What is the problem with the way modern Judaism is practiced?
Jewish institutions have become obsessed with numbers. Counting Jews, as if they were an endangered species, rather than teaching or practicing Judaism which is a path of inquiry. Synagogues used to be called “shuls,” or schools. “Rabbi” means teacher. The Jewish “house of study” was a place to debate and argue. Judaism was a religion to be negotiated, not “believed.” Now, Judaism is practiced just like any other religion with fundamental, static beliefs. It was actually invented to serve as an alternative to the pre-existing religions. In your book you talk about “Open Source” Judaism. Could you define that and explain how it would work? Well, Judaism used to work this way. That’s what made it so modern. But I’m talking about the religion of the 1st and 2nd century Greece, which was so much more enlightened and modern than our current form of Judaism. Non-Jews used to line up around the block to get into the Beit Midrash, house of study, because religion was debated into existence in
