יום שישי נגמר
נדלקו נרות שבת
מה יפה היום
נדלקו נרות שבת
מה יפה היום
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
- The Reform Baal Teshuvah
- To many, this would seem an oxymoron. After all, the term "Baal Teshuvah," meaning "master of return," is generally used in orthodox circles to refer to a Jew who has come round to orthodox practice. And certainly, this is not me. After 15 years away from the Judaism I grew up with, I bought a Reform Chumash and read the Torah through. My own personal theology is derived from one very simple premise: Torah is a descriptive, not a prescriptive document. God does not threaten, but warns. God does not seek blind obedience, but hopes rather for engaged participation. God instructs us in how to be kind to ourselves, to each other, to the earth and to Him, because he wants us to be happy. Human nature being what it is, things sometimes get ugly, and sometimes booty needs kicking in order to create space in which kindness can prevail. But ultimately, harmony in the universe is the end towards which Torah tells us to strive. It is the process of discovery this theology within myself, and then discovering that the Reform movement shares it and acts on it that has made me a Reform Baal Teshuvah.
Copyright Notice
I. All posts and comments on this blog are copyrighted on the date of their creation by their authors. All rights are reserved by these authors except as noted in paragraph II.
II. By commenting or posting to this blog, you grant me non-exclusive rights to display your comment or post, and you agree to grant the same permissions for derivative work that I grant in paragraph III. You may use any content of your own creation without citing this blog.
III. If you wish to use any of the content on this blog, you may do so on the condition that you cite it with a citation that includes the Blog's name, the URL of the specific item you are citing, and the date viewed.
II. By commenting or posting to this blog, you grant me non-exclusive rights to display your comment or post, and you agree to grant the same permissions for derivative work that I grant in paragraph III. You may use any content of your own creation without citing this blog.
III. If you wish to use any of the content on this blog, you may do so on the condition that you cite it with a citation that includes the Blog's name, the URL of the specific item you are citing, and the date viewed.
No comments:
Post a Comment