Atheism, observance and orthodoxy

All,

David here,

This is something written elsewhere, but as it is on my heart, I thought I'd reproduce it here, for my own readership to ponder. The context is about how atheist  Jews in the orthodox community continue to observe Judaism, for community and family reasons, but no longer believe in God (albeit the atheism isn't public).

 This was my response:

I don't feel I fit into the categories mentioned, but I would say I'm a Jew first and foremost, of the Sephardic tradition, who believes in God and specifically the God of the Tanakh. I do have theological issues with taking all of the bible literally, such as a talking donkey, a talking serpent, a flying and talking scroll,  a six day creation et al. I  have had personal issues from the past where I have often questioned the almighty and been somewhat estranged from him, but I do see this questioning as part of the Jewish tradition. 

 I've come to appreciate that one can never fully understand God,  I believe a rabbi one said "if I knew him, I would be him"(Judah ha Levi) and as it is written:

"As you do not know the path of the wind, or how life enters the body being formed in the mother's womb, so you cannot understand the works of God, the maker of all things"(Ecclesiastes).

I also understand atheists who are observant for cultural or family reasons. That's a distinctive feature of Judaism, a nation and a community, fused into a religion which permeates every aspect of oneself and life. We are more than a group of religious believers, but a global family. And to me family and community are key aspects of Judaism. We don't turn our back on  family and therefore we shouldn't turn our backs or force them out, that those who struggle with God, with beliefs, but who wish to still be in the tent. I think one of the US presidents, Lyndon Johnson made a quip about tents and people shouting out, rather than into the tent.

A concluding thought to ponder. Does God prefer the most pious person, who observes the rituals and believes with dogmatic precision, but acts in a shameful fashion or the one who just tries with all of their heart?

Discuss.

Haredi Orthodoxy & Pharassies or we don't have the Magestrium in Judaism

Hi All, 

This is something I posted on my favourite Jewish blog, Dovbear,  but I've added to it. This is in reaction to this ludicrous post, on a site called  'Cross Currents', what is in effect a Haredi (that is strict Ultra Orthodox)  propaganda site. It constantly pisses me off, for a variety of reasons.So I'm having a rant about it. I can't do this all the time as I'd be spending every day on a rant. So I have to be selective here .

OK, well here is my view, won't be popular, but I don't care, 'cause you're gonna bloody well hear it anyways -

I'm not going to accept that a sect of Judaism- because that is exactly what Haredi Judaism is - which was created less that 200 years ago and then claims itself to be the one true Orthodox path, has any right to dictate to the rest of us, what we should and shouldn't believe or follow. I'm a Jew. I love Orthodoxy, but I also love the rest of Judaism in all its rich tapestry.

I try to follow the Mitzvot as best as I can. But I like our faith because it gives a wide breathing space for varying views and schools of thought. There is no way I would follow someone just because they said so. Who do these guys think they are, Jesus -y? Oy, no, no no!The Haredi gedolim & certainly not Rabbis are not a Jewish Magestrium a la the Catholic Church. Judaism does not work like this, we don't have Popes and Cardinals or Apostolic succession; yes we used to have a Sanhedrin, but the Haredi  under their Gadols Rabbis are not a new Sanhedrin, whatever they may think. Judaism requires us to debate, to think, to reason, to do. Otherwise we simply wouldn't study the Torah at all, but leave it to the Priestly caste...No, they are wise men with gandolf like beards, we can listen to them, but what fool - and you are a fool- if U slavishly following a religion whose holy men think that their adherents should just go along to get along , even though they, as is argued in the cross currents  article  " may even be wrong by all reason and logic".

Hello? Who is using the family brain cell here? 

Since when did being an mindless automaton become authentic Judaism?

U know the big, big problem with the likes of Cross Currents is that it is 'exhibit A' of those who argue against Judaism. It reeks of the Christian critique (a view once held by my non Jewish housemates) that Jews follow a bunch of impossible to fulfil rules, that Torah is a burden, not something cool, that we are all heartless 'pharassies', who place the letter of the Torah, above the spirit of the Torah. That we are all like Shammai, not like Hillel or in a Christian context Saul and not Paul . 

I see that the latest post on Cross Currents bemoans how the current Israeli government has 'forced' people to stop studying Torah to get a job(!??). Welcome to the real world guys. Most of us have to go to work to pay a mortgage (in my case me and 4 others), the bills, the taxes and if we are lucky we get a bit left over. So sorry, but you should bloody well work to put bread on the table & to support those who genuinely are unable to work.

That is authentic Judaism. So sorry, but I'll not bend the knee to a 200 year old sect, as if it were the only, real and true traditional or Orthodox Judaism .

Rant over... I feel better (:

Discussing Jewish Orthodoxy

Hi All,

I'm currently writing a book about Jewish Orthodoxy, the theme of which is that Orthodoxy in particular  and Judaism in general should be broad and deep, not narrow and shallow ( a phrase I've pinched from someone else- Hi David!).

Here are some of my potted thoughts, which I'll probably make into chapters, that I want to include (along with other stuff) in the book: 

Sephardi Orthodoxy?

We never went through a 'reformation' in the same sense as our Aszkenazi brothers and sisters, which makes us by default 'Orthodox', but in a broader sense. What does this mean?

The Torah and Hebrew Bible as divine truth

You see for me, my truth is the Hebrew Bible, especially the first 5 books, the Torah as well as the Oral Torah and documented in the Mishna & later the Talmud. So I would have no problem in echoing our Rabbis in saying "This, The Torah of Moses, shall not be abrogated, nor shall there be any other Torah from G-d save it". In other words I believe that the Torah was divine and given by G-d (although this does not mean one is turned into a fundamentalist fanatic, nor does it mean that one has to take everything in the Torah as literal).

I am aware of the Biblical criticism called the 'documentary hypothesis', but I cannot accept this, because it would be a denial of the divine origins of my Bible. I also know that I cannot possibly prove that my religion and her deity is objective fact, despite what I believe in my own head about it. But this does not bother me, because I make that leap of faith. It is not necessarily to show faith as a fact, because that is what faith is all about & more importantly IMHO is about how to live well, by attempting to follow the Mitzvot. 

The Spirit, not the letter of the law 

I guess where I differ from the more Ultra Orthodox or Haredi position is that I don't see Judaism as a set of overtly legalistic or dogmatic set of rules which have to be followed to the letter. I believe that whilst the Oral and Written Torah is divine, along with the rest of the Hebrew Bible, it does not stop us from being able to interpret Halakha via lenient rulings and interpretations. To me the spirit, not the letter of the law, is most important .I see in my [Sephardi] tradition, this is about being tolerant of various levels of observance, which places an emphasis on community spirit and family ties, over fanatical dogmatism.

Besides which, I'd be a big hypocrite if I said I kept all of the Mitzvot, as tradition interprets, because there is one (being gay) that I am unable to fulfill (“oness rahmana patrei”), so I don't believe that people should turn the Torah into a hammer to beat people down about their lack of observance, but rather to see we are all Jews, who stumble and fall, so we should be encouraging each other to follow the Torah & therefore live a good and ethical life, a Jewish life, whatever tradition we come from, as best we are able .

Competing truths and spreading 'the word' (Christian Evangelism) 

I don't have a problem with Evangelism. We now live in a free society of competing opinions, beliefs, religions and ideologies. I understand the Christian impulse to Evangelise - Matthew 28, vs 16 to 20, however, this also means that there will be a counterpoise to the Evangelism, be it from the old school Evangelicals, the Messianic Jews, Jews for Jesus or the Mormons (these being the groups who seem to do the most Evangelism). The funny thing is that, whenever these groups undertake such activities, it seems to backfire, e.g. my niece at university has had fierce debates with the Christian Union, after one of their missionary weeks and it only strengthened her belief.

Being an 'Ortho-Dyke'

Evangelical /or Haredi (take ur pick) : You're gay, how can you be Orthodox without twisting the word of God's truth? 

Me :Yeah, I'm gay. So what? 

Evangelical/or Haredi (take ur pick) : What about Leviticus and all that ?

Me : OK, well you see...

Israel & Zionism

I am a staunch support of Israel and a Zionist. I also want to see peace with Israel's  neighbours and a just settlement for the Palestinian people. How to achieve this and what does Torah & Halakha tell us about how to achieve this?

 [more thoughts to follow]