The noted 17th century diarist and British MP Samuel Pepys was horrified by the Jews. At least, he was aghast at Jewish religious services, finding them cause to cry out to his--apparently more sedate--God:
"But, Lord! to see the disorder, laughing, sporting, and no attention, but confusion in all their service, more like brutes than people knowing the true God, would make a man forswear ever seeing them more and indeed I never did see so much, or could have imagined there had been any religion in the whole world so absurdly performed as this. Away thence with my mind strongly disturbed with them..."
Humorously, Pepys was not aware that he had witnessed a traditional Simchat Torah celebration, with all its wild abandon. Nonetheless, Pepys might have been offended in any event, for Judaism is not simply a reasoned philosophy or rational way of thinking; it is also a whole-person, suprarational way of living, which sometimes requires abandon. Pepys' critique is not one limited to the 17th century or to non-Jews, however. Even today, I hear discomfort expressed by some Jews about the ways in which other Jews pray, bemoaning their lack of attention and the confusion found in their shuls. While I am profoundly glad that we have a variety of modes of worship and shuls amongst our people, I fear that we stand in disturbing company when we critique each other so forcefully in these matters.
By the way, I came across Pepys' diary entry in the British Jewish Chronicle, in a blog posted by Miriam Shaviv. Shaviv happens to be the daughter of the headmaster here at CHAT. Read her whole post here: Shul on Simchat Torah -- it's a riot
To leap from the 17th century to today's pop culture, you may also want to take a look at Alex Kasriel's posting in the same newspaper [Britain's equavalent of the CJN]. I must give a health warning: you will either find it hilarious, or you might agree with Pepys and condemn Jews as being utterly without taste or decorum. Read her posting here: When YouTube goes JewTube
You've opened up a whole new area of the internet - YouTube. I thoroughly enjoyed the videos.
Posted by: Brenda | October 19, 2006 at 07:46 PM