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Starting To Stop

May 11, 2010 By punktorah

By Leon Adato

(Originally posted at EdibleTorah)

When you are driving along and come to a red light, when do you start to apply the brakes? In other words, when do you start to stop.

We all know that going through a red light is not only illegal, it’s dangerous.But you can’t just zoom up to a red light at full speed and then slam the brakes. There are other variables to consider: whether there are cars ahead of you or people in the cross walk; how fast you are going; whether the road is dry or icy; etc. All of that (and more) will affect when you begin to apply the brakes.

I’m finding that observing mitzvot (commandments) is very similar.

Of course, people argue that the mitzvot are arbitrary, optional aspects of our life. That they are something we do for our own personal satisfaction. They may very well be right.

But even in that case, nothing changes about this discussion. If you aren’t going to stop at the red light, then don’t. Barrel right on through. There are even cases where people who would normally stop at a light will argue it’s not necessary:  At 2am in a one-horse town, when you know there is nobody else around, you may decide that the red light is nothing but a social expectation and that sitting there waiting for an electronic timer to click is a foolish and sycophantic adherence to the letter of the law without recognition of the spirit and intent.

BUT… regardless of your view of obligatory nature of the commandments, IF you are going to observe them, you still must consider how you are going to do so. You are going to have to decide when you are going to slow down so that you don’t cross “that line” – the identified demarkation between observing the mitzvah and breaking it.

Some drivers really do race right to the very edge of the curb (or the bumper ahead of them) and then hit the brakes, while others ride the break from a half mile back. Still, everyone’s intention is the same: Don’t run into the cross walk.

The commandments expressed in Torah for keeping kosher state:

don’t eat blood
eat only certain animals
don’t boil a kid (goat) in the milk of its mother
Period. No mention of 2 sets of dishes. No injunction against cheeseburgers. No statement that you have to double-foil-wrap your potato in an unkosher oven.

So why do we do it?

The red light(s) above are very clear. What isn’t clear is what we need to do to avoid crossing that line. Some people are comfortable running right to the edge – no blood, no bacon wrapped shrimp, no goat chops in goat-milk-cream sauce. Everything else is fair game. Other people feel the need for two dishwashers, to carefully check produce for bugs, to learn as much as they can about how and where their food is produced.

Neither approach, in my opinion, is necessarily bad. Like driving, everyone has their style.

Of course, this analogy can only go so far on a single tank of metaphorical gas. Traffic laws are enforced by humans, and ultimately affect others in a very direct way. Kashrut is not “enforced” by anyone – you don’t get a treif ticket if you chow down on a shrimp eggroll. Nor is there any impact on the people around us for our own dietary observances, or lack thereof. Traffic laws are meant to be more logical than not. Kashrut, as I have mentioned before, is understood to be inherently non-logical (which is not to say it’s illogical, only that human logic can’t be brought to bear to understand why we ought to keep kosher. This is one of God’s “do it ’cause I said so” rules).

But in answer to the person who looks at another’s kashrut observance and thinks “why would they need to take it that far?!”, my answer is

“Because that’s where they are comfortable starting to stop.”

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, food, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, kosher, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rebel, Religion, Torah

What You Don’t Know About The Orthodox

May 11, 2010 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwhgZzwWhrA&feature=related

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Podcasts & Videos, Rants Tagged With: Counterculture, frum, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, orthodox, orthodoxy, Punk, rebel, Religion, shul, Torah

What You Don’t Know About Progressive Jews

May 10, 2010 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka2SVY3S-KI&feature=related

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Podcasts & Videos, Rants Tagged With: Counterculture, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, prayer, progressive, Punk, rebel, Religion, service, Torah

The Covenant (A Religion, or a Walk with HaShem?)

May 7, 2010 By punktorah

Produced by Joshua A. Kaplan

“What is the purpose of the covenant? Many fragmentary answers have been given in the tri-millennial & variegated history of Judaism, and perhaps only this much of a generalization is possible – that, located between Creation & Redemption, a Jew testifies to the reality of the first and the hope for the second. This testimony has a positive and a negative aspect. The positive is the possibility, unheard of prior to the advent of Judaism, of a mutual relation between G-d beyond the heaven of heavens and man on earth. The negative is against all the false gods – against idolatry.”

-Emil Fackenheim (1916-     ), [What is Judaism? New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1987]

Most have forgotten that the Torah is a Walk with HaShem and not a religion. We have forgotten that the Torah requires us to walk and behave within and according to His commandments, statutes, decrees, and ordinances at all times. It tells us that these are eternally binding even to a thousand generations, and to discuss them with our children – when we walk on the way, when we sit down, when we retire and when we arise, and to live it out at the market and at the workplace. The Torah tells us, “And you shall love your brother as yourself.” (Lev. 18:19), it screams to us, “You shall surely pursue righteousness!” (Deut. 16:20) – yet we hate our brothers and pursue honor and filthy, unrighteous lucre. Thus, the hand of faith has been weakened. Most of the Nation has left the camp of the believers, for not many remain faithful; there are virtually no men of truth. Very little light that illuminates in this world of dark corruption.
Even so, that is exactly what the Torah is. It is a light to a dark world, as are those whom bear it’s truth. It’s purpose is to free mankind, and lead all toward total spiritual/physical perfection. Furthermore, it is HaShem’s covenant, made for all of humanity, which even rules and regulates the natural laws of the infinite and boundless Universe. Which means that the Torah is infinite, transparent to our soul [neshama], and is transcendently beyond the finite grasp of man. A very discerning & insightful man (Rabbi Marc Howard Wilson) once shared with me, these words of wisdom:
The finite may try to grasp the Infinite, though it is like taking a sip from a “Raging-Firehose”
Therefore, only the ALL-Transcendent One can give it’s true interpretation. Moreover, one must also keep in mind; as the covenant is eternal so is knowledge, wisdom, understanding, revelation, truth, and onward. These gifts [obtainable by man, only from G-d], as others like them, go on and on ad infinitum.
All are progressive. No one is absolute or exclusive.
Rather, all are one and all emanate from our One and Only who is magnanimous in all His deeds, and gives freely to all who would humbly beseech Him with a sincere heart. He is His Knowledge, He is His Wisdom, He is His Understanding, and He is His Truth [He is His “Light”]!!! Nevertheless, the questions remain. How does one successfully walk with The Most High? By what means can one who is finite receive true interpretation from The Infinite?
Is it merely enough to involve ourselves in study and absorption in prayer? How will we know and recognize when He has answered our cry, our petition, or request?

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, Israel, Jewish, jewish prayer, Jews, Judaism, kosher, mitzvah, mitzvot, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, ten commandments, Torah

Jewish Heritage

April 27, 2010 By punktorah

By Amanda Myhand
I know I’m not the only Jew in the state of Alabama, but it feels that way quite often. I don’t fit in at all – an awkward, dark- and curly-haired Jewish girl (whose vocabulary is unmarred by the infamous, horrid Southern accent, I might add) in a sea of blonde Southern belles draws attention. I come from a long line of Jewish women who married either Christian or non-religious men and gave up any observance they had, which wasn’t much, in a successful effort to blend into the Bible Belt.  As a result of their compromising, I, too, grew up under my domineering Christian father’s thumb (I also have him to thank for my glaringly Irish surname). I was dimly aware of, but not really exposed to any of my Jewish heritage or culture until I reached high school – a thought that chaps my lovely Jewish ass to this day.

A while back, sick of having Bibles shaken in my face and being turned down for dates because of something about an ox and a yoke, I sought refuge in a tiny Reform synagogue here in Florence. About ten regular members make up the congregation (though during the High Holidays, attendance swelled to a whopping 50-ish!), and we have a lovely cantoress that comes in from Nashville every other Friday. I really love my synagogue; it’s one of the few things I’ll miss about Alabama when I move…

… to New York City. Next month. I recently took a trip there for the first time (feel free to laugh).
I had heard about how different Jewish culture is there compared to here, and, of course, all the “Jew York City” jokes. They were right – I was on cloud nine as I drove through Crown Heights and saw my people. The only other time I ever felt that sense of ‘I’m not alone’ was when I drove past a huge synagogue in downtown Nashville. My mother, feeling renewed by her divorce from my father, has begun to rediscover her heritage for herself, a thought that fills me with joy. But I’m also nervous. I worry I won’t be religious or knowledgeable enough to keep up with the Jewish culture in NYC. But I remember that though it’s tempting, I don’t have to “fit in” to Jewish culture in NYC. I’ve kind of got a knack for standing out.

Filed Under: Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: alabama, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, New York, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rebel, Religion, Torah

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