A tallit-and-tefillin-wearing woman in a traditional Conservative synagogue?! An unorthodox—and non-orthodox—perspective on Jews and Judaism from a perpetual misfit. This blog, welcoming the entire Jewish community, is dedicated to those who take Judaism seriously, but not necessarily literally.
posted by Shira Salamone at 10:51 AM
Once upon a time, I belonged to a left-wing egalitarian Conservative synagogue, where I was one of a number of women who wore a tallit—and one of the few members who used an Orthodox prayer book (adding the Mothers, of course). Having moved since then, I now belong to a right-wing traditional Conservative synagogue, where I’m almost always the only woman wearing a tallit—and one of the few members who adds the Mothers. I seem destined to be forever . . . on the fringe.
7 Comments:
Purim in an Orthodox neighborhood is *much more* "open doored" than Halloween is (as described in that blog). But, truth be told, every Shabbos (in my neighborhood, at least) is very "open doored", with kids stopping over throughout the afternoon to play with friends, and parents often doing likewise (not to play with their friends :-), but to visit and shmooze.)
I think one thing that's missing from the non-Orthodox community is, well, community. I can't talk, not being a great one for hachnassat orchim (welcoming guests) myself. (It would certainly have helped if I'd listened to my husband and moved to a house in the 'burbs, where we would have had room, instead of insisting on staying in NYC. Who has room to entertain in a shoebox-sized apartment? Some people manage. More power to 'em.) But it would really be nice if we could just drop by our friends' homes on a Shabbat afternoon and hang out. The major drawback of the non-Orthodox tendency *not* to live within walking distance of a synagogue is that the distance makes last-minute, casual socializing less of a "just natural" thing and more of an big deal.
I'm still hoping that we'll get invited to a Purim S'udah, one of these days. (Yes, readers, that was a hint.)
Well, allow me to be the first to invite you and your husband to our Purim Seudah. Since I don't live in NYC but in Baltimore, you and your husband will also have to join us for shabbos (since Purim is on Friday this year)! (We usually have between 40 and 50 people at our seudah but there's always room for a few more!)
For real? If this is a serious invitation, please contact me at onthefringe_jewishblogger at gmail dot com. Even if it's not, thanks for the thought.
Oops! That's onthefringe_jewishblogger at *yahoo* dot com. I have too many e-mail accounts. :)
The rabbi quoted in that blog post was exactly right. We are overwhelmed with nothing but fear mongering to the point that it makes the situation immensely worse because it hypersensitizes us to the point of having no idea what is going on AND steals out sense of community from us.
It could make you cry some days to see what we've given up in fear.
Suitepotato, it is, indeed, a pretty sad situation.
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