What does it mean to be religious?

What does it mean to be religious?

Does it mean that you just subscribe to a specific dogma, or that you have read a few books, does it mean that you behave according to a certain set of guidelines, or does it mean that you have some sort of spiritual connection that you relate back to a dogma.

In my extensive Google search of what this term religious means I found this definition:

re·li·gious

rəˈlijəs/

adjective

1. 1.

   relating to or believing in a religion.

   
   

   "both men were deeply religious, intelligent, and moralistic"

   
   

   synonyms:

   devout, pious, reverent, godly, God-fearing, churchgoing, faithful, devoted, committed "a religious person"

(we all know that whatever is on the Internet is 100% accurate, and never false so we're just going to go with this definition)

The definition can be applied further to describe actions, intentions, moral viewpoints, and overall demeanor. There is a group of people in almost every faith that describes themselves first and foremost as religious _Insert religion here_, they use the word religious as an adjective to define how they comport themselves in the world. They implicitly agree that whatever they do can be looked at, for better or worse, as a representation of that religion. Albeit people are fallible and you can never judge a faith by its practitioners, you can most certainly just the practitioner by their actions in accordance to the faith that they subscribe to.

Living here in Israel gives a great understanding of what it means to identify as a religious Jew. I know that when I go anywhere or do anything, I am representing Hashem, my community, my family, myself, and all of Torah. Typically that's not an issue, I go about my business just like any other individual. We all engage in this type of metarepresentation of our values, beliefs and culture on a daily basis although some individuals do this unconsciously.

Recently I have struggled with this idea of being associated with others who also identify as religious Jews,  when I feel that they do not share my same values, beliefs, culture, and moral standards. When they are more comfortable sitting in the street protesting the Army that protects them constantly; when they are more comfortable spitting on another human being because they do not share the same world view; when they are more comfortable inconveniencing the lives of hundreds, if not thousands of people because they refuse to do something as simple as acknowledging the fact that they are not beholden unto themselves. They have a responsibility to the State in which they belong.

In the past week, I have seek multiple protests that have turned into riots. Men who are old enough to have children or grandchildren behave like a three year old when they are denied a toy in the grocery store and a fully grown woman push another woman out of a bus onto the street. These incidents have shaken my understanding in the world that I am apart of. I am proud of be Orthodox, I am proud to be a Jew and yet I cannot say or even write down that I am proud to be associated with these people. The first thoughts in my head which " don't these people know better?!""why are they behaving this way?!" "I can't believe that I am associated with these people, that anytime anyone looks at me they could think that I agree with them...they could think that most religious Jews believe what they believe. They could think that this is supported by Torah [if anyone is wondering...IT IS NOT]". While these events have not shaken my emunah to it's core. It does give me pause to think about what I really believe and what I am willing to do to make this world a better place for myself, for my community, and for my fellow man.

I know I will never agree with these people, however, that does not mean that everyone who wears a black hat and a suit agrees with them. Most people I have spoken to believe that these people are behaving like disgusting animals that have no since of  לימוד תורה , and desecrating Hashems name and sowing baseless hatred like it is going out of style. I have always respected those who wore the hat, the suit/robe, etc. I never wanted to be them but I respected them and their knowledge of Torah. Now my problem is that whenever I see the black hat I am concerned that this new individual might think or behave the same way as other people who also wear a black hat. I know it's not fair and that their are bad apples in every bunch, but it is human nature to generalize and to associate things together.

So what am I to do? I am religious, I probably eat or shop at the same places these people do. I pray the same prayers and we believe, theoretically, in the same things. The positive thing about this experience is that it has shown me that people who I did not think would speak out against these protesters were most eager to call it out as not jewish/not orthodox, and I have never been prouder to be associated with those people. While there is a lot of work to be done to create unity in the Jewish people and in the whole world.


We can find our little tribe of people and attempt to sanctify Hashems name every single day.