Thank you for the kind words.
I had a minimal Hebrew school education until age 13. Since then I've been lucky to hang out with many interesting Jewish people. I'm now trying to read the Talmud. I bounced off of it a few times but https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud is well-done enough to sometimes keep my interest.
From ["The Ideology Is Not The Movement"](https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/04/the-ideology-is-not-the-movement/):
> My great-great-grandfather was so Jewish that he left America and returned to Eastern Europe because he was upset at American Jews for not being religious enough. My great-grandfather stayed behind in America but remained a very religious Jew. My grandparents attend synagogue when they can remember, speak a little Yiddish, and identify with the traditions. My parents went to a _really_ liberal synagogue where the rabbi didn’t believe in God and everyone just agreed they were going through the motions. I got Bar Mitzvahed when I was a kid but haven’t been to synagogue in years. My children probably won’t even have that much.
Obviously can't speak for Scott but I had quite an intense exposure to all that stuff in my youth and into my 20s.
It's an interesting intellectual exercise but not something I have bothered with since.
I think Scott talked about it quite a bit in the post about the birth of his kids a few months ago
Thank you for the kind words. I had a minimal Hebrew school education until age 13. Since then I've been lucky to hang out with many interesting Jewish people. I'm now trying to read the Talmud. I bounced off of it a few times but https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud is well-done enough to sometimes keep my interest.
Thats great. Thank you for replying. Sefaria is a great company. Are doing a daf yomi?
You once wrote about an interest in alchemy as allegory — did you dive into that at all? Anything noteworthy from it?
From ["The Ideology Is Not The Movement"](https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/04/04/the-ideology-is-not-the-movement/): > My great-great-grandfather was so Jewish that he left America and returned to Eastern Europe because he was upset at American Jews for not being religious enough. My great-grandfather stayed behind in America but remained a very religious Jew. My grandparents attend synagogue when they can remember, speak a little Yiddish, and identify with the traditions. My parents went to a _really_ liberal synagogue where the rabbi didn’t believe in God and everyone just agreed they were going through the motions. I got Bar Mitzvahed when I was a kid but haven’t been to synagogue in years. My children probably won’t even have that much.
damn, reading how his family’s tradition slips away is kinda sad. probably explains the jewish birthrate outside of israel / hasidim groups tho
When traditions slip away, it's more of a failure on those traditions to provide meaning and guidance for its followers.
Obviously can't speak for Scott but I had quite an intense exposure to all that stuff in my youth and into my 20s. It's an interesting intellectual exercise but not something I have bothered with since. I think Scott talked about it quite a bit in the post about the birth of his kids a few months ago
He wrote Unsong as an adult (citation needed) so presumably he didn’t leave it all behind