Al^fm^S^'NOTE:'Ilie oliinioiis jHit fottb hm oil woi^«ii'« eqiwl ^ytidpatioiilii wcdiljr S^bliatli services,
iKuat4i any fropp of sjoKi^ogiie members or JTo/ie^ the commWty newsletter. They are ndne. Simibu'ly, the philoso|^i«iliirgttmenls propounded are not intended to be reprissenttetfve of any of the above, mdiuUng me. The purpose of dialectic Is to show that, when taken to their logical extremities, both sides of any argument are equally tniie, or equally false. It would have been just as easy to argue fifom the other side of this issue, to ''prove** that there can be no valid objection to allowing weekly participation by women. What iitfe learn from dialectic is
that the answertpttie^piestion oftenliffsliydiid tte of.reasonhig. We miist find pur final decision In our hearts, in our faith. My heart has told me that I must oppose the.change of poHc^ .for the sake of ''sfaatom bayit" Iff were to votefor the diange,'! Would be unable to continue comhig fo^ul, knowing^that I had helped to make a few Jews ^1 unwdcome in a house of worship which is here for me today only because some of them were here to ensure Its contuiuuig existence long before I came. If there were another shut in Victoria, I might find myself voting In favor of change. Then which onewouMI I attend? Naturally, I would attend both, on alternate Saturdays... . BobFmkelstehi
By BOB FINKELSTEIN
Religion rsaprrori dogmatic. It is dogmatic because it is based on belief: we believe in the existence of a central truth of (Jewish) life. That truth we call G-d, and it is in the light of that truth that everything etee has to be viewed. G-d, as truth; is believed to be self-evident.
There is no intellectual proof of the existence of G-d, for the function of the intellect is to reason, to analyze experience, elucidate its meaning, and make certain decisions about the subject of such analysis. Reason always tends to go from the finite to the infinite but, being grounded in the finite, reason is incapable of knowing the infinite — it cannot find the infinite in the objective world. It only succeeds in constructing larger and larger wholes.
The infinite for thought is never a fihished product. What reason cannot do is impose a preconceived scheme of concepts upon reality or dictate to reality what it should or should not be. Thfere is no basis for the belief that reality must be responsive to reason. It could just as easily be irrational or supra-rational. Hence, ratiotiatarguements regarding religious practices have only Umited value.
We come to the synagogue in order to '^icnbw" G-d. We dotft come to get spiriCiiality, rather we bring spirituality with us. The way to know G-dis not by thought. The paths of study, devotion and prayer are simply means to remove from the individual the obstacles to realizing G-d'^ selfrevident nature. •
Reasmifehngtophihst^
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The value^of^rayer is not so muchin the literal meanings o! the words <W^t%epi«tf«f|m the1^tate*of?nrind-weKtiyi?o Teach through the^i^tition. This is why there is such emphasis on kavantih,/j^- . ^ ; .
Judaisiirhaft been codified into one (tf the most cumbersome and confusing^ religious systems, ever devised by a people. We have hundreds,of **doV and '•iibnYs*' to structure our lives. There seems to bfe no more sense in, for example, the Biblical injunctions aj^inst eating certain foods than in the tradition which precludes women frpm the Torah ritual.
When we seek ratidnat explanations for these proscriptions, we becomfc-confused;^ we have difficulty ascribing reason to oi^r reUgious prjuitiees: The caiise^ already been aUtided tb}>rei^on is an inadequate topi with which to aimlyze the pragmatic methods of religion;^^.^^:'^
'Reason betbhgslto philosophy, where its ultimate function may only be to make us less uncptofortable about performing or abstaining from ajxparently senSeless activities in our approach to truth, to.CiHJ, I
M i&^ortfewhile to examine the *' women's^jarticipation issue" in the light of ^h«5 understanding of the antithesis between reason and religion.
Bob Fhikelstein is a regular weekly wdrshlpper. at Congregate Emanu-EI in VietoriavB.C.His thoughts on fuirpi^iapation by woineii in Weeyy^yiiagogur servlees apjpeared in the April Vii^rla community newsletter, '^o/ejim. The Victoria shul jpresently allows womeiiVparticipation in services alternate weeks, but the issue is expected to be voted upon during f heir annual meeting May 22 to extend to women full participation in all weekly and Yomtov services, not just alternate weeks.
There is the/eelihg among some that the present situation, treats woinetf as**less than" men or makes them "as good as** men only 0n Alternate Saturdays (which is said to be even more "degradtng** ttian not counting them at all).
The (in)cquallty of women and men was probably not the basis iPbf calling nien only to the Torah. It isjnorc likely that women ^pd men were perceived as equal in retigious potential, but with diffet^nt spiritual approaches. Jewish wdmeh are exempt from^mbst religious duties that must be perforuied at fixe<J tim6st the other hand, tradition normally excludes ^ Jewislk men from participation in such events as the celebration oriM)ShiChdaesh.
A different society
A secoQd, ielated argument for allowing women.to be called to the Torah is that the reasons for prohibiting them fjcom doing SQ-wer^^the^productof a society much different from our own. Judaism; 4n order tobc a *^living religion,**^ miist be flexible enough td change with the times.
Buf there is a gttat danger in this argument of believing that religioilkisdepeiidenton, and shpuld therefore follow the trends Of^ society; Th^fe, is, a temdency in our day to consider as pernm^blrany^in£tbLat'&^^^ or profit: It is one
of the purposes of religion to hold this tendency in check by giving us the^power to discriminate between what is spiritually correct and what is merely tolerated by society:
The fact that society is changing, that the everyday reaUty we have brbughtabout by our reason is not the same as the reaUty of our ancestors;<loes not mean that weare better able to realize spiritual truth than they were. In fact, a good case can be made that the present general trends of society, with their emphasis on and "mine^ and ^finding myself,** are in fact anti-religious, since the essence of spiritual life is freedom from egoism.
We make no distinction between individuality and personality, and what is worse, individuality, which isthe source of imperfection, is aggrandized as a value. It is not until we are
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whicHi pi)evc0t.mfi;o.m knowing GkL
A, third ieas0n for change h based on the concept
•'freedom.'* This, however, is another area in which iwr ^vJ-
•'modern* society tends to confuse the itality, which our reason^^^^^^iv^^
tries to impose on the worlds with absolute retigious ]^
The four common freedoms—freedombf speech, freedom of
association, freedom (tf worship and freedom from wantare
aU secular freedoms. Attainment of them is only a means, not '''■'}:■ ^-:SM the final value.
Xhe freedom we seek in the synagogue presupposes a passionless and disinterested outlook. That is spiritual freedom, and only the individual can be free spiritually. True spiritual freedom results in thecertainknowledgethat one is just as dose to G-d when standing in the baek of the synagogue as when standing on thei»fmaA. It is another unfortunate error of our reason that we beUeve freedom to be external to us.
'Neither add tiiereto nor diminish'
. Fourth, it has been offered that since the community was polled, and the results of the poll indicated either a preference for allowing women to be called to the Torah every week, or at least no objection to such a policy, that is good reason to make the change.
The objections to this Une of argument are the same as those against **changing religion for changing times:** the fact that our reason tells us something is right has no necessary relation to its religious correctness. Again, reUgious; practices are basically dogmatic.
If we decide that we, as people of reason, no longer need to observe one of our religious customs, or need to change it because it does not reflect our contemporary thinking, then what is to prevent us from reviewing, discarding or changing any or all of our traditon? Jacob Kranz of Dubno,'an eighteenth-century traditionalist, cited the Torah verse,-Thou Shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it,** and illustrated his position with this story:
INSIGHT — Page 11 (See also Page 6)
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