Throughout the semester this class has dealt with issues surrounding Jewish Identity and boundaries, issues that have resonated with me. These issues have resonated with me because when I entered college I was determined to be active in Hillel and I attempted to recreate the connection I felt with my Jewish community at home with my new Jewish Dickinson community. However, I soon realized that it would be impossible for me to connect with my Jewish Identity in the same way I did at home, in high school, and in college at Dickinson.

This duality in my Jewish Identity isn’t something unique to my experience at Dickinson, I realized. It is important to note that it is not that there are places where I identify with my Judaism and places that I do not, it is just that it definitely is connected to who I am with. I bring this up because the people you are with definitely affect the way you feel. In high school, being a member of a conservative youth group (USY), most of my good friends that I made during high school were also members of USY. So I have come to the realization that because I was Jewish, I made friends with them and although it is not necessarily the only thing that we have in common it is definitely a binding factor. It was our common background that allowed us to meet one another, not for any other reason.

Now in college I am a member of the Hillel on campus, technically, but I am not extremely involved. At Dickinson I have made many more non-Jewish friends; and in juxtaposition to my Jewish friends from home my Jewish Dickinson friends are just friends that happen to be Jewish. Now I guess my connection between my friendships and this class would have to be that I have realized the existence of boundaries within the communities I am apart of. I can also say with certainty that I have realized more about my own personal Jewish identity after learning about why/how people form their identities.

For my last blog post I couldn’t really decide on one specific topic, so like some of my other classmates I want to sum everything up, pick out the aspects of the course that made my mind do a 180 degree turn.  I would like to end the post with a few open ended questions.

The part of the course that first really changed my original perception of what it meant to be Jewish was when we talked about bar and bat mitzvah.   This raises that main issue of an American Jew.  We have studied Jews from different parts of the world e.g. Argentina Morocco.  To have this one sided American view of what it means to be Jewish is limiting, I think.  I thought that a person was Jewish if they had a bar or bat mitzvah. But we learned that this isn’t necessarily the case.  Actually the meaning of the word just seeks to tell us that someone has become of age, and not the American image of a huge party with lots of singing, dancing and putting someone on a chair.  So now when I hear someone talk about bar and bat mitzvah I pass along my knowledge of the word so they can have a better understanding.  The Diaspora also has changed my perception.  At first I thought about a Jewish person on a very narrow minded road.  I guess it has just made me realize how clueless I actually was.  I couldn’t picture a Jew in Yemen or Morocco.  I guess the first day of class when we watched that video I was really confused.  I was so confused it made me scared that I had no idea what was going on.  How could this person be Jewish if they prayed like that?  But it seemed the rest of the class had also not been exposed to this type of Judaism and this type of Jewish culture.  As the semester moved on we kept seeing different types of Jewish culture.  It was fascinating to see such diversity packed into one culture, “Jewish.”  Jewish people taking on other cultures but at the same time having the “great tradition.”  The terms like Judaizing, great and little tradition were also new to me.  At first I was confused with these concepts, but now they make perfect sense because I see this larger picture of what it means to be Jewish.  Well I like to think I see what it means; I guess I have an idea.  Class made me want to go back to my Mckinney suite while everyone was playing video games and interrupt and talk about perception of the Jewish culture.  It made for excellent long run conversations about religion and what does it mean for a person to be Jewish.  As I said in my first blog and was pointed out by Professor Staub there really should be more awareness of the culture and religion on campus.

Since I have so much new and fresh information on Jewish culture and Jewish experience (the title of our course) it leads me to a few questions.  Since there is a Diaspora and there are different types (sects…? not sure of the correct term) of Judaism Why do they clash as they have been in recent events at the Western Wall?  I suppose every religion and culture will have different little tradition views which lead to argument… In my observation of my dad I would really like to know how he could stop practicing Judaism?  Maybe his answer is simple, he has never stopped practicing.  So then I am left with what makes a person Jewish forever?

Today at work while talking to a friend about finals, I mentioned that I have two papers due next week, both relatively about Judaism but for two different classes. He then asks me in a surprised tone, why I am so obsessed with Judaism. I guess as a Jewish person himself, with no religious ties at all, he would be curious as to why, I, whose religious beliefs lean toward Christianity, would take so many classes dedicated to this religion. But really, I couldn’t answer his question right away.  I guess in a way just coming to Dickinson fed my interest. Generally I had always been fascinated by religion. But in high school, when I officially decided that I could no longer call myself an atheist and began exploring Christianity (not Catholicism as I had been raised with) I realized that the pastors of the many churches I visited could not answer all questions. Many of which were inherently tied to Judaism through the Old Testament. But coming to Dickinson and becoming very good friends with Jewish people probably sparked my interest as well.  Now, I also feel that it is necessary to understand Judaism before understanding Christianity. Which leads me to this great quote by Stuart E. Rosenberg from the book  “The Christian Problem”, he writes ” I profoundly believe that Christians can meet Jews with a balanced spiritual attitude by first recognizing and analyzing how their majority faith should deal with so intimately-related a minority faith and culture as Judaism.” While he goes on to say many other things that I don’t necessarily agree with, I do think that Christians need to acknowledge that there are innate connections between Judaism and Christianity, that need attention if one is understand their Christianity, while at the same time emphasizing the fact that Judaism is its own distinct religion in faith and practice. I guess it’s a complicated relationship.

Last year, I went to a college in North Carolina, where Jews were incredibly scarce.  I met one girl who was not especially religious, but went to a Catholic school and identified herself as Catholic.  It wasn’t until I became friends with her that I found out her entire father’s side of the family is Jewish.  She does not associate herself with Judaism whatsoever, and in fact hides this fact from almost everyone she meets, because in her high school she was always taunted for being Jewish.  I didn’t think much of this until she mentioned to me one day an anti-Semitic comment that a student at my college had made earlier.  She dismissed it as not a big deal, and said that she had just laughed it off.

I was horrified by this not just because of the hatred displayed by the student who made the comment, but because I realized the particular danger in this situation.   Those who hide their identity (or a part of their identity, anyway) like this are endangering their own psychological stability.  Though it seems most tolerable to avoid direct torture by others in hiding the offending part of one’s identity, in fact it is slowly chipping away at a part of them that will always be there – even if she herself does not identify herself as Jewish, her father will always be Jewish, she has had experiences that non-Jews will never have, and, in my friend’s case, she is actually named after her paternal grandfather’s favorite part of services.  Literally imbedded in her name, in her family, in her life, is Judaism, so every time she laughs off an anti-Semitic comment, she can’t help but internalize it in some way.  Perhaps this feeling of guilt and shame could eventually turn into resentment, and she could become anti-Semitic herself.

Either way, if she is working so hard to dissociate herself with anything Jewish, she will never stand up for what, I know as a friend, she really believes.  By laughing off comments such as this, she may think she is simply protecting herself, but in reality, she is putting the rest of the people with whom she shares a common heritage at risk.

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.

When we were shown the painting of the elderly Orthodox men as a form of Judaica I have to admit I laughed. Out of all the items that we went over that day I found this piece to be the most odd. Who would have this is in their household?  That question was answered for me over our recent Thanksgiving break.  I visited my two best friends who are brothers, in their home at the end of their shabbos meal. This is a familiar scene to me, but I feel that our discussion on Judaica caused me to look at this house that I have been in countless times with a new set of eyes. When I stood up from my armchair in their living room I was faced with a sketch of an elderly Jewish man and a Torah scroll swept across the page in an artistic manner. Once again, I laughed. I turned to my friend, Micah, and said, “You know, I just saw something like this in a class and asked myself who owns something like that? Now I know.” He laughed and responded, “Yea we have all sorts of stuff like that around here.” Before he could even finish this sentence I spotted another piece of Jewish artwork on the other wall, this one looked like paper cut outs of a woman and children. Next to this painting, a havdalah set and several volumes of the Talmud rested on a shelf. I then looked into the dining room that I had sat in so many times before, and truly saw it for the first time. I knew that it had been painted to look like the Kotel (The Western Wall); in fact, my Mom and I were some of the first to see this room that their mother was so excited to show off. It was not until I took this course though that I could see what Pilar was so excited about, what this house said about her and her family.

Pilar, like many others I know who convert to Judaism, has taken on the religion with her whole heart and her home is a reflection of this.  When I looked around the rooms I was privately identifying objects that were discussed in Heilman’s article, but now I think that it might be interesting to think about the meaning of these objects in the context of his article, and what I know about this family. The objects that I encountered in the two rooms alone encompass three of Heilman’s categories. The prayer books and Talmud volumes are Klay Kodish, the havdalah set and Sabbath candle sticks are Tashmishey Mitzva, and the paintings are likely R’shoot. I feel that the presence of the objects in the first two categories represent a more traditional Conservative home. The objects help to make religious ritual possible. However, I think that the artwork and Kotel themed dining room are saying something entirely separate. These items are related to the idea of Jewish identity that we discussed in class. Elderly orthodox men have no religious significance in this context, and I would venture to say that many Jews could find more visually appealing artwork. It seems that these paintings serve as markers, much like the mezuzah, that this was a Jewish home.  In class, we discussed these “markers” as more commonly used in less religious households, because the religious have the items they need to identify themselves as Jewish. What about this family’s house though? Many of the objects they possessed were more common among the Orthodox than the Conservative, so why are the paintings needed? I am not sure that I have an answer to this. I think that the incorporation of many types of Judaica is related to Pilar’s conversion. It is important for Pilar to be religiously Jewish, but it is likely just as important that others see her home as a Jewish home, that they see her as a Jew. The Kotel themed dining room speaks to another theme in Judaica that we discussed, a connection to Israel. I am sure that this family has collected many items from Israel over their visits, but even a hundred objects, do not speak as loudly as recreating a part of Israel in your dining room.

Until recently, I have not thought of Judaica as more than the mezuzot and dreidels lined up in my synagogue’s gift shop.  The more I think about it though; objects are essential to Jewish practice and Jewish identity. Much like the secular world, the Jewish world uses different tools and clothing to perform jobs and express individuality.  I look forward to using this new awareness to learn and understand more about Jewish identity and experience as I encounter different Jews and different Jewish homes.

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.

In today’s class, while discussing the “myth” of the Holocaust, many students told stories of their experiences visiting concentration camps in Europe. Between the members of the class, there were many different types of concentration camps represented, and we learned about the different ways that the concentration camps presented themselves. One student said, “I took a pilgrimage to Eastern Europe and then to Israel, visiting different concentration camps.” The word pilgrimage made me think about the role of the Holocaust and the notion of memorializing concentration camps. According to the New Oxford English Dictionary, a pilgrimage is, “A journey to a place associated with someone or something well known or respected.”

If you interpret the definition as traveling to a well-known place, then trips to concentration camps are pilgrimages, since they are well known. However, respected is not a word I would uses to describe a concentration camp. But since people do travel to the camps, there must be respect for them. Maybe respect for the death and tragedy that occurred there? So, pilgrimage seems to be the right verb to describe a trip to a concentration camp, but then I thought, why do people take these pilgrimages to concentration camps? Why have we turned these places of destruction into memorials?

In my opinion, by turning concentration camps into memorials, we have made time and life freeze. People get upset when people want to develop new institutions on the land of concentration camps. Instead of moving forward and sending the message that the Holocaust is over and it is time for life in Europe to proceed forward, the camps are constant reminders of the tragedies that took place eighty years ago. Some argue that we need to maintain the concentration camps, to remember, to never forget, and to never let the Holocaust happen again. But we also want to move forward. There needs to be a balance between remembering and moving on.

Today we ended class by stating that whole generations of Jews have based their Jewish identities on the Holocaust, but what happens when people do not feel that same connection to the Holocaust? When people say enough is enough, it was terrible, but the Jews are strong, look at Israel and America? I think it is time to move forward. The Holocaust needs to be remembered, however it the symbols of the death and destruction do not need to memorialized to the extent that they are. People do not need to be making pilgrimages to concentration camps to form their Jewish identities; they need to focus on the future to form their identities. A generation of Jews have created identities on destruction and it is time to form identities on hope for a brighter future.

I’ve been thinking about boundaries a lot lately. Specifically how people define themselves by using labels while simultaneously creating boundaries within their own communities. There are many examples of this, such as Christians segregating themselves as Catholics, Methodists, and Baptists, and Jews as Orthodox, secular, Conservative, etc. Lately I’ve understood these labels as not for the purpose of explaining oneself for the outsider by rather for the insider. In other words, labeling yourself as a specific type of Jew allows others in the Jewish community to understand you in relation to their own identity. While I can understand the reasoning behind the labeling, I feel that for the most part it causes conflicts. In my first post I write that one thing that I find most interesting about Judaism is its fluidity though I’ve come to realize that Jewish identity is a lot more complicated and less “smooth” than my last description implies. One conflict that I am most curious about is the relationship between Messianic Judaism and the rest of the Jewish community.

Messianic Judaism is essentially another label that defines a Jew who religiously identifies as Christian. There exist many other Jews within the spectrum that do not necessarily share religious Jewish beliefs by identifying themselves according to another religion or even as completely secular. However the acceptance and attitude that Messianic Jews experience within the Jewish community is different to when pertaining to other Jews in the spectrum. In fact Messianic Judaism’s legitimacy was questioned by Israel and thus those using this label do not receive automatic citizenship. I believe that there are many underlying reasons of why Messianic Jews conflict so much with the Jewish community as a whole, one of which may be the turbulent historical relationship between Christianity and Judaism. However, conflict always arises when there is a search for legitimacy, a search for the ultimate truth. As impossible as it may seem, perhaps the eradication of these labels which over simplify Jewish identity within the Jewish community may soften the situation. Though, of course, differences and dichotomies within Judaism will not completely disappear along with those labels.

While I’m not Jewish, I’ve been wondering a lot about what makes someone “truly” Jewish.  The interviews seem to suggest that a large population of Jews who consider themselves or were raised Reform view themselves as secular.  This does not fit well into my definition of who is Jewish, which was “someone who practiced Judaism”.

It seems to me as if there are more secular Jews today than before in history.  If there have always been secular Jews, how is it that Judaism is still alive today?  I hear the argument that there have always been secular Jews, but if the Jewish population has always been small to begin with, I don’t understand how it is still around today?  Are there more secular Jews today than ever?  I’m not sure.  But IF so, will secular Jews ever “fade” or “mix” into American society like other ethnic groups?  Other ethnic groups, when they came over to the states, came and settled into areas inhabited by their own.  Eventually, over time, they have branched out, and by the 4^th generation many have assimilated fully into American culture.

I am not arguing that Jews have not assimilated into American society, because in every case I’ve been exposed to, they have.  Rather, I’m arguing that because Jews have religion to bind their ethnic group together, there has always been pressure to stay within the community, and it has been the main force of keeping it together.