This essay, a response to an article suggesting the
appropriateness of an Orthodox Jew vacationing at Club Med,
deals with fundamental issues for Modern Orthodox Jews such as
the usage of leisure time and the nature of synthesis with
broader culture. Rabbi Carmy argues that a life should strive
to tell a "unified story," in which the various parts
of a person’s life cohere with his or her principles and
ideals. This means that the desire to serve God should extend
beyond the fulfillment of rigidly defined halakhic duties and
also encompass the "imperfect duties" that lack
specific directives. These "imperfect duties" will
be acutely manifest in how a person chooses to spend justified
vacation time. Additionally, the essay emphasizes that serious
Modern Orthodoxy must make discerning judgments about which
aspects of Western culture to embrace. From this more
discerning perspective, leisure "is taken as a situation
to be confronted and redeemed, rather than as a norm to which
the Torah is to be adapted."
Click here
to read the essay (PDF 1.75MB).
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