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Introduction: And you are ... ?
#1
At the risk of possibly duplicating other threads, I'd like a better sense of who's here. So, a couple of questions ...
  • Are you Jewish? If so, to which Jewish 'movement' (i.e. Orthodox, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Traditional, Conservative, Reform, Liberal/Progressive, Reconstructionist, etc.) do you identify?
  • What is your preferred Torah translation/commentary?
Let me start: Yes. Reform. Commentary on the Torah by Richard Elliott Friedman.
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#2
I am Jewish and belong to a Reform congregation, but I was previously an atheist struggling with the concept of God.  (Maybe I'm still struggling a little.) 

Because calling oneself an "atheist" often makes others wary (and weary!), I want to add that I was NOT an antitheist – which is a person who is hostile towards religion and who behaves like some sort of "evangelical atheist." (I don't much care for folks who feel entitled to harangue others about what they should or should not believe, and I don't want to be like that either.)  
 
I don't think I can say that I have a favorite Torah translation and commentary, but Friedman's is certainly growing on me.  If you read what Friedman wrote in the section on Exodus 32:8, you'll know why I "get" him and feel that his book "speaks" to me.  Smile
Heart !לחיים

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#3
Yes, I am Jewish.

I identify as a "growing" Jew. Growing in my faith and understanding of Judaism and what it means to be a Jew to be more specific.

I don't have a preferred commentary, I like to explore different ones. I think one of the best ways to learn is to attend a Torah class where the Rabbi will explain different commentaries and how they arrived at them. I especially like the real definitions of the Hebrew words used and how many times the meanings have much more substance than an English translation.

I really enjoy reading Rabbi Jonathan Sacks commentaries. He has a series out titled "Covenant and Conversations" for each of the 5 Books of Moses.

I also recently learned Dennis Prager has a series come out as well titled "The Rational Bible" but I don't know very much about it.
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#4
(01-24-2019, 08:41 PM)Channalee Wrote: I am Jewish and belong to a Reform congregation, but I was previously an atheist struggling with the concept of God.  (Maybe I'm still struggling a little.)  ...

Excellent, and thank you.
To be is to stand for. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
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#5
(01-25-2019, 12:03 AM)nili Wrote:
(01-24-2019, 08:41 PM)Channalee Wrote: I am Jewish and belong to a Reform congregation, but I was previously an atheist struggling with the concept of God.  (Maybe I'm still struggling a little.)  ...

Excellent, and thank you.

You're welcome, although I don't know how helpful that might be for your survey.  I'm simply a Jew who happens to attend a Reform congregation, but I could have just as easily wound up with any other Jewish congregation.  If you want to put a label on me, then I'm a "Choose Your Own Adventure" kind of Jew. Wink
Heart !לחיים

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#6
(01-25-2019, 09:51 AM)Channalee Wrote:
(01-25-2019, 12:03 AM)nili Wrote:
(01-24-2019, 08:41 PM)Channalee Wrote: I am Jewish and belong to a Reform congregation, but I was previously an atheist struggling with the concept of God.  (Maybe I'm still struggling a little.)  ...

Excellent, and thank you.

You're welcome, although I don't know how helpful that might be for your survey.  I'm simply a Jew who happens to attend a Reform congregation, but I could have just as easily wound up with any other Jewish congregation.  If you want to put a label on me, then I'm a "Choose Your Own Adventure" kind of Jew. Wink

That much is evident.  Smile
To be is to stand for. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
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#7
When people ask me if I'm Jewish, my immediate answer is yes. However, I don't identify with a movement any longer. I used to identify as Reform, and then I attended a Conservative synagogue regularly. I no longer attend, and I struggle with the concept of God. I live in a Jewish environment and constantly have issues relating to Judaism on my mind, but I don't see the benefit of the halachic framework in the real world. I feel that mankind should be free of restrictions that create boundaries... that our ultimate goal is freedom. We fight against freedom because we see it as destructive, and perhaps that is true. Freedom breaks down barriers and climbs walls, but we are literally told to create a wall that would keep us from violating the Torah. I don't have that wall in my life anymore.

So, although I identify as a Jew and take pride in the fact that I have access to Jewish literature, philosophy, ethics, etc., I don't identify as a follower of anyone. In fact, the word assur ("forbidden") is my least favorite in the dictionary. In that sense, I guess I would go along with the founder of Christianity, Paul, when he said that "all things are permissible to me, but not all things are beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12: = מֻתׇּר לִי הַכֹּל אַךְ לֹא הַכֹּל לְטוֹבָתִי).
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#8
(01-26-2019, 09:55 AM)Jason Wrote: When people ask me if I'm Jewish, my immediate answer is yes. However, I don't identify with a movement any longer. I used to identify as Reform, and then I attended a Conservative synagogue regularly. I no longer attend, and I struggle with the concept of God. I live in a Jewish environment and constantly have issues relating to Judaism on my mind, but I don't see the benefit of the halachic framework in the real world. I feel that mankind should be free of restrictions that create boundaries... that our ultimate goal is freedom. We fight against freedom because we see it as destructive, and perhaps that is true. Freedom breaks down barriers and climbs walls, but we are literally told to create a wall that would keep us from violating the Torah. I don't have that wall in my life anymore.

So, although I identify as a Jew and take pride in the fact that I have access to Jewish literature, philosophy, ethics, etc., I don't identify as a follower of anyone. In fact, the word assur ("forbidden") is my least favorite in the dictionary. In that sense, I guess I would go along with the founder of Christianity, Paul, when he said that "all things are permissible to me, but not all things are beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12: = מֻתׇּר לִי הַכֹּל אַךְ לֹא הַכֹּל לְטוֹבָתִי).

Thank you, @Jason. 

Parenthetically, you inadvertently misquote Paul. 

The following quote and commentary are from The New Oxford Annotated Bible; New Revised Version With The Apocrypha (Fully Revised Fourth Edition):

Quote:6:12 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are beneficial.

6:12-20: Christians going to prostitutes. ... Paul quotes a slogan of the Corinthians, a proud bast of freedom, asserting liberation from cultural taboos. Paul counters by insisting upon the mutually beneficial as the criterion of moral judgment.

Best I can tell, Paul was neither embracing nor rejecting the Corinthian slogan. He was countering it.

L'shalom.
To be is to stand for. - Abraham Joshua Heschel
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#9
(01-26-2019, 01:31 PM)nili Wrote: Parenthetically, you inadvertently misquote Paul. 

Yeah, I'm just not bothered enough to worry about it. Paul wrote the letter, either way. The KJV took it as if Paul had made the statement, but modern versions take it as something that the Corinthians were saying that Paul was responding to. I think the expression itself blends well, especially when quoted in Hebrew. Wink
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#10
I am not currently going anywhere due to health and geography but if asked, I would say I lean Conservative. I am not as observant as I would prefer, so that's a constant struggle.

I don't have a particular favorite. I have a copy of Etz Hayim at home.
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