wow bombmaniac, you put it so well, re what you said :
“…. anyone who doesnt really have any real responsibility cant possibly appreciate judaism as it should be appreciated because they havent lived life yet. to them its just like you said “a bunch of nos” because what else are they doing? the “rules” arent appreciated because the person cant possibly understand how or why they apply…basically the more experience one has with life teh more appreciative they are of the so called “nos” because they realize their purpose. “”
I certainly had my “experience” as a young 20 something year old. Floating around america, pretending to be a flower child, looking for love, community, freedom, urban communal living, and in the end, finding my soul in Judaism. I just turned myself over to Serve the Ribbono Shel Olam, after all wasn’t that what I was searching for?
You really have a lot of depth of understanding of things.