The Evolving Jew

In an attempt to revive my blog a little (as much as one can years way past the heyday of  the JBlogosphere) I'm digging up some of my old posts and will be reposting them on a semi-regular basis. This one is from June, 2009 In my discussions with Charedim, (and some Centrist Orthodox and even Modern Orthodox) both online & offline, we often come to an impasse when I realize that one of the basic assumptions they’ve made is that I, as a kipa wearing Jew, take all my cues for morality, ethics, and values from the Torah, and that there can be no other standard. Even if one accepts that premise, there are far reaching disagreements on what the Torah has to say when it comes to value judgments. But leaving that aside, in any case I reject the basic premise. I see no reason that the Torah should be the only arbiter of my moral being. I may be a Jew, but that’s not the only thing I am. I’m also a human being. When the Charedi I’m talking to realizes that I’m not on ...

Still cool, I'd like to think...

This blog (like many of the old Jblogs) has been mostly dormant for a while. All the good conversation has moved to Facebook. But the format at Facebook isn't as friendly for intellectual discussion as the blogs were in their heyday. Plus, Facebook is way too addictive, and the conversations, over religion and especially politics, get way too heated and angry. And there's way too much obsession over Trump everywhere. (Other than keeping up with the basic headlines, I want to think about that man as little as possible). I decided I needed a break from Facebook - a very extended one. Additionally, too much Facebook takes time away from being a father, which is my most important job in life right now. But I do need some good intelligent conversation online occasionally. If anyone's actually reading this, is there any corner of the Jblogosphere that's still alive? Any good blogs with lively comment sections? Anything like what we had back in the mid-00's?

A new article in the Forward asks 22 rabbis (of all denominations) " Is Intermarriage a Problem or an Opportunity? ". Here are my own thoughts on the topic, as a halachic Jew who generally (but not exclusively) affiliates with Orthodoxy. It's a difficult balance. Intermarriage in Judaism should be managed through a positive process - that of raising children to be Jewishly engaged and literate, and to value the Jewish community. With that done, a child will hopefully choose to marry someone who will be a partner in the Jewish journey, and that will typically be another Jew, though not always. But people are not statistics. As adults they have individual autonomy and will choose who to marry on their own. Instilling them as children with Jewish values will inform the choices they make when dating. A bigger issue than intermarriage is Jewish engagement, and while that may have some correlation with intermarriage, intermarriage is more often a symptom, not the cause of...

Pesach Sommer writes about how Orthodox Jewry often has problems discussing God. My thoughts? The Torah says that Hashem created us in his image, and there's been a lot of philosophical musings about the various meanings of that. Ultimately, I think it's more accurate to say that we create God in our image. Not that God isn't real - I may doubt much of Jewish dogma, but I believe in Hashem. But part of what makes it difficult to speak about God communally in the Jewish community is that there are many Gods - or rather, many different perceptions of God. Hashem is an emotional concept. We each find our own path to him (or her) by perceiving God in a way that each of us can relate to - in our own image. For some that's a grand king, though that concept is more difficult to relate to in a democratic age where people have the right of self-determination. For others it's a parent, sometimes loving, sometimes stern. For others Hashem is a friend, a confidante. Ha...

A woman has accused the late Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel of groping her some 28 years ago, one of many women speaking out in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations about their own experiences with harassment and assault. Accusations like this seem to cause people to retreat to their corners and stick to their guns. The reactions I've seen tend to be either "wow, what a scumball" to "she's just a publicity-seeker ruining the reputation of a man who can no longer defend himself". The truth is that there's no way for sure to know the truth. I take this accusation with a little grain of salt, because there's been no pattern of accusations against Wiesel before, no hint of this sort of behavior. But I'm not willing to dismiss it out of hand, either. The misogyny evident in some of the comments from her detractors is disturbing. A woman who makes this sort of accusation should be taken seriously. That doesn't mean we automatically be...

Observant Jewish life used to be much simpler. We lived in cloistered communities where notwithstanding our rose colored nostalgic glasses, Jewish literacy wasn't high. Halachic observance was cultural, not legally-driven. But nowadays, when understanding of what halacha apparently demands of us is part and parcel of the education of most Orthodox kids, there's an obsession with "getting it right". Of course culture plays a huge role now, too. But the culture is more informed by a strict legality and everyone is trying prove themselves within that context. But here's the thing - it's never been done before! In prior times, Jewish observance was much more flexible and relaxed. People did what they were taught by their parents, not what they learned at Yeshiva. Not everyone got it "right", and there was far more variety in practice in different communities than the insistence of one-size-fits-all halachic Judaism of today. So of course it...