Thinking of Exiting Judaism? We're a Reason to Stay!

I've been thinking about why I remain a Jew with decades of ambivalence towards Judaism in my wake. The old testament insistence on the stoning to death of homosexuals and adulterers, and wholesale slaughter of Arabs troubled me for years. Pragmatically speaking, the stoning made sense...Homosexuality threatened procreation, adultery threatened the family, and, well, the Arabs threatened our very existence. Still, stoning seemed rather an extreme remedy to me, and contrary to the sensible, progressive voices preaching tolerance, acceptance and co-existance as a strategy for healing the world. 

I recall childhood memories of irreverent, unrelenting kibbitzing during Shabbat and High Holiday services, the chatter frustrating my attempts to understand the meaning of the translated English text and feel the presence of God in the holy sanctuary. All around me I heard the intrusive back and forth of investment advice, one upsmanship about ivy league opportunities for the spoiled and entitled offspring, gossip about synagogue members, and drama associated with the rabbi and the board of directors.

Just as insulting was the obsessive gluttonous emphasis on food, food, food, and the liberal indoctrination from the pulpit. I left to seek something more authentic and spiritually nourishing, only to find myself back within those same walls years later to assist my ailing Mother, of blessed memory, on her quest for enlightenment before her passing. By God's loving hand, my Mother found relief from her life long agnosticism before she died. 

My years away from Judaism bore spiritual fruit as I cultivated a reverent and respectful connection with HaShem through a humility born of the failure of self sufficiency, awareness of the unique and special talents I'd been granted in this  God given life, and the opportunities afforded me by the hard work and sacrifice of my parents. 

Along my journey I awakened from my self absorbed slumber to learn of the plight of the vulnerable woman entrapped by the eugenics industry promoted under the guise of women's health. Starring me in the face was the Jewish stamp of approval for killing innocents in the womb, and the almost universal support for and use of abortion as birth control in the Jewish community. Those same progressive voices prescribing co-existence to cure the world's ills include all but the unborn human being, whose existence proves to be personally too inconvenient, embarrassing, or expensive to tolerate.

Horrifying to me is that pro-abortion rabbinical authority justifies this view with carefully crafted interpretations of ancient and modern Jewish text and opinion. The unquestioned implementation of abortion confronts me at every turn; from the well established Orthodox practice of the murder of innocent children conceived in rape and incest to the Jewish secularists' unspeakable advocacy for partial birth abortion. Each Jewish authority has a persuasive reason for killing, the extent of which overwhelms contrary thought and opinion, and allows no purchase for a pro-life view. 

Before I left Jewish life a second and final time, I learned how to turn on a computer and research the issues of abortion and Judaism. Underneath the layers of ignorance, idolatry, profiteering and apathy, I found the sanctity of human life from conception until natural death. Regarding abortion, Judaism prohibits it - with a life of the Mother exception in case of imminent mortality: In ancient times, for breech birth; In modern times, according to the experts at the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs, rarely relevant, and generally only for ectopic pregnancy. I'd found my reason to stay. 

Judaism is the original pro-life religion. We talk about it everyday to whoever will listen, and we've found like minded Jews who support our work of promoting life saving solutions to unplanned pregnancy. We do this through  education based on science and our traditional Jewish moral foundation. We provide referrals for pregnancy care and adoption. We also address the spiritual death that accompanies every abortion death in the Jewish community by offering healing and support to any post abortive Jew. 

We're building a pro-life Jewish culture. Stay if you will. We love company!

Cecily Routman.

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.