Judaism--Difficulty

[Friendly]

It's so hard. Please tell me if I'm alone in this. I feel like I won't be. Sometimes I fully understand Judaism, and sometimes I don't. I ALWAYS act like I believe in it, no matter what. When davening sometimes, I feel like I'm being stupid. I think it's my pride. Sometimes, at the times one must bow during davening, it feels shameful. Sometimes, when talking about Mashiach and stuff that will happen in the future, I feel like it's all nothing. Just made up garbage. When davening with others, I feel EXTREMELY self-concious. It feels highly embarassing at times, and at other's, it feels nice to be a group. I fully believe in other things in the Torah and have no doubts about them, like the laws we must keep. But things like what will happen in the future, and stuff that happened in the past, that all seems fake sometimes. Maybe it has to do with not wanting/liking to be part of a crowd. I like being different. So when you have to follow a religion, which many others follow as well, then you see how difficult it can be. What am I, are we, to do?

[Comfortably Dumb]

Go Atheist. It's alot less stressful.

[whuknu]

i wouldnt go that far CD- religion is difficult. but believe me there are ways for u to be different w/o becoming athiest. if u dont believen God thats a whole other story. judaism is a religion that is filled with diversity. we have different sects, and among those sects there are diferent sects- for example, orthodox- there is modern, mid, and ultra and so on. theres conservadox, conservatism, reform. but then forget the levels of religiosity, there is also all sorts of diferents jews from all over the world! they dont do everything the same! we all have diferent minhagim- now as long as we dont let our diferences come btwn us then we will be ok. u have to find the level ur comfortable on. not what neone else is- dont be a conformist- be ur self. now being a nonconformist does not mean go against what everyone is saying, or do what everyone else IS doing- it means do u r own thing.

[Friendly]

Go Atheist. It's alot less stressful.
As funny as I think you are, do me a favor and get lost. I didn't ask for a different religion or none religion to get lost into, and I still believe in G-d.

[luckst4rs]

religion isn't about conformity. your born Jewish and i think you should try to find some meaning into it. obviously you enjoy a lot of it- you daven and believe the Torah. and of course sometimes you might question and have a "what does this all mean" moment but i think you should just try to make it a part of you life without feeling like you need all the answers. i believe in Judaism and yes its a big part of who i am, but right now i'm a teenager and there is a certain lifestyle i enjoy and it's hard for me to convert my beliefs into a reality in living this way right now. but i know judaism will always be a big part of my life and i fully accept my identity even if i don't accept all the rules.....

[Comfortably Dumb]

As funny as I think you are, do me a favor and get lost. I didn't ask for a different religion or none religion to get lost into, and I still believe in G-d.

Quit your whining. I thought it was a great suggestion. You don't have to get all angsty about it. All you had to say was, "Thank you for the suggestion, Comfortably Dumb, but I don't believe I'll be going Atheist any time soon." Instead of, "get lost."

Where are your manners?

[Blink]

yea u gotta take easy and wrk on ur faith by listenning to shiurim, if its really bad, u need speak to an inspirational rav. jst wrk on it at ur own pase and take it easy, but try not to follow these feelings, i sumtimes get them and can occasionaly fight them and turn them around.
Atheism is compared to wut a child does, he covers his eyes and thinks that if he cant see u, then u dont exist.

[Comfortably Dumb]

Atheism is compared to wut a child does, he covers his eyes and thinks that if he cant see u, then u dont exist.

Not everyone has to be religous.

[PrUnE]

Judiasm is diffuclt, and u do believe in it i can tell but for the most part, u should do what u think is right, do what u can, and try and push urself to do alittle bit more.

[whuknu]

cd- ur right- not everyone has to be religios- not everyone has to have religion- all though it does help to guide many ppl.
judaism is difficult- the concept of God is difficult. why we do things that dont make sense is still beyond me. but religion is not about conformity. so if u dont want to do something jewish- it shouldnt be cuz ur friends arent doing it- it should be by ur own choice- not that im saying u shouldnt-

[Friendly]

Quit your whining. I thought it was a great suggestion. You don't have to get all angsty about it. All you had to say was, "Thank you for the suggestion, Comfortably Dumb, but I don't believe I'll be going Atheist any time soon." Instead of, "get lost."

Where are your manners?
You're right. If I knew that you thought about it as a great suggestion, then I would have said thanks anyway. So, "Thank you for the suggestion, Comfortably Dumb, but I don't believe I'll be going Atheist any time soon." Sorry.

[booklet0519]

finding a god you cna beleiev in is hard.. i agree... i am reeading a book now called the god i believe in. it's a collection of personal ideas of god from 15 people form different walks of life adn parts of judiasm... maybe you will find something or some collection of ideas that ring true in your heart...
aslo when good things happen to bad people by harold kushner
if you find an other sources please let meknow... i am on the same page as you!

[moo]

It's a little annoying how PC so many people here are trying to be. Everyone's all "just do what you feel is right" or "don't conform to everyone else, just do what makes sense to you." The only one here who doesn't bother with these niceties is someone who's not frum - CD. Why aren't frum people just as proud and vocal about what they believe? Why are they and others always so careful not to come out and say something that might offend someone else? I believe CD is flat out wrong. I believe everyone should be religious. I believe, and I believe that everyone else believes, that there is some objective truth to the world. What that truth is people can debate, but this relativism stuff is just garbage. Whatever side of the debate about objective truth you're on, you have an opinion, which since it's about objectivity binds everyone else to it. You don't only do what makes you comfortable, How can anyone say religion is not about conformity, especially when u're talking about Judaism? It's all about conformity, but did you ever notice how different from each other those who conform are? It's a strange thing, but Judaism is about finding your own individuality within conformity.

Anyway, Friendly, it is difficult. It being difficult is actually the point. You're given challenges to overcome. You don't have to just make them a part of your life and feel like you don't need all the answers, like luckst4rs would have u believe. How cruel would it be of G-d to put serious questions in our heads and not provide any answers? Why should only atheists like CD be priveliged to believe they have all the answers they feel they need? You have some great questions, and some serious issues, we all do. I mean it's hard to picture yetziat mitzraim and har sinai, and it's even harder to imagine the time of Mashiach. I mean, korbanot? again? for real?? but you don't just have to accept them. Hashem provided answers to these questions, we have to find them when they bother us enough. There are people out there who know this stuff, there are books that talk about it, and for some dumb reasons out schools are content to let us have these worries without addressing them. I know there are rabbis at my school who can be of great help in these areas, but they just can't during school cuz of the way the system works. One rabbi in my school actually has been a big help to me, but only because I spoke to him after school. After mishmar, actually, even. They'd love to talk to you and help you, but there's only so much they can do. Don't give up man.

[whuknu]

Moo- in the case of a baal teshuva- which i dont think is the cae here but if it was, i wouldnt say do everything- uve got to start out doing whats confertable and adding things cuz if u add on to much to soon.... ok sorry for bringing up the baal teshuva thing.
but in regard to this situation, maybe u r right, i am confortable with almost everything so i do almost everything. somethings i question and i hate that i dont understand them (like the laws we just arent supposed to understand) but most of them arent to hard to keep so i do neways.