A conversation I want to have, but only with people who also need this conversation

[ritaxis]

 I need to connect with other secular, politically progressive, mostly unobservant Jews (maybe also who grew up ion unobservant homes) about ways to connect more  with the  history ,community, culture, and politics of being a Jew, without attempting to claim spaces that belong to other people, and without engaging in religious arguments (I know, one of our cultural values is claiming that we love to argue, but that's not what I'm primarily here for).

It's the eve of Yom Kippur, and I'm not fasting this evening and tomorrow because diabetic, and I'm certainly not going to shul (local temple is of course full up with regulars and irregular-regulars, plus see secular above) but I feel like engaging with the philosophical core of the season & don't feel like I have much of a plan for it. I've been feeling this way for some years actually & so far all I've come up with was to feel sort of introspective & uncomfortable for a while, and I know I can do better.

This is also brought on by the recognition that there's real reasons why I have never gone back to being a reliable lefty foot soldier-my health is unreliable & it's exactly when I commit to door knocking, leafletting, or phone calls that I am most likely to have a crash & fail those commitments. So I'm trying to figure out a doable role for me, When I have the energy to think about it.

Anybody have answers, partial answers, further questions of their own they'd like to share?


(I know I rarely post & hardly ever even comment, but I'm still reading your journals & I appreciate you're all here)

Comments

[carbonel]

I'm not sure I'm the person you're looking for, but I'm mostly unobservant and politically progressive if not at all active, except for voting. I grew up in a Reform Jewish home that I guess I'd call middling observant (not kosher, but religious and Hebrew school, Friday night services maybe once a month, but holiday observances in the home).

And I'm not fasting or going to services, either. However, I am about to leave for a monthly get-together of local spinners, so I'll be gone for a few hours after posting this.

These days, I mostly describe myself as an agnostic-to-atheist Jew. I have no intention of giving up my Jewish identity, but I don't actually do much about it. I know my parents were disappointed that I no longer belonged to a synagogue, but they stopped asking after a while.

In some ways, my issues are made much simpler by the fact that I don't have children. That avoids a whole lot of complicated decisions.

And I have to get going, so I'll post this now. Maybe more thinky thoughts later.

[grayestofghosts]

I suppose it’s a bit late for this…

I did a zoom service evening on Yom Kippur and did an internet fast instead of a food fast, which regardless of everything probably de-occupied my mind more anyway.

Feels bad to say it at this point a big way I have been engaging is on Twitter, though I’d like it to be elsewhere. The good news is that Sukkot is coming up and it may be easier to engage on a more casual level with that if there’s any synagogues in your area.