Rabbi Rami posed these questions. Good blog fodder, I figured.

1. Do you think your faith is the one true faith, or do you believe that there are many paths to Truth?

I believe that Judaism is the True Faith for Jews. For a whole variety of reasons, some cultural and historical, and some fuzzily metaphysical. I believe that Judaism points to deeper universal objective truths, but there are perhaps infinite ways of obtaining and living by that truth. Furthermore, I do not think that any faith or religious system guarantees living a Godly or “Truthy” life. It is up to the individual to heed the message embedded in their faith/moral/ethical/philosophical system.

2. If your faith has a Holy Book, what makes it holy? How do you know your book is true? Are the Holy Books of other religions as holy as your own? If not, why not?

Our Holy books are holy because they are an expression of God’s will and Truth, and reveal a face of God. I know that this is true because every text contains such potential truth, including King Lear and Spiderman. Some texts and textual commentaries are more self-aware than others and reveal their messages more or less explicitly than others and from within their varying cultural and temporal contexts. Are other books as holy as those of my religion? Perhaps, maybe even probably. But not to me. Why? Cause I’m a Jew, silly.

3. As a person of faith, what is your obligation to all the other peoples in the world?

My obligations as a person of faith boil down, I believe, to three basic principles: Love God. Love my neighbor. Pursue justice. These all come down to recognizing the ultimate THOU, and recognizing the spark of THOU in every YOU, thus recognizing the “I” in every YOU, which makes my obligation to other people and other peoples, in principle, the same as my obligation to myself. Practically, however, this of course doesn’t work out, because if I do not put myself first, I lose my means by which to be of service to others. Same, I think, goes for peoplehood. It is our place as a people, especially Jews who are meant to be “A light unto the nations” to be of service not only to God but to the peoples of the world. But there is a need to care for our own peoplehood as a prerequisite to caring, as a people, for other peoples. Service starts at home, but must ultimately be to the end of reaching beyond the self.

4. When they die, what happens to those who do not accept your faith?

How am I supposed to know? I don’t even know what happens to those OF my faith when we die!

5. When your theology disagrees with scientific fact and proven theory (theory as understood in scientific circles not everyday speech), do you adapt to science, or insist science adapt to your theology?

My theology doesn’t disagree with scientific fact or proven theory. Never really has.

6. Why do you believe what you believe about God, creation, humanity, and the afterlife?

Oh boy… that’s a big and complex question. Problem with answering this question is that it involves some terms that need defining, like “believe” “God” “Creation” etc. The simple answer is that my belief system is a narrative view of reality, and that the narrative is one of my People and religion, and therefore an appropriate one for me to hold by. It is not my only narrative, as I am a multifaceted person, as are we all, but it is a lens through which I view everything and which informs every aspect of my life. Also I find the Jewish narrative to be one of exceptional complexity and beauty.

I suspect the next time I write here it will involve some defining of terms.