Comments on: Atheists are screwed

By: Dr Fred B Charatan

Dr Fred B Charatan — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 19:46:25 +0000

Why doesn’t Professor Litwin conclude that those Jews who did not attend synagogue regularly, and had a higher death rate than their opposites, may be suffering the higher death rate because of chronic disabilities that kept them at home, and preventing them from going to the synagogue?
I think his conclusion that going to synagogue helped people live longer is utterly tendentious, and ignores the obvious
truth that the group attending synagogue is a self-selected one, physically and mentally capable of doing so.
A beautiful example of placing the cart before the horse!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:02:40 +0000

You can’t do with him, and you can’t do without him

There’s a reason why I put up pics of stuff I’d baked on my blog; my experience from tough staff meetings tells that people are way easier to handle under the influence of carbohydrates and caffeine.

By: ramon marcos

ramon marcos — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:27:31 +0000

ck, besides the literacy thing, may I say a good cantor can make all the difference.

By: ck

ck — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 23:25:42 +0000

Oh my. Dudes… I am SO not the poster boy for Orthodoxy. Not by a long shot. I am not at all pious and this blog thing… lets not even go there.

But I am very sweet, very open-minded and welcoming. So you all got that right.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 22:33:52 +0000

I’ll wait for the dictionary to come out. The only few observant Sefardim that I know are very sweet, open-minded and welcoming.

By: Jewish Mother

Jewish Mother — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 21:58:13 +0000

No, that’s not about guilt.

Being nerdy is not immoral. Being lonely is not immoral either. Where’s the guilt? And, he didn’t say, or imply, a person would necessarily be alone doing those things.

But CK is observant and it is well known that observant or orthodox people are very judgmental. Maybe they are sometimes, depending who, but CK?

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:13:11 +0000

Suggesting staying at home watching video games (which translates as: nerdy without friends) and watching Will and Grace re-runs (which translates as: feigeleh without friends) as opposed to finding a minyan that suits you does not qualify as a guilty conscience tool? Suppose I need a new dictionary: ck – Sarah / Sarah – ck.

By: Jewish Mother

Jewish Mother — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 20:04:33 +0000

He didn’t mention guilt once or even imply it. He was talking about fun.

He’s right.

I remember going from locked shul to locked shul, when I first became interested, rattling the locked doors, and wondering why they weren’t open all the time, like churches.

That was annoying.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:25:28 +0000

ck knows how to work the guilty conscience tool…

By: themiddle

themiddle — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 19:21:39 +0000

Is jc the guy from Nazareth?

By: Jewish Mother

Jewish Mother — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:36:08 +0000

CK, great post.

I like a good, wild, Chabad hottenany, with lots of clapping and hollering, and dancing madly with my sistahs. We all dress up pretty too.

By: josh

josh — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:36:31 +0000

middle, great post,
jc, best comment of the year.

By: ck

ck — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:40:12 +0000

Well jc, you’re kinda right. For a number of reasons. First, given the state of Jewish literacy, it’s no wonder synagogue services seem dull – especially if one has no idea what is being said or what the hell is going on. Secondly, even if you know how read and follow a prayer book, services in many synagogues are just not compelling, between your neighbors talking and the Rabbi’s boring speeches and the super quick pace and the uninteresting tunes, of course one could not be blamed for tuning out. But there’s a minyan for everyone. I suggest learning how to use a siddur – there are many with translations, and finding a good fun minyan. The funnest ashkenazic minyan I know is at the ghetto shul in Montreal – come for the Carlebach inflected tunes, stay for the Friday night dinner and the babes. Or do what I do and pray in a Moroccan minyan – that is ALWAYS fun.

Or you could stay at home and play video games and watch yet another Will and Grace rerun. It’s your call.

By: Synablog » Blog Archive » Marbeh kahal, marbeh chayim …or does it just feel that way?

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 07:02:20 +0000

[...] best comment so far on the synagogue-makes-you-live-longer threads making the rounds on the [...]

By: jc.

jc. — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 06:10:15 +0000

Attending religious services doesn´t make your life longer, it just feels that way.

By: ramon marcos

ramon marcos — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 00:23:29 +0000

And some good Nepalese food. But only if freshly made and preceded by a wonderful mango Lassi.

By: Chutzpah

Chutzpah — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08:27:06 +0000

Have they done a study on how walking to shul on the Sabbath in the middle of a street which has sidewalks to show off that you are above the traffic laws established by the secular government of the State of New Jersey can increase the risk of dying by being hit by a car.

Nah, they only do the study on how riding in a taxi on the Sabbath can increase your risk of dying in a car accident .

Gotta love those unbiased academic studies!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:46:53 +0000

I suggest an intercultural dish of pita stuffed with salad, chopped herring and fried matza balls. Some would call it yucky, others would call it fusion cuisine.

By: Rabbi Yonah

Rabbi Yonah — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:10:37 +0000

Mufti – The studies show that starting to attend shul late in life also works. So have hope.

CK- sorry, its just my polish bias. I am sure whatever they eat with the arak at your shul serves you very well.

By: evariste

evariste — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 03:57:32 +0000

Atheists die sooner because God loves them the most.