F359

I came into this course not knowing exactly what I was going to learn and what exactly what I was going to take away from it. While this course did not give me exact answers about my Judaism, it did open up many ideas and give me insight to many different topics.

This course showed me that there is no one answer to the question of “Who is a Jew” but rather a multitude of ideas that can explain Judaism. From the title of the course I thought that we would be exploring our own identities rather than those of other collective groups but I am really glad that I was able to learn about different kinds of Jews, Jewish Ideas and beliefs because it has showed me that what I have grown up to define as Jewish is only a small part of the Jewish world and its complexity.

While I don’t agree with everything that was said in this course I also really appreciate everyone’s different views and opinions of the different topics that we discussed. As I have been brought up in a house and community where most of the people I am with believe what I believe it was nice to be in a diverse environment discussing Judaism.

I want to thank everyone for their opinions and thoughts and I hope everyone had a wonderful semester.

Have a great summer!!!!

FIG

The Jewish Studies FIG was an interesting experience and a very different one than what I was expecting....

When I signed up for the FIG I thought that I was going to meet Jewish kids from all over the country who have an interest in Judaism and want to be apart of a Jewish community. When I got to IU the FIG was a bunch of Jewish kids who mostly signed up for the FIG so that they could live in McNutt.

Our FIG leader wasn't that great! He wasn't interested in doing Jewish activities and he didn't know that much about Judaism. In the FIG the only thing Jewish about the FIG was that we were all Jewish and living together and taking two Jewish Studies courses together.

In the FIG there were the kids who grew up in large Jewish populations and the kids who didn't grow up in a large Jewish community, there were the camp kids and the kids who had never been to Jewish overnight camp, there were the religious kids and the not religious kids, basically a group of Jewish kids who either had lots in common or nothing in common. The dynamic of the FIG does change year to year because the Jewish upbringing of the kids who are in it change from year to year.

While I am glad that I did the FIG because I was able to get ahead in my Jewish Studies courses, I don't think that I gained anything Jewishly from it otherwise. I think that in order to improve the FIG for future kids, I think that the leader should be in the Jewish Studies Department or active at Hillel and if it is going to be a Jewish Studies FIG it should be more than just a bunch of Jews living together and taking classes together, it should be the start of a Jewish community for freshman.

Passover Statements from the Presidential Candidates

It is very interesting to me how each candidate gave their statements….

Clinton and McCain both addressed the basic idea of the holiday and wished from their families to the families who will be celebrating Pesach and good holiday. They both addressed the Exodus and the families that will join together to rejoice in the freedom that they received.

Hilary talked about the inspiration that she has from the Haggadah that we must remember the past so that we may become leaders and advocates for the future. McCain talked about his experience with families of Israeli soldiers who had been captured in 2006 by Hezbollah and how their families are celebrating the Passover holiday without them not knowing their whereabouts. I thought McCain and Clinton gave very nice remarks, ones that aren’t political or take any kind of religious stance but acknowledge the Jewish Holiday of Passover.

Obama’s statement interested me the most, the first part of his statement was not very different from that of the other nominee’s and it was very nice that he and his family wished a good holiday however, he used the words “we” and “us”. I find this most interesting because as I was reading it I thought to myself “does he think of himself as one of the Jewish people?” “Does he include himself in the religion that is celebrating this holiday?”

One of the things that annoy me most is when people who are clearly not affiliated with whatever they are speaking of whether a race, religion or anything else include themselves and use “we” and “us.” After reading his statement twice I realize that he was not including himself in the “we” or “us” but rather that he was referring to anyone should learn from the Passover story.

What does it say about Jewish identity that these three candidates specifically wished the Jewish people a good and joyous Passover? While the Jews may be a religious minority I have come to realize that Jewish people have made a name for themselves and I feel that is the reason why these candidates addressed us. While I might be wrong I have never heard political people discuss Ramadan or Kwanza. It is true that during the holiday season of Christmas and Hanukkah that if a person in politics wants to specifically say the holidays they will say both Christmas and Hanukah.

I think that these three candidates each recognize that the vote of Jews is very important to them and I often think that when anyone in politics makes statements just as these they do it not always because they really want to but because of the political gain that comes with it.

I hope everyone is having a good Pesach!!!!

Neo-Nazi Article

As I was looking on the Jerusalem post’s website as I usually do when I have a free moment, I came across this article and it truly bothered me so I thought I would share my comments….

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208422632626&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

“US Neo Nazi’s gear up for Hitler’s b’day” … was the title of this article and I must say at first I thought it was some kind of cruel joke or something… but it’s not.

As Hitler’s 119^th anniversary of the day he was born happened on April 19^th many of his supporters in the United States will be holding events and rallies in his honor and to celebrate his life… when I first read the article the first things that came to my mind was why after so many years after the Holocaust ended and Hitler gone why would anyone especially in the United States still support him? After thinking about this question for quite some time I realized that they must have been brainwashed to believe in the things Hitler believed in…

As I shared this article with my mom she said that our congregation has been talking about events such as these and that a neo-Nazi group that tried to march in Skokie where I live a few years ago is planning to try again at the end of April so that they may show their support for Hitler.

A lot of the places such as Washington DC and Chicago that these groups are planning to have events in are highly populated by Jews. It is sad to me that after all this time has passed after Nazi reign and the world devastation of the Holocaust that there are still people who associate with Hitler.

It bothers me so much that especially in the United States that there is nothing that we can do to stop these groups from marching and holding events in the name of Hitler….. I am very bothered by this article and I think that it bothers me more that this article was posted at that these events were held as Pesach a holiday of freedom has just begun

Bubbe

This is a difficult blog for me to write however it is something that I have been deeply thinking about for several months and would like to share……

My Bubbe was an extraordinary woman and an essential person in my life until she passed away this past December has been on my mind since she passed. She was a woman of her generation who did everything she could for her family and friends and never thought twice about it. She was not only a full time wife and mother but a full time friend to many, she always had her nose in something at synagogue and having her home be one filled with love, laughter, good Jewish food and a sense of Judaism was of the utmost importance.

This Pesach is the first Jewish holiday that my family is having without her and while it will be a wonderful holiday there is a bit of sadness in our hearts. As I have grown up my whole life living in her home, the holidays have always been a time for her to show off not just her sense of Judaism but her wonderful cooking. As Pesach is my favorite holiday I remember that one of my favorite things was waking up the day of the first Seder and the smell of her amazing matzo ball soup filled the house.

For my grandmother her Jewish identity was not shown by the candles she lit on Friday night or the blessings she would say but by her Jewish cooking. The Jewish Woman and her Home, a book that my grandmother constantly used was essential for her. We always knew where she would be sitting at our holiday table because her book would be placed as she was setting the table. She made sure that at every holiday she would read several passages and everyone had to listen. I hated that book growing up because it meant that for 10-15 minutes I would have to listen to probably the most boring Jewish book, my grandmother read because she felt the need to teach something Jewish to her family.

This morning when I woke up, I smelled all of the good Pesach food that my grandmother used to make and I looked in the dining room to see a beautiful table already set just as she would have liked it, but no book. Now I realize that, that book was a crucial part of my Jewish upbringing but more importantly that my Bubbe was my Jewish inspiration. My grandmother was the proudest when my sisters and my cousins, her grandchildren, began our formal Jewish education in Sunday school, had our bar/bat mitzvahs, read Hebrew to her and recited our prayers, went to Shabbat services, read Torah on the high holidays and maybe most importantly enjoyed her Jewish cooking.

Since my grandmother passed away, I have spent a lot of time why I believe the things I believe and want to live the Jewish lifestyle that I do, of course my parents had something to do with it, but I now realize that it is my Bubbe who has truly inspired me. She was the member of the sisterhood that everyone loved, a wonderful friend, and a woman who had the strongest Jewish identity I have ever known and instilled that in me, but most importantly she is the Jewish mother and grandmother that I can only hope to be.

Tonight when my family begins our Seder, my sister will read from my grandmother’s book as it is now our turn to continue my grandmother’s tradition of reading and teaching her family. It will be with some sadness as she is no longer with us, but she left my family and most importantly me with a sense of Jewish identity that I will always carry and that someday I hope to pass on to my children.

I love my Bubbe greatly and I miss her but her Jewish identity will fill me for the rest of my life as I continue on my path to becoming a Rabbi.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Pesach!!

I thought Reform Jews aren’t that observant?

“Your family does two Seders? You keep Pesach for eight days? I thought Reform Jews weren’t that observant… isn’t being that observant not a part of Reform Judaism to observe Pesach in that way?”- said by a friend of mine to me after being asked about my personal Pesach observance. Why is there such a stereotype from “religious” Jews towards reform Jews or in their eyes “less religious Jews”? It bothers me so much that it is assumed that because I am a Reform Jew or rather that I identify with the Reform Movement that I am less observant. While it is true that some reform Jews only hold one Seder and keep Passover for seven days there are those who do two Seders and keep Passover for eight days.

After she made that comment towards me I simply said to her “you shouldn’t put a label on the movement of Judaism that I identify with because you wouldn’t like it if I stereotyped the movement of Judaism that you identify with.” I almost feel as if Judaism is so divided between the movements and has so many stereotypes within the religion that we have almost become anti-Jewish towards each other.

It seems to me that many Jews have come to believe these stereotypes of Judaism, specifically Reform Judaism in my case, that we have forgotten that we are one religion, that we pray to the same G-D, that we read the same Torah, study the same Talmud and Midrash and that regardless of religious observance we are all still a part of the same religion: Judaism. While I do affiliate with the Reform movement, my family tends to be more traditional in our religious observance.

It is the tradition in my family to have two Seders and observe Pesach for eight days. And ultimately the comment that my friend made doesn’t just bother me in terms of Pesach but just in general that the belief is that.

As Jews we celebrate Passover as a way to commemorate our exodus from Egypt and rejoice in our freedom. So it seems to me that we should be coming together to rejoice and not separating because of movements. What does it say about the future of Judaism in terms of where the religion will be if these stereotypes and divisions within the religion continue?

Genetic Testing and Jewish Identity?

Yesterday’s discussion about genetics and Judaism was very interesting. I think that what is known as the “Jewish Panel” for genetic testing is very interesting, however it bothers me that is what it is called. While these diseases may be prevalent in Jews, they are clearly not diseases that affect only Jews. Also, people who use genetic testing to confirm their identities I think is a misuse of those tests, resources, and money. Judaism is a religion while it has a lot of culture associated to it anyone can be Jewish.

I think that genetic testing and Judaism are really are separate things. While it is clear that these diseases are more often found in Jews, I don’t think that this group of tests needs to be titled with the word Jewish. I think that if you are Jewish your doctors should encourage these tests; however I think that doctors should encourage this panel to anyone. I feel that by giving this panel of important genetic tests a title with the word Jewish in it may cause others not to feel the need to look into and take these tests.

I am a firm believer of and am in complete support of all genetic testing. If I could get tested for diseases that I might pass on to my children I absolutely would. I think that it should be the responsibility of every parent, doctor and insurance company to make it a necessary thing to do genetic testing. Also in terms of Breast Cancer and BRCA1 and BRCA2, it is upsetting and bothersome to me that Ashkenazi Jews have become known to have these genes. I think it is important to note that this idea is based upon research and who the participants of that research were.

While I think it is interesting that these diseases have been found to be prevalent in Jews it is important to see that more often than not people who are Jewish are the ones willing to participate in the research of these diseases because we typically trust in the medical system.

Messianic Judaism

I just want to start this blog entry by saying that I am not prejudice and I am not against anyone. I truly believe that you cannot tell someone that they are wrong for what they believe (except for terrorists); but that it is perfectly okay to disagree with someone’s belief. While I do not agree with Messianic Judaism, I will not ever tell a Messianic Jew or anyone else that they are wrong for what they believe.

In my opinion I do not consider Messianic Jews to be real Jews. While I respect what they believe I cannot and will not consider someone Jewish who believes that Jesus is the messiah. While there are not many noticeable differences between Messianic Jews and other Jews the one the truly separates them is ,Jesus. The first Messianic Jew that I met was a girl who went to my school. At first glance I thought that she was an Orthodox Jew. She dressed modestly, kept kosher, observed Shabbat and spoke Hebrew quite well. But as I got to know her I started to observe little difference such as reference to the Old Testament instead of the Torah, and the way that she prayed was more like church gospel music than what I had learned to believe was a traditional Friday night service and she didn’t know some of the famous Jewish melodies that all of my other Jewish friends knew, and the mention of Jesus.

Then I went to her synagogue and in a very subtle way her parents implied that she was a more “complete Jew” than I was because they believe that Jesus is the messiah. At first I thought this strange and sort of ignored it but then it continued to come up when we would talk about Judaism and religion that Jesus was the messiah. One day I asked her how can she be Jewish and believe in Jesus. She told me that she was a messianic Jew. As I got to learn more about messianic Judaism I realized that maybe these Jews are trying to have the best of both the Christian world and the Jewish world.

While I will not say that they are wrong for what they believe, I don’t agree with it. Messianic Jews clearly don’t fit in with the more mainstream movements of Judaism. In religious school I remember learning about the Conservative movement, the Orthodox movement, the Reconstructionist movement, Chabad, Aish and Lubovitch Jews, but I never was told about Messianic Jews.

I have always been told that Jews don’t believe in Jesus as the messiah and that it is an anti-Jewish belief so how can this group of people say that they are Jews when they believe in something that is clearly not Jewish?

Intermarriage

It has been a while since my last entry.. here it goes....

The discussion in our class about intermarriage was very interesting. It is a very touchy and personal issue for many students in our class. I have never really openly discussed the issue with kids whose parents are intermarried. I think it is good that there are resources such as interfaithfamily.com that can help with families who are intermarried who are looking for answers about living a Jewish life.

I know that I have a mother who says “You have to marry a nice Jewish boy when you grow up because our religion is a dying one”. I hear it all the time…. It never ends…. While I think that if I did want to marry someone who wasn’t Jewish she would accept that person I think it would be a shock to my family and I know that there are many others who have mothers that say the same thing. As someone who wants to and aspires to be a rabbi it is important for me to marry a Jewish man and have a Jewish lifestyle.

Many people have asked me as a rabbi will I perform intermarriages. I often say that while my views could change as of now I would say no. I want to make sure that my role as a future rabbi is fulfilled, that I am serving the needs of my congregation, and that I am continuing to help Judaism through the commitment that I will make to G-D. Many rabbis that are currently the leaders of the Reform movement have often said that the views of the incoming generations of rabbis are much more traditional than most of the rabbis currently. I know that I will welcome interfaith couples into my congregation and help them find a connection with Judaism and G-D in any way I can. However, I will not officiate at an intermarriage ceremony because for me that is not fulfilling one of the commitments that I will make as a rabbi: to ensure the success and continuation of Judaism because even if the couple says that they will raise their kids in a Jewish home, it isn’t a certain thing until the children are born. I will try to help the couple who is seeking me out to officiate at their wedding understand that it is not them personally that I do not like but it will be my policy as a rabbi not to officiate at interfaith marriages.

It is very interesting that every synagogue, every rabbi has their own views and opinions and that there isn’t a standard. It is true that it will be very hard or rather probably impossible to find a rabbi in the conservative or orthodox movement who will officiate. Also in most orthodox communities they do not accept interfaith couples or families. I often feel like families of an interfaith background who want to be in those communities are often turned away because of their background. I think that if that family is willing to make those commitments and follow torah and Jewish law then why not let them?

The issue of interfaith marriage is not just talked about within every synagogue and movement but in classrooms such as ours because the issue affects where the future of Judaism is going. The more interfaith marriages and the more children whose parent(s) were brought up Jewish but they are not being brought up in Judaism, it is the opinion of many rabbis and myself, that Judaism will then be less successful. Judaism is a religion that relies on the participation of its believers no matter what movement they are part of. There is a growing fear among many Jews that the more intermarriage that continues to happen the less Jews there will be in the future.

Especially for parents of Jewish college students who attend universities that are full of diversity it is an especially important issue to discuss because most young Jewish college students will not attend universities that are solely populated by Jews, they attend universities such as ours which has a large Jewish population but is still very diverse. We discuss it especially at this time in our lives when we are deciding for ourselves what we actually believe. My friends and I often joke that one of the purposes of Hillel and Jewish camps and almost any Jewish organization that we are involved in is that nice Jewish boys and nice Jewish girls will meet and then they will get married and have nice Jewish babies. When I think about that it seems interesting that that is how we think of those organizations and it begs the bigger question of what does that say about young Jewish people today?

Hope you all are having a great semester!!!

Trembling before G-D

I had never seen this documentary before….. from looking at the front of the DVD case I thought that the film was going to be about two men who are Hasidic Jews who call in love, but I was completely wrong.

The film interviews orthodox and Hasidic Jews who are gay and their rabbis and what they have to say about it, also is an interview with the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi. The film began with two quotes, one from Leviticus and one from the Schulchan Aruch about how it is an abomination for a man to lie with a man and woman to lie with a woman. Then after that are silhouettes of different religious acts.

Throughout the film these different Orthodox and Hasidic Jews talk about their feelings and experiences as gay Orthodox Jews. And their biggest question is if I am a good Orthodox Jew why can’t I be gay to? And the reason is because in the eyes of their rabbis and their communities it is a sin.

I could never imagine as one woman said that if she came out as a lesbian that her community could take her children away from her…. I couldn’t imagine such a thing. Some Orthodox Jews are so driven by their beliefs that it leads some to go crazy, leave their communities or commit suicide.

This film is inspirational and motivational. It really made me think about this comment that someone said in the extras that this film is “the greatest argument against Orthodox Judaism”. I have never thought anything bad about Orthodox Judaism because I think that they are good people who just observe their Judaism differently than I do but I never realized or even thought about Orthodox Jews being gay and what happens to them.

This film is a wonderful film that really shows the perspective of these people and their lives….. I am really glad that I saw the film and I think that it really is sad that for some of these Jews being gay is such a horrible thing that they suppress it their whole lives. I think it is ridiculous that there are Orthodox and Hasidic rabbis who tell their congregants to seek counseling to change so that they aren’t gay anymore. I truly believe that you can’t change your sexual orientation and if you try it will only make it worse.

I just can’t understand how these communities can do this to their friends and families? Why can’t someone be a good Hasidic or Orthodox Jew and be gay?

Today’s Israel Discussion....

Today’s discussion about Israel was very interesting. I have never heard such diverse views about Israel. I have grown up in the Reform Movement in which we always talk about Israel as this amazing place and that it is this really glorified experience that one must have.

I really want to go to Israel. I am planning to go on Birthright next spring and then I am also planning to study abroad there my junior year. I know that Birthright is a very structured experience in which they want you to feel this want to make Aliyah. I already know that as much as I am hoping that I will love Israel more once I have gone on Birthright and after I will hopefully live there for at least a semester that I do not want to live in Israel.

Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute (OSRUI) is the Jewish overnight camp where I spend my summers. OSRUI has a very strong connection to Israel and instills that into the kids. We have counselors and other staff members from Israel every summer, and our Hebrew program is centered very closely around Israel as it is ran by Israelis. We have Israel Day every summer, where the kids participate in all kinds of activities and every week the kids participate in Israeli dancing.

After today’s class I really thought about Israel experiences, why they are so important, and why parents and kids push so hard to go to Israel? I think that the reason Jews especially youth want to go to Israel so badly is because it is supposed to give you this intense “Jewish” experience, one that is so different from the American Jewish experience. Israel is a very important thing to Jewish people but I think that it is more important let Israel and the things we experience their inspire us to be more connected to Judaism and to be more active Jews, rather than looking to our Israel experiences to give us more “intense” Jewish experiences.

I can’t wait to go to Israel!!!

Jewish Music?

I have grown up listening to Debbie Freidman, Rick Recht, Dan Nichols, and Eighteen. I have gone to many of their concerts, I own many of their CD’s and I have never really thought about why I consider their music “Jewish Music”, until after our classed discussed “Jewish Music”.

At first I thought it might be because most of their music stems from different prayers or different parts of liturgy. Rick Recht, is my favorite of the “Jewish” artists, a lot of his music are prayers put to his own music. They are very catchy tunes and interesting melodies for prayers that I have said since I was a little girl. The music that he writes put new twists on old words that are very important to Judaism.

Then I thought maybe it was the ideals or values that are embodied in these songs. Ideals and values such as Tikkun Olam, Kehilah Kedoshah, the hope of Israel, the hope of our children and the future of the Jewish people. Rick Recht’s song “Tomorrow Today” from his album Shabbat Alive is about the 2000 year journey of the Jewish people and what the future of the Jewish people could be if we continue to give to it. This idea of what the Jewish people will be if we can give it, if we continue the pride of our culture and lifelong learning so that we will survive in the future. This song is meant to empower Jewish youth to continue learning and continue the visions of the Jewish people so that we can continue to thrive in the future.

Then I thought the reason this music is considered “Jewish” is because of where it is often played. In my synagogue's Sunday school we often teach these songs to the kids. At camp music from Debbie Freidman, Rick Recht and Dan Nichols is heard constantly. At youth conventions and programs this music is usually included in some way or another. Every year in Chicago at one or more of the many Walk with Israel’s this music is played. The locations of where the music of these artists are played are Jewish settings and Jewish places filled with Jewish people.

After I thought about it more it’s not just what these songs say, what they imply, what they teach or where they are played that makes them “Jewish”, it is what those who listen to it receive from it. When I listen to songs such as “The Hope”, “Kehilah Kedoshah”, and “You will Love”, I connect with Judaism in my own way. Whether I am listening to this music on my iPod, participating in a song session, at a concert or at my synagogue teaching these songs to the kids, I am connecting with Judaism. These songs teach me and make me think about a lot of the reasons that I am Jewish. So in the question of “Jewish Music”, for me it is what I take from these songs that makes them Jewish.

The Holocaust: not an experience to fabricate....

“Misha: A Mémoire of the Holocaust Years” might be a fantastic novel to read but it infuriates me that this woman wrote this book and claimed it to be truth but is now saying that it is not. A book that is written as fiction is taken as such, but a book that is written as a Mémoire is taken as some sort of truth. There are fictional books written about the Holocaust that can teach us and help us remember the Holocaust but no one is claiming that any of the experiences that happen in a fictional book actually happened.

In a Mémoire, it is supposed that most of what the person is writing about is some truth, it is true that most survivors or most people who talk about their life experiences won’t remember every detail but overall their story is truth. This woman wrote a Mémoire and than after it had sold thousands of copies she came out and said that it wasn’t an actual event in her life but rather her own reality. In my opinion she lied about an event and wrote a book about it and then revealed the truth. The Holocaust is not an event that one should fabricate, if she wanted to write this book, as I have heard it is really good, she should have claimed it fiction. I really believe that fiction novels about the Holocaust are important, but then it begs the question that if someone can fabricate an experience, and writes about it as a truth, then what makes all the Holocaust survivors who tell their stories important?

My father was born in Germany and was a very small baby when his parents escaped Germany right after Hitler came to power before the Jews began to lose their rights and their lives, however the rest of his family other than him and his parent did not escape. My grandparents died before I was born so I don’t know what happened to the rest of their family other than the fact that they died in a ghetto or in one of the camps. It hurts me that this person wrote this book and claimed it as truth until after it was published. As time goes on there will be less and less Holocaust survivors to share their stories and if someone can create this story then all of the people who believe that the holocaust didn’t happen have even more evidence to say what they believe.

While I know that a lot of authors write books about things that they have never experienced they classify them as fiction. I think that the Holocaust is an event in history that should be remembered and talked about so that it can never happen again but I think that there is a difference between surviving it and telling your story and not remembering all the details and writing a book based upon an experience that you have never had and calling it a Mémoire. I intend on reading this book, however now that I know that it is not based on real experience I plan on reading it a fictional book. It really bothers me that publishers will take the word of an author and not do a little research before allowing a book to be published under a classification that it does not belong in.

The Holocaust is not an event that one should fabricate a personal experience from and write about. While I acknowledge that the author said that this event was not an actual reality it was her reality, it does not change the fact that she wrote about an experience as a Mémoire that she had never experienced.

Jew camp.. An unforgettable experience.

Olin Sang Ruby Union Institute is one of the Jewish overnight camps affiliated with the reform movement. I have spent every summer there since I was 11 years old. OSRUI is a wonderful place where Jewish kids from all over the country spend 2-8 weeks being kids, making friendships of a lifetime, learning Hebrew, learning about Israel, making connections with their college ages counselors and continue to shape their Jewish identities.

Every day at camp is wonderful, but Shabbat is an experience that is unforgettable. Every Friday night each eidah (unit) has their own Kabbalat Shabbat services and then the entire camp joins together for Shabbat dinner and Kiddush. After we say the Birkat Hamazon (prayer after the meal) as a camp we then go to Shabbat Shira. Shabbat Shira is a time where the whole camp fits into this one tiny building and the song leaders lead us in song session that is an unforgettable experience. 500+ people in one room singing as loud as they can is an experience that is indescribable. During the middle of the song session the director of camp tells a story with some sort of a Jewish point or value, and every summer he tells the same story. Some of the stories are really good and some of them are not but they always have a Jewish message. For the older kids on Friday night after Shabbat Shira they move to the sports center for Israeli dancing.

While Shabbat is probably my favorite part of camp, the whole experience is one that I never want to forget. I believe that OSRUI I found my Jewish identity. I have always loved being Jewish and I have always embraced it. I remember the first T'filah (services) I experience there. I was only 11 years old and I was surrounded by 100 other kids my age and I closed my eyes and listened. I heard not only the voices of the 100 other kids, but the voices of our counselors, rabbis and the sound of nature. Over the years I have found myself praying in ways I never thought I could, learning Hebrew and speaking it with Israelis, and more importantly I found my reason for being Jewish, community.

Community! At camp the rabbis, educators, counselors and kids all become a community. From the first dinner together to our last Tfliah of the summer we are a community. We pray together, live together, eat together, learn together and have fun together. We study Tikkun Olam and what being Jewish kids and teenagers means as a community. I have never felt such a sense of completeness as I do at camp. I love being a member of my synagogue but the feeling you get at camp is one unlike any other community. I remember the summer going into my junior year of high school I was in Chalutzim, the seven week Hebrew immersion program. I didn’t know if I was going to find a sense of community because our counselors only spoke Hebrew to us. But that first night when we prayed all in Hebrew, I have never felt such a sense of community. There were new prayers that we didn’t know and for kids who didn’t read Hebrew that well it was a challenge but we helped each other and when we did know something we sang it as loud as we could!

OSRUI has taught me how to be a Jewish person. It is an experience that I will never forget! Now that I will be going to camp this summer as a second year counselor, I get to teach and instill that same sense of community that my counselors gave to me. While camp is not for everyone it is an experience that I highly recommend for any kid. It is because of OSRUI that I want to be a Rabbi. The Rabbis at camp have always been my remodels of how a Jewish person can become a rabbi and do so many good things for kids! I hope that someday when I am a rabbi that I will be able to instill all the things my rabbis at camp have taught me!

105 days left till camp!!!!!!

Where do I belong?

I have often felt that maybe I don’t belong in the Reform Movement. I like more Hebrew in my service than most and I find that I tend to enjoy conservative services. I have always enjoyed keeping Shabbat with my friends and keeping kosher is a very important part of my life, however I always get the best feeling when I pray at my home synagogue or at camp. I love being apart of the reform movement and I have realized by having people in my life that are “more religious” or feel that they are more religious because of the movement that they affiliate with that I am proud to be and affiliate with the reform movement!

Reform Judaism is often stereotyped as Jews who don’t practice and aren’t religious and in some movements they do not consider reform Jews as Jewish. I believe that the way I express my Jewish identity must be defined by what I do as a Jew and not what movement I affiliate with. It often makes me mad that when people who are orthodox Jews meet me, and I tell them that I am a reform Jew, they don’t take me seriously as a practicing Jew. But I am a more active Jew in the reform movement than some people are in the conservative or orthodox movement.

As a reform Jew I am free to show my Jewish identity however I want because I have studied the texts and have learned the rules. I attend services every Friday night and Saturday morning, I observe all the Jewish holidays, I am committed to lifelong learning and teaching, but more importantly I live my life by the core values that Jewish people live by: trying to make our world a better place by Tikkun Olam, the repairing of our world, and caring for others. My identity as a Jew is not defined by the movement I affiliate with but all of the things I do and say that make me a Jew.

On a daily basis, I try to make sure that all of the decisions I make and the things that I say reflect the kind of Jew I am. I aspire to be a rabbi so that I can carry on the traditions of the Jewish people and continue with Tikkun Olam. My Jewish identity is clearly defined as how I identify myself as a Jew. I agree with the statement that Jewish Identity must be defined by the way people identify themselves however, I think that the movement that Jews “identify with” is not enough to make their Jewish identity, they must define themselves by what they do as Jews.

Matchmaker Matchmaker make me a Match…

The classic “Fiddler on the Roof,” is one of the many movies that could be considered a “Jewish film” and one of the many parts of the film is the idea of a matchmaker. "Fiddler on the Roof" is one of my favorite films and plays but everytime I see it and I think about being set up by a matchmaker and what that must have been like I appreciate the fact that a matchmaker is not something that is such a common practice in todays society. A matchmaker was something that was very popular at the time when my great grandparents got married and is a phenomenon that has declined over time, or has it? JDATE, a Jewish dating site where one can pay to have a profile and receive matches, is on every Jewish website as an advertiser. It is a very popular site and one that is geared specifically for Jewish matches. Is JDATE the new matchmaker?

I have heard so many people talk about JDATE, whether they have had a good or bad experience from it… but when I thought about the essence of JDATE, I thought of a matchmaker. While it is not an actual person doing the matching, it is a computer. Based on your own information you are matched with people of similar backgrounds, likes, and interests. Has the phenomena of a matchmaker become a phenomena based within a computer?

While I know a lot of people who have had a lot of success finding someone on JDATE, it still seems kind of funny that people pay to meet someone online and when my grandmother used to talk about her parents and their matchmaker experience I often used to laugh. I used to say “a matchmaker that is so silly, I would never want to be matched by someone else”, but look at all the people who spend so much money on sites like JDATE to meet someone. My family has seen that sometimes JDATE does work. My cousin Andy met his wife Jill on JDATE. They both created profiles after having some not so good dating experiences just to see what would happen. Well within about 3 weeks they were matched with each other and within a year of their dating there were married and now they have twins. However not everyone finds success on JDATE.

This is the difference between JDATE and what a matchmaker was in the time of my great grandparents. If the matchmaker made you a match you took it. My grandmother used to tell me stories of how the matchmaker for her parents matched them up and originally neither of them was happy but they grew to love each other and have a wonderful life. However, now days on JDATE if someone winks at you or looks at you, it is very easy to reject them if you aren’t interested.

Overall, I think JDATE can be used in great ways and it is a fantastic idea if you think about the magnitude of a dating site like that. It is truly a million dollar idea. As funny as I thought the idea of my great grandparents being set up by a matchmaker was I can no longer comment because JDATE has taken the idea of a matchmaker to a whole new meaning.

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“The Tribe” and Jewish Film

“The Tribe” is a fantastically made film that really portrays some of the stereotypes of Jewish people and really all people in general. The pictures, clips, music, humor and narration of the film display many clear messages. For me the greatest message is that to be Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or any other faith or nationality you don’t have to look at certain way. Using Barbie as the example of this, Barbie has traditionally been a white doll with blond hair and a great figure, traditionally Barbie is the perfect thing with the perfect life. While through the years Barbie has been created in every color, size, shape, nationality, religion and anything else that one can create in a doll, Barbie is the example that it doesn’t matter what you look like because you can identify yourself with whatever you want.

In one part of the film it displays the traditional Barbie in what the film calls “The American Dream”. It is interesting that this blond doll, in this toy house was identified as “The American Dream” because typically “The American Dream” is associated in this dream family or person who looks so perfect; it is not typically associated with Jews or any other type of person.

This film truly plays on the many stereotypes of Judaism. At the end of the film, when we listen the Vanessa Carlton, the Hebrew Mamita talk about her experience with the use of all the pictures going backwards really shows that Vanessa may defy the stereotypes of a Jewish person, she is clearly a Jew.

What does “The Tribe” have to do with Jewish film? Is it the use of Jewish history, pictures of Jews, music that is often associated with Judaism, reference of the Holocaust, Jewish religious movements, or Israel references? Can a film be called a “Jewish Film”? For me this film initially was not considered a Jewish film. However after class and after thinking about it I asked myself, “What needs to be in a film if it is going to be considered “Jewish”? I realized that in my opinion it must contain values of Judaism, portray a Jewish message, portray a Jewish experience or teach us something about Judaism. “The Tribe” addresses stereotypes of Judaism and uses words and ideas associated with Judaism; it is a Jewish film because one of its messages can be that there isn’t one way to define a Jew. One doesn’t have to “look” Jewish to be Jewish, to be Jewish to identify with the values and ideals of Judaism.

I really liked the film and I think it is fantastically done!

Second Life

I haven’t posted in a while so here it goes…..

Second Life, a virtual world, is one website that I have a lot of issues with. While I admit it’s a cool game and could be fun to create a virtual character to have a little fun with is not a replacement for the real world. I think it is interesting that there are “Jewish Communities” that have been created in this virtual world. While I understand that you can study Chabad off of it and you can pray at a Kotel, it is not real. The learning of Chabad does not actually take place in this world. It will only lead you to a Chabad website that could have been easily found through Google. While I encourage all kinds of Jewish Learning, I cannot encourage or support a virtual Jewish world.

It is true that there are people who spend hours on JDATE looking for partners however; they at least meet in the real world. JDATE is not a replacement for dating in the real world, however just another way of finding people to date in the real world. I think using Second Life as a Jewish Community goes against the strong belief in a Jewish Community.

For me there is nothing Jewish about building a Sukkah on a virtual site, or praying at a Kotel that is on a computer screen. I don’t see what is Jewish about that. While I recognize that there are some people who really participate in the virtual Jewish community and truly believe it to be a real Jewish community. I as a practicing Jew, an aspiring Rabbi or just a real person cannot call a synagogue on a virtual site a Jewish community.

I think it raises to many questions and too much tension that someone can take the easy way out and participate in a Jewish community on a virtual site that all other participants may not be Jewish. I can’t understand why someone would want to participate in this kind of Judaism.

More importantly, what does this section of Second Life say about the future of Judaism? If people can be a part of a virtual Jewish community where they may never really interact with another Jew, what is going to happen to our Jewish community? It would be so much easier to just pray online in the comfort of our own homes and make contributions to the Jewish community online, but then what kind of fulfillment of Mitzvot does one get out of that? What kind of fulfillment of G-D does one get out of that kind of Judaism?

I could never pray off of an online site or make contributions towards Tzedakah online. It would hurt me if I couldn’t go to my synagogue and participate in the building of the Sukkah or pray with my friends and family in our sanctuary. It scares me that this virtual world has a strong Jewish component that was wanted my participants of this game. It makes me wonder in 10 years will my Jewish community be a virtual one?

Hope that the semester is going well for everyone!!!

Skokie: An example of a divided Jewish community

Whenever I am asked by people at IU where I am from I say “I live in a suburb of Chicago”- then some people ask “which one”- I say “Skokie”. To most people where I live is insignificant however, to almost every Jewish person that hears that I am from Skokie they say “Jew City”, it is true while Skokie is a very diverse community, there is a very large Jewish population. Most people take it one step further and associate Skokie with the more traditional Jewish Community due to the myth that most of the reform Jews have moved to other suburbs. Within the Jewish community of Skokie, we find several kosher restaurants (including a Kosher Dunkin Donuts), a few kosher grocery stores, delis and bakeries, a Jewel (large chain grocery store) with its own kosher section, a large Jewish store (Hamakor) where we can find everything “Jewish” from books to Talitot (Jewish prayer shawls), toys, and jewelry, 5 or 6 traditional /orthodox synagogues, 3 reform congregations, 3 conservative synagogues, several day schools ranging from preschool-high school, large chapters of NFTY,USY,NCSY, BBYO, and a large and vibrant JCC (Jewish Community Center).

While all the movements of Judaism in Skokie benefit from the stores, JCC, and restaurants we are often divided outside of those venues. As a reform Jew I often feel excluded when I eat or shop in the kosher restaurants or stores because I don’t look like some of the other customers… I often get weird looks when I, a reform Jew, have concerns about Kashrut especially when I am with my friends who clearly are identify with a more the more traditional and orthodox movements.

In high school I worked for an Orthodox Jewish family as the babysitter for their children, I often would get looks or glares when I would bring the children to their synagogue on a Saturday morning after the adults are done praying.. Even though I would be dressed appropriately and I didn’t look like them, they could tell that I was not a member of their community. It would hurt me whenever I would take the children to eat at a kosher restaurant or when we would walk to the kosher bakery on a Friday morning to get Challah for Shabbat. When we would walk outside of the Aroov on a Saturday because the children wanted to go for a walk and I thought it would be nice to walk through the park that sits right outside of the Aroov.. The men and especially the women of their congregation would give me terrible looks, especially when one of the friends of the children that I was watching would want to come on our walk and their parents would ask me where we were going to go and I would say the park they wouldn’t let their children go with..

One incident showed me what the more traditional movements think about the reform community in Skokie. I was eating lunch with a friend of mine in one of the many kosher restaurants and after we were done eating I insisted that we say the Birkat Hamazon (the after meal prayer) and a friend of hers saw us and asked if he could join us for the prayer and we said of course.. after we were done he asked me if I was from out of town because he had never seen me at their congregation or at his school before and I told him that I lived in Skokie and that I went to the public high school and then he asked what synagogue I belonged to and I told him that I belonged to one of the reform congregations, after I said that he immediately got up and asked my friend what she was doing with a reform Jew in a kosher restaurant and more importantly why would she want to pray with me… her response was that I knew more of the prayers and spoke better Hebrew than she did and that I kept kosher and was just as religious as they were..

That incident truly showed me how divided our community.. The religious kids often more than not don’t really mix outside of their schools and synagogues, none of them attend the public schools unless they are of extreme special needs, they don’t attend the public summer camps, really they don’t mix with other kinds of kids. The friend that I ate with during that incident told me that I was her only friend that was not of the orthodox Jewish movement.

The division is also prevalent within The Niles Township Interfaith Clergy Forum. This group of clergy is made up of priests, rabbis and ministers of all the different faiths and congregations in my area. Of the Jewish population there are only two traditional/orthodox Jewish representatives from two of the congregations in comparison to the representation from all of the reform congregations.

It really hurts our community that is so multicultural to not have these very important and interesting members of our community participate.

Why does it matter what movement of Judaism one person wishes to affiliate with? More importantly, why do those members of the more religious movements feel the need to keep their kids separate from the other Jewish kids?

New Siddur for the Reform Movement

Before I talk about my opinions about the new prayer book Mishkan T’filah let me give you the background on this Siddur…

In 1994 two rabbis of the Reform Movement received a grant to find out about the feelings of reform worshippers… the results of the majority that were surveyed was that the movement felt a need for a new prayer book, one that would include more translations and transliterations of the Hebrew but also one that would include some feminist views. The main purpose of the prayer book is that “It would be important for the editor(s) to focus less on personal style and instead be able to respond to the diversity of the Movement’s expectations. Those expectations? A prayer book that would help us re-engage our Jews in meaningful worship. How? Offering a balance of creativity and beauty, theology and purpose.” (http://urj.org/mishkan/faq/ )

The Reform movement has been working on the Siddur for almost 14 years and it is just now coming into a printable version that congregations can purchase.

I first saw a version of the prayer book in 2004, the rabbi of my congregation introduced the Saturday morning Shabbat Minyan to a soft copy with many errors in it and gave us a disclaimer that it was a work in progress and this was just the Shabbat section of the book. I opened it up to see that every prayer has a two page spread…

I didn’t like it, the book itself has too many page turns for my taste, for every prayer we see the Hebrew and its transliteration, a translation of the prayer, two alternative English readings for the prayer, and commentary on the bottom that discusses different things about the prayer on the page. I felt like instead of praying from a Siddur, I was praying from a text book. Despite all the things I don’t like about the new Siddur I do like that there are more Hebrew options in it much like earlier prayer books of the reform movement an unlike the grey Gates of Prayer that many reform congregations have used in the past years. It made me really excited to see that the entire T’fliah was in every service. I liked that I could choose as much Hebrew or as little as I wanted and if I wanted to pray solely in Hebrew I would still feel fulfilled.

The next version of the Siddur that I saw was in 2006, it was a much thicker copy; it included all weekday and Shabbat services. Since they were introducing it at OSRUI- one of the reform Jewish overnight camp- I was able to see the service in a much different context one that was filled with music and different versions of our daily prayers. At first I was very unhappy with it still; there were still too many page turns. However, as the summer continued and I became more accustomed to it, I learned which pages I liked and which alternatives I found meaning in. At the end of the summer I really found that I had come to really enjoy praying out of this new Siddur and that when the final copy was in place, and the last few kinks had been fixed, I would want a copy of Mishkan T’filah.

My biggest concern with the Siddur is no longer about the page turns but rather what it says about where Reform Judaism is going… in this Siddur there are excerpts from all of the movements, poetry from many authors, and prayers that have not been included in a reform Siddur for many years.. This makes me think… I respect the decisions about the Hebrew as I prefer more Hebrew than English when I prayer, I like it that for those who don’t read or understand Hebrew they can read it in transliteration and can understand it through translation, I am confused as to why we have included readings and poetry from the other movements… this is my concern.

If you would like to read more about Mishkan T’filah go to http://urj.org/mishkan/ to find out more.

I hope this blog entry wasn’t too boring and if you have any ideas or comments I would love to hear them.. Have a great second week of classes!!