The thing that gets me is that even though there are only 11 million of us in the world, there are SO many who are quick divide us, discredit us, deny our Jewishness. Do we have the numbers to be able to afford to throw out hundreds or thousands? No...we can't afford that. ALL JEWS need to be united under HaShem's shamayim in order to stand together against those who would destroy us. We can quibble, and we can disagree on issues, but we need to stand together against the haters out there.
I love this video and the question that it asks. I am more than a little scared at what Jewish is without Judaism. Studies show that it takes little more than two generations for members of our culture to completely drop Jewishness without Judaism. Assimilation is what scares me. I've run into a number of people that tell me "my grandma/granddad were Jewish." Assimilation, in my opinion, does not happen nearly as much when Judaism and Jewish are held closely together.
What is Jewish without Judaism? Nothing. The head teacher at my Reform Synagogue last year expressed it well, "I just don't understand how you can teach Judaism without God. Why say the Shema?" None of that culture and tradition makes sense without its central pillar. As a queer Jew who gave up trying to be Orthodox a long time ago, I recently decided that I didn't want to toss the baby with the bathwater anymore. I don't expect other people to do it but, I believe it's time for teshuvah for me.
There's also the dreaded "unaffiliated" Jew...Though you seldom hear the term "affiliated" Jew...which assumes that the normative Jew is one who is temple or movement affiliated.
The thing that gets me is that even though there are only 11 million of us in the world, there are SO many who are quick divide us, discredit us, deny our Jewishness. Do we have the numbers to be able to afford to throw out hundreds or thousands? No...we can't afford that. ALL JEWS need to be united under HaShem's shamayim in order to stand together against those who would destroy us. We can quibble, and we can disagree on issues, but we need to stand together against the haters out there.
flyrod6057 2 weeks ago
sometimes i feel that many of our synagogues are less 'beit tefilah" and more "beit latke"
skewlboypin 1 month ago in playlist Liked videos
Don't despair my friend.
deljuro 1 month ago
I love this video and the question that it asks. I am more than a little scared at what Jewish is without Judaism. Studies show that it takes little more than two generations for members of our culture to completely drop Jewishness without Judaism. Assimilation is what scares me. I've run into a number of people that tell me "my grandma/granddad were Jewish." Assimilation, in my opinion, does not happen nearly as much when Judaism and Jewish are held closely together.
stevenrterry 1 month ago
What is Jewish without Judaism? Nothing. The head teacher at my Reform Synagogue last year expressed it well, "I just don't understand how you can teach Judaism without God. Why say the Shema?" None of that culture and tradition makes sense without its central pillar. As a queer Jew who gave up trying to be Orthodox a long time ago, I recently decided that I didn't want to toss the baby with the bathwater anymore. I don't expect other people to do it but, I believe it's time for teshuvah for me.
jwmberkowitz 1 month ago
@jwmberkowitz Thank you so much for this comment. I'm another queer Jew in the process of teshuvah, and some days it feels very lonely.
Lirit331 1 month ago
@Lirit331 as @jwmberkowitz (and our videos) can tell you, we love Queer Jews and are 100% here for you if you need us. remember, you matter!
punktorah 1 month ago
There's also the dreaded "unaffiliated" Jew...Though you seldom hear the term "affiliated" Jew...which assumes that the normative Jew is one who is temple or movement affiliated.
brotherdarek 1 month ago
What about ftm or mtf are they accepted?
KrisKalik 1 month ago
@KrisKalik We accept all including transpeople and the queer community who don't want to identify with labels :-)
punktorah 1 month ago
Its about culture and tradition .
slLLyhumans 1 month ago