Choosing your own religious observances – Ask the Rabbi
Q. A friend told me that Jews can choose their own mixture of religious observances. Is this correct?
A. In theory no, because every Jew should observe all the mitzvot.
But in practice we all do tend to have our own emphases.
Some people are more philosophical, some concentrate on the moral laws, some stress the details of the practical mitzvot, some make a great deal of the Jewish Friday night and the festivals (or some of them).
The real question is where we go from there… not whether we are good at this or that aspect of Jewish belief and practice, but whether our Judaism can become dynamic and what we can add to what we do at present.
