My Pocket-Rabbi
Being religious. What does that mean? Sometimes I know, and sometimes I don't. You cannot be religious in vacuum. You are part of a society that dictates religious norms (if the society is religious, that is). If you don't follow those norms, does that mean you're less religious? It's dangerous to measure your piousness level according to the people you live with. It is very confusing because there are so many levels of practice in Halacha. My thoughts about the issue are jumbled. I can't express myself 100% on this matter but I think about it a lot and it disturbs me. Like, is our goal to have a charedi orientation, which is closed off from Western culture? I'm talking about the idea of neutralizing goyish influences from your life. Are you less religious if you don't? It is not so clear. What is the truth? I know that things are not black-or-white, and there's no right answer. Or maybe there is? I'm recalling lessons with Rav Oron. He made religiosity so clear to me, and only by saying that there is no ONE WAY. You can worship Hashem in as many ways as there are people. If someone started a question with "what does Judaism say about..." he'd say- "there's no such thing as 'Judaism says'."
Sigh. Sometimes I wish I had a pocket-rabbi (like a pocket-dictionary, lehavdil) to tell me what is the right way to live. But then Rav Oron would probably say that counting on your own intuition is part of the whole process. So part of a pocket-rabbi.
Sigh. Sometimes I wish I had a pocket-rabbi (like a pocket-dictionary, lehavdil) to tell me what is the right way to live. But then Rav Oron would probably say that counting on your own intuition is part of the whole process. So part of a pocket-rabbi.