snip
Prager discussed his abandonment of Orthodoxy on his radio show July 13, 2001:
Dennis: "I was raised Orthodox but after my Bar Mitzvah on I was never Orthodox. I did however try Orthodoxy once again after my first child was born (1983). For a number of years, I lived an orthodox life to try it again as an adult. I'm quite observant but I always announce that I am not Orthodox because I never want to mislead anybody. Many Orthodox institutions have used some of my writings on Judaism, particularly my first book 'The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism.' But I will drive to synagogue on the Sabbath for example."
Caller: "What about kosher? Is that important to you?"
Dennis: "Yes. But my level would be different from yours if you are Orthodox. I don't care, for example, about dishes at a restaurant. If a dish has touched bacon and then was washed, I will have food off of it."
Caller: "What would you advise young people, especially Jews, aged 12-25 about whether they should follow what you're doing?"
Dennis: "I am proud to say that I have brought a lot of Jews to Judaism. And they know, as my own children know, that I do not give a hoot if my children or any Jew I influence expresses a serious Judaism as an Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Hasidic Jew. I am just as happy. I have zero preference."
Caller: "What happened after your Bar Mitzvah?"
Dennis: "I don't have an Orthodox temperament. For example, I never got into praying. Never. I love singing and Torah study. Davening essentially has bored me. In most synagogues, I am bored out of my mind. I'm sure that's a lapse in me. I was raised in a world where so much is actually said in prayer, that it is actually speed read."
Dennis is the only member of his immediate family who is not Orthodox. "I was born an adult," he told the 2-4-98 LA Times. "I couldn't bear parental coercion. I've always been in love with freedom."
snip
Ethnic pride has never been a big value for Dennis. At his Bar Mitzvah (age 13) at Winsoki on 7/15/61, he received the book "Great Jews in Sports." He found the topic hilarious. Prager also had no time for superstition, choosing the number 13 when he played basketball. "And if you'd asked my coach, he'd probably say that I lived up to it."
The proverbial "why?" child, Prager was sent to the principal's office so often that they named a chair "The Dennis Prager seat."
snip
http://tinyurl.com/9zaak
Let's all sit back, relax, and have a nice hot steaming cup of mind our own business, or an ice cold glass of get off our high horse...whichever is appropriate.
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