{"id":722,"date":"2010-09-14T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-14T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/why-i-write-and-for-whom.html"},"modified":"2010-09-14T12:55:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-14T12:55:00","slug":"why-i-write-and-for-whom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/why-i-write-and-for-whom.html","title":{"rendered":"Why I Write And For Whom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Why do I write and why did I start this blog?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Let me say at the outset that I am and always have been committed to Klal Yisrael \u2013 the unity of the Jewish people.\u00a0 I am also painfully aware that this is just a slogan representing a well-intentioned sentiment.\u00a0 Like many other historical families we are split into factions and not likely to unite any time soon.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Our factionalism \u2013 one might say tribalism \u2013 is mostly organized around the approaches we take to the authority and place of scripture and its interpretations in Jewish life.\u00a0 Reform Judaism holds that it is non-binding.\u00a0 Orthodoxy views Halakha as authoritative.\u00a0 There are many groups of us and we all have our ways of understanding the lessons of Judaism.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Secular Humanistic Judaism has a point of view, too.\u00a0 It is distinguished by its non-theism and ignosticism.\u00a0 We argue that, especially given Jewish experience, this is a perfectly valid approach to Judaism.\u00a0 It certainly draws on many Jewish thinkers of the past such as Spinoza and Kaplan.\u00a0 It is also committed to the scientific method and reason, which in my view are also Jewish traditions.<\/span><\/div>\n
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I do not write to convince people of faith to abandon it.\u00a0 There are plentiful resources for the Jewish faithful of every stripe.\u00a0 I write for those who are seeking an alternative or who are already committed to Secular Humanistic Judaism.\u00a0 That does not mean I am uncritical of the other movements and approaches.\u00a0 Spokespeople for every Jewish position are critical of other movements and approaches.\u00a0 I don\u2019t seek to overthrow their forms of Judaism or convert them over to my way of thinking.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
No, my way of thinking is primarily of interest to those who share my point of view or who are open to this alternative in Jewish life.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re not in that category and can\u2019t stand my views, please don\u2019t read my blog!\u00a0 There are many things I do in my career to promote unity.\u00a0 This is not one of those things.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why do I write and why did I start this blog? Let me say at the outset that I am and always have been committed to Klal Yisrael \u2013 the unity of the Jewish people.\u00a0 I am also painfully aware that this is just a slogan representing a well-intentioned sentiment.\u00a0 Like many other historical families […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-secular-humanistic-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy I Write And For Whom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Why do I write and why did I start this blog? 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