yeshivaboy: hey luke, i have a quick question, did you find out about the documentary hypothesis before or after your conversion
YourMoralLeader: as a child
YourMoralLeader: my dad has a phd in bible
yeshivaboy: and you converted anyway
YourMoralLeader: yep
yeshivaboy: anyway, i wanted to thank you, you have had a major impact on my life
yeshivaboy: i read your blog every day
yeshivaboy: i became a subscriber to dennis prager and listen to his show every day for months now
yeshivaboy: i had never heard him before
yeshivaboy: and i started downloading marc shapiro lectures from torah in motion
yeshivaboy: so you really believe in orthodox judaism?
yeshivaboy: i have a lot of doubts after reading james kugel
yeshivaboy: and his ways of reconciling oj with the dh do not really suffice for me
YourMoralLeader: there is no way of reconciling
YourMoralLeader: you have to live with paradox
YourMoralLeader: awesome to hear, thank you
yeshivaboy: if i stay frum i will become modern orthodox
yeshivaboy: but that’s a big "if"
yeshivaboy: frum women here in jerusalem are now wearing burkas, i think you blogged about it once
yeshivaboy: i’m doing ok, i’m actually a happy person in real life, i just have a lot of resentment at the whole shidduchim thing
yeshivaboy: and i’m basically orthoprax
yeshivaboy: but not orthodox anymore
yeshivaboy: i wish i still believed what i used to
YourMoralLeader: yeah
yeshivaboy: i think i will probably stay religious becuz i like the values
yeshivaboy: and i like learning torah, and i like the culture
YourMoralLeader: yeah
yeshivaboy: but i have no motivation to get up an hour and a half early to daven
YourMoralLeader: yeah
yeshivaboy: i hated doing that even when i believed
YourMoralLeader: i prefer study
yeshivaboy: yeah, torah study is great
yeshivaboy: and niddah sucks big time
yeshivaboy: if i could eliminate davening and niddah i would be happy being frum without believing in god at all
yeshivaboy: i don’t mind the not having sex for 2-3 weeks a months so much, but not being able to even pass a cup to each other is crazy to me
yeshivaboy: and i feel like it makes your relationship colder
YourMoralLeader: how you like living in israel?
yeshivaboy: it’s ok. there are wonderful things about it, but i much prefer america.
yeshivaboy: it’s tough though because i’m in the chareidi world most of the time
yeshivaboy: which is very strict and now especially with my views
yeshivaboy: i get into a lot of debates in my kollel.
yeshivaboy: if you believe the earth is over 5,000 years old
yeshivaboy: you are looked at like you are off the derech
yeshivaboy: but i never bring up biblical criticism
yeshivaboy: no one has any idea how many doubts i have
yeshivaboy: i think a lot of people do
yeshivaboy: have doubts
yeshivaboy: they are just scared to admit it
yeshivaboy: luke, is dennis prager’s lecture on why to believe in god, is that any good?
yeshivaboy: he charges a lot for 35 minute shows
YourMoralLeader: yes
YourMoralLeader: $7 a month not bad
yeshivaboy: yeah, the monthly membership is a good price
YourMoralLeader: it is only worth discussing BC etc with people who are attuned
YourMoralLeader: yeah, get a subscription $50 for a year
yeshivaboy: i’ve been subscribed for about 3 months now…it has really changed me a lot so far
yeshivaboy: he is such a superb and clear thinker
yeshivaboy: i cancelled my medved subscription now
yeshivaboy: luke, do you really believe in a divinely inspired torah?
YourMoralLeader: yeah
YourMoralLeader: but that’s flexible, it could’ve been inspired but put together over centuries through many sources
YourMoralLeader: read marc shapiro’s book, The limits of orthodox theology
YourMoralLeader: rambam said that the torah moshe received at sinai was divine, but that doesn’t mean that the whole five books were given then
yeshivaboy: what does that mean, that they were written later?
YourMoralLeader: maybe
YourMoralLeader: maybe only 10 commandments given at sinai
yeshivaboy: and then the whole oral law thing
yeshivaboy: i have learned the goofiest things in the gemara
YourMoralLeader: listening to shapiro is great forclarifying this stuff
yeshivaboy: yeah i think i need to listen to more of his stuff
YourMoralLeader: i listened to every lecture on TIM
YourMoralLeader: shapiro lecture
yeshivaboy: it’s expensive though, i’ve already spent over 20 bucks on his lectures
yeshivaboy: is TIM free?
yeshivaboy: oh never mind
yeshivaboy: tim is torah in motion
yeshivaboy: i was thinking of e-tim or somethign, there was some thing i saw on there that was free if you listen live
yeshivaboy: otherwise it’s like 3.99 a lecture
YourMoralLeader: go through hirhurim get a free code and it is all free
YourMoralLeader: i paid not a penny
yeshivaboy: thanks i didn’t know you could do that
yeshivaboy: but according to what you said, like if only 10 commandments were given, why can’t i be a jew like dennis prager
yeshivaboy: and not follow rabbinical enactments
YourMoralLeader: it depends if you want to be part of a high commitment community or not
YourMoralLeader: it is a social decision, not a theological one for me
YourMoralLeader: it’s like belonging to a club with some absurd rules
yeshivaboy: i hope you don’t mind if i ask you becuz i am totally not judging you, but would you want to hold by niddah laws?
YourMoralLeader: i’d work it out with my wife
YourMoralLeader: i believe what you do in private is diff from public
YourMoralLeader: in private, a lot more latitude
YourMoralLeader: but i wouldn’t go into a mcdonalds in my hood etc
yeshivaboy: that’s kind of where i think i’m holding
yeshivaboy: but it must be hard to work out with your wife that you both hold the same way on those issues
yeshivaboy: and then also the issue of keeping your kids staying religious
YourMoralLeader: yeah, it is the way you work things out with your wife that is more important than where you end up in most cases
