I know that not all Jews are New York Jews, but that doesn’t look like they’re trying to follow the law, or even the spirit of the law, when they do something like put a string around New York so they can consider it their house and continue on business as usual. Also, it seems like they miss the message that the law is a mirror to show your imperfections, and that the individual is more important than the law (look at many of David’s actions, especially when fleeing Saul). I’m NOT an expert on Old Testament/talmudism, so I’m sure there’s some retroactive explanation, and I’m not one to say “Don’t take God’s word unseriously”, but my opinion is that Judaism got pulled into the weeds on following and interpreting laws rather than understanding the spirit of the law.