Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Purim

To all my fellow Jews out there - Chag Sameach! I hope you have a rioteously good time and don't have a hangover from getting so wasted as to not be able to tell between Haman (boo! hiss!) and Mordecai (yeah!). Somehow it seems totally unfair to suffer for doing a mitzvah. Seems to be our lot though (pun intended) so we might as well make the best of it. It strikes me as Purim is the par excelance of the 'they tried to kill us, they failed - let's eat' holidays. Too bad the world didn't learn from Haman and his sons' fate and leave us well enough alone. You'd think that the modern reminder of the Six Day War would have been a good rap alongside the head too that we have a way of turning the tables on our oppressors. And the world calls us stubborn?! If we're stubborn, are those who would oppress us just stupid? It would be nice if we could get away from being oppressed and unfortunately we have learned from our oppressors ways of being real jackasses at times. I don't think this is the lesson Hashem wants us to learn from adversity so could S/He please choose someone else? Unfortunately it looks like we're in for another round of it with the way intolerance is rising all over the place.

Maybe with all the fear and uncertainty in the world today it is our job to stand again as an example to the world that even the hardest of times can be weathered especially if we stick together. That sense of loyalty is one of the things I love about Judaism although I have gotten a bit jaded about the acceptance of some Jews by other Jews since joining the tribe. Somehow that internal unacceptance didn't mean a damn to Haman or Hitler or any of the other oppressors throughout the centuries though. To quote Ben Franklin, "We must all hang together or we will most assuredly hang separately" and it's a whole lot easier to hang us if we're fighting among ourselves. Then again being unified doesn't necessarily mean success - Haman and family certainly hung together, hung very high indeed.

4 comments:

  1. -That sense of loyalty is one of the things I love about Judaism although I have gotten a bit jaded about the acceptance of some Jews by other Jews since joining the tribe.-

    Well, here's the problem.

    When you accept the yoke of Judaism - you accept Judaism - as it is - without changes. You are not entitled to make changes, and whether or not you accept this or WISH to accept it, your unification of Pagan beliefs and Judaism is antithetical to Judaism itself. It isn't because you are a convert that you aren't accepted - it's because you haven't accept Judaism that you find yourself on the outside.

    But you knew that already. This is why you've never discussed your true beliefs with your rabbi.

    Suggest you do so - I think you'll be surprised at the lack of judgment you face, and the level of guidance you'll receive.

    Again - just a suggestion.

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  2. First of all I didn't say that I had felt unaccepted and therefore become jaded - that is your inference. In fact, if it had been only things that had happened to me I'd be less jaded; this feeling comes from observations I made about how some Jews treat other Jews specifically in regards to apparent economic status and political/ideological affiliation. The lack of tolerance on both the liberal and conservative sides has bothered me but those who choose a more liberal than Orthodox theology and practice recognize that those who are more Orthodox won't approve and decide they don't need that approval or it isn't as important as other factors. In general, the Orthodox seem to dismiss the non-Orthodox as not worthy of consideration.

    The idea that Judaism is unchanging is incorrect. One only has to look at the evolution of halachah (even in Orthodox circles) to see this. You make the comment that it isn't because I'm a convert that I supposedly am not accepted, rather that it it's because I didn't accept Judaism. Whose Judaism? Judaism as it is practiced by the Reform, the Orthodox, those who are Jewish by custom but don't have a relationship with G-d or those who examine what it means to be Jewish and try to express that in terms relative to them even if that means stepping outside of tradition? Or a different Judaism all together? That has been the whole crux of my musings - What is Judaism? I don't go for pat answers as easy and comforting as that would be.

    In regards to combining paganism and Judaism, are you one of those who has baffled me over the years - someone who cannot see the inherent earth based spirituality in Judaism that is so obvious to me, someone coming from an outside perspective? Someone who is so caught up in the hedges that have been built around Torah and the sacred principles of Judaism that you cannot or will not seek out the essence of Judaism - the raw spirituality that inspired Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam?

    I only wish I had an accessible rabbi. The closest rabbi is approx. 200 mi away and I only get to see her for a few minutes a few times a year due to my problems traveling and caretaking duties so there hasn't been much opportunity to build a rapor that would permit discussions such as this. I also have often felt that I was inconveniencing the rabbis I have tried to speak to over the years or that I got the party line vs a true discussion of the issues I present. In my experience, since I have not been a person of status in a Jewish community that had a rabbi, I have barely gotten the time of day from the rabbi much less any real guidance.

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  3. --The closest rabbi is approx. 200 mi away and I only get to see her for a few minutes a few times a year due to my problems traveling and caretaking duties so there hasn't been much opportunity to build a rapor that would permit discussions such as this.--

    I'm sorry, but this is simply an excuse - nothing more - nothing less.

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  4. I respect your position but to put it bluntly, you are not living my life, you are not Jewish for the reasons I am and as much as you may see my explanation of the obstacles to your suggestion as an excuse, I am not going to try to hash this stuff out with somebody that I am supposed to see as my religious leader without being reasonably confident that they are at least listening to me and *willing to consider* my point of view. This stuff is not simple and cannot be solved for me in a half hour telephone conversation or 5 minutes after Shabbos services every few months. As much as I may like to, interacting with the rabbi in a meaningful manner is unlikely to occur more frequently as traveling any great distance is painful and frequently and unpredictably impossible for me and there is no one to take care of my father in law with both my husband and I gone on such a jaunt.

    Like I said, I don't do pat answers. I am intelligent and reasonably knowledgeable and have given this a lot of thought, prayer and soul searching so I'm not willing to throw it out just because somebody says so even if they are a rabbi. They're going to have to convince me and at least address ALL of my arguments, especially when I can cite rabbis (ie. Rabbis Jill Hammer and Gershon winkler) and other Jews who agree with me on the earth based and magical elements of Judaism. Admittedly, I am contemplating borrowing from outside Judaism to fill in some of the holes for me which said rabbis might not approve of but how is this different than what the Jewish people have done throughout history? I presume that I have the same right and deserve the same consideration as any other Jew who wrestles with their faith. You seem to be suggesting that I abrogate this right and accept that there is only one way of being Jewish - do let me know when there is a consensus on that among Jews. Probably will be about the time the Messiah shows up.

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