Ask A Genius 947: Why not Orthodox or Conservative Judaism?
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/06/16
[Recording Start]
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: We talked about Reformed Judaism and Israel Jacobson in Germany. I wanted to ask the obvious question: why aren’t Orthodox Judaism or Conservative Judaism for you?
Rick Rosner: Because I’m not religious, they take much time. They dominate your life. Reformed Judaism, even done right, takes maybe a couple of hours a week, some blessings before meals. But Conservative services are twice as long, and Orthodox, or being an observant Jew, is an all-the-time thing. It’s not something I want to devote my life to.
Jacobsen: What observances would you find least objectionable?
Rosner: Ones that aren’t every week or don’t require you to go to the synagogue every week. For me, growing up, the synagogue was at least half an hour each way, so we went very seldom. My dad didn’t get along with the upstart congregation in our hometown, so we had to go from Boulder to Denver, a 30-mile drive. I was okay with the blessing over wine and bread once a week on Friday nights and undoubtedly okay with the blessings over the Hanukkah candles and the High Holy Day services, but nothing that would take up my whole life. Even my mom, who’d grown up in a reasonably observant household, had become much less so.
Jacobsen: So, I mean, that’s it. What would make these more appealing to you? Also, why do you refer to yourself as a non-religious person when you are Reformed Jewish?
Rosner: We already talked about this, I believe. Whatever spirituality I have, it’s not connected to any established religion, and I’m not ready to believe in a bunch of stuff I’m not going to believe in. Judaism is thousands of years old, Christianity is 2,000 years old, Islam is 1,400 years old, and all of it is based on stuff from, you know, a thousand years before we developed science. And, you know, there are problems with science, but I have fewer problems with science as it is practiced than with religious beliefs. I don’t need to modify some religion that I don’t believe in to make it more palatable to myself.
Jacobsen: What about the whole prayer thing?
Rosner: I mean, I can pray on my own, but I don’t need to do a bunch of prayers connected to — what purpose would it serve besides — okay, it might connect me more to my Jewish brethren, but I can feel Jewish without doing that. These are rituals that would be mainly empty to me.
[Recording End]
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