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From: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: What has happened? (Do we really need another jewish newsgroup?)
Message-ID: <223@unc.unc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Aug-85 15:36:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: unc.223
Posted: Sun Aug 25 15:36:45 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 27-Aug-85 00:47:48 EDT
References: <507@osu-eddie.UUCP> <4057@alice.UUCP> <294@mit-athena.UUCP> <259@aoa.UUCP>
Reply-To: fsks@unc.UUCP (Frank Silbermann)
Distribution: net
Organization: CS Dept, U. of N. Carolina, Chapel Hill
Lines: 42
Summary: 

In article <259@aoa.UUCP> mbr@aoa.UUCP (Mark Rosenthal) writes:

>Does anybody on this net admit to having been raised Reform?
>Speak up! Lets discuss matters that affect us in the day to day,
>rather than spending 100% of our time picking theological nits.

I was raised Reform.  I learned a lot of Jewish history at the Temple,
but I was never taught the theological foundation of Reform.
Is there any?

>I'd like to hear from other Jews  who are involved in relationships
>with non-Jews.  Particularly those who wish to maintain a Jewish
>cultural identity, but are primarily secular rather than religious Jews.

One question that troubles me is, "What is a Jewish cultural identity?"
The easy answer is "the habits and values of Jews."  But this leads
to the question, "What is a Jew."  The only answers I can come up with
is "people who have dedicated their lives to live by the Talmud, and also
the descendents of such people."  Is there really a way to define Jewishness
without somehow coming back to SOMEBODY's dedication to the traditional
Jewish way of life (either your own dedication or that of an ancestor)?

And if one _doesn't_ want to dedicate oneself to this way of life,
from which springs all "jewishness", however indirectly, then why
would one _want_ to maintain a Jewish cultural identity?

>How do you and your spouse/spouse-equivalent deal with it (if at all)?
>If you're married, did you include any elements of Jewish ritual
>in the ceremony?

What would be the point of such empty ritual?  It wouldn't symbolize
anything.

>If you have children, how are they affected?  What decisions have you
>made about their cultural/religious upbringing?  How has it worked out?

This is the one stumbling block, that makes it difficult for me
to just throw in the Tallis.  If I reject Judaism, I can't see myself
accepting any of the alternative religious traditions in this country
(including secularism).  Maybe I should start my own church.

	Frank Silbermann