Why I can't be so close to Orthodox World

As I have gotten older, I realize that I am getting to be more distant from the Jewish world. Right now, I am a five day a week legal professional whose day goes from approximately 730 am-630 pm or so and my extensive Jewish involvement (tefillot, classes, kiddushes, etc.) is limited to the weekend. In some ways I am a glorified "Weekend Jew" that the Rabbis like to rail against.

It would be nice to live in the place where the high-earning Jewish professionals live. However, I don't think that will be possible for a while, if at all.

In any event, as a Modern Orthodox Jew with a Modern Orthodox Jewish education, I don't need to be "Mekareved" in the way that the 18-25 year old does. I know what Shabbat, Yom Tov, Kashrut etc. are. I know about the Aseret Hadibrot and other fundamentals of Judaism are.

Setting me up with one of the Yocheved come latelys or the girl who lives in a Bais Yaakov bubble won't work. My goals and standards are different.

If one attended a school that was influenced by the derech halimud of Rabbi Israel Chait, such as Northwest Yeshiva High School, one is accustomed to critical thinking and asking sharp questions and trying to get solid, well-thought out answers. Some of the Outreach programs do not really provide such thinking and are very shallow in my humble opinion. For more information about this derech or style of learning, please go to this website http://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ or www.ybt.org.

What I do need (if such people exist) are people who are intellectually up to the task and can make my weekends fun and exciting and not a chore or a guilt trip.