tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post3520523511177503133..comments2023-05-19T05:57:48.151-05:00Comments on Stumbling towards meaning: Jew By ChoiceStacey Zisook Robinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13723727875724665928noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-63510782433564702222012-05-16T21:49:42.234-05:002012-05-16T21:49:42.234-05:00Francene, I do not claim poetic license. I do, ho...Francene, I do not claim poetic license. I do, however, make a distinction between the "accident of birth" fact that I am a Jew, and the choices that I make to live a full and rich Jewish life. <br /><br />We all make choices. All of us. I choose to make informed ones, that make sense for me (and by extension, my son). I choose to exercise my Judaism by my actions and my understanding. Are there holes? Probably. I'm ok with that. <br /><br />I am as comfortable with spending Saturday morning in synagogue, praying and chanting Torah and studying with my holy community, as I am with driving to get there. I am as comfortable wearing a kippah and a tallit when I pray as I am with not offering sacrifices at a Temple that no longer stands, or stoning someone who turns on a light on Shabbat.<br /><br />These are things that make sense to me, are part of my Jewish life. I was born a Jew. For me, it is more of a wonder to live as a Jew--- fully, consciously, mindfully.Stacey Zisook Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13723727875724665928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-42325633558721481422012-05-09T14:32:21.201-05:002012-05-09T14:32:21.201-05:00You want to make the most of life count for you an...You want to make the most of life count for you and your boy but sounds to me your premises are shaky, because on the one hand you quote holy sources whereas on the other you ignore them. Your philosophy wobbles as a result.<br /><br />It makes no sense, for example, to say you're a Jew because you were born one, and in the same breath say because you practice it. You can claim poetic license but we're not talking poetry here.<br /><br />FranceneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-6315328854120290642012-05-07T14:38:25.403-05:002012-05-07T14:38:25.403-05:00Anonymous--- Thank you for writing. Perhaps I nee...Anonymous--- Thank you for writing. Perhaps I need to clarify. The impetus for my writing this essay sprang from my frustration with seeing so much written these days about "Jews-by-Choice." First, I believe that a Jew is a Jew-- by choice or by birth. We are taught that there is no distinction, that there are no degrees that are ascribed to a Jew by birth or by choice. As I said, a Jew is a Jew.<br /><br />Yes: I am a Jew because I was born one. However, I also believe that the quality of my Judaism is all about choice. More-- it is all about how I act and choose and live my Judaism. Perhaps I was a bit too artful in my essay, or perhaps I just assumed that everyone would follow the conversation I am having in my head. :}<br /><br />My parents-- Jews by birth-- understood their Judaism in one way, and did their best to instill a sense of people, of faith, of commitment and obligation in me, to the best of their ability, and I honor them for that (which is much easier to do at fifty than at fifteen...). It was not necessarily enough for me then, and surely not enough for me and my family now.<br /><br />I crave depth. I want a richness and involvement and connection that I missed for a long time. I demand that I live as Jewishly as I know how--- as I have learned and studied and prayed. I demand that I live my life as a prayer, that I create-- not on my own, but with others, and with God-- a holy community, a makom hakodesh. <br /><br />I do not insist that others do this. I make this space within my life, and within the life of my son, because I believe that we are, after all, she'asani b'tzelem Elohim (made in the image of God), and that we are commanded to be holy, because God is holy. <br /><br />Would I choose all this, live this life, if I were in the ghetto? I don't know. I would hope so. Is the fact that I was born to a Jewish mother relevant? I don't know how to answer that. Yes-- it made me a Jew, halachically. I still believe though, that I have a choice, every day, to live as Jewishly as I know how, and this is what I strive to do. It may not be everyone's particular brand of Judaism; so be it. But it is richer and more passionate and more active and more enveloping because I choose it, because I live it.Stacey Zisook Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13723727875724665928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-90947247556469444432012-05-06T21:35:00.645-05:002012-05-06T21:35:00.645-05:00It's easy to choose to be Jewish when the envi...It's easy to choose to be Jewish when the environment around you is safe. Would you be Jewish in a ghetto? <br /><br />And more importantly, Stacey, if choice is how you determine your religion, as opposed to say mother's religion, then why tell us your parents were Jewish. Why is that relevant?<br /><br />Where it becomes relevant, however, you reveal to us. If parents to not enjoy their Jewishness, in that they do not observe the rituals and demands in meaningful devotion, the child suffers because the Jewish education thereby falters and fades.<br /><br />Take your choosing for example. It could well be that in a ghetto too you would enjoy being Jewish, if your parents forsook golf on Saturdays and went to pray instead, for the little sacrifice that they'd had made doing that may have been amplified in you. That way, if one day you feel down, a day when Scheherazade may well be killed, you would still feel Jewish even if you made no conscious choice of it.<br /><br />FranceneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-6602643560948322982012-04-21T08:56:46.513-05:002012-04-21T08:56:46.513-05:00Very, very pleasant reading and I'm not Jew :)...Very, very pleasant reading and I'm not Jew :)). Too many lines to quote...and you have a sensitive tooth there, you can't hide it. Unlike Benjamin above I won't ask for permission to share this: is soo good I'll share it without permission hahahahha.georgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-67952849209493348162012-04-20T16:19:45.572-05:002012-04-20T16:19:45.572-05:00Stacy,
I'd love permission to share this pos...Stacy, <br /><br />I'd love permission to share this post on InterfaithFamily.com. Please be in touch! benjaminm@interfaithfamily.comBenjaminhttp://www.interfaithfamily.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4253349427823700546.post-69626827893441094082012-04-18T18:37:49.044-05:002012-04-18T18:37:49.044-05:00Stacy, I met you at a BBG reunion hosted by Julie ...Stacy, I met you at a BBG reunion hosted by Julie Achler and have been moved by many of your postings on Facebook. I just read your blog, as I am searching to connect and to feel what you feel in your faith. I enjoyed your blog and appreciate your share. Your writing is fun, easy and touching.<br />Please keep on sharing. SAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com