{"id":3020,"date":"2008-05-21T17:39:37","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T01:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=3020"},"modified":"2008-05-21T18:21:19","modified_gmt":"2008-05-22T02:21:19","slug":"why-should-i-be-holier-than-the-pope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=3020","title":{"rendered":"Why Should I Be Holier Than The Pope?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was asked today how I feel about davening.<\/p>\n

I hate it.<\/p>\n

Is that the wrong answer?<\/p>\n

I don’t care for ritualized prayer because it is repetitive. You just say the same words over and over again.<\/p>\n

That’s no fun.<\/p>\n

And what the heck would happen if I started to get some of the things I was putatively praying for — fear of G-d, love of G-d, love of Torah, obedience to G-d’s commandments, distancing myself from evil men and slutty women?<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t recognize myself.<\/p>\n

What if I stopped using words to hurt people?<\/p>\n

I’d have nothing to say.<\/p>\n

I heard somewhere that the pope prays for 20 minutes a day. Why the hell should I pray for three times as long as the Holy Father? I bet the Vatican is a much more spiritual place than shul. I bet you don’t have a bunch of snotty-nosed kids racing around the Vatican and screaming. I bet you don’t have a bunch of Jews who should know better spraying their cold and flu germs all over each other.<\/p>\n

Shul is just not very spiritual. There’s no great art work and no choirs and no musical instruments on Shabbat.<\/p>\n

What shul needs is some good Negro spirituals.<\/p>\n

And more attractive single women.<\/p>\n

Amen brother, preach the word!<\/p>\n

I’ve been to the mountaintop and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I have a dream of melodic soulful davening like the Happy Minyan has, only it ends on time and it’s not driven by weirdos.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was asked today how I feel about davening. I hate it. Is that the wrong answer? I don’t care for ritualized prayer because it is repetitive. You just say the same words over and over again. That’s no fun. … 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":[21,135],"tags":[2252,8108,8105,8098,8100,8107,8102,8103,823,8101,8096,8109,8106,810,671,1880,8097,8099,3149,8104],"class_list":["post-3020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","category-prayer","tag-amen-brother","tag-art-work","tag-choirs","tag-cold-and-flu","tag-evil-men","tag-germs","tag-great-art","tag-holy-father","tag-minyan","tag-mountaintop","tag-negro-spirituals","tag-obedience","tag-promised-land","tag-shabbat","tag-shul","tag-single-women","tag-slutty-women","tag-spiritual-place","tag-what-the-heck","tag-wrong-answer"],"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