As a post- Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur post, the Jewish holidays about starting a clean slate in a new year, a questions that has been plaguing me for a while comes to mind. What does God want from me? As a gay Orthodox Jew- does he want me to be alone for the rest of my life? Does he want me to go through endless hours of therapy that are highly unlikely to succeed?
And bigger than this- as I prayed on Yom Kippur I thought- what does He want from us? As a Jewish nation in the 21st century with technologies beyond people's wildest imaginations and capabilities, sexuality and sexual promiscuity rampant and dominating our cultures worldwide, what does He want from us? Should we shelter ourselves in the depths of Brooklyn and Lakewood and Bnei Brak, or do we encourage ourselves to grow and learn from the world around us, and challenge ourselves to remain faithful to God in a world that whose basic principles seem to go against everything Judaism holds dear?
The Torah, and more specifically- it's laws as decided by the Rabbi's- were decided in a completely different society and culture. PRayers were written for a different population to say. Unfortunately, today, our leaders don't feel close enough to understanding laws to allow law to be brought truly into a modern context or change things that were decided hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. I'm not calling for change of the Torah, or the laws uphelp by the Rabbi's. But I am calling for an understanding- and the room to believe, that not every single thing decided so long ago is relevant today. And of certain people feel strongly that God wants XYZ, while the community has been holding ABC, it's their right to do XYZ. Not just because they want to, but because they feel it's what God meant for the world today. Because every law made by a Rabbi is simply a Rabbi deciding what GOd wants from the world today, and we all listen to the Rabbis. But when it comes down to it- no one has divine inspiration today, no one talks to God, and therefore no one can command something of another as far as their relationship with God and upholding of the Torah.
I stopped in the middle of my Yom Kippur prayers, closed my eyes and said "God, we don't know what to do. We haven't had a divine inspiration in thousands of years, and we, as your nation, are just trying to figure out what you want from us in this world today- the 21st century. Forgive your people for the ways they may have misinterpreted your laws or did not uphold what you intended, we are all just trying our best- and will continue to do so."
My question to you is why are you letting rabbis dictate what God wants from you... your relationship with God is your own, you can make the rules... at least that's my opinion.
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous above, no, you can't make the rules, because then you're just inventing your own ridiculous god made in your image.
ReplyDeleteWe are made in God's image, not the other way around. And He gave us the rules, through his Written and Oral Torah.
"But when it comes down to it- no one has divine inspiration today, no one talks to God, and therefore no one can command something of another as far as their relationship with God and upholding of the Torah."
ReplyDeleteWe don't need things to be divine in order to follow the rabbi's. We were made to toil and work at the torah in order to understand it. We have to listen to the rabbi's not because of their title but because they are the ones who devote everyday of their life to understand the torah. We are not listening to them because THEY are commanding us, rather because they are the ones who have put in all the effort to understanding the torah and understanding what the torah expects of us. just like we go to the doctor and listen to him because he's the one who studied medicine for 10 yrs, so to we listen to the rabbis because they know better then we do. We may think we know better but we're probably biased and we definitely do not have enough torah knowledge to decide on our own how we should serve God. It is therefore necessary to seek the guidance of a rabbi. (a real rabbi not some person who happens to give shiurim, but someone whose entire life is devoted to learning and teaching torah)
anyways, overall good post, it's true, without divine inspiration we will never know really what God wants. But that's ok, we just have to try our best.
keep up the good work and don't ever give up on any of your Jewish ideals no matter how hard the struggle
"But I am calling for an understanding- and the room to believe, that not every single thing decided so long ago is relevant today. "
ReplyDeleteEly, i know u've heard of the concept of Lo Plug.
Do you hold of that concept?
And He gave us the rules, through his Written and Oral Torah.
ReplyDelete[citation needed]
Your Yom Kippur tefillah sounded very sincere to me!
ReplyDeleteThe vidui in the silent [as opposed to chazarat hashatz] shemoneh esray purposely comes after the "matbay-ah shel tefillah"--after the completion of all of the brachot of the shemoneh esray--so that we can privatize our vidui and add our own tefillot to it.
Doesn't this open up a very slippery slope? Who is to decide what is or is not relevant anymore and where do we draw that line? The Jewish people have been preserved as a nation for thousands of years specifically because of our stubborn clinging to tradition.
ReplyDeleteHey there, it's Adina Kastner (nee Schwartz)
ReplyDeletewere you purposely referencing the Adam Lambert song? If so, well done!!
FrumGay, can I axe ya a question?
ReplyDeleteWhat if there never was no divine inspiration? Why would there be a divine inspiration 3000 years ago, last for hundres of years, supposedly, and then suddently go away. It makes no sense. The most probable answer is that there never was no divine inspiration. In that case why do you have to ruin your life following some dead guys who made stuff up with no divine inspiration?
dear Mr spinoza what is your opinion on dinosaurs?
ReplyDeleteScience Vs Religion...Whose side are you on?
ReplyDelete