Monday, July 28, 2008

I have more respect

for someone who has one mitzvah that means something to them that they keep
than I do for someone who rocks it orthoprax but feels nothing inside
but what do I know?

I do know that what I respect (or not) doesn't matter to anyone but me. And I know I'm not in this world to run around passing judgment on others for how or what they believe (or don't).

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graphic bleeding cupping pics of spider bite venom extraction available upon request

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I am distancing myself from one at my education's expense
that totally sucks
but I can understand folks being put off by that much time spent together

2 comments:

  1. I respect your choice of whom to respect, and respectfully offer my view ;)

    I respect the person who "rocks orthoprax" without feeling more than the person who only does the one where the feelings accompany the mitzvah. It takes dedication and a faith to do the "naaseh" part, the "nishma" is out of our hands.

    Of course, this assumes that neither of these folks are passing judgment on the other one. And I know you're not trying to do that here, either.

    In reality, I have respect for either of them if they're keeping one or many mitzvot consistently, even when the feelings and meanings are elusive and tend to wax and wane.

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  2. hey, :), that's for whom to have more respect, not to respect (or not)! lol Seriously.

    If na'aseh is "to do" and nishma is "to follow" (translated Western colloquially as to believe), then how is nishma out of our hands, once we're old enough to think for ourselves?

    That post wasn't inspired by people who do stuff for their kids' lifestyles' sake, it was inspired by a single guy who told me I should go to shul, but whom I noticed as being online on shabbat. I respect him for many reasons, but what I perceive as hypocrisy on his part isn't one of them.

    This is not to say that I do not possess my own degree of deed without belief, as I wrote in comments on FS the other day about my recitation of any liturgical content that features longing for moshiach or life in Yerushalayim.

    I liked your pageant events because they were about the real hardcore of OJ day-to-day mommage, and they weren't mean, just very challenging. I wouldn't want to make a seder w/o matzah ball soup, so I wouldn't pass Hope Less's challenge. Cooking a seder for 20 is challenge enough!

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