Ok, I have come to the conclusion that I just don't like the term "Orthodox Jew". I will continue to use it...for clarity sake (and sometimes saying "Torah-observant") is just too cumbersome. However there is not too much flattering about the term "Orthodox". Just the sound of it takes notions of compassion, intelligent decision-making, and tolerance and throws them out the window.
Unfortunately, I think it effects those being labeled as well. If you embrace your label, then you embrace the limitations that the label presents. Without getting into fine details, I feel that there are certain actions that an Orthodox Jew would not engage in that a just-plain-regular Jew who is shomer mitzvot would. Nothing against halacha mind you; but things such as hanging out with your Puerto Rican neighbors to go watch the Superbowl -- things like that.
I'm sorry, this post is going to be very short; because somehow I feel I am beating a dead horse. That and I am dead tired myself. It just feels good to say that I am not looking to be an "Orthodox Jew" one day; just a Jew who is serious about her avodas Hashem and adherence to mitzvot. That's my real goal folks. Laila tov!
The Most Famous Ramban in Chumash – The End of Parshas Bo
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The Ramban at the end of Bo is a classic work on Jewish philosophy and
probably the most quoted Ramban in Chumash. It’s well worth seeing inside.
Here’s ...
3 months ago
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7 comments:
I just stumbled on your website.
I often wrestle with whether to use the label orthodox Jew. I agree with your concerns. Sometimes I use the phrase "Joe Lieberman Jew" to explain where I stand. That feels more comfortable since I'm really not quite there under strict "orthodox" standards.
Kol tov
Nice post. I am on your site for the first time, I am Jewish by birth, but just realized it (never had thought about it having been brought up very secular) so am on my way to...Orthodox? It seems like such a limiting word. Especially when I realize that people limit themselves in un-needed ways to fit in with a neighborhood or something, and while I don't have these pressures, I have an inner pressure to be true to my ideals...interesting place to be in.
How about Torah Jew? A Torah Jew to me is someone who believes that the Torah was given by Hashem and lives by its wisdom and adheres to its commandments.
Nothing in the Torah prohibits watching the Superbowl with neighbors of a different nationality.
Good luck with the conversion process. I know that its not easy and there will be many stumbling blocks along the way. I have the greatest respect and admiration for your strength and courage in choosing a path that feels true to you.
Yes, you will come across small minded people along the way but I always say that Judaism is not Jews. You can't judge Judaism by the way certain Jews act. Judaism is about your relationship with G-d and how you respond to the world with Torah instructions and insight.
At the end of the day this is about you and G-d - everybody else is just scenery.
Hatzlocha! ;-)
I don't like labels either. But I think that Torah Jew or shomer mitzvot says it better than orthodox.
May you keep growing in Torah and moving forward
Agreed!
While the term "Orthodox" has seriously bad connotations, the denotation is "correct thinking". I also struggled for years even calling myself "religious" let alone orthodox. At the end of the day, however, it is not such a bad title, and I now think of it almost a badge of honor to be called something by name assigned by the enemies of the Torah. "Torah Jew" is more comfortable, but a Torah Jew *is*, m'meila, going to be an Orthodox Jew.
You might be interested in my blogs -- one of divrei torah and one of me own conversion. Tizku l'Mitzvos!
I recently converted after almost 20 years of bad conversion experiences (Rabbis wanting more and more donations to the shul and money for classes that were useless, and even a beit din that I later discovered wasn't even valid). I finally found Eternal Jewish Family and they helped me find a great Rabbi and a valid beit din. I converted Sephardic and they never broke off into Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, etc. Since everyone is essentially Orthodox, they never use the word. Instead, they describe themselves as traditional or observant as opposed to less traditional or less observant.
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