affordable, interesting, fairly safe, urban community, where you can also walk to shul!
Yeah, it's nice. Which of these did you have to sacrifice where you live now?
I did get some flack from other congregants for walking home late at night from a tikkun leil shavuot; I still think Squirrel Hill is safe enough, even at 3am or whenever. But I've learned to accept a ride if forcefully offered under such circumstances. Shalom bayit isn't just about one's home, after all. :-)
What synagogue do you belong to?
Belong to Temple Sinai; also attend (and occasionally lead kabbalat shabbat at) Tree of Life. (I go to ToL on Thursdays for shacharit. I can't commit to go every day, so better to settle into a one-day-a-week routine than to be random about it. This Thursday I'll be leining my "birthday" portion -- or some of it, anyway.) Is there anyone I should say "hello" to for you?
Which of these did you have to sacrifice where you live now?
"Urban" to some extent, but really the "shul" part is tenuous -- the place is barely hanging on and no one else there is in their 30s (as we are on the early cusp of that). Most places I have lived, it has been "affordable." For example, in Providence, the eruv and all the shuls with some proportion of young people are on the East Side, but we would easily be paying $700 more to have anything decent there. But this time I decided I didn't want to drive, so I enjoy the walking. And, hey, in a dying shul -- there's plenty of opportunity for leadership roles! :-o
Which brings up -- I have to admit that I've never heard of Reform folks who won't drive to shul -- that's different.
Only been to ToL once or twice, and that was in USY -- the sad fact is that almost everyone I really knew in Pittsburgh has moved away, except for my parents...
Sorry to hear about the state of your shul. I sometimes wonder about some of the local ones, too. For example, I'm the youngest person who attends the ToL morning minyan by probably a good 15 years, and most people there are of my parents' generation. Of course that's weekdays, and the Shabbat/Yom Tov crowds are somewhat different.
And, hey, in a dying shul -- there's plenty of opportunity for leadership roles! :-o
I'm glad you can see the positive side. :-)
Which brings up -- I have to admit that I've never heard of Reform folks who won't drive to shul -- that's different.
You'll find I'm full of surprises. :-) Seriously, though, it took me a while to figure out that practice and theology don't always match. I am observant to some level (sometimes loose, sometimes not) on most of the key points and many of the others, but my theology is solidly Reform. It's possible to be a serious Reform Jew, and that's what I am. I started to write more about this here but then remembered that I already did here a while back, so I'll just point to that entry for now instead of writing a long-winded comment.
Really interesting. You know, I often feel like being a committed, serious Conservative Jew for the same reasons you mention -- wanting to prove to people that it can be done. I also tend to more of an orthopraxis, traditionalist viewpoint in personal observance while having the same basic problem with accepting the orthodox view of revelation. It's interesting that you would mention the Conservative rabbi whipping out the Shulchan Aruch, though -- if only mine would! I find myself doing freelance halacha far more often than I'd like.
Anyway, be glad that you have a morning minyan, which is always small and for a core group. Sometimes our minyans are me and one other guy.
It's interesting that you would mention the Conservative rabbi whipping out the Shulchan Aruch, though -- if only mine would!
I'll admit that this is speculative; while I ask the rabbi at ToL questions of history, reasons for practices, or whatever, I take the questions that are going to inform my practice to my own rabbi. (As it is written: "Make for yourself a rav".) I don't have any problems with the rabbi of ToL, but he's not my rabbi. (My own rabbi does in fact pull out or at least cite traditional sources when we talk, by the way.)
I find myself doing freelance halacha far more often than I'd like.
Well, at least it sounds like you have the education to be able to do someething productive that way, though I agree that it's not ideal.
When I said practice and theology don't always match, I meant matching each other in movements. That is, we expect a certain level of observance of a Conservative Jew, and a different level of a Reform Jew or an Orthodox Jew or a Reconstructionist, but sometimes the practice and the best theological fit are different. They're somewhat orthogonal issues.
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Re: Kosher Krispy Kreme...
Date: 2003-05-13 11:14 am (UTC)Yeah, it's nice. Which of these did you have to sacrifice where you live now?
I did get some flack from other congregants for walking home late at night from a tikkun leil shavuot; I still think Squirrel Hill is safe enough, even at 3am or whenever. But I've learned to accept a ride if forcefully offered under such circumstances. Shalom bayit isn't just about one's home, after all. :-)
What synagogue do you belong to?
Belong to Temple Sinai; also attend (and occasionally lead kabbalat shabbat at) Tree of Life. (I go to ToL on Thursdays for shacharit. I can't commit to go every day, so better to settle into a one-day-a-week routine than to be random about it. This Thursday I'll be leining my "birthday" portion -- or some of it, anyway.) Is there anyone I should say "hello" to for you?
Re: Kosher Krispy Kreme...
Date: 2003-05-13 11:26 am (UTC)"Urban" to some extent, but really the "shul" part is tenuous -- the place is barely hanging on and no one else there is in their 30s (as we are on the early cusp of that). Most places I have lived, it has been "affordable." For example, in Providence, the eruv and all the shuls with some proportion of young people are on the East Side, but we would easily be paying $700 more to have anything decent there. But this time I decided I didn't want to drive, so I enjoy the walking. And, hey, in a dying shul -- there's plenty of opportunity for leadership roles! :-o
Which brings up -- I have to admit that I've never heard of Reform folks who won't drive to shul -- that's different.
Only been to ToL once or twice, and that was in USY -- the sad fact is that almost everyone I really knew in Pittsburgh has moved away, except for my parents...
shuls and observance
Date: 2003-05-13 12:35 pm (UTC)And, hey, in a dying shul -- there's plenty of opportunity for leadership roles! :-o
I'm glad you can see the positive side. :-)
Which brings up -- I have to admit that I've never heard of Reform folks who won't drive to shul -- that's different.
You'll find I'm full of surprises. :-) Seriously, though, it took me a while to figure out that practice and theology don't always match. I am observant to some level (sometimes loose, sometimes not) on most of the key points and many of the others, but my theology is solidly Reform. It's possible to be a serious Reform Jew, and that's what I am. I started to write more about this here but then remembered that I already did here a while back, so I'll just point to that entry for now instead of writing a long-winded comment.
Re: shuls and observance
Date: 2003-05-13 12:54 pm (UTC)Anyway, be glad that you have a morning minyan, which is always small and for a core group. Sometimes our minyans are me and one other guy.
Re: shuls and observance
Date: 2003-05-13 01:04 pm (UTC)I'll admit that this is speculative; while I ask the rabbi at ToL questions of history, reasons for practices, or whatever, I take the questions that are going to inform my practice to my own rabbi. (As it is written: "Make for yourself a rav".) I don't have any problems with the rabbi of ToL, but he's not my rabbi. (My own rabbi does in fact pull out or at least cite traditional sources when we talk, by the way.)
I find myself doing freelance halacha far more often than I'd like.
Well, at least it sounds like you have the education to be able to do someething productive that way, though I agree that it's not ideal.
clarification
Date: 2003-05-13 12:41 pm (UTC)