ImperfectArtist just got back from a whole month in Jerusalem and has some interesting perspective to share, wherein at some level, even in highly segmented and divided Israel, the “labels eventually fall away” :
In America, in Diaspora, it’s much more segregated. Your ideology tends to match the shul you frequent and most everything that goes along with that including laws on kashrut, shabbat keeping and how the prayers in synagogue will operate. Not so in Jerusalem. There is the inevitable celebration of diversity within religiousity and I find it to be exhilarating. Why? Because it’s celebrating the gray. It’s easy to see that being a person who is committed to a religious life comes in many shapes and forms. And that’s a lesson for all of us who wander there. It’s not about the rules you follow within the boundaries of your selected space. It’s about what you bring to the table once you’re there. And that permeates Jewish living in Jerusalem, evident in lay led prayer groups, regular Torah learning and practice of Kashrut.
