httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VHxJ_S0LeA
Interviewing volunteers and leaders of The Gan Project, a Jewish urban farming initiative in Chicago, about God and suffering the worst kind of pain possible: the early loss of a parent.
The Shema is the central prayer in Judaism
The Shema is the central prayer in Judaism. Interesting, because it doesn’t really say much. While Christians (of certain stripes) have the ____ Creed, a point-by-point theological statement, us Jewish folks don’t seem to have as much to work with.
Or do we?
The Shema, I think, works on at least three different levels:
Non-Duality. I don’t need to quote massive amounts of text from Jay Michaelson’s recent book to explain this, so I’ll paraphrase: if the great, central teaching of Judaism is that there is one G-d (as opposed to a legion of demiurges), then the Shema should more appropriately read, “Listen Israel, there is one G-d” instead of “our G-d is one.” G-d, in this way, is Oneness. G-d is everything, and yet nothing.
The Politics of Monotheism. We can’t forget that the Torah came at a certain time and at a certain place. The Shemat, as read to Hebrew Canaanites every seven years, would have been a not-too-subtle reminder to smash those Molech idols that many families had in their homes. While some wish to believe that the ancient Israelites were better Jews than us, archeology has dug up (pun intended) plenty of settlements filled with clay idols. Adonai Echad, in this way, is like the guilt trip of times past.
G-d’s Greatness. Again, language is funny. “The Lord” is an obvious statement of power. And while “lord” is often used as a substitute for G-d in the vernacular, it need be said that if the Shema were simply an affirmation of monotheism, the Shema would be better to read, “Hear Israel, G-d is one”. It also speaks to G-d’s providence. Remember that “G-d” is not G-d’s name. G-d’s name is a riddle of “I am what I am”. G-d’s hugeness transcends even the ability to name G-d.
Anything else y’all can think of?
Can You Disbelieve Everything and Still Be Jewish?
I posted a video a while back saying that, in my opinion, all you really needed to do to be Jewish was believe in the G-d of the Torah. I also put in a few nods to the importance of diversity, LGBT people, converts, etc. etc. etc. You get the drift.
Immediately, I got this reply:
“I disagree with what you said about believing something in order to be Jewish. Being Jewish isn’t about what you believe. It’s about what you do.”
My secular friends all agree with this statement. Doing Jewish is more important than Believing Jewish. But I wonder if that actually makes sense. Judaism, it seems, is the only religion in the world that says you can disbelieve in every tenent of the faith, yet still be a member. It’s like saying, “I don’t believe in Allah or Mohammed. The Koran is made up and eating bacon and drinking whiskey is awesome. But I’m a Muslim and you can’t take that away from me!”
I do believe that actions matter. But intent matters, too. Remember the old saying, “it’s possible to do the right thing, for the wrong reason, and the wrong thing for the right reason.”
At what point, though, does it matter that you believe in what you are doing, beyond making yourself happy that you continued on an ethnic tradition?
Please discuss. I’d really like to know.
Atheists Seem To Have It So Easy
(Originally posted by our friend Heshy Fried here)
Atheists really seem to have it easy. They probably don’t, but when I look at them from afar it seems to be an easy life. A life of non-believing and depending on their personalities they may be ironically called insane by us religion espousers, but in the end believing in God seems to be tough work – but not so much believing in God as struggling with the entire concept of “what is the meaning of life?” I was asked that by an older friend of mine recently. I couldn’t tell if it was in jest, but I told him that life was about realizations that hit you in the head and made everything else until that point seem idiotic. Like when I realized that worrying about things was the tyranny of the mind. Chabadnicks say it’s the sitra achra and I agree – the other side, the devil, the evil inclination, the yetzer harah – whether or not that may be fictional or not is up for debate – but something in our conscience screwing with us. We worry about things all the time that will happen regardless of worrying or not, so why worry?
So Atheists, what’s the deal? I can’t seem to shake my belief in God. I never actually tried. I don’t think I’m smart enough to be an Atheist. Almost every Atheist I ever met was a scientist of some sort. I have a friend who says that any scientist who believes in God is intellectually irresponsible and I disagree – I don’t see how God cannot be worked into any scenario – I just don’t understand Atheism.
I kind of wish I could be an Atheist sometimes. I wouldn’t have to worry about the afterlife (I don’t really worry about the afterlife now anyway, like most people my age death is not really in my mind much) and my entire life would be devoted helping future generations have a good time here on earth, rather than the constant talk of this so called messiah who will deliver us from our misery, after a 1000 years of nothingness by the way. So apparently, one of the many urban legends surrounding the coming of the messiah (I’m not really sure about the whole thing, I only look forward to it for the fodder it will provide, I’m sure the messiah will be a transgender woman who is modern orthodox and everyone won’t take a hint) is that there will be a big war and the world will be empty of life for 1000 years – so we won’t see the whole thing anyway. Also, how on earth are we going to roll to Israel with all of our luggage anyway? And what about all that stuff the beis din will kill us for, like carrying in an eruv that not everyone accepts — maybe they will have the beis din stonings on pay per view or something with the money going to tzedaka.
Religion ain’t easy, unless you’re ignorant. If you sit and learn all day and never bother to reaffirm your beliefs it seems so easy. “Honey I’m going to Kollel” followed by “Honey did your father pay the rent?” It seems from the outside like an easy life, intellectually at least. Sure, you cannot afford white meat and don’t get to drink brand name soda, but you learn and shteig and believe fully (I think) in what you’re doing. Meanwhile, us underlings cling to this religion we really don’t fully believe in but are afraid of losing the community around it or something of the sort.
I believe so strongly in God, but don’t really know what to do with that belief. Others dive blindly into Judaism, whether it be orthodox, or some other stream, but I’m always unsure. I consider myself orthodox, sure, but am I? I like the term post-orthodox, or post denominational, it makes sense. I don’t have a hashkafa. For instance, I am vehemently against TV and Movies, more from a philosophical than hashkafic bent. I think it’s all a waste of time, but not bittul torah — everything is bittul torah, you know?
To not believe in God takes everything out of the picture, what pains do you have? But then again, when you do have pain, to whom do you daven? Baal? I don’t know if I could live without my daily conversations with the L-rd. He’s the best free psychologist. You can scream at Him, curse at Him, wave your fists at Him or Her or It and it just sits there on its cloud filled lazy boy reading the DSM 4 and wondering about what on earth you’re babbling. It’s really good talking with the Lord, loads of fun, except for the few times that I was heavily involved that when I came across a fellow hiker, they looked at me like I was crazy, after all – there was no Bluetooth in my ear and definitely no reception for one to be talking to anyone. I would momentarily break from my philosophical discussion with the clouds and tell them that I was spacing out and trying to scare the bears.
I guess Atheists have to pay for a psychologist. Maybe it’s worth the ease at which their minds get to glide through life. I don’t like the argument that Atheists are immoral. You don’t need God to be moral and it seems like the opposite actually. It seems like the evil things done in the name of God far outweigh the things done in the name of Atheism. You may make the argument that the Communists were Atheists and Stalin managed to kill 80 million people, but it’s doubtful they did it in the name of no God in existence — they did it because they wanted to control the world vodka market – which seems to be against capitalism, so why not?
Stop Forming Organizations and DO SOMETHING!
Jews love starting organizations, more than anything else. And the worse the acronym, the better. Without cheating, try to figure out what any of these organizations do:
CPMAJO, JINSA, JHSGW, NJCRAC, COEJL, CAHJP, EAJC, COJECO, BACJRR…
How often do we start “organizations” with “Mission Statements” full of snappy buzzwords?
What does that even mean?
Nothing. Not a single thing.
We can form as many organizations as we want, that DOES NOT mean that anything is going to get done. It just means that a bunch of people are going to sit around in a room, talk about all the things that they want, talk about themselves, and accomplish nothing.
This is especially true with “outreach” organizations. The very word “outreach” implies that some people are already on the outside, while others are on the inside. Of course, those people within an organization are the insiders, trying to engage others.
But here’s the interesting irony: people don’t want to be friends with an organization, people want to be friends with people. Community comes from personal interaction, not signing up for a committee.
The organization should be a tool for personal interaction, not the other way around.
Would you feel comfortable telling your secrets to PepsiCo? How about Wal-Mart?
No.
So how do we fix this?
We need to stop focusing on what we can do and look at we are doing.
What are we doing to bring Judaism to those who need it? How are we making Judaism more accessible and relevant to the 21st century? And when I say “we“, I’m not talking about the JCC or JNF or the ABCD or whatever. I’m asking all of us, personally:
What are YOU doing to live Jewishly?
No one is perfect, and no one, no matter who they are or say they are can live a perfect Jewish life. No one person can fulfill all the mitzvot. But remember, just because the road is long, it doesn’t give you an excuse to stand still. G-d only cares about how far you have walked on your own path.
So stop talking and get off your tuchus! Engage! Create something! Talk to people! Find out what they need, find out why they don’t care about being Jewish, why they can’t find Judaism meaningful to their 21st century daily lives.
Find this out and do something!
-Patrick and Michael