A few classes ago, we were talking about Hanukkah and its meaning to the Jewish religion. We talked about how it really was not one of the more important holidays but rather that it got so big so that little Jewish kids would not feel left out during Christmas. I remember my first Hanukkah. I was with my dad and he had gotten me a box of pencils. I was 4, and it was probably one of the best presents I ever got, as silly as that is.

For a very long time, I had no idea what the other Jewish holidays were. I knew about Hanukkah and Yum Kippur, but that was about it. I felt like such a fool when one of my friends told me that she was going home for Rosh Hashanah and I asked her, “What’s that?” After that, I began asking my Jewish friends about their experience as practicing Jews and what Judaism meant to them (much like the fieldwork projects we did in this class, but less formal). After my dad died, the only personal connection I had to Judaism was an annual Hanukkah dinner with some friends of my mom. And for a very long time, I was unaware that there was anything else to it. I was woefully ignorant. Ironically, despite my ignorance, I felt more connected to Judaism when having just that one dinner a year than I do now with all of the knowledge I have acquired through my studies. 

Our class the other day made me remember what I thought of Judaism compared to Judaism now. Because of this class, discussions with friends, and other classes, I have learned so much about the religion itself, its history, and its significance to the lives of Jews everywhere, and my connection to it. Though my connection to Judaism still resides in the memory of my dad, I have a better idea of what it could have meant to him. If nothing else, having the knowledge of the history of my heritage gives me more of a base and a frame for my opinions and beliefs, regardless of whether they agree with those of the Jewish faith.

Again, along the lines of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I watched a documentary called Promises a few days ago. This film was incredible for multiple reasons, but mainly because it looked at both sides of the story. Promises focused on the lives of 7 Palestinian and Israeli children living in and around Jerusalem. One of the kids in this film, Moishe, really struck me. He is an orthodox Jew living in the Beit-El settlement in the West Bank. What struck me about him was his pure, unwavering hatred of the Arabs. During his interview, he spent a solid 5 minutes looking through the Torah to find exactly where it said that God gave the land of Israel to Abraham. “[Beit-El is] a place where people who fight with Arabs live. We fight because this land is ours. If I could make my own future, all the Arabs would fly away – the Jews would stay and the Temple would be rebuilt.” Though I can understand why he would feel that his people are deserving of the land, it saddens me that he is not willing to look beyond the Torah and understand from another perspective. There were also two Israeli boys named Daniel and Yarko who were far less determined in their hatred of the Arabs. When the director took them to the Temple wall, Yarko said “I would rather be in an Arab village than here with all these religious people.” I was really struck by this comment because there are not many cases where you will hear an Israeli boy say something like that; that he would rather be with the “enemy” than with people of his own faith. To me, this says that he feels more of a connection with a group of people with whom he has spent no time, than to the ones that are supposedly “like him”. His statement was not about his connection to the Arabs, it was the opposite. It was about his severe lack of connection toward religious Jews. I found this very interesting. I was also struck by the significant difference between Moishe and Yarko. They are both Israeli, they are both Jewish, but the similarities end there. Moishe’s life is definied by his belief in the Torah where as the Torah is a small part of Yarko’s life. I would be interested to hear a conversation had between these two boys. Yarko’s minimal beliefs in the Torah while maintaining his Jewish identity also make me feel better about my own minimal beliefs. As I’ve said before, I do not have much of a foundation but I still have the ideals and the blood which holds a personal connection to Judaism, even if I am not really considered Jewish.

Yesterday in class we were talking about the Holocaust and it reminded me of an incident that happened when I was at Seeds of Peace in 2007. This day was the first day there that I cried. At Seeds, there is an hour and a half designated to dialogue sessions between the Palestinians and the Israelis where they are able to share their stories with the “enemy”. I remember walking into the dining hall for lunch where my friends Maor and Sapir, both Israeli, were waiting for me at our table. Maor pulled me aside and asked if I had heard what happened in one of the dialogue sessions that day, I told him I hadn’t. “Someone drew the swastika on the floor of one of the dialogue huts in permanent marker and said it was the best thing that had ever happened,” he said. Hearing that someone believed that the Holocaust was the best thing to happen in history was not only shocking, but rather painful. I later broke down and cried to my bunk counselor because that comment made me feel as though that Palestinian child was spitting on my father’s grave. After that comment, the Jews banded together and only talked to other Jews. Despite the forced integrated seating, the tables in the dining hall divided into Arabs and Jews, and it remained this way for a few days. As it turned out, the situation was that one of the discussion leaders drew the swastika on a piece of paper, passed it around the circle and asked each person what was the first thing that came to mind. However, one of the Palestinian kids stated that he believed that it was the best thing that had ever happened.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about the Holocaust and she pointed out to me that we really only learn about the Holocaust from the Jewish perspective and that often we forget that it also happened to 5 million people who weren’t Jewish…gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally and physically disabled were all persecuted as well. It seems that the Jews are trying to claim it as their own personal experience when it in a way happened to everyone. In class, we talked about how there are slogans about the holocaust like “never again”, and as we pointed out in class, “never again” to whom? “Never again” to the Jews? I’ve been studying the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for the last few years and Gaza and the West Bank look a lot like the concentration camps…now obviously there are not mass genocides or people being forced to work and being starved to death. However, Israel has restricted 1.2 million Palestinians to the Gaza Strip which is 28 miles long by 4 miles wide. They live in refugee camps, and are not permitted to leave, and then the Israeli government wonders why the intifada’s happen…I’m not trying to be anti-Semitic, it just seems hypocritical.

The first time I really learned about Lilith was in a class I took last year called Love Sex and the Hebrew Texts, during which we discussed many of the biblical Jewish tales. The story of Lilith was one of those tales. Lilith is a significant figure within the Judaic, Islamic and Christian religions. She was Adam’s first wife. She and Adam were created from the clay of the earth at the same time and because of this Lilith felt that she was equal to Adam. Adam disagreed. He felt that despite the fact that they were created at the same time, he was superior to her. The problem between them began when Lilith wanted to be on top during intercourse. Adam refused; he felt that because he was superior to her, he should lie on top. Because of Adam’s refusal, Lilith left. Lilith’s continued refusal to return to Adam, she was labeled as a demon.

The portrayal of Lilith depends entirely upon the context in which one learns about her. Over time, Lilith has been portrayed as a demon, the first feminist, a “bitch”, or a baby killer. After Eve was created, Lilith’s sole demonic purpose was to kill newborn babies. I have an issue with the fact that solely because Lilith didn’t want to deal with Adam’s crap (essentially) she was turned into something that symbolized a threat to human society and future generations all together. Women today are constantly threatened by strong, confident, and self-sufficient women like Lilith. Women continually feel like they need to protect and defend what’s theirs because of this fear. By portraying Lilith as demonic, we only further the notion that women who demand equality are only trying to abate the way our society works.

This story makes it clear that the power struggle between men and women dates back to the biblical times. The patriarchal systems within Christianity, Judaism and Islam consistently give men the upper hand in this power struggle and seem to frequently ostracize women who fight for equality. Will this ever change? And if it ultimately will, the question then becomes when? When will these three religions look back to the bible and start pushing for equality?

In class last week, we discussed Jewish culture, foods, and music, and what makes something Jewish. Having grown up non-Jewish and with a very limited idea about what is actually Jewish, I had the stereotypical idea of what made something Jewish. In my mind, bagels were (somewhat) Jewish, Latkes were definitely Jewish, and Yamakas were Jewish, but much outside of that, I was clueless.

The real question isn’t what objects, are Jewish, but rather what determines their “Jewishness”? Is it the creator of the object that makes it Jewish? Is it who owns it? Is it the object’s purpose? Along those lines, what determines whether or not a food is Jewish? When I think of Jewish foods, I think of latkes, bagels, challah, gefilte fish, and matzah ball soup, which are all delicious, but who determined they were Jewish? I realized during class that bagels actually aren’t Jewish at all. Bagels are not known in all parts of the world, yet somehow wound up with a Jewish connotation. How did that happen? When thinking about Jewish music, I think of a voice that sings in an entirely different style from that of American and European singers. It has a more earthy and religious feel to it than other types of music. Every thing that is Jewish has a very distinct flavor. Jewish objects, such as the amulets are all completely unique. Jewish foods have distinct tastes, and traditional Jewish music has an interesting and intricate melodies.

Judaism is a unique religion in and of itself. As I discussed in my previous blog, Judaism does not require a belief in God. It solely requires that one follow Jewish practices. There is not one other religion which does not mandate the belief in God. In Islam and Christianity, one has to believe in God as well as celebrate certain holidays during the year (Christmas and Ramadan) and pray during certain times in the day or go to church. Judaism also appears to be the most accepting of religions in terms of differences among individuals. These aspects of Judaism always intrigued me and drew me in to learn more.

For a long time, I considered myself more “Jewish” than any other religion. My dad was jewish and my mom does not have a religion at all. I wanted to feel closer to my dad, so when someone asked me, “what religion are you?” I’d say that I didn’t really have one, but that I mostly associated with Judaism. Ethnography of the Jewish Religion really made me realize how not Jewish I actually am. I had always wanted a religion and because of my dad, thought Judaism was a good choice. But I’ve since realized that you can’t just wake up and say to yourself, “I think I’ll be Jewish today”. It doesn’t work like that. There is a whole system of beliefs and practices and rituals that one must adhere to.

Though Judaism does not demand a belief in God, it does require that certain practices be performed. Jewish male children have to be circumcised, children need to become bar and bat mitzvah, and Yum Kipur, Hanukkah, and Rosh Hashanah need to be celebrated. Outside of celebrating Hanukkah with some family friends every year, I have participated in none of the above. My dad wanted me to go to Hebrew school when I was a little girl, but my mom would not let me. Sometimes I wish she had because then I would have a connection to something greater than myself and have faith that someone will help me when I no longer have faith in myself. Some people don’t believe in such a thing as a good or a bad Jew, and some believe that in order to be a good Jew, one has to adhere to the religious mandates.

This all goes back to the idea of Jewish identity. Is it one’s belief in God that makes them Jewish? Is it how one practices the religion? Is it based on how one celebrates the holidays or whether that person becomes bar or bat mitzvah? Or, does it depend entirely on the individual?