My first (or two hundred and sixteenth) post!
Welcome to my new blog. My name is Philo, and I’ll be your tour guide here.
The tagline pretty much says it all. Common-sense, Halachically observant Judaism.
I grew up Orthodox, but I prefer not to use that label anymore, save for occasional convenience sake. I observe Halacha, but I reject much of the dogma, and accept the general theories of the Documentary Hypothesis as likely.
I believe in God, and have a personal relationship with Hashem, even if I don’t believe He literally wrote the Torah.
I believe Judaism to be an evolved and evolving religion, created by people who were searching for the divine and reaching for Hashem. Those people evolved into the Jews.
Judaism started in ancient Eretz Yisrael, but took no finished form. Instead, Judaism has been constantly evolving and adapting and is as much a product of the Diaspora as of Eretz Yisrael. That journey still continues.
The journey includes adaptations of practice to new realities, understandings, and sensibilities. That means, for instance, expanded roles for women in communal ritual observance, and acceptance of heterodox movements of Judaism as valid expressions of faith.
My own journey is also an evolving one, hence the title of this blog. I am also searching for the divine, reaching for Hashem, but without ignoring science and history. That is what guides my intellectual and spiritual travels.
Past fellow travelers on this journey have been Yehudi Hilchati, who blogged under the eponymously named blog, and DYS and Rabba bar bar Chana, who blogged at “Torat Ezra”. I still see them every day in the mirror, but I’ve moved on to new things. All of their old posts have been imported here, however, for your reading pleasure.
I invite you to join me on this journey. It’s a journey for truth but also for spirituality.
Welcome!
Philo
Yehudi Hilchati
DYS
Rabba bar bar Chana
Hi Philo- welcome to the blogosphere. Also, maniacal villainous laughs are more likely to cause people to edge away from you in horror, but if you’re good with that, it all works out well.
Thanks, Chana.
Maybe I can use the maniacal laughter as a weapon…
Long life to your (new) blog!
Thanks, Ilana
At the risk of sounding like a Limbaugh discipline, ditto (and good moed, if that’s the right phrase…)
Philo-
Do you think there is/was a need for any divine communication with humanity?
Do you think there is/was a need for any divine communication with humanity?
Dov,
I’m not sure what you mean by a “need”. It also depends on which direction you mean – God communicating with humans or vice versa.
I personally believe that there was communication FROM God in the past. That’s an emotional belief for me. Call it emunah. When I became convinced that the scientifically based facts contradict the traditional narrative of that communication, I adapted, but I don’t see any need to deny divine revelation altogether.
Regarding the other direction, communication TO God, I think it’s usually healthy and beneficial. Is there an absolute need for it? Probably not, in this day and age. Atheists don’t seem to be maladjusted.
I meant from G-d.
If I am understanding you correctly, you believe there was one, but it’s more “belief” than conclusion, based on “scientic based facts” as you understand them.
Cognitive dissonance (and other emotions) aside, do you think the world can fulfill its divine purpose without G-d ever communicating with mankind?
It depends on the definition of divine purpose. But leaving aside Clinton-esque hairsplitting, the answer is no. Meaning that I do think divine revelation is neccesary for history’s ultimate purpose.
Now, the nature of that communication is open to debate. There’s an entire spectrum of possibilities, from the creation of the universe itself being a communication, all the way to word-for-word dictation of the Torah on Har Sinai.
Communication has several components, including the sender, the sendee, the message being sent, and the means through which it is sent. I think we can agree Who the sender is (the Creator) and whom the sendee is (mankind). What’s left to figure out is what the message was (and possibly how it was sent, although the importance of how it was sent is based only on how it affects the ability to understand the message, which may not be relevant here).
Would you agree that since the Creator is the sender that He would make sure the intended message could be (and/or would be) understood by His intended recipients?