[yshavurah] Re: [yshavurah]pledge
- From: "Johanna" <rebiljoj@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <elliot.gaines@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 00:57:27 -0400
Elliot, I'm not sure I agree with you. Jews can be thought to "mouth
meaningless words", and the same ones over and over, day after day, week
after week, year after year. Yet, we are commanded to say those words with
kavenah; to have conscious intention in what we are saying; to work to find
the holiness in those words.
I believe that the rote aspect of a pledge, like davening, becomes a mantra
of sorts, that has a dual purpose. One one hand, it gives the intellect
some meaningful conttent to focus on, but it also allows the mind to
experience more refined levels of the thought process, and possibly
transcend the thinking process itself and experience conciousness in it's
purest form.
I have experienced this with davening, many times. The pledge is not
something I say often or am particularly comfortable with (although I do
happen to think it's important to be said in the public schools, if nothing
else, because kids should learn and know it), so I can't say much for it.
But I don't see why, for someone for whom this is a meaningful excercise,
that it can't also serve this function.
Johanna
> Just a comment about the pledge. Like most things "nationalistic," they
> are intended to be unreflective "mouthing of meaningless words." The
> words are meaningless because people say the same things over and over
> all their lives without challenge. It's a PLEDGE. What is the flag
> after all? A symbol which is intended to unite people can have very
> broad potential for interpretations. The most powerful symbols are
> those accepted without reflection.
>
> Elliot
>
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