From der alter mokem
Just for today, Avi wonders why Some Jews say things like this (which annoys one of his posters) and Rabbi Dennis wonders about CS Lewis’ Liar/Lunatic/Lord Dilemma.
It never dawned on CSLews, in writing Mere Christianity, that the way out of the Liar/Lunatic/Lord dilemma was to simply say, “Wrong Question”. I read once that in later years he sprung the argument on an Atheist at a PArty and she so wonderfully shot him down that he, himself, realised the argument was useless without assuming all of Christianity’s claims a priori.
A couple of weeks ago, at Church, we were discussing “winter customs” in the adult Sunday School. We spent about half of one session on Hanukkah: dreidles, candles, 8-day-oil miracles, doughnuts, history, the books of the Macabbees, etc. When it was all over and Father was putting the menorah up on the piano one of the people in class suddenly asked, “You mean Hanukkah isn’t the Jewish way of commemorating Jesus’ birth?” (We did, in fact, go over the whole thing again.)
And then during coffee hour I recounted to a table-full of shocked listeners my experience of reading “Why the Jews Rejected Jesus” and how Jesus doesn’t figure at all in Judaism save as a point of denial (I even got to use the word “apokoris” - “heretic”).
The a priori claims of any religion make its case: refusing to accept these claims, or at least demanding that they be validated too results in most of the religion evaporating. I begin to think the “blind faith” part of any religion is in accepting these claims. Having accepted them the rest falls into place naturally.
Yael says:
I begin to think the “blind faith” part of any religion is in accepting these claims. Having accepted them the rest falls into place naturally.
I don’t know how much I accept of any claims but I do know I find the Torah and God fascinating. Whether any of Torah is true or not, I enjoy the wisdom I find within the text. I’ve realized that my soul has found a home in Judaism and this is where I’m staying.
I liken it to the story Rabbi told one year about the search for the perfect Etrog. The goal for Sukkot is to have the best etrog you can find. So, each year in Jerusalem there are people picking through all the etrogim to find that perfect one. There has to come a time, however, when you realize good enough is good enough; perfection isn’t needed. Those who can’t grasp this concept will keep searching until finally all that is left are the discards no one wanted.
With religion, good enough is good enough. If someone wants perfection, if someone wants everything to be provable, I guess they’ll have to become God. For the rest of us, we can find what is meaningful for us and go from there or we can keep searching and digging, hoping we’ll find that perfection which somehow escaped the notice of everyone who came before us.
Me, I’m happy to be through with the search. Now I can relax a bit and enjoy the fragrance of my etrog….my pretty doggone good etrog.
How do we know when we’ve hit good enough? I suppose everyone has to decide that for themselves. But, I think once that decision is made a person has to force themselves to stop searching further. Good enough is indeed good enough.
Now you can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that’s the understanding you’re coming to reach as well?
26 December 2007 - 18 טבת 5768 at 3:16 am
Huw says:
If one is not looking for the 100% Good for All Time and One Size Fits All, This-will-Get-You-Into-Heaven-but-That-Won’t Truth… you have to keep looking.
But yes, you are right. Good Enough is Good Enough. It takes, however, a bit of a while deciding, no?
26 December 2007 - 18 טבת 5768 at 3:46 am
Yael says:
I can only speak for Judaism, as I’ve experienced it, and not any other religion.
I would say that if quite some time goes by and no decision has been made, that in itself is a decision.
I and the people I know who converted to Judaism just seemed to know who we were supposed to be. Once I started studying Judaism, come hell or high water, I was converting and it was the same with the other converts I know. The only people I know who had trouble deciding if they should convert or not never ended up converting and eventually went off to other things, which is cool.
There are a lot of people who express an interest in Judaism, but I think it a certain drive and determination to go throuh with conversion. Until someone starts studying one-on-one with a rabbi, I don’t pay much attention to any expressed interest in conversion. We have a fairly constant trickle of converts at my shul. Our stories are all different except for one thing; that determination to become a Jew.
Guess that doesn’t really answer your question! For Judaism I would have to say no, it doesn’t seem to take a lot of time deciding; the time is in preparing!
26 December 2007 - 18 טבת 5768 at 9:48 am
Huw says:
Cool. I’ve had a conversion story well… several where it took no time at all. Consider me to be slow now.
26 December 2007 - 18 טבת 5768 at 9:56 am