[2316] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: The role of religion
jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jik@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Sep 12 21:03:54 1991
Marc, do you think I "hold [my]self up in a community which looks out
(and down) on everyone else?"
The ritual portions of Jewish law have purposes which I suspect you
have no inkling of. I'm not going to attempt to justify Jewish ritual
law here; people who are interested in it can pick one of the many
books about the subject (e.g. "To Be a Jew"; although there are
probably better ones, that's the first that comes to mind; Andrew has
been doing a lot of reading of this sort recently, so perhaps he can
recommend something) if they are interested in understanding the
Jewish point of view.
It sounds to me, Marc, like you aren't interested in understanding why
the rituals, in all their rigidity, can be a Good Thing, because that
might put a dent in your philosophy.
(In any case, I do agree with you that the moral aspects of Jewish law
are far more important than the ritual aspects.)
