There are many, many possible applications for the extended discussion on this page about people who do not share in the distress of their communities. I love the image of the two ministering angles, the ones who accompany us through our lives and are supposed to defend us on the day of judgement, refusing to speak for the person who refused to take part in the pains of his community.
I wonder, how often do we run from the community when it seems as though we are able to live happily even as the community suffers?
I must say, this amud caused me to think about folks who abandon the Conservative movement for the panacea of pluralism and minyan mania, and who refuse to be associated with our Movement because our "brand" is at a low ebb. It is easy to abandon the Movement community right now, because nobody likes being on the losing team, and I think our team is seen as losing in that great religious marketplace. This is our affliction, and I have increasingly less patience for people and institutions who pretend they have no association with us or our ideas.
I always heard you shouldn't blog angry. Maybe this is why, but I can't help but feel as though the Movement would seem to be doing much better if all those people and institutions who run from us would help us run.
Sigh.
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True that. I also wonder if what has happened with our movement isn't a disturbing microcosm of our society. The most obvious example of this is (still) the Iraq war -- where no sacrifices are made by so many in America while others fight, ostensibly, for our values. What happens to a community (or a country) where the burden is not shared? Can the benefits of individual innovation at the expense of community cohesiveness build the type of society that we want to live in?
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