What role does Halacha, Jewish law, play in deciding ritual practice?  Does Jewish practice have to be dictated by Jewish law? Can I decide what and how I want to observe Jewish ritual?  What role does community pressure play on one’s observance?

There are pros and cons to each of these approaches.  One could observe Jewish ritual by following Halacha to the “t”, but it could be without heart.  One could observe based on purely personal feeling toward that ritual, but then where is the commitment that goes beyond whim.
The more difficult approach is following the structure that pushes us beyond relying on our personal feelings, stretches us and at the same time forces us to make sure that Jewish practice and Judaism in general are not a “dead hand without a heart and soul.”  How this balance works is an eternal Jewish challenge.