"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

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Jews who believe fervently in God but who think that the Judaism practiced by the Orthodox is messed up, mixed up, outdated, misguided, or whatever.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