"A Diaspora Character if ever there was one"

[eumelia]

Via constintina:

The origins of Spock as the "Other", the "Outsider" and the Vulcan salute:

As an agnosto-atheist, the whole idea of the essence of god thing doesn't really do it for me.
However, I come from a family of Kohanim (the Priest tribe of the Jewish people) and the one time a year I do attend shul (synagogue) it's to hear and sing "Kol Nidrei" and to see my father and brother bless the congregation.
The shul my family attends isn't Orthodox, it's very egalitarian(1) - women wear kippah and tallitot, etc.

Everything Leonard Nimoy said there, I find it rings so true to the way I perceive Judaism, though not the kind that I ever experienced, nor do I think will I ever, considering where I am from and the fact that one must believe.
Which, as I've mentioned, I do not.
Like Roddenberry, I'd consider myself a Humanist, despite the problematic history of that word, but I'm a bit too Jewish for that so I like this(2) more than anything else.

(1)Though not enough for daughters of Kohanim to be able to go up to the Bimah and bless the congregation.
(2)Humanistic Judaism

Comments

[lishablog.livejournal.com]

One of the things that I find so sad about Israel is the fact that few Israelis experience the kind of Judaism that is so very mainstream in the US and the UK (the two places where I have experienced significant time in Jewish communities besides Israel). Because of the tie between religion and government in Israel, I think, the religion in Israel is a matter of control and power rather than a matter of spirit, philosophy and practice.

I know many practicing Orthodox Jews in the US who do not believe in God, but that matters not. They practice, and study, and love Judaism for many other reasons. I know many Reform Jews who believe fervently in God but who think that the Judaism practiced by the Orthodox is messed up, mixed up, outdated, misguided, or whatever. Judaism is more than belief. Much more.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Judaism in Israel is stunted because, as you say, there is no separation of religion and government and because of the need for stability in government, it is only a "certain kind" of Judaism that is considered "real".

I blame Ben-Gurion for that.

Regardless, Israel is a Zionist state, and thus needs to have a diaspora it can say isn't real Jewry, the "real" Jews are the pioneers living in Israel. Zionism hasn't updated itself in 60 years.

That's why when I look at Judaism, I try very hard not to look at it in it's Israeli form, as it is an intolerable and intolerant denomination.
Hence being an agnosto-atheist and pretty much anti-religion in my outlook on life - very likely were I to live a long while outside of Israel I'd find myself a Jewish community in which to participate seeing as I do have a cultural tie to that if not anything else.

[afro-dyte.livejournal.com]

I know many Reform Jews who believe fervently in God but who think that the Judaism practiced by the Orthodox is messed up, mixed up, outdated, misguided, or whatever.

That's me - at least on the surface. I tend to prefer the phrase progressive Judaism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Judaism). My level of observance may change over time, but I remain committed to ideas and practices that expand and deepen our connection to God and each other.