A note on ceremony
So as Dan, or as i like to call him "the only person who friggin writes on this blog anymore," mentioned, we went to a wedding in Minnesota this weekend. The wedding was that of my dad's cousin's daughter, so.... my second cousin one removed i guess, to a man who may or may not have been Jewish (no one could say for sure either way). What resulted was a wedding ceremony which may or may not have been Jewish, although different members of the jury dissented in their opinions. Of course the ceremony was Jewish, my mother said, because they stood under a Huppah and broke a glass. That being said, they were married by a justice of the peace, recited the traditionally Christian vows, and removed mention of God or God-like undertones from the already Christian-secular ceremony. All love and tradition and commitment references, but not in the name of God or anything like that. We can do it on our own thankyouverymuch. We got this far without you and your meddling, God, and we'll go the rest of the way without you.
Actually, when i think about it, that pretty much sums up the modern Jewish religion. A healthy dose of secularism, with some symbols of tradition, but any reference to God and you make everyone sort of uncomfortable.
Let it never be thought that the reason i left Judaism was for lack of faith. In fact, it is too much faith which puts me at odds with the modern Jewish community.
Religious differences aside, it was a lovely wedding and a fun weekend trip. I wish we could have a few days to recover from it, but that's modern life for you, all gogo and no sitsit.