Friday, 19 August 2016

Confessions of a Jewish Skeptic,
Sarahbeth Caplin, Createspace, 2016, page 64-65

As what she might describe herself - a Christian who was born and brought up Jewish - Sarahbeth Caplin recognises the importance and pull of culture:

I think Jewish culture says more about me than Christian culture ever dud. I still go to church with my husband, but I also started going to Shabbat services at the Jewish Student Center on campus, because I missed it; I missed having Jewish friends. And some part of me hopes that maybe going there will clarify some things for me, but I'm not sure what, exactly.

She then chews gently over what else she was supposed to do as one of seven Jewish children in a class of over one hundred at school, and continues:

So hoe are Jew supposed to maintain a Jewish identity in a heavily Christianised culture? I'm probably the last person to answer that question, but my understanding of a "Jewish identity" is that it is an elastic one. There are so many diverse ways to nurture it and for me, I celebrate it in two ways: I continue reading my Jewish books and I invest in friendship with other Jews.

And here comes the clincher:

Indeed, I have learned the difference between being Jewish and practising Judaism. You'd think they would be the same, but they're not.