Wednesday, June 15, 2005

"Already There Judaism"

Note: In this posting addressing "Already There Judaism" I am not specifically referring to any one movement, Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, or "Ultra-Orthodox".

There are people who practice Already There Judaism within each of these groups.

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What is "Already There Judaism"?

A person who practices Already There Judaism believes that he has reached the pinnacle of his religious observance. If total observance of the mitzvos is rated as level 100, he is convinced that he is at 100. He is on top of the mountain and there is no where left to go.

The Already There Jew looks disparagingly at another person whose observance surpasses his own. He cannot fathom the idea that a person can do more than he does. He feels threatened to learn that perhaps he is not at 100, perhaps the rating scale goes from 0 to infinity and he has stopped off at a motel somewhere along the way.

The Already There Jew has forgotten that Judaism stresses maintaining a personal connection to G-d, and by increasing his observance of mitzvos he increases his own personal connection.

If the Already There Jew was truly "there", Moshiach would already be here.

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(Cross Posted on The Jewish Source)

5 Comments:

At June 15, 2005 at 12:50:00 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Rebbe Nachman used to say that no one is capable to serve G-d accordin to G-d's dignity. So no jew can serve to 100 level, that's jus ostrichism or a way to hide his bad deads under the guise of piety.

 
At June 16, 2005 at 5:38:00 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

On Shavuos, I heard a good speech about that our journey is never finished. when we complete one thing, we should think about what else we have to accomplish

 
At June 17, 2005 at 6:48:00 PM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think that's all of it. People get upset not just at the idea that they're not already there...but at just how much higher there is to go.

I'm a somewhat observant Conservative Jew. I keep mostly kosher, mostly Shabbos, and I KNOW that I'm not there yet.

But I know which mountain I'm climbing. If the only mountain there was to climb was the ultra-Orthodox mountain of certain relatives of mine, I would have given up before I started climbing. Which is why I get really annoyed with them when they imply that I'm not on the "real" mountain.

 
At June 28, 2005 at 12:52:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

simplejew, nice message.

We should all strive to move forward in our spiritual journey.

helpful sites, aish.com torah.com
and ohr.edu

 
At June 28, 2005 at 12:52:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

woops, i meant torah.org

 

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