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beetigerThe Jewish holidays are coming up. Rosh Hashanah's coming up Friday night, so I've got to pull out my recipes for honey cake and dip tart apples from the tree in honey. It reminds me of my grandparents, and of where I come from. I may even try to make taiglach again, though I don't have a recipe I like yet. (If you do, please share!)
I'm not a practicing Jew. It's pretty clear from a quick overview of my life that I'm an idolater in the classic sense (ooh, pretty statues!). I've never had any interest in keeping kosher. Bard and I have decided not to circumcise our soon-to-arrive son. I never went to Hebrew School, never learned to read Hebrew, never had a bat mitzvah. I don't belong to a temple.
In my group at Seagram, I was kind of the token Jew, the one people would ask questions of if they were confused about something. It's the longish nose and the last name that does it, I guess. Since I am moderately knowledgeable about the basics, I generally just answered. One year, so many people asked me if I was taking Yom Kippur off that I just decided to, after all. I went to hang out with a reform congregation which had a cantor with a phenomenal voice, and which only wanted a donation to join them as opposed to the high ticket prices that most congregations around here charge. Between the early and late parts of the service, I went to Pound Ridge Reservation to meditate and watch wild turkeys.
But I do keep the major fasts, the restrictions on leavened products at Passover, the full fast at Yom Kippur. The rest of my family, though overall much more practicing, doesn't. They think it's very odd that I do, when I don't really believe that G-d cares. *I* care. It keeps me connected to my past, and is the kind of discipline I find pleasing. This year, I won't -- even Jewish tradition says that pregnant women should not fast, as it could endanger the life of the child. I think it's going to feel weird, and I suspect I'll eat sparse, basic foods, rather than just eating normally.
And I'll think about how to teach a young boy that something is important, even if it isn't really true.
I'm not a practicing Jew. It's pretty clear from a quick overview of my life that I'm an idolater in the classic sense (ooh, pretty statues!). I've never had any interest in keeping kosher. Bard and I have decided not to circumcise our soon-to-arrive son. I never went to Hebrew School, never learned to read Hebrew, never had a bat mitzvah. I don't belong to a temple.
In my group at Seagram, I was kind of the token Jew, the one people would ask questions of if they were confused about something. It's the longish nose and the last name that does it, I guess. Since I am moderately knowledgeable about the basics, I generally just answered. One year, so many people asked me if I was taking Yom Kippur off that I just decided to, after all. I went to hang out with a reform congregation which had a cantor with a phenomenal voice, and which only wanted a donation to join them as opposed to the high ticket prices that most congregations around here charge. Between the early and late parts of the service, I went to Pound Ridge Reservation to meditate and watch wild turkeys.
But I do keep the major fasts, the restrictions on leavened products at Passover, the full fast at Yom Kippur. The rest of my family, though overall much more practicing, doesn't. They think it's very odd that I do, when I don't really believe that G-d cares. *I* care. It keeps me connected to my past, and is the kind of discipline I find pleasing. This year, I won't -- even Jewish tradition says that pregnant women should not fast, as it could endanger the life of the child. I think it's going to feel weird, and I suspect I'll eat sparse, basic foods, rather than just eating normally.
And I'll think about how to teach a young boy that something is important, even if it isn't really true.
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no subject
Date: 2003-09-23 11:24 am (UTC)I gotta say, I feel pretty much the same way. I was raised in a traditional Conservative shul, my family went to services every single Saturday and all the holidays, I went to nursery school in my synagogue and then Hebrew school and then Hebrew High.
But the religion isn't so important to me anymore. I don't believe in god, at least not the way I was raised to. There are so many religions out there, who are we to say one is right and the others are wrong? Especially because at this point, they've all been interpreted and re-interpreted by men who often put their own spin on things.
It's my *culture* and my *heritage* that's really important. I love that my family gets together and celebrates the holidays. I love the traditional foods, getting dressed up, singing the prayers and taking a day out of mundanity.
I can do without going to synagogue, but it makes my mom happy if I go. So I do. It won't kill me, even if I don't believe a lot of it, and I still do like the sound of a few hundred people praying "mit ruach."
So Shanah Tovah, a sweet, happy and healthy New Year to you!