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So many opinions! But the article is about problems Jews face.

Reader comment on item: The Orthodox Future of Judaism
in response to reader comment: Even the Orthodox have their problems!

Submitted by Michael A. Shoemaker (United States), Jan 26, 2008 at 03:13

I tried reading all the remarks, but I was distracted by the scantily-clad girls in the advertisements for T-shirts. I think those girls say more about your article, Mr. Pipes, than most of the comments: Jews today, whether irreligious, hareidi or what have you, are being distracted and enticed by a world bent on hedonism, selfishness and ungodliness. Christians face the same problem. This seems to be at the heart of your article, not discussions about Islam, assimilation, the Enlightement, Chabad, etc. The "observant", among whom the haredim seem to be poster children, have set out to practice all 613 mitzvot, to eschew Reformism, Secularism, Christianity and all other "polutants", and to become engrossed in the study ot Torah; but they are human beings, so they fall into sin and disgrace; and many leave the observant life.

Christians have the same problem: There was a Pentecostal church in a city I used to live in, which had a vibrant evangelism program; but, as one of its former members pointed out, "The back door was as wide as the front door", so there was no net increase in members. I wonder if the number of "observant" Jews is actually increasing, when allowance is made for their greater birthrates. And if they are really increasing, does this really matter?

I was in the "Jesus Movement" in the U.S. in the early 1970s, wherein "counterculture"-type people were discovering a "new" form of Christianity -- a form stripped of its externals, and focussing on the lifestyles of people in the Bible. We grew in numbers, and within a few years "Born-Again" Christianity became a national phenomenom: Presidential candidates suddenly became religious, Christian bookstores sprang up everywhere, and the Pentecostalism of rural communes and small store-front churches evolved into middle-class megachurches with "Christian aerobics", "Christian T-shirts", you name it.

So if "observance" really catches on in Judaism, what can we look forwart to? Mega-synagogues, "Jewish aerobics", religious T-shirts? The "Jesus Movement" is headed for shipwreck: Why copy it? I'm all for picking up the Bible, reading it, BELIEVING it, and getting to know God better than I do. Will this make me a better person, a more "observant" person? Probably. Will this mean I won't get divorced, or my children won't get into drugs? Probably, but there's no guarantee. Will this make me Jewish? or Christian? or religious? I don't think God cares much about those things. The bottom line is, we live in a wicked world, and we need God; and amazingly, He wants to fill that need. Filling that need is where we must start, and where must finish. Nothing else matters very much.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (56) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
1anat [86 words]kamenkaFeb 18, 2013 10:59203610
History shows... [363 words]JApr 4, 2005 12:0421327
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Reformed Orthodoxy? [201 words]AlexJan 28, 2005 18:5319953
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From a Gentile [167 words]Arlinda DeAngelisJan 27, 2005 21:3319917
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confusion [433 words]jon KingAug 12, 2007 08:5419914
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Even the Orthodox have their problems! [354 words]Kenneth S. BesigJan 26, 2005 14:4419890
So many opinions! But the article is about problems Jews face. [441 words]Michael A. ShoemakerJan 26, 2008 03:1319890
If not a good man, what then? [535 words]Oscar Laurens SchroverJan 26, 2005 12:5719888
There are vibrant non-Orthodox Judaism alternatives out there [474 words]Stephen AsbelJan 26, 2005 12:4719887
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w/response from Daniel Pipes
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Careful, Daniel [263 words]John W. McGinleyJan 25, 2005 21:4219870
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jewish community in usa won't come [47 words]naorFeb 1, 2006 11:2119854
Future of Judaism [179 words]Jean McNealJan 25, 2005 11:4219852

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