What should be Judaism's raison d'etre in the 21st century?

There just is no play without the main character. You can't cut God from the Jews' story. He's the main character, and he drives the rest of the action. Otherwise, it's just another boring social action meeting, about saving this or that, and nobody is deeply involved, as you say so well. So, your problem is, how do I believe in kashrut and stuff when I have studied science in school. That's not really a difficulty.

The difficulty is a sort of dullness of imagination, that comes from not having heard the Psalms at assembly in elementary school. The schools stopped doing that.A lack of imagination, cosmic imagination. Pity. It is a very hard defect to cure after childhood or youth but I suppose it can be addressed and cured if you try hard enough. With a competent teacher perhaps.

A real problem is one's friends. Main thing is, don't try to re-invent the wheel. Judaism is a very old, valid religion. Umpteen generations of people just as smart as you have passed it on because it worked for them. It is time-tested. There is no need to go sit in the woods, fast until you halucinate, and try to invent a new religion. A Jew already has something he can use, any time he wants. If he doesn't mind being different. You have to have some courage, and few have much of that. They are scared, in plain English. Scared of their friends and families reactions.

As in many things, it is what the men think that counts. The Temple of Venus, located at the corner of Amazon Street and Separatism Avenue, is not the point at all. That's another matter, enjoy if you want. No, Judaism is about the relationship between men and women, and it must include a specific role for men, not accessible to women, so men can be men, and women can be women. It is not about Jewish Persons, Gender Not Specified. Jewish Human Beings. Dear Occupant. No, it's about what is a man and what does he do about the women. He has to have some kind of plan about that. Judaism is one plan. It has balance, and realism. It is idealistic but not silly. I vote for it.

For instance, men are fleeing Reform Judaism in droves, see this piece: http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/2007121820071217urjmensfocus.html

exactly because it has been de-gendered. It is for Everybody. The women are very happy in it, and can't figure out what's so terrible. It's like a dog-whistle. It's a frequency they can't hear. But "group experience" for men is: "we hunt together, we help each other achieve competence, so the hunt works, and we survive" and for women it's "we trust each other with things, including our as children, we love each other". Competence matters very much to men. Therefore, men can't bear to mess up their Hebrew in front of women. Women are very forgiving of themselves, and others, and dont' see what's so terrible about messing up in front of the congregation, since "we all love each other". Their Hebrew is just as bad, but they don't worry about it. Or, maybe it is better! That, of course, would be even worse. Men cannot bear to do something badly in front of women, or, worse than women do it. So, as they do not study to get it right, they have to leave. Leaving a female congregation at the corner of Amazon and Separatism. It's a girl thing. But that doesn't work and that is not Judaism. I hope I am staying on topic here.

Are the men who are leaving reform married or single? Coed services seemed like a great idea when I was single. The socializing is much more of a distrction now that I am married and primarily attend services to pray.

I don't know. But you seem to answer your own question. Orthodox services ARE coed in the sense that the women are welcome, see it all and pray right along. They don't have coed seating, and, the women don't have a leadership, or speaking, role. Prayer is a very vulnerable moment in an emotional person's life, of either sex. It can be a moment of personal smallness, or of grief. A little privacy might be reasonable. And, if you are wondering if so-and-so is attracted to you, or wondering if you are attracted to them, or noting who is glancing at whom, well yes, that might bring you back down to earth from the upper worlds. As you say. There is plenty of time to chat people up in the lobby afterward, it seems to me.

Staying on topic, I am opining that Orthodoxy answers this thread's lead question, not necessarily painlessly. But he didn't say anything about painlessly. Darwin not being a bad puppy at all. Just a good observer of the Creation.

I'm assuming the same Anonymous wrote all the comments in this thread (it's helpful to use a handle, so you don't get confused with others).  

 Anyway, I find some of your observations interesting, but I lost you at the last thread where you say that "Orthodoxy answers this thread's lead question".  The lead question is "What should be Judaism's raison d'etre in the 21st century?"  How does orthodoxy answer that question?

--Z

The Reform Movement is now just filled with women and uninterested Gentiles who married secular Jews. 

Secular Judaism has contributed many things to the America and the world but it's days are done.  Most of the descendents of the secular Judaism are intermarrying or have intermarried in droves and have children who couldn't care less about the secular Judaism.  The rest will never get married or have children.

This is the natural result of assimilation but it also has to do with self-hatred.  Jewish life outside of Israel is dying and there is nothing that can be done about.  Well, unless it's Orthodox related but for many secular Jews that's not an option.   It's sad but that's the future of secular Judaism.  We've already seen what's happenning in the secular community and it's not a good sign.

Anon, lies aside, there seems to be only one deep and unfortunate truth implied by your passionate but conventionally myopic commentary: in your eyes, as Saul Bellow once put it, we (everyone but the non-Orthodox) are but the modern degradations of Abraham's seed. Your way, or the highway (to hell, as it were), with no room for conversation.

That's why I find it so interesting that people like you feel compelled to visit a site like Jewcy, so clearly conceived for the vanishing heathens and not for those like yourself who apparently hear God talking in their ears, and yet you choose to relentlessly pepper the site with comments reminding the heretical trash of their inevitable demise.

Let me not discourage you. Your contributions have many positives not least the comforting validation they bring to those of us who don't belong to your club.

The future of Orthodoxy concerns me about as much as the future of the Amish (both cultural oddities to which I have nearly no connection). I can’t understand how you don’t see that, to paraphrase the words of my partner in Jewcy, Joey Kurtzman, you advertise the obsolescence of your views, values, and traditions by the very conversations you deem important.

I’ll dispense with some formative biases developed early in my rearing. I come from a family of Israelis who were on the front-lines of building and fighting for the State. The sacrifices that were made are apparent in a family tree with many young branches violently cut and concluded in the real and bloody sacrifices made for a homeland. Those that survived, like my mother and father, held a special place in their heart where they stored a soul-depleting resentment and disgust for those waffling men of God who couched their embarrassing inaction in our greatest time of need in, yes, their orthodoxy…to text, to God, to – well, they never quite came to consensus on what they should do, or why exactly it was fine that they ultimately did nothing. It was a diverting confusion which came to serve them very well.

This is what my parents told me growing up of the people they called  “the religious.” The irony is that I think the deepest resentment came not from the community’s collective lack of courage but from behavior my father could not forgive and so robbed him of the ability to ever again embrace the spiritual aspects of his Jewish birthright.  

It’s only fair that I preface my comments by telling you of this baggage I carry with me. I also put it on the table so that you might find it difficult to reflexively respond with some silly trash questioning  my religious, cultural, or communal bonafides. You people and your abuse of the phrase “self-hatred” – it sickens me. Still, I’m not sure any of that has anything to do with why I, today, find little that’s attractive about what your calling the Orthodox.  

I find the community's insularity uninspiring; I find many of their most-cherished values alien at best and more often morally reprehensible; I find it sad, and a little funny, that the representatives of the Orthodox community have become so detached from their liberal cousins that they no longer even try to convey compelling reasons for why Orthodoxy might improve their lives, choosing instead to prove their superiority with talk of empty, mechanical demographics and data.

Look how much we reproduce!!! Look at the genetic purity of all that production!!!! On a side note, I’ve always wondered if enlightened Orthodox thinkers grapple with the fact that nature (dare I say God) punishes purity with almost sadistic glee. “Oh, so you like screwing your cousin,” nature seems to taunt. “Well, let’s see how much you like Crohn’s and Gauchers and Tay Sachs and Breast Cancer!!!”

On a final note, I’m not sure what it is you’re referring to with the label, “secular Judaism,” but if you’re using it basically as a catch-all for the current state of Judaism and the American Jewish community, than I’m with you in predicting, even hoping, for its demise.

Where we depart is in my belief in the regenerative powers of Judaism, in its beguiling artistry at recreation, and the extraordinary well of resources of the Jewish community, displayed over and over again throughout history, to rise to meet the particular challenges of their era and tap all that power and artistry to evolve our people and its traditions once again, for the umpteenth time, so we might continue to play a vital and positive role in human history.

Don’t worry, Anon, I will not react to Orthodoxy’s inaction and lack of courage in my generation with the same resentment and anger of my father. You’re lucky this time, or rather, we “secular Jews” are the lucky ones: this time around we don’t have to sacrifice our lives.

Tahl,

Don't you think your reply to to "no lies" was  over the top? You make some good points about non orthodox Judaism in your main post, but I don't see why you smeared the Orthodox in your reply. It detracted from your main point. In the US, the orthodox play a critical role, especially in smaller communities where they often ensure a Jewish presence through learning programs, kosher food, etc. Perhaps in NY or Israel there are orthodox as you describe, but that has not been my experience in smaller communities in Pennsylvania, New England, Maryland, Virginia and Florida.

I'm also troubled by  your comment that  the future of  the Orthodox concerns you as much as the future of the Amish. All Jews are responsible for one another.  If the Amish disappear, the Christian community will be practically unaffected. That is not true if the orthodox disappear and you know that.

I don't know who this other Anonymous, is but I am the Real, True Anonymous. I posted at the top, the first post. I see Tahl's point, and his father's point. There needs to be a re-connection to "... the spiritual aspects of his Jewish birthright." What does Tahl think of religious Zionism?

There does not have to be one kind of religious ("Orthodox") Jew. There can be many flavors and communities, but there is one Torah. It is also not necessarily bad to financially support a studying class who do not work much. It is not a perfect world. It takes all kinds. We need a few of every kind of Jew, and they are all part of the picture, and all contribute, and should be patient with each other.

1) Haredim should have to talk to and eat with, occasionally, by mandate, the (modestly attired for the occasion) families of Israelis who have kids in the military and may have lost people.

2) Vaguely non-religious Israelis should have to, by mandate, eat with and especially pray with and study with, in a very gentle, simple way, Orthodox or even Haredim. They should be taught much more religion than they are so they are not as ignorant as posts of what they think they "oppose". Yes, they should be informed that all this is their birthright and as much theirs as anybody's. The copyright, of course, is God's. And while I like the black-and-white, I am aware that our Father Avraham never wore a black hat, never ate a bagel, and never said "Oy vey".

Let our right hand and our left hand shake hands, and grasp the wooden scroll staves, without kvetching too much about different customs. Let us remember Zebulon and Issachar. That was a fruitful partnership. One studied, the other did business and supported the studier. They loved and respected each other's contributions and shared the rewards communally.

1) Z-bird, Orthodoxy says a Jew's raison d'être in the 21st century, or any century, is to do the Mitzvot. And, to get close(r) to God, by doing them. That is my take on how it answers the lead question. My opinion, and it's just an opinion, that without that, there is nothing, eventually. That doesn't mean Orthodox have halos and wings, but they do know some things - and make mistakes, too! Moshiach has not come yet, so things cannot be expected to be perfect.

2) We must integrate opposites. Yes, it is hard. If the Xtians could combine mounted warfare, with truncheons, maces, and heavy armor, with piety, and respect for the weak, in the CHIVALRIC tradition, we can figure something out too - done OUR way, obviously.

I was really excited to see this article posted up on Jewcy.  I think Tahl is asking some really good questions here, and I was hoping that the discussion would be equally provocative.  Unfortunately, I am left disappointed.

I am coming at this topic from the perspective as a young person that has, unfortunately, become a bit disillusioned my own Judaism as a cause of exactly the maladies Tahl described in his article.  He said, "Everything Judaism seems to be about these days - intermarriage, antisemitism, who qualifies as Jewish, the silly political machinations of this or that denomination" - I find these things equally uninspiring.  The simple fact that Jon views the coed services he once attended as primarily a chance to socialize with opposite-gendered Jews is just one demonstration of how the point of praying can get lost amongst other (less important) Jewish concerns.  And yes, of course I understand the need to make Jewish babies, but do certain congregations have to make it so obvious?  Isn't the core of Judaism the religion itself?

Please!  Somebody reassure me that they have the same concerns, and that there is something of greater value beneath my attending services besides finding a husband. 

Real, True, Anonymous ("RTA"):

 You've presented a fair enough description of "orthodoxy", although I guess it could be argued that Judaism in general (or even other religions) prescribe the same meaning to life, depending on how you define "mitzvot". 

The problem is that, in the 21st century, lots of people don't buy the orthodox prescription.  In a multi-cultural, rational world, people don't always believe that the mitzvot are worthwhile (or even ethical), and they don't believe that the mitzvot make you closer to God.  And even people who recognize Judaism as an authentic, valuable spiritual path do not necessarily accept, just because they were born Jewish, that Judaism is the only path for them.  All these things were once taken for granted, but in the 21st century these questions will not disappear.

RTA, you obviously disagree with these people, but in order to convincingly answer Tahl's question you need to provide a reason why they are wrong.  And it's not enough to just say that the orthodox are surviving or even thriving--if numbers were the true measure of God's will, then it would be hard to defend Judaism at all.

--Z

Jess M, I don't know if you share my flavor, but you totally, completely, share my opinions, whether you know it or not!! Jess M, YOU are closet Orthodox! You are wonderful. Kol Ha Kavod. You see that the central point is religious, God, prayer, that kind of thing, and the other things are only dependent clauses, hanging off that, NOT objectives in themselves. They can even become false idols. Consider yourself reassured.

Z-bird, I opine that a Jew is a Jew, and never stops being one. I can point to many real-world, objective observations to support that, by looking around in my acquaintance and my life experience. If people are happy, fine. However, plenty are not. Come all ye who are cranky, and for whom things are not working, or coming together, and let's see what our past can say to us. Talk to a Chabad-nik, see if it means anything to you. You have nothing to lose but your ... what? Che Gevara posters? Big deal. This IS who we are. It is not like we are pretending to be Eskimos and trying to learn to ice-fish like the real ones. We ARE Jews. We are NOT Eskimos. We are not pretending to be anything.

Get this: every Jew, without exception, has Orthodox ancestors, if you go back far enough. You, yes you, are descended from Orthodox. Not an Eskimo in the bunch. I wish the Inuit well with their own struggles. But this thread is about us.

One last mumble, then I truly will be quiet: it is possible, and even common, to pray for the ability to pray. There. You're not going to get that from a Che Gevura poster, pun intended, hee hee.

what Jon and Jess pointed out in regards towards people using synagogue services as a means to socialize with the opposite sex is one reason why i don't attend these kinds of events very often. events that are geared towards the 20's and 30's group have only one clear agenda- to hook people up and make more Jewish babies. that's all fine and well, but it also takes away from other things like feeling connected to G-d. there is nothing more awkward than going to services where a bunch of strange people swoop in on unfamiliar (and possibly unattached) individuals of the opposite sex like seagulls ready to take a dook on unsuspecting passers-by.

one of the few JCC events i attended recently was a book reading with author Scott Shay. he belted it out loud and clear: "Jews were not put on this earth simply to make more Jews." Mr. Shay voiced his opinions on anti-semitism, intermarriage, Israel and everything else that Tahl mentioned in this article, some of which were quite good. he feels that more needs to be done to combat anti-semitism. he considers intermarriage a threat but feels the intermarried need to be welcomed (but also seems to relentlessly push for conversion of the non-Jewish spouses). he feels more support for Israel is in order. when it comes to procreating, he thinks more Jewish babies should be made but that this should NOT be the main focus in Judaism.

in brief, the point of services is to increase your spirituality and to talk to G-d, not to scope out potential spouse material. for the organizations and congregations that have that solely on their brain, they need to consider that it may not work to their advantage.

First, I agree that it's not just about the babies. It's about who, what, and why we are. Second, Judaism sans movement qualifiers (Orthodox/Recon/etc) works better for me at breaking down walls between our people.

Kavvanah matters most to me. Our intent and our dedication to doing something trumps whatever ritual observance we choose to do or not do.

I'm with Tahl on thinking of each of us as using our God-given creativity, imagination, aspirations, and survival instincts both to hope for, and to work at, keeping God's work of Creation recognized and vibrant. Hopefully this makes for a world of improved understanding, justice, and peace.

We have National Jewish Outreach (NJOP). We have Chabad, AISH, Breslov, Partners In Torah (1 800-STUDY 4 2). This is all free. H, if you get a study partner from PIT, or look into living Judaism in real-time, relating to the above-mentioned Main Character, that other stuff won't affect you, because you will be above it all. You won't even NOTICE. You will be safe. It's like a garlic necklace, protecting from vampires. One mitzvah, properly performed, is enough.

This "singles" stuff is for the birds. What's there to say to a fellow "single", if neither of you believe in anything? Believe first. Then, your spouse will simply appear. Really. Have faith.

Never "date". Horrible word. Get to know people vaguely in a general way, and observe, unnoticed, who acts nice to others - not to you, to others - even when tired, irritated, bored and rushed. Somebody you are aiming straight at, sure, go to a nice Dinner. But only if you are CONVINCED this person has big-time potential. Not just to get out of the house, get a little human contact, and have a story to tell your friends. You went "out," and they were sitting home; aren't you cool? No. Save your money, your sanity and your time. Study Torah instead, whether girl or boy, and your spouse will simply be there, when you wake up, from the anesthesia. Like in Genesis. Adam didn't date Eve. He just woke up, and she was there. Now, go Wake Up.

Oddly enough, it's when you stop looking in the wrong way that things come to you unbidden. Go figure.

Just one question, okay two. Do you feel that Orthodox practices embody the overall teaching of the Torah? And, what are your thoughts and feelings about the Torah, and (okay three), do you feel that the Torah is a part of the raison d' etere of the Jews? And if so (okay four, four, that's it, it's four) to what extent?

Real, True Anon's posting is pure fantasy.

Study Torah and your mate will magically appear?  Are you for real?  These stories are great when they're about the BeShT but the rest the world needs to actually do something.  Staying at home and saving your money will not get you a mate, let alone a date.

Most people have the problem of unrealistic expectations, including Jewish singles, Jews, professionals at Jewish institutions, etc...   The problem with most Jewish singles who have difficulty finding what they are looking for is that they judge themselves with one set of criteria, and everyone else with a much different set.

My whole beef with this thread is that I don't care.  I have my reasons for being an engaged Jew and if we agree, great.  If we don't, great.  There are Judaisms out there for everyone, everyone who's not too lazy, not too jaded, not too full of themselves. 

1.  I've been to chabad, and wasn't impressed.

2. I don't need to look to ancestors to find orthodox Jews--I have enough living relatives.  I wish them all the best but I fail to see why having orthodox ancestors means you should be orthodox.

 3.  You still haven't answered Tahl's question.  Your Che Guevara references are bizarre--I assure you I would never buy one of his posters.

--Z

OK, cool, no more Che Gevurah references. I only dragged in the ancestors because people with NO orthodox or hardly even vaguely religious relatives can be both startled and encouraged to think that Orthodoxy is not some kind of strange out-there thing, no, it was how their great grandmothers simply lived and it was normal if you were a Jew. The sky is blue, the grass is green, roses are red and Jews light candles on Friday night. Normal. Stone bone normal.

As for Tahl's question about raison d'être well the reason for being of a Jew is to do the mitzvot. Sounds mindless but it does give something to people but perhaps you have to meet it half way and bring your own lunch.

As for "dating" - sure, see, meet, hang out, chat, but I meant the whole song-and- dance of formally squiring zillions of people through the many volumes, year after year, of your personal calendar, is fatiguing, expensive, repetitive, and stiff. Nice restaurants are not for people you are getting to know! They are for people you already know, and are entirely sure you like a lot. THEN the fun begins. No stiffness. But, you have to EARN that special thing. The getting-to-know period has to be completely informal, chatty, daytime not evening, no special outfit, lighting or shoes, - or how can people be natural? How can you pierce their disguises and games? You need to see them when they are NOT posing, preening or acting. TALK. Don't scare the deer. Don't shine klieg lights on people. Take your time. The great peril is becoming a professional dater. You don't want to get too good at it, jaded.

Yes, if you engage Torah, something is going to be "lit," or "awake," in your face, and stuff will happen. It's not like going to Macy's to get a couch. You have to be in shape. Torah study will get you in shape.

Anybody for whom Chabad is too chewy, or too fruity, too flippy dippy, can call Partners In Torah (1 800 STUDY 4 2), telling them "you want a study partner who isn't all Chabad-y. Just a regular, normal, and this-world Jew, a human being", you say. They have that. They have everything. No judgmentalism, just, "here is your right person, same sex, to study with on the phone, once a week. Free." Eventually you will have more in your head. That matters. Stuff will happen. This is NOT like the kinds of knowledge you have already acquired, in schools. This is a piece of you, that you do not even know you have. A secret, collapsed third lung, which can open, giving you thirty-three percent more oxygen in your blood. Aaah.

I just got home from an all-day new media tech conference and was so happy to see the conversation that's ensued on this post. The conference was brutal! But this one was really quite inspiring (Jewcy can be doing so much more to build community and embrace and facilitate what this thread proves are some of the smartest, most interesting group of people on the Net - we really need to give all of you more power to create content, develop initiatives, and dictate how Jewcy evolves technologically, programatically, etc. More on that later).

Anyway, I somehow angered my fiance almost immediately upon arrival home, which makes me cook for the evening. I need to start an entirely different thread soliciting advice on how to make these relationship things work. Tell me -- just lie if needed -- that it gets easier after the wedding!!!! 

All to say that I can't respond and push the convo forward this evening -- but I will tomorrow! There are points made here and questions asked that are extraordinary. I have few answers, but I'll mix it up with you, and when I do, I'll try to write with the civility and composure y'all display. Those qualities weren't on display in my last comment and for that I apologize. Until then....

Thank you for your clear and concise comment. As a  JBC in progress,

your comment, in particular, is very reassuring...

I'm not Orthodox even though half of my family is.  I'll probably get more observant as I get older but not right now.  Just because I state why secular Judaism is failing doesn't mean I think it's a failure.  It's been good to America and the world but it's days are over.  It's a combination of things not just intermarriage.  I can't blame non-Jews for not being enthusiatic about Judaism when their Jewish spouses aren't.  There are many other reasons for secular Judaism becoming extinct. 

You obviously don't understand what I mean by self-hatred.  Many Jews hate being Jewish and don't care about the future of Judaism of any kind.  They would rather live assimilated and blend with the crowd.  There's a part of me that doesn't blame them because it's hard to be a minority in a country where your "group" is only 1% of the population.  Couple that with negative stereotypes and anti-Israel propaganda which would make it tough for any person to feel proud of their heritage.

The days of a three or four generation of a Jewish secular family is long past.  Unfortunately for you the Orthodox will be the largest Jewish group because of their high fertility.   I do think that would be sad for Judaism because it will make it less diverse.

You really need to see a psychologist about your hatred toward the Orthodox.  Your feelings toward the Orthodox are similiar to an anti-semite.  I care about the Orthodox and secular Judaism because it's part of my history.  You're just a hater whose a bitter old man because the truth hurts.

I really like the latter term because it combines the material and the spiritual, and implicit, I think, in it's use is that the physical has to be rendered some kind of vessel for spirituality: that would be a great project for Judaism in the next century.  But, yes the question, as Tahl phrases it, and as Jess re-works it is of the greatest importance.  In a sense, however, the technology already exists: in the accrued traditions and customs of generations; the "concept" we provide and develop through our engagement with that pre-existent technology.  But that technology--what Jess M calls "religion"--though ready at hand and available to everyone requires training.  It's not a matter of winning some kind of authenticity sweepstakes, but having access to the tools and technology which will let the conceptual grow and flourish in various forms.  But just to run after the concept independent of the technology (which I think alot of liberal movements with the best intentions do) will not provide the same enuduring pleasures... wdk www.openmindedtorah.blogspot.com

Your view is dangerous. You have no concept of Peoplehood and a limited view of what it means to be a Jew. I can't stand the reform movement-- but who are you to tell any Jew that their version of a Jewish life, etc. is worthless? G-d? No, you're definitely not G-d; if G-d had a Jewcy profile, he/she wouldn't have chosen such a misnomer for a user name.

Cori C

http://cori-c.blogspot.com

coriac@gmail.com

Let me leap to Tahl's defense here. First of all, he likes my writing, so he can do no wrong.

Tahl's sharp, acerbic tone about the Orthodox - in a certain context - and his father's and family's views about their Israeli experience about them, were troubling to my delicate BT ears. But they were honest opinion. It was strong stuff, but not abusive. That is what the guy thinks and feels. So? I can handle it, and it is part of life. We need to be honest, to get anywhere. It helped a lot that he defended his angry father's right to a "spiritual heritage" that had got lost somehow. We are here to integrate what has been pulled apart. So, first we have to examine what has been pulled apart. Sigh.

Women who are facing their weddings cannot be expected to be sane. It is an interface of the ideal with the real. Examine her carefully and say with concern, "Are you OK? You look kind of thin. Your clothes are kind of hanging on you. Are you eating properly?" That should help.

WDK, you are so right. You are aware that Chassidism has been discussing and working on injecting the holy into the the physical for three hundred years. For instance, when we say a bracha (blessing) on an apple before eating it, we elevate the act of eating it above mere animal eating, for instance. Eating the apple becomes a holy act. You are a closet Orthodox! Even Chassidic! Another one!

I know that you're busy, but this would be the second time since I've been commenting here that you've promised to quickly some declaration of principles--not just a declaration of criticisms--into print.  And I was just wondering...not to be pushy...but just wondering when this tractate will emerge.  And I know that you not only have to print it but be there to clarify and maybe even defend it.  So it's a big project--in terms of time.

Have been away from the site for a couple of weeks. Best of luck to you as you learn, grow, and--most importantly--start acting Jewishly.