Recon Rabbi Spreads Open Source Judaism Memes

…no, not by attribution, but I don’t care: the ideas are getting out, and some of my sentences are remaining intact!

” It was a ‘mixed multitude’ that joined together to attain freedom from bondage and covenant through Torah. We were never a homogeneous community …”

“We need to liberate ourselves from metric Judaism. Our synagogues and institutions will reach Jews when we address issues that affect us not only in our particularity as ‘Jews’ but in our totality as ‘Jewish human beings’ – our existential concerns, our aesthetic appeals, our intellectual pursuits, our spiritual yearnings, our social needs. … Let’s think of Judaism as honorous rather than onerous; as an asset rather than a liability; as an evolving civilization rather than as a preservation society.”

“Judaism has reinvented itself in each of its most creative periods. The question is, do we want to be part of new possibilities, or do we want to be among those who lament an idealized past that never existed. … Two thousand years ago, the early rabbis envisioned a new Jewish agenda – they transformed Judaism from a Temple-based religion to a synagogue-centered community; from sacrificial offerings at the altar to meals shared around the simple home table … from a vicarious priesthood to a teaching mentorship model; from a land-centered religion to a portable faith. … It was the Jewish imagination and ability to think outside the box, to have the chutzpah to reinvent Judaism, that saved Jewish civilization, the Jewish faith, and the Jewish people.”

All from an article by Rabbi Dennis C. Sasso.

It’s a great sign – because once they stop naming you and just quote you, it means that they have taken ownership of the idea. It’s the way ‘media virus’ spread so far, and I learned back then not to worry about credit.