{"id":2740,"date":"2008-04-13T17:20:32","date_gmt":"2008-04-14T01:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2740"},"modified":"2008-04-13T21:38:08","modified_gmt":"2008-04-14T05:38:08","slug":"i-plan-god-laughs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=2740","title":{"rendered":"I Plan, Sherre Laughs"},"content":{"rendered":"

So a couple of weeks ago, the publicist for Rabbi Sherre Hirsch’s first book, We Plan, God Laughs<\/a>, invited me to email in questions for the rabbi.<\/p>\n

I did.<\/p>\n

Five days later, the publicist emails me to say that the rabbi will not be doing any more interviews because of family stuff.<\/p>\n

I was able to derive a sublime spiritual lesson from the experience, more profound than any I read in Rabbi Hirsch’s book on Shabbos.<\/p>\n

So here are my questions that the rabbi won’t be answering:<\/p>\n

For Rabbi Hirsch. Please only answer the questions you find interesting. <\/p>\n

* So why did you leave Temple Sinai? Do you prefer what you are doing now, being a media superstar et al? <\/p>\n

* How has being a wife and mother affected your work as a rabbi, counselor and writer? <\/p>\n

* What inspires you and what depresses you about the state of Conservative Judaism today? <\/p>\n

* If you could change one or two things about Conservative Judaism, what would you change? Why aren’t you Orthodox? Do you get religiously lonely as a Conservative rabbi (as there aren’t many observant Conservative laity)? <\/p>\n

* I suspect that you’re not able to help everyone you counsel etc… How do you deal with that?<\/p>\n

* How do you reconcile your desire to be compassionate with your religion’s stringent standards? Do you tell people, ‘You can’t do that. It’s a sin." <\/p>\n

* Do you believe in and talk about sin and divine punishment for sins? <\/p>\n

* Do you think there’s life after death? <\/p>\n

* What are the advantages and disadvantages of having women in the rabbinate? <\/p>\n

* What have you learned about the news media from your first-hand experiences? <\/p>\n

* How has your interfaith work affected your Judaism? Is it easier or more difficult to spiritually counsel Gentiles? How do you counsel someone who believes Jesus is G-d? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So a couple of weeks ago, the publicist for Rabbi Sherre Hirsch’s first book, We Plan, God Laughs, invited me to email in questions for the rabbi. I did. Five days later, the publicist emails me to say that the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,4917],"tags":[29781,2471,4416,4928,4921,826,4919,4918,649,4926,4924,647,4927,4925,1298,809,1310,4920,4923,4922],"class_list":["post-2740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservative-judaism","category-sherre-hirsch","tag-conservative-judaism","tag-conservative-rabbi","tag-counselor","tag-desire","tag-divine-punishment","tag-gentiles","tag-hand-experiences","tag-interfaith-work","tag-jesus","tag-laity","tag-life-after-death","tag-nbsp","tag-news-media","tag-publicist","tag-rabbi-hirsch","tag-shabbos","tag-sherre","tag-spiritual-lesson","tag-stringent-standards","tag-temple-sinai"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t