Why are you frum? | Imamother

simba

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 12:41 pm

I was thinking about this. We are so busy with the actions that the motives and inspiration become secondary.

This thread is intended to be interesting and inspiring. Not a place to bash frum life and the reasons for it.

I will start..
I am frum because:

I was born into it
It gives me safety
It gives me community
It gives me purpose
It gives me meaning
It gives me direction
It gives me richness
it gives me beauty

It relieves me of the endless options in the free world
It relevies me of the responsibility Of deciding what is moral
It relieves me from despair when in pain

Ok..I'll come back with more when it hits me.

elisheva25

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 12:57 pm

I am a BT ( since teenage yrs )
And although I recognize the issues that exist in the Frum Comminuty
I am frum because :
Hashem is Amazing
His Torah is Emes
It is absolutely the most meaningful life to live
Because Keeping the Torah is the secret to the Survival of the Jewish people
Because in previous generations our ancestors fought for the right to live as Jews
Because I want my kids to love Torah and Mitzvos
Because I am believe that in about 100 yrs ( if Moshiach doesnt come by than), the only Jews that will remain are those that keep the Torah. Everyone else will assimilate and dissapear.

simba

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 1:36 pm

elisheva25 wrote:

Beautiful post.

icebreaker

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 1:58 pm

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what is keeping me (basic) frum except it’s all I know. Keeping kosher and Shabbos are engrained in me. I know I can do those things without necessarily calling myself frum but I still do. I admit that I’m most likely not as frum as many people being that I only keep the very basics. I consider myself more Conservadox than Orthodox. There is definitely a sense of community within the frum world that I just don’t find elsewhere. My favorite holiday by far is Simchas Torah. I really do love seeing the genuine happiness and enthusiasm and love of the Torah, even if I don’t feel that way all the time. Being frum is bitter sweet for me.

Ruchel

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 2:02 pm

Because I was raised strongly traditional to lite MO (with the bases).
Because I believe.
Because I went to public school and couldn't bear the boyfriends, dating drama I saw at friends. As a whole, because of the protection of woman's purity and self respect given by Torah. I probably wouldn't have found a frei guy into shomer negia or waiting for marriage etc anymore.
Because even with tuition, kosher... life is soooo hard without a guideline.
Because I'm a survivor daughter and eff Hitler.
Now, because I want to give this protection and purity to my children plus the religion is soooo fun for kids.

naturalmom5

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 2:18 pm

Because I had an intellectual curiosity that wasn't satisfied by the hypocrisy of Conservative and Reform.

Now I see there is just as much hypocrisy if not more in Lakewood, especially by women. So I live by "Torah is perfect , people aren't"

Metukah

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 2:22 pm

boysrus wrote:

There is a no option in your poll for mine:
I was born frum (didnt have struggles) , love and truly believe in Hashem and would consciously choose to stay frum.

Same. Was going to say the poll should have more options. There are those that were born frum and but don't really love it and those that were born from and if given the choice to be normal again would chose to be frum.

InnerMe

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 2:35 pm

simba wrote:

Ooohh, Simba! I like this beautiful thread! Just my cuppa:) Will be back later with my two cents.

simba

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 2:40 pm

boysrus wrote:

There is a no option in your poll for mine:
I was born frum (didnt have struggles) , love and truly believe in Hashem and would consciously choose to stay frum.

That's me as well. I voted the last option even thought I didn't struggle but because it is a choice, not only because I am ffb..sorry I can't edit the poll.

rydys

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 9:15 pm

boysrus wrote:

There is a no option in your poll for mine:
I was born frum (didnt have struggles) , love and truly believe in Hashem and would consciously choose to stay frum.

Same here. My mother often told me she wanted us to be "FFB-BTs". She did not want us to be frum just because our parents were, she wanted us to fully choose our way of life. We were allowed to ask any questions we wanted at any time and if my parents couldn't answer they would help us find the answer. My parents were also very involved in kiruv and we were exposed to many people from many ways of life who asked all kinds of questions. I think we all benefited from hearing the discussions and answers.

I try to raise my kids the same way. They are not exposed the way I was but my husband and I allow any questions and never say "Just do it because we do." We have both had many discussions over the years with our kids about why we believe in Hashem and why we keep mitzvos and what our purpose in this world is. Of course, it has to be kept age appropriate but I hope it will help my kids long term to choose this way of life out of love and conviction, not just because of how they were raised.

SpottedBanana

Thu, Dec 07 2017, 9:20 pm

Can you take out the "struggled" part or perhaps make it its own option? Like posters above -- I certainly thought about why I'm frum and read (both past and present tense) a lot about emunah, but I don't consider myself to have "struggled" with being frum, baruch Hashem.

To the poster who does not consider herself frum: as I have said to others like you, I sincerely request that you please stop posting and voting in polls. It really isn't fair to the rest of us. I wish you a lot of clarity in your life.

imasoftov

Fri, Dec 08 2017, 5:16 am

SpottedBanana wrote:

To the poster who does not consider herself frum: as I have said to others like you, I sincerely request that you please stop posting and voting in polls. It really isn't fair to the rest of us. I wish you a lot of clarity in your life.

I'm trying to figure out if this is directed at me (I haven't voted and wasn't planning to) or at someone else whose post was removed.

grace413

Fri, Dec 08 2017, 7:24 am

imasoftov wrote:

I'm trying to figure out if this is directed at me (I haven't voted and wasn't planning to) or at someone else whose post was removed.

She's referring to Icebreaker's post which said that she keeps kosher and Shabbat but doesn't consider herself frum.

tweek

Fri, Dec 08 2017, 9:03 am

I am Frum because to me living with Hashem gives one the highest quality of a life experience.
I have one life to live and my experiences in it are beyond my control. By connecting to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I am able to navigate it in a way that is elevated and meaningful.

icebreaker

Fri, Dec 08 2017, 9:45 am

grace413 wrote:

She's referring to Icebreaker's post which said that she keeps kosher and Shabbat but doesn't consider herself frum.

Where on earth did I say I don’t consider myself frum? I said that I keep kosher and Shabbos and I don’t have to call myself necessarily frum to do so, but that I still do, meaning I do refer to myself still as frum, just a very basic frum.

SpottedBanana

Fri, Dec 08 2017, 10:01 am

imasoftov wrote:

I'm trying to figure out if this is directed at me (I haven't voted and wasn't planning to) or at someone else whose post was removed.

Why would that be? This is directed at the person who voted that she isn't frum.