Word.

You know, I feel that to an extent. I really do. There are many religious folks who can’t abide the idea of “folks just trying to do the best they can,” which to me is so fundamental and humanizing and unifying. All I can say is that I think, with a knowledge of chassidic philosophy that’s continuously expanding and deepening, I really do think chassidus gives one the tools to live life in a genuine, childlike way, even while keeping within the guidelines of halacha. I think one of the major contributions of chassidus in this area is the realization of halacha and the steadfast rules and principles of judaism as just another expression of divinity, a system not existing for its own sake but to unify man with G-d.

You know, I feel that to an extent. I really do. There are many religious folks who can’t abide the idea of “folks just trying to do the best they can,” which to me is so fundamental and humanizing and unifying. All I can say is that I think, with a knowledge of chassidic philosophy that’s continuously expanding and deepening, I really do think chassidus gives one the tools to live life in a genuine, childlike way, even while keeping within the guidelines of halacha. I think one of the major contributions of chassidus in this area is the realization of halacha and the steadfast rules and principles of judaism as just another expression of divinity, a system not existing for its own sake but to unify man with G-d.

it’s interesting – one of the ideas someone gave me about psychotherapy was it had as its goal the return to child-like thinking (as opposed to childish.)

I do see many elements of that in orthodox Judaism – a desire to be childlike. However, I think I have to disagree that the only way to get there is OJ, or chassidish. Because (ironically) the rock-solid conclusion of the religious are (IMO) actually built on childishness.

(Fundamentalist religion is not alone in thinking it is The Way. Even if it is, how can one know? But the childish part of a person “knows.” In the same way we see repeatedly see children indicate (regarding a playmate’s toy): “if i like it, it’s mine. If it’s broken, it’s not.”

The child is doing something childish (of course, he cannot know better.) But adults understand that this is classic selfish, childish, way of thinking.

My fundamental disappointment with religious Jews are their built-up certainty about everything they believe. It has turned me off to belief – because belief to me is a way to stop seeing or talking with different kinds of people. When it comes to hearing and seeing others as human or having legitimate voices – the religious basically place a barbed wire fence between themselves and the other.

It’s why I can’t really “go there” and join them. It’s all just too cruel and cold and childish (IMO.) I don’t know if Judaism is true or not – I don’t believe humans can be certain – but I certainly find it hard to commit to a life where everyone pretends to have certaintly. And that’s because I can’t join the childish, even if they are searching hard for the child-like, which I value.

it’s interesting – one of the ideas someone gave me about psychotherapy was it had as its goal the return to child-like thinking (as opposed to childish.)

I do see many elements of that in orthodox Judaism – a desire to be childlike. However, I think I have to disagree that the only way to get there is OJ, or chassidish. Because (ironically) the rock-solid conclusion of the religious are (IMO) actually built on childishness.

(Fundamentalist religion is not alone in thinking it is The Way. Even if it is, how can one know? But the childish part of a person “knows.” In the same way we see repeatedly see children indicate (regarding a playmate’s toy): “if i like it, it’s mine. If it’s broken, it’s not.”

The child is doing something childish (of course, he cannot know better.) But adults understand that this is classic selfish, childish, way of thinking.

My fundamental disappointment with religious Jews are their built-up certainty about everything they believe. It has turned me off to belief – because belief to me is a way to stop seeing or talking with different kinds of people. When it comes to hearing and seeing others as human or having legitimate voices – the religious basically place a barbed wire fence between themselves and the other.

It’s why I can’t really “go there” and join them. It’s all just too cruel and cold and childish (IMO.) I don’t know if Judaism is true or not – I don’t believe humans can be certain – but I certainly find it hard to commit to a life where everyone pretends to have certaintly. And that’s because I can’t join the childish, even if they are searching hard for the child-like, which I value.

Everyone has a dignified side and a side that wants to just roll around in the mud. The screw up is the latter, and how it’s concealed is obvious: by living with dignity.

Everyone has a dignified side and a side that wants to just roll around in the mud. The screw up is the latter, and how it’s concealed is obvious: by living with dignity. My parents rarely swore or spoke badly about other people to us or spoke publicly about private matters, for example

I was always surprised at how much this event actually meant to me. It seems so anticlimactic now. But it really shook me up.

I wonder how many others there were like us…