Is Judaism an important part of your life and, if so, why?
What do you find most meaningful and relevant to your life about being Jewish or being in a Jewish family?
What, if anything, might make it more meaningful to you?
Is Judaism an important part of your life and, if so, why?
What do you find most meaningful and relevant to your life about being Jewish or being in a Jewish family?
What, if anything, might make it more meaningful to you?
Someone on a Jewish dating site once quipped, “I’m here because I am tired of explaining the jokes.”
That’s pretty funny. But it also gets to a key aspect of my Jewish life.
All groups of people create, refine, and evolve their understanding of certain aspects of behavior, language, and shared stories (legends, myths, history, etc.). We call these things “norms” or “jargon” or “mythology” – collectively “culture.” Groups do this because it makes for more efficient communication and group dynamics.
I happen to be Jewish. It will therefore always be easier for me to communicate and interact with other Jewish people… and easier generally translates to “more comfortable.” I don’t have to explain the jokes.
Now, it’s important to separate culture from the practice of Judaism. Here, energy is used, not saved. To make the practice more meaningful, implies reducing or reversing the energy flow by providing more in return. Is that possible?
Maybe. Consider tzidakah. The simple practice of “putting a few coins in the pishke” is a cost. The return is spiritual, but minimal in my opinion. But sorting food at a food bank is different. It’s still tzidakah, and it’s a lot more energy than reaching in my pocket for some coins, but it’s clear what the good is that’s being done. And it’s a not-bad workout too.
Now consider the opposite: when I was a child studying for Bar Mitzvah, I learned both the Haftorah and Torah tropes. I’m no singer, so I was not good at the former and poor at the latter… and had to put a lot of energy into practicing the notes (not the words, not the interpretation of those words or the lessons to be learned) to be acceptable to my teachers. What did that gain me? Nothing. It cost energy and thereby actually subtracted from my Jewish experience. I certainly did not get the joke.
“The fact that many Jews tell us that religion is not particularly important to them doesn’t mean that being Jewish is not important to them.” Article from CNN today entitled “Study: American Jews Losing Their Religion”: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/01/study-american-jews-losing-their-religion/
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” There are no unexamined lives among Jews. Everything is open to question.
Many years ago, when I was in the Army, a psychiatrist that I worked with – also a Jew, and a recent draftee – finished a talk he gave to a room full of soldiers by asking, “Are there any questions?” He was taken aback when the soldiers shouted in unison, “No Sir!” In his world, the Q&A was the most important part of a talk; in theirs questioning authority was insubordination.
Years later, aboard a ship in Antarctica, Elaine and I helped put together a Shabbat service, including Jews from Australia, the UK, South America, and various US regions. A crewman supplied wine for the kiddush and communion wafers for the motzi, and we struggled through the prayers and songs, burdened by disparities of melody and minhag, but united in our attempt to conduct what we speculated was at that time the southernmost Shabbat service in human history.
We were not in any sense a community, but we all recognized a bond that transcended our cultural and national differences.
Those anecdotes are my answer, albeit an oblique one, to the first parts of the question.
As for what could make being Jewish more meaningful, the coming of the Mashiach would be very helpful. Hopefully he will appear first at the House of Representatives, where he will show the hate-filled ideologues what a Shutdown really looks like.
To me being Jewish is a tribal thing. History, traditions, culture, food, jokes, the sense of belonging are all part of it. While much of the above is rooted in religion, the religion itself plays no significant role in my life. Almost all of my close friends are Jewish. When we get together, the tribal undercurrents take over with easy understanding, hearty laughs, and conversations about future of Israel. Our young children, by the virtue of playing in this company of friends, start developing a sense of belonging from early age. The roots are set in the family.
Judaism is important to me as a tool to enhance the above. Jewish Holiday celebrations, Torah discussions, Hebrew school for kids, etc. help us to further our understanding of being Jewish across all dimensions – social, cultural and religious alike. It is up to an individual to decide how much of Judaism to absorb and internalize, but providing opportunities to learn about it, exercise it, and live it are critical for the long-term survival of the Jewish tribe.
Hence, the family and the community go hand-in-hand. Our Temple and the Lexington Jewish community present an excellent example of such on-going partnership. Through initiatives like the Jewish Enrichment Program for young children, Mazon annual drive by LEFTY, Family Education programs, etc., the Temple enhances opportunities for kids and adults alike to continue enriching their experiences as members of the Jewish tribe.
Yes, community. I think the temple does a great job for adults to grow and learn.
I am Jewish to my core. My parents and grandparents lived Jewishly and gave to Jewish causes. My children include Jewish experiences in their lives as young adults. My sisters, brother, and my husband’s sister and brother all have Jewish partners and have raised Jewish children. It is who we are. That being said, having grown up in a fairly homogeneous, Jewish community, I have loved living in Lexington where my friends come from many cultures and religious backgrounds. While I am active at Temple Isaiah, I have also been active in secular communities, school, town, and institutional groups. I understand even the universal values I hold dear have a Jewish foundation and that I come to many opinions looking through a Jewish lens.
This is a difficult question for me to answer. I am Jewish. I was brought up Jewish by two parents who did not believe in God. I chose to enroll in Hebrew School and to continue my Jewish education through high school. I remained a member of my Temple through the early years of my adulthood, and I was comfortable there. I am not comfortable at our Temple. It’s not that the community has not be welcoming, but that the services seem foreign to me. The music is different, the format is different, and I have never been able to get used to it. I miss the comfort of my old Shul, though I was never Orthodox. I feel Jewish, and I am connected to my family and friends. I do not feel connected to the Jewish community here in Lexington.
A recent copy of one of my favorite publications, “The Week”, contained a reprinted political cartoon of President Obama. It portrayed him in a Mao jacket, arm extended in a Nazi salute and him standing above the icons of the major media outlets. My 16-year-old son saw it and exploded. He threw the magazine and stormed out of the house in a rage. He came back, still enraged, “They can’t show him like that. Hitler was the most evil person ever. He killed 6 million people. He killed 6 million of MY people.”
Judaism is in our lives, his and mine as Jews and my husband’s (though Lutheran) by extension, every day. It is a core reference point a lens through which we take in the world. When I see a wrong, how can I not see it through a Jewish lens? When I see acts of goodness, they connect to my Jewishness. And so does my son.
Regular observance of ritual is obviously not the only way to experience Judaism in one’s life. For me, for us (as I dare speak for a teenager!), it is a way of seeing the world and experiencing it in a distinctive way. Everyone has context–and this is ours.