[HANASHIR:3010] tradition is not annoying

[Benjo <bfleisch...>]

hi guys-

this is kinda amusing to me that our musical discussions have so far 
veered off-course but i suppose these are important things for us to take 
into account as leaders of congregations.  so, here's my two cents.
tradition is not annoying. people are. judaism is, as Schechter has said, 
a religion that says no.  the views presented regarded the permissability 
of water on Yom Kippur was solely directed toward people interested in 
maintaining the tradition.  for people who do not feel themselves bound 
to halachah, the tradition's opinion (when it does have  singular 
opinion) becomes an interesting thing to take into account. his decision 
becomes personal choice.  my posting and other members that involved the 
citing of sources show that we are trying to root our decisions directly 
back to the tradition. now, that is not valid to use ancient sources when 
more modern ones have instituted changes, but the laws of YH"K have not 
undergone any drastic changes lately.  
the biblical view of yom kippur is that you must afflict yourself.  even 
under that definition the drinking of water becomes questionable. you 
must ask what yom kippur means to you if it is not a day of afflictionand 
repentence.  i would say only someone about to faint should drink water.
i hope i haven't come across too strong here. it's difficult to measure 
my phrases to sound nicely in plain old ASCII.

Rosalind Glazer:
> I too appreciate the diversity of this list, as I do appreciate the diversity 
> within the Jewish community and pray everyday that Jews everywhere should 
> learn to get along...
i believe we are getting along.  it distresses me that jews are willing 
to take their holy days lightly but there's nothing i can do about that.
 
> It's important to remember that there is no one right way to be Jewish, or 
of course. there is no perfect or ideal jew. but there is a jewish method 
which makes one a jew.  i have a hard time explaining jewishness outside 
the jeiwsh method of referring to the tradition (in any manner).

> our generation.  (As we Reconstructionists say, tradition has a vote, not a 
> veto!)
which is to say we have a veto. be careful how you use it. just because 
you have the power to change doesn't mean it's proper to do so.  look at 
what happened with taking hebrew out of the the service and schools.  it 
was perfectly legitimate to do so, but now many american-jews don't know 
either.

> From: Susan Schanerman <sschanerman(dot)dvh (at) tuhsd(dot)k12(dot)az(dot)us>
> 
> coming year as cantorial soloist) I had to suck on cough drops through
i really don't know. halakhically i think it depends how big they are and 
how often you take them.  regular sized i think ... well i shouldn't 
poskin.

> From: BEBWH (at) aol(dot)com
> 
> Although you are perfectly correct in choosing how, when and where you want 
> to practice your Judaism it is incorrect to rationalize your personal 
> disconnection from Halacha by saying the departure will bring others closer 
> to Judaism. What Judaism is it you are bringing them to? This is not a 

yup. well put

> From: Ethan Leigh Bueno de Mesquita <mesquita (at) fas(dot)harvard(dot)edu>
> 
> Kippur.  We should not be overly concerned with the music on
> Yom Kippur sounding just right (that is, we should not be overly

do people play instruments on yom kippur? 

> From: Chazzzan (at) aol(dot)com
> correspondents on this list have said that they would resent the supposed 
> restriction of their personal "choice" and "freedom" imposed by Tradition.    

i hope i haven't crossed any of the lines here. i know i've stepped on 
some of your toes in writing my views.  but for me, the over-reliance on 
personal choice in american culture raises autonomy to deity, that 
bothers me.  it puts the individual, whether learned or not, careful or 
jumpy in a position to change well-thought-out and developed ideas of how 
to live a happy and productive life. that is not to say judaism is the 
only way to live.  in fact, it was only given to a small desert tribe. 
however, ones jews take a good look at the tradition and see how much it 
cares about the comfort of common man and keeps that in balance with fear 
of God, we can appreciate it all the more.  judaism used to frustrate me 
immensely because i had only been exposed to people opposed to change or 
oopposed to open-mindedness, as i call it, but i've found those are 
individuals. judaism doesn't have to be annoying. it is in fact a mitzvah 
to make it a delight.  just a little change of perspective and it looks a 
whole lot nicer.  (but i completely empathize with the feeling of 
oppression. i like free-choice my self.  but i seldom do things i don't 
enjoy).
comment away o'hava list :)

i can't believe it's coming in only a week!
-Benjamin

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