If any of y’all were missing me the last few days, know that it was for good reason: I was traveling back to Oregon, and stopping to visit family on the way. I had a splendid time, and no inclination to perform my online duties.
On one of my stops, I joined a relative as he volunteered for a food drive. We spent some time at a Deformed Jewish Temple (sometimes known as “Reformed”). A few decades ago, some progressive Jews decided that Judaism needed to be reformed, so that it could be more inline with modern practices and sensibilities. The result was a watered-down version of Judaism where congregations bore more of a resemblance to social clubs than places of worship, where the rabbis (often women) were sometimes atheists, and where the conversion of gentiles was little more than a formality. The backlash became known as Conservative Judaism.
As you may have guessed by now, I have little fondness for Deformed Judaism; it’s simply a form of Progressivism/Leftism with a mild Jewish flavor. However, I’ll give credit where credit is due. The congregants were generous, and we ended up with several crates of kosher food for the less-fortunate.
Every single one of the donors was a single older woman. Not one man was to be found, and not one young person – but there were plenty of dogs. I asked one lady if their congregation did bar-mitzvahs for dogs (“bark-mitzvahs”), and she replied that they do not. They do have events where the rabbi blesses pets.
The congregation is dying. The men have all left, and the congregants either did not produce any children to carry on, or their children have no interest in carrying on. Why should they? There are plenty of other, more attractive, venues to practice Leftism. Perhaps the dogs, if trained properly, can breath new life into Deformed Judaism. It would be ironic; they are, after all, Canine-ites.
In contrast, the Orthodox congregations have plenty of children, and their congregations seem to be thriving in that area.
Back in the Portland area, I’m pleased to see that prices haven’t risen to the levels I feared. Hunger doesn’t appear to be imminent. The homeless problem seems to have gotten worse since I left, and so has the graffiti.
Whenever I read a story like this I am reminded of the contrast between Yitta Schwartz, a Brooklyn Hasid who died at age 93 in 2010 leaving over 15 children and over 2,000 living descendants (almost all of whom stuck with the program), and Shulamith Firestone, a 70s-vintage radical feminist (although originally of Orthodox origin from Ottawa, Canada) and author of the manifesto “The Dialectic of Sex”. Shuli died in 2012 alone in her East Village apartment. Her body wasn’t discovered until a week later after the smell tipped off her neighbors.
We are conducting a controlled experiment in which Orthodox patriarchy circumscribes women’s opportunities in favor of directing their efforts toward child-bearing and rearing, while Deformed Judaism promotes every single fashion in feminism, gay and tranny rights. The future of the Jewish community is, as one Jewish blogger put it, a much small “boutique” religion whose adherents dress funny, are on welfare, and have lots of kids.
The good news is the Jews of the future will no longer be trapped in the Liberal Shtetl and vote hidebound Democrat. The bad news is that there will be far fewer of them.
Being on welfare and having lots of kids doesn’t necessarily mean a smaller religion. Muslims in the UK have the first two properties and their numbers are booming. This is not necessarily a good thing.
It’s not a good thing for Muslims to do it, but I think it’s a good thing for Orthodox Jews to do it, at least to a point.
By the way, Orthodox women aren’t always barefoot and pregnant. My mother-in-law sees a female Orthodox hematologist who has four kids. They just know where to put their priorities.
I may be treading on sensative ground here. but I think I shouldn’t shy away
from something I’ve seen…
On the more conservative cable news networks appeals are made to help
holocaust survivors. A Jewish woman quotes from the Bible, and leaves one with
the impression that the suffering is the realm of Jews exclusively. You also
have evangelists (Fat, porky, slobs) making the same claim. You’ve often pointed
out the propensities that Jews have to provoke resentment from the larger gentile
community (Their left wing views, etc.)
The concept of “choseness” can provoke resentment and make the non-Jew “hot
under the color.” This “victimization attitude” is where blacks got their own ideas
bolstered up by “Jewish” Civil Rights organizations. The NACCP was started by
Jews, and the ADL plays a role in cancelling many.
People believe that NO religious or racial group has the corner on suffering. It is
embedded in the HUMAN condition. Disinformation is just one reason among
many , that I have stopped watching cable news.
Yes, these are valid points. I think I’ve made them myself in the past.
If it is any consolation, protestants have “reformed” their religion into oblivion.
Source: a Protestant
Believe it or not, there are actually now more Jews than Episcopalians in the US.
This doesn’t surprise me.
My religion I grew up with has splintered into branches that have mirrored paganism.
Same story in Christianity, as we all know. The denominations and sects that chase the thirty pieces to appeal to people “strangely” in the long run hardly have any people.
Am I now Persona Non Grata on this blog? Please tell me so, so I won’t
bother you with my posts.
The point I was making is that NO SEGMENT of society is free of their hardships.
In the present atmosphere things are tough all over. To raise money for one
group under the premiss that they are unique and MORE DESERVING of
sympathy might provoke ire from other groups who’s lives are no easier.
The people who issue these pleas do so under the belief that if you give them
contributions God will do YOU favors because you’re helping “His people.”
I subscribe to the addage “The Chosen People can only encompass the whole
world.” You’ve admitted yourself that Jews sometimes agitate the larger
population because of their political views. And don’t forget that there is no
quicker way to enrage a “Black Lives Matter” supporter than to claim “ALL lives
matter.”
I’m now back in the US, and working every day. Hence, I have limited time to go through comments and approve them. You’re not being singled out.
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I recall a middle-aged angry shrew from a reform shul that accosted my 6 year old daughter for attending (and enjoying) a Conservative temple. All of us were amazed at how this woman took it upon herself to berate a child because of Conservative Judaism’s lack of female rabbis. She definitely assured the Reform movement that 4 children and 2 adults would never step foot into one of their madhouses. When I see the nutjobs marching with bared teeth for whatever the latest fad is, I recall that woman and how she picked on the vulnerable and small. The adults were ignored, but her attacking the happiness of a child to further her ego will always stay with me as an example of petty tyrants. That she did not scare off, and even strengthened the beliefs that were assaulted gives me hope that the Left and their minions are paper tigers in the eyes of Ha’ Shem.
Wait, it gets worse:
https://nypost.com/2022/04/14/many-jews-are-fed-up-with-christians-hosting-passover-seders/