Dunking Rachael: The Rabbi said "Jews by Choice"

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Rabbi said "Jews by Choice"

The Rabbi,of the synagogue I attend,in reaction to Parshah Yitro, this morning riffed on how sometimes it takes new eyes, or an outsider to truly see. He then went on to talk about "Jews by choice", and he added the aside, "it isn't good to call them converts anymore" His message was that some how born Jews can get complacent, jaded and not fully engage in the wonder, joy and totality of the Jewish faith, even if they are observant.

It was funny, just prior to this talk, I had been slowly seething and deciding if I could get up the nerve to turn around and ask the three people behind me to please be quite. They were long time and involved members of the synagogue. We had a Bar Mitzvah today and this little boy was trying so hard and they were being so disrespectful. but I had gone by myself today, (I think my husband still finds it difficult to be in services with a celebration while he is still feeling the loss of his mother) and was feeling a bit too vulnerable. Added to this was that we had a low turn out due to snow and cold.

When the Rabbi started they were still talking, but as he went on they got quite! Did they see themselves in his talk? Myself, I became some what self conscious, he was saying lovely things about Jews by Choice, but because there were so few people there I felt like I couldn't hide in the crowd. Although he didn't mention me by name it was an odd feeling non the less!
Yet dispite some unease it was wonderful to hear him speak in such lovely terms about those of us who have chosen this path. Maybe next time I will turn around and ask them to please try and be more quite.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: You have just as much right as a born-Jew to ask someone to be quiet in the middle of a sermon/bar mitzvah/whatever.

I have a born Jewish friend who is adamant that us 'Jews by Choice' are very special indeed - so believe in yourself!

rachel; February 17, 2010 at 5:50 AM

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Beit Din test Question #22 "If you were to join the Jewish people......."

22) If you were to join the Jewish people, what considerations would guide you to that decision? How did your course help you to recognize some meaningful ideas to Judaism? Are there some things you have learned in the course that you find difficult to accept into your life?

I have been a thinker and a seeker for most of my life. I have explored many faiths, been involved in and have a keen interest in philosophy and psychology. I was raised in an Irish/Italian Catholic home. I lived as a Buddhist/Unitarian Universalist for most of my adult life and previously was married for 20 years to a Jewish man who did not practice his faith of origin. At the birth of my child, now 19, I sought to learn as much as I could about Judaism in order to expose this child to the faith of part of her ancestors. So I come to this new point in my life with all my experiences, knowledge and aspirations.

But the question remains how did I come to consider conversion? It is though love that the door of conversion was opened. I fell in love with a Jewish man who participates in his religion, yet he did not require me to convert, pressure me, or in any way attempt to persuade or force me. This exploration of faith was of my choosing, my volition, nurtured by love.

Clearly I am not dogmatically tied to my faith of origin, seeing that the religious expressions which dominated my adult life have been mostly non-theistic. The major change/challenge for me is in the consideration/acceptance of a theistic understanding of existence. Through explorations with my sponsoring Rabbi, reading, (lots of reading!) and the Hillel class I have come to an understanding of the divine, a place of relationship with a theistic point of view that resonates within me.

To help to articulate this I refer to the work of existentialist thinker and Jewish educator Franz Rosenzweig.

“The function of religion, according to Rosenzweig, is not to erect theological systems or establish universal truths, but to lead to experience of God, starting from one's own personal existence. He "commends 'the Pharisees of the Talmud and the saints of the Church' for knowing that 'man's understanding extends only so far as his doing.' Religious observance is, in effect, the doing of one's religious convictions; the two cannot be separated."
“(Time Magizine Monday, Jan. 01, 1951 , http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,814185,00.html)

For Rosenzweig the written word was to be less important than the living exchange, for it is in the doing that the relationship to God will manifest. This idea blends well with my own mindfulness practices. These practices express that it is in the awareness of the moment, the only moment we truly have, where peace and divinity can be experienced.
Through my answers on this exam, my participation in the class and my meetings with my sponsoring Rabbi, I believe I clearly present that I am coming to know, and hopefully I am beginning to understand the meaningful ideas in relationship to Judaism. Clearly there is so much to learn, and experience.

I am most taken by the direct experience of the divine associated with taking on the laws and practices of this ancient faith. I have aspirations to practice in this tradition, but once again they can be best articulated through Rosenzweig:
“Rosenzweig’s approach was subjective also in connection with the mitzvot, Jewish observances. He did think that he would one day become a fully observant Jew, but believed in the gradual approach in which the observances slowly made their impact by “ringing a bell” for him. Typical of this approach is Rosenzweig’s answer to someone who asked him whether he wore tefillin [phylacteries]: “Not yet,” he replied.”
(My Jewish Learning.com http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Modern/IntellectualTO/Rosenzweig.htm)

Like the bell of mindfulness practice, the mitzvot, the mindfulness practice of Judaism, will take time to incorporated and to resonate within. Like the ringing of the mindfulness bell, or the sounding of the Shofar, the act of doing Judaic practices pierces the daily, the mundane and hopefully will help to awaken me to an even richer and more connective relationship with the Jewish people and the divine.