Recently I was asked the question “Why are you Jewish?”
My initial response was “Because I was born that way.”
It seemed a bit of an odd question and so I asked what he meant, which led into an interesting discussion.
The outcome for me was quite intriguing as it was a question I’d never really asked myself properly.
Try it for yourself: if you hold strong beliefs, whether they are cultural, religious or anything else – ask yourself “why am I …?” (substitute Catholic, Australian, English, Hindu, whatever it is that you identify yourself as).
Even if you don’t hold particularly strong beliefs you’ll probably identify yourself as something.
Very few people, when asked “what are you?” would respond with “a member of the human race”.
We’d tend to reply with “I’m Australian/South African/English/Jewish/Christian…..”
So, the answer “I was born that way” (in any of these cases) becomes the opening to an interesting exploration.
Some time ago Dr Natasha Andreadis posted this photo on her DocAndreadis facebook page. The caption with it was along the lines of “No matter what we believe, we all started looking like this.”
When you understand that’s what you started out as, how did you get to where you are now and WHY are you who you are?
As I said, for me the original question was “Why are you Jewish?”
So here’s my answer, or the start anyway…
From the time of Abraham (born in the Jewish year 1948 or circa 1800 BCE – Before the Common Era) people have maintained a continuous line of being Jewish.
From the biblical period, where they lived in their own land (Israel), through centuries of persecution under various regimes the Jewish people have survived all the world’s empires.
As a group they have endured, survived and thrived.
But what about individually?
When looking at history we often lose the personal perspective.
An obvious example is the history of the 20th century:
6 million Jews murdered by the Nazis (not to mention all the others who were targeted).
According to the Black Book of Communism by Martin Malia, the death toll of non-combatants under various Communist regimes was between 85-100 million people.
When we talk about numbers like this the concept of the individual almost becomes meaningless.
What was one person out of 100 million?
And yet, it’s exactly that, understanding that this was 100 million individual people who loved and hated and got angry and had families and presumably were loved as well, is exactly how we need to relate to these numbers.
And so for me, being Jewish means that there is a continuous line going back to the beginning of Judaism, of people who, despite all the challenges maintained their Jewish connection.
For thousands of years people have been observing and upholding Jewish ideals, practices and beliefs so that in 1952 (CE) I could be born Jewish.
The power of this became significant to me when I had children.
Until that time I was the end of the line and so I tended not to give a great deal of thought to my origins.
However, when I had children I became aware that, the fact that I was Jewish meant that for thousands of years my ancestors had maintained their Jewishness.
I then had a choice to be the end of that process, which felt like I was saying to my predecessors, “All that effort and love you put into raising Jewish children and maintaining the traditions, was a waste of time because I’m happy to discard it.”
OR
I could continue the process.
I could be a link in a chain which stretched back over millenia, and I could pass on, to the best of my ability, that tradition to my children in the hope that they would see value in it and continue.
Last weekend I was at the brit (ritual circumcision) of my latest grandson.
My children are more connected to their Jewish traditions that I had been and they’re raising a new generation with a deeper understanding and awareness than I had or was able to provide directly.
Of course, their mother had an amazing amount to do with that.
I’m incredibly proud of my children in this.
They’ve taken hold of the baton and run faster and further with it than I had ever hoped.
I now know that I’m a link in the chain and not the end of it.
For me, it’s about my Jewishness.
What is it for you?
Why are you….?