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Does Saying “Shabbat Shalom” Make You A Jerk?

July 30, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Question: I know many non-observant Jews. We work together and we are friends. I am becoming more involved in Judaism and often say “Shabbat Shalom” on Fridays. People are now looking at me like I am a jerk! Should I just say “have a good weekend” since Friday night is Shabbat for me, but not for them?

Answer From Patrick: They are clearly not your friends because they are not as religious as you. Get new friends. Thanks for reading PunkTorah!

Just kidding!

I hear questions like this a lot. The same thing came up on Yom Kippur a few years back.

Do you say “have a meaningful fast” if your friends and family aren’t fasting? Do you go super Politically Correct and say, “I hope that you have the Shabbat you wish to have, if you have decided that this is indeed Shabbat, and if not, I am sorry if I have offended you. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Rants Tagged With: birkat hamazon, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, saying shabbat shalom, secular jewish, secular jews, shabbat shalom

Daphna Stadig: The Jewish People Need To Be Holistic

October 6, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://youtu.be/52eVEfZIS84

Filmed at Congregation Beth Israel Portland, Oregon. The G-d Project is the world’s first social media platform dedicated to Jewish spirituality. Visit www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: Daphna Stadig, Israel, orthodox jews, punktorah, secular jews, the g-d project, the god project, women of the wall

Richard Dawkins, Gardening and the Number Seven: Parshat Behar-Bechukotai

May 11, 2009 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeGhYAF1JyI

I just watched the Richard Dawkins movie, “The God Delusion”. I disagree with Dawkins who thinks that religion is poison (a little too Chairman Mao for me), but he did bring up an interesting point: In one scene, Dawkins confronts a British rabbi about the Genesis account of creationism. The rabbi says that he supports a literal interpretation of Genesis and believes that the world is only 6,000 years old. Dawkins tells the rabbi how stupid this is, because archeologists all agree that humans are millions of years old and that 6,000 years ago was the start of the Agricultural Revolution.
This got me thinking: is there a biblical connection between the agricultural revolution and the laws of Moses? Sure enough, there is…and it’s this week’s Parshat

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: atheism, bereshit, creationism, daniel quinn, evolution, gardening, genesis, god delusion, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, my name is ishmael, patrick aleph, punktorah, Religion, richard dawkins, science, secular jews, story of b, Torah

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