I grew up as the first-born son of a deeply religious father. His family owned a kosher butcher shop in Berlin. My mother and her family were assimilated until Hitler reminded her and them that they were Jewish. Both parents managed to get out of Germany – late; my dad in 1937 and my mom in 1939 after Kristaalnacht. And they embraced Judaism as a foundational element of embracing each other.
You have done a great job explaining the journey of your three (now four) generation family of American Jews, bringing us up to date on where the journey presently stands for you. There is so much to admire (or even envy) about the way the Jewish tribe has retained its identity through simple but powerful traditions, from one week to the next, one year to the next, one generation to the next, one millenia to the next. But there you are, not interested in the identify a "chosen people", not having interest in a personal God, furious at the political leadership in Israel, and yet still practicing the tradition. My sister-in-law, who grew up on Kibbutz Barkai (near Haifa), and her family (still on the Kibbutz) has an identical orientation.
What a beautiful and resonant meditation. It is a rare fortune these days to be the the neighbor (literally), one-time constituent, and fellow traveler of such a lucid, humane voice.
Hi Jay -
You have done a great job explaining the journey of your three (now four) generation family of American Jews, bringing us up to date on where the journey presently stands for you. There is so much to admire (or even envy) about the way the Jewish tribe has retained its identity through simple but powerful traditions, from one week to the next, one year to the next, one generation to the next, one millenia to the next. But there you are, not interested in the identify a "chosen people", not having interest in a personal God, furious at the political leadership in Israel, and yet still practicing the tradition. My sister-in-law, who grew up on Kibbutz Barkai (near Haifa), and her family (still on the Kibbutz) has an identical orientation.
This was wonderful.
What a beautiful and resonant meditation. It is a rare fortune these days to be the the neighbor (literally), one-time constituent, and fellow traveler of such a lucid, humane voice.