Today in class we were discussing the laws of marriage and the ketubah, etc. My teacher made a comment to the effect of "the marriage contract screws the man". I half jokingly commented that it balances out, since the entire Torah (and Judaism in general) is sexist. In response, I got a 7 minute lecture which basically said that the Torah is the ultimate truth and that if you are Jewish life will be better. My teacher is very close minded (obviously) and implied that if I argued I risked being kicked out of the class. I pick my battles wisely, and this was not the battle to fight!
Question: How will my life be better if I am Jewish, won't it be more difficult?
Being Jewish, following the tried and true handbook of life, Torah, does makes life much easier, not harder. Even if your not sure Torah comes directly from G-d's hand, it's still a miracle that it gets so much about how to live life right even today.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part of Judaism is something you're probably already past, learning Hebrew, learning the basic rules, how they're written, how to pray and keep holidays.
After that being Jewish is easy.
Interpretation however, is politics. That's why there are so many streams of Judaism, each fulfills a certain segment of the Jewish population.
Yeshivish vs MO vs Chabad (very generally) or Reform vs Reconstructionist vs Conservative vs Traditional. Then of course these are segmented further as you get into them. Which specific shul or rabbi speaks to you the most, etc.
Don't confuse Torah, Judaism and being Jewish with some individuals (or groups) deficiencies. Being Jewish does not guarantee you will be a good person, and of course you can be a good person and not be Jewish. But, imho, being Jewish will bring you closer to the beauty of G-d and being human.
Good luck.