tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post6655728371683831315..comments2023-10-07T05:24:14.956-04:00Comments on Skeptical Observations: Why Are There So Few Non-Orthodox Jewish Blogs?Miles Rindhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03733605717776262840noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-71757606442055425262018-04-12T14:00:36.225-04:002018-04-12T14:00:36.225-04:00I think you've hit upon the central difficulty...I think you've hit upon the central difficulty for many of us non-orthodox Jews: we suspect that there is something immeasurably valuable in Judaism and in particular in the halakhah, but we cannot bring ourselves to return to the orthodox beliefs without which observance of the halakhah seems groundless. I believe that for those of us in this situation, the beginning of a solution may lie in studying Maimonides' bold argument (in the Guide of the Perplexed, III.25ff.) that all of the mitzvot or commandments (the details of the halakhah) have reasons, most of which are knowable. Otherwise stated, the halakhah is useful or beneficial in a way that is humanly intelligible. When we modern Jews combine Maimonides' rationalistic approach with the fact that the traditional halakhah is also our own (for "one's own" has a natural claim to one's attention and respect), we are already at least half-way toward reconsidering our non-observance of halakhah. Furthermore, we cannot know in advance that halakhah must mean halakhah as interpreted by the majority of orthodox Jews. There may be justification for re-interpreting certain aspects of halakhah, without, however, abandoning the whole halakhic tradition (which is, to exaggerate slightly, what Reform Judaism has chosen to do).David N. Levyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08604554047058218739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-25758093089268813082014-12-24T16:30:43.708-05:002014-12-24T16:30:43.708-05:00You might be interested in www.judaismandscience.c...You might be interested in www.judaismandscience.com.Roger Pricehttp://www.judaismandscience.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-48927610176790916282010-04-27T23:21:59.031-04:002010-04-27T23:21:59.031-04:00There are also a lot of bloggers who occasionally ...There are also a lot of bloggers who occasionally discuss issues related to Jewishness or Judaism but are not focusing on that (myself for example). If one isn't frum, then Judaism is likely not going to be the overriding thing that controls your day to day life. So it shouldn't be surprising that the non-frum or less frum Jews blog about other things. (This is essentially an expanded version of your first explanation).Joshuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00637936588223855248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-9824564876593093182010-01-05T11:56:54.488-05:002010-01-05T11:56:54.488-05:00BZ, thank you for the links. Of the blogs that you...<b>BZ</b>, thank you for the links. Of the blogs that you list, "Divinity Is in the Details" is the one that looks most interesting to me, though unfortunately the writer only posts a few entries per year. Next I would put "Water Over Rocks," which certainly does not suffer from any scarcity of posts. Poetry blogs ("Velveteen Rabbi" and to some extent "D'yo Ilu Yamey") and blogs about food ("The Jew and the Carrot") and other quotidian concerns ("Jewschool") are not so interesting to me. I can't make head or tails of "D'yo Ilu Yamey," while "Velveteen Rabbi" has such an overloaded front page that it causes my browser to freeze.<br /><br /><b>tcs3600</b>, thanks also for the links. "<a href="http://www.fiftypercenters.com/" rel="nofollow">Fifty Percenters</a>" could prove interesting, even though I am not part of its ostensible target audience. I will have to do some exploring of "<a href="http://www.ourjewishcommunity.org" rel="nofollow">Our Jewish Community</a>." As you say, it is not a blog, though there is a blog in it by one of the rabbis called <a href="http://www.ourjewishcommunity.org/category/baums-blog/" rel="nofollow">Baum's Blog</a>. <br /><br />I certainly would not take the yeshiva as a model of education for Jews of all kinds. I agree that it would be worthwhile for Jewish young people to learn about the historical development of Jewish practices, as you suggest. But if my own experience of Reform Jewish education was at all representative then it would be nearly as difficult to teach such topics to Reform youngsters as it would be to teach them the minutiae of the Talmud. Though I was industrious and well-behaved in my weekday secular school, I and my classmates in religious school were rebellious, inattentive, and virtually unteachable. I think that the underlying cause was simply that Jewish observance played so little role in our everyday lives that any study of it or of the thinking on which it was based literally bored us silly. I imagine that things have changed since then (I have no children), but I would be surprised if this fundamental problem were not still with us.Miles Rindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03733605717776262840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-90524517471115635102010-01-04T16:44:16.842-05:002010-01-04T16:44:16.842-05:00I, too, admire the extensive knowledge about Judai...I, too, admire the extensive knowledge about Judaism that comes from learning in an Orthodox yeshiva. But I would rather that my kids had a broader focus. It could be more illuminating to the question of "what Judaism is" to study, e.g., how Shabbos rules evolved over time, than to learn all the categories and subcategories of forbidden work. Especially if the yeshiva assumes that a tiny subset of rabbis have defined "real" Judaism. <br /><br />As for blogs, I don't know if these are exactly in the vein you're thinking of, but I like these, in addition to Jewschool:<br /><br />Fiftypercenters.com: "a blog written by and for individuals engaging with Judaism in non-traditional ways." Writers are mostly in "mixed" families but they grapple with some of the same questions you mention.<br /><br />OurJewishCommunity.org: "Online synagogue" experiment by the rabbis of a humanistic congregation. Not really a blog, but an effort to practice Judaism nontheistically (along with many other humanistic congregations).<br /><br />Thanks for being out there.tcs3600https://www.blogger.com/profile/08406518675639534423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-30106465966299793432010-01-03T16:19:54.642-05:002010-01-03T16:19:54.642-05:00Some other non-Orthodox Jewish blogs include:
Jews...Some other non-Orthodox Jewish blogs include:<br /><a href="http://www.jewschool.com" rel="nofollow">Jewschool</a> (a group blog, where some writers are Orthodox but most are not)<br /><a href="http://www.jcarrot.org" rel="nofollow">The Jew and the Carrot</a> (ditto)<br /><a href="http://divinityisinthedetails.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Divinity is in the Details</a><br /><a href="http://www.andybachman.com" rel="nofollow">Water Over Rocks</a><br /><a href="http://ktiva.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">D'yo Ilu Yamey</a><br /><a href="http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/" rel="nofollow">Velveteen Rabbi</a>BZhttp://mahrabu.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-35799015566634162642009-12-30T19:28:26.363-05:002009-12-30T19:28:26.363-05:00But there are loads of Orthodox blogs. I find it h...But there are loads of Orthodox blogs. I find it hard to believe that non-Orthodox Jews are just less eager to get on the Web than Orthodox. I think they're blogging all right but that few of them are writing about Judaism.Miles Rindhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03733605717776262840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484964530322163939.post-34618051303623463812009-12-30T01:27:18.822-05:002009-12-30T01:27:18.822-05:00I think blogs in general are hard to find. They...I think blogs in general are hard to find. They're gaining popularity, I think. Give it a few years.OTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12284266882043971891noreply@blogger.com