Where do you fall on the spectrum of Judaism? You don’t really sound Orthodox, no offense intended if you actually are.
I have longtime close friends, a married couple, who attend a Reform Temple, one more of a lapsed Catholic who goes because of his wife, with the wife being the daughter of devout Orthodox Russian immigrants. He’s always been politically conservative, she’s never been hostile but hasn’t realy been conservative. She’s slowly returning to the faith of her parents and her politics are likewise shifting.
How a faith grounded in what we know as the Old Testament ever became so ... what, watered down?, as some Temples are, is beyond me. I suspect they as a group don’t really believe deep down, but Temple rather serves as a touchstone for ethnic identity.
Is this anywhere near actuality or am I wide of the mark?