My Response To What Prof Schimmel writes about Jewish beliefs.

PROF SCHIMMEL WRITES ABOUT THE TENACITY OF UNREASONABLE BELIEFS:

Prof Schimmel writes:
"My relationship to Orthodoxy is mixed. Without a doubt, certain core values and teachings of Orthodox Judaism have deeply shaped my own moral and ethical values, even as I find other teachings and values in Orthodoxy to be morally problematic."

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My Response

We don't need Judaism to give us a moral sensibility. The same ethical teachings that are found in the TORAH are also found in Christianity and other religions and have become the ethics of the enlightened West.

No, Orthodoxy offers us something other and something priceless to Jews. It offers a guide to remembering that we are Jews and as such, it permits us to live out our Jewishness ritually and it connects each of us to the Jewish Peoplehood.

Professor Schimmel was brought up in an Orthodox home and therefore feels somewhat badly about his agnosticism while adhering to it and, at the same time, ACTING Orthodox.

I now have no such emotional ambiguity since I have come to realize that BELIEF in Judaism may be attached to ACTION, defined as MITSVOT [acting Jewish].

Early on, it was pointed out to me by a young YESHIVA student that a Jew can only pass on Jewishness to the next generation by a commitment to the TORAH - which is the ONLY source that gives us a definition of what a Jew is. [Deut 7 et al.]

For authentic Jews, "religion" goes beyond belief or what is generally called FAITH. Belief and faith depend upon MITSVOT, not the reverse.

There are religions that teach that God inspects what is in the heart to determine if a person of faith is genuine in his actions. Not so our religion.

Judaism demands action. Nowhere in the TORAH is there any statement that one has to have KAVANNAH [a pure heart] to carry out a commandment. In other words, GOD DOESN'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT WHY YOU ARE DOING A MITSVAH - it's none of His business. You don't need a REASON for acting Jewishly.
The Romans used to say that Reasons are Treasons, - they get you into trouble. There is a seminar called THE FORUM. The Forum teaches that whatever comes after the word "because" is usually bullshit.

I don't eat pork because ________. Because what?

The only reason I will believe that a Jew doesn't eat pork is either:

I don't eat pork because I don't feel like it.
I don't eat pork because the TORAH says Jews oughtn't eat pork.
That's it.
The TORAH says that God doesn't want me to eat pork and He isn't much interested in why I refrain.

You see, if I have to have KAVANNAH in order to validate a MITSVAH, what happens if a poor man approaches me to ask for charity to feed his family and I tell him, "Sorry. I don't have the proper pure intention in my heart to help you today. Come back next week and ask me again and if I have the proper KAVANNAH, I'll give you a few coins."

Mayim Bialik, in conversation with Bill Maher, justifying her Orthodoxy, simply told him that being Orthodox connects her to the Jewish People. Nothing there about faith or wishing eternal life. She probably, like I, was thinking - living life here on earth as a committed Jew is far better than eternal life as some disembodied spirit.
She said:

"Defending religion is hard in 30 seconds. Defending my choices as a person who both lives in the secular and scientific world and appreciates the ancient and mystical world is not easy to do off-camera, much less on camera. I tried to be honest. I tried to demonstrate that I am not perfect nor am I a representative of "The Jews." I don't know if all of humanity should turn to atheism. I don't know that the true sign of cultural evolution is to do away with religion. And I don't think the TORAH is wicked, as Bill Maher insinuated. I honestly didn't know how to respond to that! The TORAH is not wicked; it's people who can be wicked, and it's people who can pervert Truth. That's hard to address in 30 seconds."

I simply would have told Maher that I am religious so that I can remain Jewish. If he scoffed or said that he didn't understand that, I would tell him that is why he doesn't even know that he is Jewish. His mother was a Jewess.

Bill Maher never married and he doesn't want children so there is nothing for him to pass on whether or not he acknowledges his Jewishness. Others of us feel glad to pass on our identity for ill or for good, mostly, I believe, for good.

I hope Professor Schimmel can come to the same conclusion.
May he be more like Aaron than Moses.
Moses' beloved was God.
Aaron's beloved was the Jewish People.
May he be more like Abraham than Noah.
Noah walked with God. He cared nothing that the human race, and animals, around him were dying.
Abraham walked with people. Abraham prayed for the lives of the sinners of Sodom.

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Prof.Solomon Schimmel at Hebrew College
https://www.thetorah.com/author/solomon-schimmel
Prof. Solomon Schimmel is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Education and Psychology at Hebrew College. He received his Ph.D in Psychology from Wayne State University. Schimmel is the author of The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth; Wounds Not Healed by Time: The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness; and The Seven Deadly Sins: Jewish, Christian and Classical Reflections on Human Psychology.

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My Personal Struggle with Unreasonable Belief by Prof.Solomon Schimmel
https://www.thetorah.com/article/my-personal-struggle-with-unreasonable-belief