Three Jews, Four Opinions: taharat hamishpachah

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Thursday, July 3, 2008

Reimagining Taharat Hamishpachah

If you're wondering what Diane, as a postmodern, sex-positive, divorced Jewish feminist thinks about taharat hamishpachah, visit her posting at Jewish Mosaic, at www.jewishmosaic.org/resources/show_resource/218.

Conversations on Jewish Thought and Practice

We believe in the importance of Judaism. We believe in its wisdom, its spirituality, its meaning, its beauty. And in its power to make people better and make better people.

But we also see something of a crisis in contemporary Jewish religious thought and practice.

On the one hand, notwithstanding the fact that many traditional Jewish teachings are spectacular in their clarity and insight, the Orthodox worldview requires accepting some claims that we believe are false, outmoded, or even in rare cases immoral.

On the other hand, liberal Judaism far too often reduces this great and complex moral and spiritual legacy to simplistic ethical rules, trivialized rituals, and childish stories. An impoverished religious core is often surrounded by religiously peripheral - albeit important - issues like cultural Judaism, support for Israel, the Holocaust, anti-semitism, and social action.

Saddest of all, many Jews have opted out completely, finding Judaism itself unnecessary, unpleasant, and pointless.

This blog is our attempt to develop and defend a meaningful middle ground. In doing so, we need to defend against the Orthodox claim that this type of Judaism is inauthentic and the more liberal and secular claim that this type of Judaism is unnecessary.

All of that said, our Judaism is rooted primarily in what we affirm, not what we reject. Feel free to join the conversation and leave a comment as we develop and explore our ideas about Judaism.

Three Jews, Four Opinions

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Reimagining Taharat Hamishpachah

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Three Jews, Four Opinions

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Reimagining Taharat Hamishpachah

Search This Blog

Conversations on Jewish Thought and Practice

Contributors' Profiles

Subscribe To

Followers

The Torah Min Hashamayim / Documentary Hypothesis Project

Complete Index

Best Posts (by Categories)

Complete Index

Blog Archive

Labels

LINKS

General Jewish Sites

Traditional Orthodox Sites

Skeptical or Critical Orthodox Sites

Moderate or Liberal Jewish Sites

Other Interesting Sites

AddThis