I was very intrigued by the first reading titled "Inauthentic Jew". It was surprising to hear this perceptive from a non-Jew that is married to a Jew living in a Jewish culture. Last semester I did some research on what is "Jewishness", and concluded it was too fluid of a term to define because it means something different to each person. I liked how he breaks down Jewishness into four separate parts; religion, nationality, culture and race. I can concede in agreement these are the four main pillars one can interpret how the Jewish religion related to them. Although culture is very broad and covers much from Jewish cooking to Jerry Seinfeld, I would say there is one more category for Jewishness, and will appropriately call this part self interpretation.
I can also relate to Cheng's discussion of "Who is Jewish" . In high school, I was involved with a Jewish leadership organization B'nai Brith Youth Organization. I was regional President, and when discussing increasing membership, there was a topic among the executive board and director of who should be allowed to join the organization. We created a policy that anyone could join even if the person wasn't a practicing Jew, but if their parents were Jewish, or other members of their family were Jewish, or even they just wanted to learn more about Judaism.
I was slightly surprised visiting www.reformjudaim.org, in that besides giving information about what is Reform Judaism, it doesn’t have much information besides that. I did appreciate how it gave a link for the Jewish Calendar though, very convenient. The website is informal that it provides many links for Reform Judaism for more information and member organizations.
No comments:
Post a Comment