#Or an immediate and outright rejection of them being legitimate because of this false idea that Judaism is One Thing and Always Has Been

[bijoumikhawal]

I think diversity in Jewish practice is good because it indicates a healthy culture, and part of that for Judaism is obviously debate

But I DESPISE the way so many people talk about non-Rabbinic movements- especially Karaites (who are very old) and Kohenets (who are new) because the arguments are almost never like. Respectful.

People don't care to analyze what these people think, where they come from, how they root themselves in Jewish history and how their philosophies developed from their parent traditions. They aren't fair or accurate. They don't care to listen to what they have to say and how they view themselves.

I did a live tweeting while I was reading the introductory Kohenet book, and while I don't agree entirely with the movement I was presented with (I think it's very white, cis, hetero-centric "metaphysics" that idealizes ideas like motherhood too much), I still found value in it, and Kohenet/Rabbi Hammer was able to explain the cultural and textual roots of her movement. It's well rooted enough that some of the people against her straight up feel that Kabbalah is also unacceptable in Judaism, because it's clear a lot of her inspiration IS Kabbalist. The difference is she isn't centering the lives of married men, but instead the lives of (some) women. I don't think I'd ever consider myself an adherent of her movement, but I think it has value and there are aspects of what she said that I've internalized.

The other thing is that the prohibition on "outside" influence, legally and socially, has always been vague, up for debate, and partly influenced by xenophobia. It is both a way of maintaining traditions in a good sense, and a weapon against those advocating changes that just "feel icky". This is true of any attempt at maintaining tradition, honestly. But I find it distasteful because people will scoff at Kohenets but then happily accept a Rabbi who wears a reverend's robe and uses Christian language like "pulpit". Most Jews have accepted outside practices- WHITE, CHRISTIAN outside practices. While I thought the book was too white, there are non-white Kohenets, and it is notable to me in these conversations that Hammer's co-author leads a Sufi interfaith group and has experience with Candomblé- i.e. she at least somewhat is in community with Arab and Black spiritual movements.

And again, this doesn't apply to new groups only. Beta Israelite's traditional Judaism is probably a thousand years old at least, and it and other traditional practices are not "legitimate" because they don't look Rabbinic. Same for Karaites and all other non-Rabbinic groups. It's fucking terrible that Rabbinic Judaism isn't only privileged this way, but actively tries to make non-Rabbinic Jews convert to Rabbinic Judaism. It's not healthy, it's some might makes right bullshit.