The way of Man (or Woman)

When some disciples of a deceased tzaddik came to the Seer of Lublin and expressed surprise at the fact that his customs were different from those of their late master, the Seer exclaimed, "What sort of God would that be who has only one way in which he can be served! God does not say, 'This way leads to me and that does not.' Instead God says, "Whatever you do may be a way to me, provided you do it in such a manner that it leads you to me."
-Martin Buber, The Way of Man
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I spent this past weekend up at Camp George for the Hillel Arts and Culture retreat. I was expecting a relaxing weekend, and that is indeed what it was... for the most part.

I've come to grips with the fact that Toronto is not the most Jewishly pluralistic place on earth. In fact, it's nowhere near it. Culturally and philanthropically it is... but religiously it most certainly is not (with some notable exceptions). But even though I've learned how to live in this environment, I don't accept it - I'm always looking for ways to change it, and so I've been so thrilled at the latest endeavour by a few of us at Hillel to host a roundtable discussion with rabbis from each movement. Sponsored by KESHER, Koach, and Yavneh, it looks like it's going to be amazing.

That being said, there were a number of instances this weekend up at camp that... shocked me. Right now I don't have the mental capacity to delve into a commentary on each of them, but for the time being I'll share some of the choice phrases that I encountered....

"If Reform Judaism accepts homosexual marriages, why doesn't it accept incestuous relationships?"

"Pluralism is what's ruining Hillel and the Jewish community as a whole"

"This is the Talmud... have you ever seen one of these?" (Condescendingly, to a Reform Jew)

Granted, these comments represent the extreme end of the spectrum, however they are indicitive of the dire need to begin a mass education of the Toronto Jewish community... starting with the youth... about the importance of K'lal Yisrael and Jewish solidarity.

I'm not sure where to start - perhaps flying over the city, dropping leaflets with Buber's quote on it.