Author Topic: The face of modern Judaism  (Read 1857 times)

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Offline Sephirath

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Offline Yaakov Mendel

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Re: The face of modern Judaism
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2011, 08:39:45 AM »
Funny parody of phoney Judaism. Reminded me about the Bar Mitzva preparation in the movie "A serious man" by Joel and Ethan Coen, where you have this teenager who is raised in a Jewish family that has lost all sincerity and true faith, and as a result he couldn't care less about Judaism and he repeats his lines like a parrot...
Rabbi Kahane speaks very well of phoney Judaism in "Why be Jewish ?" and "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews". Why pretend to be an observant Jew when there is no faith in your heart ?
« Last Edit: August 30, 2011, 03:33:08 PM by Yaakov Mendel »

Offline muman613

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Re: The face of modern Judaism
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2011, 06:09:34 PM »
Funny parody of phoney Judaism. Reminded me about the Bar Mitzva preparation in the movie "A serious man" by Joel and Ethan Coen, where you have this teenager who is raised in a Jewish family that has lost all sincerity and true faith, and as a result he couldn't care less about Judaism and he repeats his lines like a parrot...
Rabbi Kahane speaks very well of phoney Judaism in "Why be Jewish ?" and "Uncomfortable Questions for Comfortable Jews". Why pretend to be an observant Jew when there is no faith in your heart ?

The bigger question which should be asked is what can be done to stem the flow of lost Jewish souls? Everyone and their brother complains about how they were not given a Jewish education which appealed to them later in life. I must be one of those lucky ones who learned something from my Sunday school Rabbis because at the age of 38 I returned with a vengeance {after giving up all observance for almost 24 years}. I was one of those 'bar mitzvah' casualties... After my Bar Mitzvah I did not continue Jewish education and started down a path which led me far from my roots.

What can we do to stop this flow? How can Rabbis present Judaism in a way which appeals to the soul of young Jews today? I do not just want to sit back and laugh about this, nor do I want to cry about it... I want to determine what can be done to bring more young Jews to understand just how important being Jewish is, and the mission which we share.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14