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Rabbenu

A Discussion of Messianic Judaism, the Emerging Messianic Jewish Paradigm, and Related Leadership Issues from the Preoccupied Mind of Rabbi Stuart Dauermann, PhD.

All Contents ©2004-2007 Stuart Dauermann - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Sunday, October 03, 2004

The Football of Tradition

Every person makes choices with respect to religious tradition whether consciously or not. This metaphor makes those choices conscious and provides guidance for those who seek it.

Traditional Jewish life is like a football that is either dropped or picked up, carried or handed off/passed by each generation—or not. We can better understand where we are with respect to tradition by noting what our family of origin did, what we are doing with the football of tradition, and how intentional and successful or careless and unsuccessful are our attempts to transmit that tradition to the next generation,

The ball is dropped when people cease paying attention to traditional Jewish life and/or fail to actively engage with it.

The ball is picked up when people pay attention to traditional and do engage with it.

The ball is carried when people receive the ball from the previous generation and continue giving it their attention and engaging with it.

The ball is handed off/passed when people take the responsibility not only pay attention to Jewish traditional life and engage with it, but also to transmit it faithfully and successfully to the next generation.

If we would practice "Tomorrow's Messianic Judaism Today," we must be people who are carrying the ball, picking up the ball that others have dropped, and who are faithfully and successfully handing off or passing the "ball" of Jewish tradition to the next generation. The "ball" is before us: the only question is, "What are we going to do with it?"

posted by Stuart Dauermann @ 6:22 PM   0 comments