.
Though Hassidish seemed more welcoming, the majority of my Ashkenazi friends were Litvish. I also most attended and hung out with Sephardim. Each group had something I liked. Among the Sephardi, there seemed a little less restriction with guys and girls. They were not closed to Kabbalah, their music just took me away, and the women seemed powerful. They could be very demure as long as things were going "right" lol! But if there was a problem, the women that I knew at least, were not afraid to get upset.
The Litvish had modesty down to a science. They also had the biggest population, a radio station, employment offices, etc. They made the society work!
The Hassidish were warm. There was always some Hassidishe person coming over to make sure I was okay or calling. Also they were the first ones who were receptive towards me. I appreciated that!
And then I went to Israel.
Israel is very different than America. I really had to decide on alot of things. For example, it wasn't enough to just say that I follow Sephardic tradition. Here, there were Sephardim from Morocco, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Spain, etc. Which Sephardic tradition do I follow? This was asked many times and I had no answer. My rabbi was from Tunesia, did that mean I must follow that?
In Israel I also began to take classes to get a better, deeper understanding. Studying the code of laws, I realized there were more than one book! More than one way, however, peer pressure and want for acceptance was making many people follow a certain path.
Well there wasn't much time to think about all that, I got married! Mazal tov!!
On the wings of my husband, I learned even more. Lucky for me he loved learning and was patient enough to help translate or read together the Hebrew books that I couldn't read. That really opened up many doors.
Mr Blackfirewhitefire started looking into doing things more like the Rambam. The Rambam's real name is Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (RMBM) and he was from Spain. Because of forced conversions, the Rambam and his family were forced to flee from Spain (There were many Spanish Jews who were forced to convert which they did outwardly, but in private kept their tradition and way of life: those were called Marranos). They went to Morocco, then stayed with others in Israel, and then finally went to Egypt in the late 1100s and became a doctor to the Sultan Saladin of Egypt.
Rambamists are few and far between in modern times. Yemenites, I think, follow mostly the Rambam's teachings. I actually met the owner/founder of Mechon Mamre, who's a Rambamist.
That played a role in what my husband and I believed. We also met Rabbi Bar Hayyim co- founder of Machon Shilo. He played a really big influence on us.
Rabbi Bar Hayyim being interviewed:
But the real role player for me personally was Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Just like the Ari, he also had a student, Rabbi Nathan who wrote down his teachings. From reading his books, especially Likutey Moharan, I woke up. I woke up once when I converted. I "woke up" again from Rabbi Nachman's teachings. This time I don't think anything can compare to this.
He taught me that I must be myself. LOL! Simple isn't it?! Yes, that Judaism is an individual thing. I couldn't follow a herd. He even discouraged people from becoming rabbis saying many people are just out for prestige, honor, whatever plus its a very hard task to be responsible for students. Better that we all be simple, help one another and serve God. No one is higher than the other one.
This on the outskirt turns alot of people off. Those who want to be sophisticated see this message and they're gone! Perfect!! All those who are just looking for a name for themselves or other superficial things are turned away because Breslov is not popular. Only after I delve into his teachings did I realize, its not so "simple". He combines alot of teachings from all over the place to prove a point. Its complex, but not arrogant, sophisticated.
Many attempted to take his teachings and turn it into yet another strand of Judaism complete with hierarchy, ranks, etc. But Israel Odesser (aka. Israel Saba) put a stop to that. He lived in Israel in a town called Tiberia from 1888 to 1994.
To be continued...
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