For those of you who may not know, I am attending the Jewlicious Festival in Long Beach California and have come across some pretty interesting folks. One such dude, who I have met in person and know from the small time Jewlebrity world on the internet, is Patrick from Punk Torah who has some pretty unique ideas about Judaism and Torah.
We have been talking on and off all weekend, and one of the things he is constantly talking about is the pintele yid, or sparks of the divine within everything including stuff we may not think is so kosher – like his tattoo he got to commemorate the year he became religious, it has the date 5768. Or the picture his friend took of a cheeseburger on matzo as his way of doing pesach.
Cheeseburgers kind of gross me out, combine that with matzo and you lost me, but I think this is a good thing. How can it be good? These aren’t Jews they are nuts? They are bastardizing the religion and so on. That’s the normative way of thinking, but take a step back and look at all of these Jews that are connecting to Judaism or God in ways not necessarily prescribed by written by our tradition. Like the classic question of whether ot not to drive to shul or not go at all. Obviously halacha is not being taken into account – but there are loads of folks that drive to shul and maybe we can look at the good of that, maybe we can take the good from the bad, you know, like a spiritual borer.
Sure, I’m rambling, but I think a lot of us orthodox Jews like to look at the negative aspects of each other, and especially our non-orthodox brethren without putting ourselves in their shoes or thinking for a moment that they may be on a different level or just agree with the way we practice Judaism and realizing that there is no one way to practice Judaism.
The real question is whether or not that is ??? ???? ketchup.
Yes, it’s true that boasts that not only were they the first brand of processed foods in America to be certified kosher by the Orthodox Union, but that they “partnered with the Orthodox Union in 1923 to establish that symbol”
But of course, their ketchup has that terrible substance known as corn syrup.
Jeez, Heshy, you really need to get a Hebrew character set enabled …
Hey there’s no email for you on your site – want to exchange links?
The real question is whether or not that is ??? ???? ketchup.
I propose a game: which of the following should be istead of ??? ????.
1) FFB, tznius, shomer niddah (= yeah, you’re so frum)
2) environmentally-friendly (= Carlebach?)
3) inclusive (= Chabad?)
4) kosher lePesach (= what a boring answer)
It was ketchup, not blood. That would be REALLY gross.
Well, of course. That does not look like shmura matzo, and as I’m sure you’re aware, only shmura matzo can be trusted to contain the halachically required amount of Gentile blood libel.
How do you eat that gastronomic abomination without getting it all over yourself?
You take a piece of the matzah and you break it off, then with the “sharp” edge, you cut into the treif and scoop it up.
Looks way better than the traditional korach sandwich
You putzes obviously missed the point of this article.
Nah, anyone with an IQ above room temperature figured we didn’t have to spell it out. Not that that’s a reflection on anyone here. Knowhati’msayin’?
I find that driving to shul is like a woman wearing a talis, but the cheeseburger matzoh is something else!
Oy vey!
This reminds me of a ridiculous article I read on CNN a while back.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/28/new.and.emergent.jews/index.html
funny thing about that is that PunkTorah.com and my band Can!!Can were both in that article
There actually is just one way of practicing Judaism–that is Halacha. There are, however, several different ways to grow close to God.
Yeah ok but who decides what that (Halacha) is? Just cuz a some hairy old guys in very black hats say its them doesn’t make it so. Even the most basic read of Jewish history teaches us that there has always been divergent opinion regarding what is and how best to apply Jewish Law.
That being said, if doing Jewish is what Jewish is, then maybe the Very Black Hats and their take Jewish, will become what most Jews practice. Not because it right or true but because they have managed to have done and will continue to, do Jewish. Whatever Jewish is!
I am the real very black hat, by the way, not some $10 imposter that wish-we-were-yeshivish people buy at burlington coat factory.
Seriously though, imposter, you are dealing with absolute truths here.
Not an impostor, just easily distracted. Ment to use VeryWhiteHat just forgot to change it.
Now regarding your absolute truths. Yes, yes and we all know of a certain Rabbi sporting the very same “absolute truths” who liked to (apparently) whore out females converting under his supervision.
Truth is as truth does as it is with doing Jewish!
PS my hat was only $7.99 as if I’d pay $10 bucks. Not even if the Rebbe himself peed on it!
There are clearly multiple ways of practicing Judaism, one need only look at the Gemara to realize that in almost everything there is no “one true way.” And that’s ignoring the whole Karaite thing. My father takes the position that if Hillel were to be alive today, he would probably be a Conservative Jew, and I think that while he would probably be a bit to the right of mainstream Conservative, he would probably be somewhere near where JTS positions itself, and would definitely be within the “Masorti” envelope (i.e., no more conservative than the left wing of Modern Orthodox Judaism).
The original patriarchs, matriarchs and prophets would be in cherem for not dressing like 16th century Jew-hating Poles, not knowing what this “Talmud” thing is, and not following any of the rabbinic traditions.
And I take the position that if Rebbi Yehuda Hanassi were alive, he’d be frummer than R’ Elyashiv’s alleged rulings. And Archimides would be modern Orthodox, and Marx would be Reform, and Martin Luther would be Reconstructionist, and Heshy Fried would be the Munkatcher Rebbe, and you, Radical Centrist, (great username, btw) would be one of the last sephardim still stuck in Iraq.
I had a friend over for lunch a week ago and I made a “meat” and “cheese” lasagne, with charoset on the side! I thought that as a work of art, it was a nice use of contrast and Jewish themes, but everything was vegan, so in reality there was no conflict. 😛
Here’s my post in response: http://heebnvegan.blogspot.com/2010/02/perfect-substitute-for-treif-spins-on.html
Unlike the kosher cheeseburger on matzoh, my vegan meal did not violate halacha. I would recommend that other Jews looking to satisfy their desires for edginess and rebellion also make vegan versions of their intended treif concoctions.
Dude that just sounds really wrong – charoset doesn’t work well out of context.
Haha, I enjoy using charoset out of context! A few months ago, I entered a vegan cooking competition — in character as “Swedish Chef” from The Muppet Show — with charoset. The judges didn’t know what to think!
Needless to say, I didn’t win. 🙂
Are you people real. Obviously one can’t do the Lords way without listening to him. Since he gave us the Torah we obviouslly must follow its ways in order to do his will. Now, the conservative movement doesn’t follow the Torah and they know they don’t. They don’t believe the Torah was really given for our times. Obviously since one of the basics of our belief is that the Torah is eternal, they aren’t following the Torah. As a side point a smart man realizes that being open-minded is but a poor excuse for not being clear on the subject. If one understood the quotient why would he agree to anothers idea, and if he believes there is more then one answer then by agreeing to someone else he is not being open-minded but rather a realist!
If the torah were so eternal why do we keep writing seforim on new interpretations? I think the torah is eternal but it definitely evolves, you are also missing the point of the pintele yid (obviously a misnaged)
The torah evolves – we don’t enslave people now or throw folks off cliffs for wondering outside the techum.
Isn’t the “Torah-true” claim that we never did those things because we always had the Oral Law clarifications or that they don’t apply since we’re in galus, depending on the specific issue at hand?
Or sacrificing animals, for that matter. Although, a cow did die in the making of the Kosher For Passover Treif Burger.
Accepting the Torah as binding is one thing. Now, explain to me how you propose to go from “lo ta’asu avodah” to “it’s wrong to flip a light switch on Shabbat in order to study some Jewish text based on first principles purely described in the Talmud. (For the sake of this example, I’m going to assume you somehow pre-purchased the electricity, etc. so that things like that are out of the way).
– R
Great article.
However, such practices can never be condoned as they will be misinterpreted and perhaps cause religious Jews to stray. We must realize there is a big difference between accepting what any Jew does (even if its so wrong as eating a matzah cheeseburger!) and judging them for it.
I wont admonish anyone for driving to shul on shabbos or even eating a cheese/pork/chometz whopper. But you cant expect me to portray such an inherent contradiction as being right.
I didn’t say it was right – I said it was a step in the right direction, although right and wrong is not up for me to decide. The whole point is that everyone connects in their own way and if someone that never connected before does something that may be considered weird for you – for them it may the most connection they ever had.
Agreed.
I was just commenting on the general vibes that I get from both extremes regarding this topic (i.e. driving to shul on shabbos).
It’s not that extreme, though. The Karaite for a long time have said that mixing meat and milk is not unkosher.
Firstly, I feel that we Jews should Respect each other as fellow Jews, and see each other as brothers and sisters, we are one family
Secondly, besides that, we should also respect halacha. It’s like imagine an employee who is a great person, but only follows Some rules at the company and not other rules.
The point of Jewish law and mitzvos is to connect to Hashem, nourish our neshama, and bring light to the world. G-d tells us how to do this in our Instruction Manual. If we deviate from it and practice however we want, it doesn’t spiritually work. It’s like constructing a house and only doing some of the instructions. It’s not going to be complete. – It’s essential to follow the instructions inorder to both, nourish our soul and bring blessing to the world. I agree that the mitzvah of ahavas/t Yisrael is also very important and we should be good with that also. We don’t all have to agree, just respect each other. We should also understand the difference between insults and good advice. — Insults are hurtful and people should work on Not doing this. Whereas good advice is given because you care about others.
I agree we need to respect each other and I really like that. At the same time, how often do we see it written “do as is your tradition”? What if your tradition is the treif?
I eat hamburgers with lettuce. It’s my own special way of being a vegetarian.
It was nice having Heshy and Patrick at Jewlicious. Highlights included baiting Westboro Baptist in the company of religious lesbian activist Talya Lev. Was it just me or did anyone else sense a certain butchiness in Megan Phelps? Anyhow, cheese burger on a Matza is an abomination. Wanna be cool? Try a Jewlicious Burger – cheese, bacon, burger, chocolate, sauteed mushrooms and onions and 100% kosher. And vegetarian.
*cough* plug *cough*
I love you, Abitbol. It was really cool to finally meet you. Looking forward to the next time.
I love you guys. 🙂
see you soon!!
A simple sign that G-d exists and is good: the bacon cheeseburger.
It is common sense that to bring judaism to others or for you to bring it into your own life is a good thing, if it can be done in a sincere way. If the guy specifically did not eat bread on Pesach even for a meal its a very good thing. It shows he has some rudimentary knowledge of judaism and hopefully was sincere in trying to keep some of it. However, to the black hat guy above who said that we should ignore what some old dudes in black hats say because the halacha in itself is so divisive and judaism should be some solely some sort of positive godly groove I say what other religion or society of note in the world that does not show natural respect to its saner elders and which lacks a set of rules? Our tradition from Sinai is our strongest binding that ties together every single holy jewish soul for all time. And just because laws are divisive does not mean they are untrue or should be disregarded. I take for granted every day the Constitution of our country, out military that defends it and us. Imagine there was no Constitution, just a bunch of chilled out dudes smoking grass like Thomas Jefferson did out on his plantation (no joke). The world as we know it would not exist. However, if you want to say that our leaders are less than they have been, I can definitely agree with you. Also, I am not saying that to be a good person you have to be the best jew in the world. I am just pointing out that our tradition is valid, there are absolutes within the halacha, and I believe that the earlier generations of rabbis were far more sincere and loving men. The Brisker Rav invited an adulteress and her bastard child into his home and took care of them until she could support herself. Here is a quote from the Chazon Ish, who has got to be the epitome of a chareidi: “A jew who keeps Yom Kippur alone is far more precious than gold”. I think his point is that even a very basic effort to retain your jewish identity makes a person extremely precious to god.
OY Vey you guys are redurkulous, patrick wants the brainy zany attention with out really having to go out of his way. the esoteric without the dicipline. that cheeseburger can only have sparks released if the person becomes baal teshuvah. its just stupid. like the tattoo of the year he became so called relgious, i mean how deuche’-y can someone get? i mean there are really people out there that are that self obsessed? becoming religious is a change in heart not mearly in actions, so to go against G-d to mark out how you are going for G-d is endulgent self absorbed primadonna, attention seeking muck like his parshot he pumps. its all to be edgy smart quirky individual. aka a deuche…
Well, FrumGer, a lot of ground to cover here.
First, don’t call me a douche bag or a primadonna. That’s insulting. I would never call you that, and you shouldn’t call me that either. It doesn’t help your cause. Also, it’s not frum.
Second, it’s not self-obsessed to get a tattoo, any more than it is self-obsessed to get a haircut, wear makeup, buy a new suit, etc.
I agree that becoming religious is a change of heart. I used to be a very different person before I became religious.
Also, with PunkTorah, my work is no more attention seeking than any blogger. By that logic, Chabad are bigger “attention seeking primadonnas” than me, because they have a site that is a billion times larger than mine.
And finally, you don’t know WHY I got those tattoos. Each one was a personal, joyous expression of my devotion to G-d. You just decided that it was to be “edgy, smart, quirky, individual”. Which, honestly, I think are really great qualities to have 😉 It’s a lot better than being the opposite of all those things, no?
I respect all expressions of Judaism. I feel the same kinship with a black hatted, bearded man in Crown Heights that hates secular music and is only interested in Gemarrah, as I do the tattooed vegan kid who hates religion but listens to Jewish punk. It’s all a matter of connecting. The worst thing that can happen is NOT connecting, ya know? And ultimately, I don’t believe that anyone owns the Monopoly on “true” Judaism. When you get into that, you’re creating an idol in your own image.
FG, look at the song “Bilvavi.” You could say the same thing about someone writing a song about building an altar in their heart and sacrificing their soul to G-d upon it. Just ’cause someone’s approach isn’t your cup of spiritual tea doesn’t mean it doesn’t help them move positively on their own spiritual journey. For some, the journey features the spiritual before the ritual. There can be ritual without spirit, but there is no spiritual without ritual, on some level, even if it is invisible to many. Inevitably, some people’s mileage varies.
🙂 That’s why you’re the champ, SB