Dunking Rachael: Eruv Nonsense

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Eruv Nonsense

My husband and I have been talking about possibly selling our house and moving near the water. This has been a dream of my husband's for many years and he believes, due to many causes and conditions this might be obtainable for us at this time.

Being an entrepreneurial type, I very quickly thought if we go forward with this plan I should send information on our house to the various Orthodox synagogues near us. I live very close to one and within walking distance of another. I went on line to find out about their communities and Rabbi's etc.

Both web pages had information about my area's Eruv. I studied the map and was excited to see that my house is in the middle of the Eruv. This makes for wonderful possibilities for helping me sell my house....

But something about the Eurv map was deeply disturbing to me. It made me more than a bit angry. I attend a large egalitarian conservative synagogue. The eurv clearly leaves my synagogue out! I know nothing about the politics and or history of this but to look at the map they had to make an effort to skip us!

I guess I could bring this up with my rabbi...but again it is another one of these disturbing "them" "us" Jewish moments that leaves me sad.

3 comments:

Karen Zampa Katz said...: friend has left a new comment on your post "Eruv Nonsense":

Like everything in life, eruvs are expensive. The boundaries of the eruv could simply be due to who paid for it. If members of the conservative shul did not contribute to the creation or maintenance of the eruv, then the eruv's builders would not go out of their way to include it in the borders.

I am not saying that this is how it should be, but it is probably just a reality of the situation.; December 1, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Karen Zampa Katz said...: the above post was sent to me...I tried to publish it while on my iphone and my fat finger hit the don't publish instead!

sorry; December 1, 2010 at 10:48 AM
Karen Zampa Katz said...: Dear "Friend"

I am sure it is something like that...I wasn't involved/around the Jewish community when this was set up...I just had an emotional reaction...thanks for the comment; December 1, 2010 at 10:52 AM

Post a Comment

Beit Din test Question #22 "If you were to join the Jewish people......."

22) If you were to join the Jewish people, what considerations would guide you to that decision? How did your course help you to recognize some meaningful ideas to Judaism? Are there some things you have learned in the course that you find difficult to accept into your life?

I have been a thinker and a seeker for most of my life. I have explored many faiths, been involved in and have a keen interest in philosophy and psychology. I was raised in an Irish/Italian Catholic home. I lived as a Buddhist/Unitarian Universalist for most of my adult life and previously was married for 20 years to a Jewish man who did not practice his faith of origin. At the birth of my child, now 19, I sought to learn as much as I could about Judaism in order to expose this child to the faith of part of her ancestors. So I come to this new point in my life with all my experiences, knowledge and aspirations.

But the question remains how did I come to consider conversion? It is though love that the door of conversion was opened. I fell in love with a Jewish man who participates in his religion, yet he did not require me to convert, pressure me, or in any way attempt to persuade or force me. This exploration of faith was of my choosing, my volition, nurtured by love.

Clearly I am not dogmatically tied to my faith of origin, seeing that the religious expressions which dominated my adult life have been mostly non-theistic. The major change/challenge for me is in the consideration/acceptance of a theistic understanding of existence. Through explorations with my sponsoring Rabbi, reading, (lots of reading!) and the Hillel class I have come to an understanding of the divine, a place of relationship with a theistic point of view that resonates within me.

To help to articulate this I refer to the work of existentialist thinker and Jewish educator Franz Rosenzweig.

“The function of religion, according to Rosenzweig, is not to erect theological systems or establish universal truths, but to lead to experience of God, starting from one's own personal existence. He "commends 'the Pharisees of the Talmud and the saints of the Church' for knowing that 'man's understanding extends only so far as his doing.' Religious observance is, in effect, the doing of one's religious convictions; the two cannot be separated."
“(Time Magizine Monday, Jan. 01, 1951 , http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814185,00.html)

For Rosenzweig the written word was to be less important than the living exchange, for it is in the doing that the relationship to God will manifest. This idea blends well with my own mindfulness practices. These practices express that it is in the awareness of the moment, the only moment we truly have, where peace and divinity can be experienced.
Through my answers on this exam, my participation in the class and my meetings with my sponsoring Rabbi, I believe I clearly present that I am coming to know, and hopefully I am beginning to understand the meaningful ideas in relationship to Judaism. Clearly there is so much to learn, and experience.

I am most taken by the direct experience of the divine associated with taking on the laws and practices of this ancient faith. I have aspirations to practice in this tradition, but once again they can be best articulated through Rosenzweig:
“Rosenzweig’s approach was subjective also in connection with the mitzvot, Jewish observances. He did think that he would one day become a fully observant Jew, but believed in the gradual approach in which the observances slowly made their impact by “ringing a bell” for him. Typical of this approach is Rosenzweig’s answer to someone who asked him whether he wore tefillin [phylacteries]: “Not yet,” he replied.”
(My Jewish Learning.com http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Modern/IntellectualTO/Rosenzweig.htm)

Like the bell of mindfulness practice, the mitzvot, the mindfulness practice of Judaism, will take time to incorporated and to resonate within. Like the ringing of the mindfulness bell, or the sounding of the Shofar, the act of doing Judaic practices pierces the daily, the mundane and hopefully will help to awaken me to an even richer and more connective relationship with the Jewish people and the divine.