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Idolatry Is Totally OK (Parshah Chukat)

June 11, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

800px-Museo_nazionale_del_Cinema_-_Cabiria_(Turin)

 

Picture it: Limmud Weekend. Two summers ago.

I’m at a retreat for Jewish adults and families. It’s like summer camp, for everyone. And at this very moment, I’m having a shouting match with a rabbi.

I said, “Don’t you think, rabbi, that all the minhag and all the interpretations and Talmudic stuff detracts away from the original intention of the Torah? I mean, at what point are we putting the Baal Shem Tov above Moses?”

He replied, “It’s all Torah. In every generation someone comes along and clarifies it and expands on it. Rambam did it. Baal Shem Tov…”

“Isn’t that just idolatry? Building up another bronze snake that someone’s going to have to tear down in another generation?”

“Ah, but see. That’s it. Idolatry is OK as long as it’s the idolatry that HaShem tells us is OK.”

I get angry and storm off. Who does this guy think he is? Idolatry is OK as long as it comes from God? What kind of whack job non-sense is that?

But then again, what kind of whack job am I? Months later I would obsess about making sure that my vinegar was kosher for Passover, while at the same Passover seder advocating for gay marriage.

Life’s like that. We pick and choose the things that matter: even if that means picking and choosing to ignore that we’re picking and choosing.

An Anthology of What’s Wrong With Me (Circle Pit the Bimah)

This Torah Portion Won’t Stop Repeating Itself A La Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, dvar for the week, online conversion, Parsha Chukat, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Parshah Behar-Bechukotai: Living a Long, Happy, Jewish Life

April 30, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

Happiness

 

Harvard http://www.businessinsider.com/grant-study-reveals-what-makes-us-happy-2013-4 spent seventy five years to find out what makes a happy life. It’s one of the longest-running studies on human development, and recently, George Vaillant, who directed the study for over thirty of the seventy five years, published Triumphs of Experience, a summary of everything researchers learned in the study.

Some of it is obvious: alcoholism is bad (mmmmkay), being a genius doesn’t make you happy, and having a warm childhood relationship with your mom and dad is going to help you in the long run.

For all the quirky, funny things the study looked into (example: your politics has nothing to do with your happiness), the thing the study overwhelmingly proved is that relationships matter. The warmth and depth of your relationships correlates with your happiness. The more fulfilling your relationships with others, the more fulfilling your life will be.

Life is a journey. And the best journeys we go on [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: bechukotai, behar, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, dvar for the week, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Cycle of Violence (Parshat Bereshit)

October 1, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

Is Bereshit really the beginning of the Torah? Why does G-d use violence to punish humanity? Is there a Kabbalistic way of understanding all this? Alterna-Rebbe Michael says yes…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG9NphsFukc

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: 3xdaily, bereshit, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, dvar for the week, kabbalah, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, this week's torah portion

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