I noted that in fact some people consider group identity to be national and ethnic. I understood this about two days ago when I saw someone mentioning this on a blog. For myself, for as long as I remember, I always thought keeping the Law of Moses was the most important thing. The Five Books of Moses. Not any kind of identity. Identity did not seem like much of an issue in the Five Books of Moses and its Oral Commentary, the two Talmuds.
Furthermore, I see group identity is very important to a lot of people, much more so than to be moral, decent people. This group identity thing seems wrong, and to be a evil inclination, a trick of the Sitra Achra to get people to forget about simply, basic morality; and get distracted so as to obey some charismatic leader or to follow the herd.
Of course, I am not alone in this. The general approach of the Lithuanian yeshiva world was in essence to find out in a practical way how to keep the Law of Moses. In fact, that was the only thing that mattered there.
But outside of that particular environment, what drives religious people is group identity. And most of them are insane. That is not completely insane but insane to a certain percentage.
The nice thing and important thing about the Talmud is it give the only practical way to keep the Law of Moses.
Furthermore, I see group identity is very important to a lot of people, much more so than to be moral, decent people. This group identity thing seems wrong, and to be a evil inclination, a trick of the Sitra Achra to get people to forget about simply, basic morality; and get distracted so as to obey some charismatic leader or to follow the herd.
Of course, I am not alone in this. The general approach of the Lithuanian yeshiva world was in essence to find out in a practical way how to keep the Law of Moses. In fact, that was the only thing that mattered there.
But outside of that particular environment, what drives religious people is group identity. And most of them are insane. That is not completely insane but insane to a certain percentage.
The nice thing and important thing about the Talmud is it give the only practical way to keep the Law of Moses.
