatribe, there are other places on the forum where It would be a better fit.