jewscout
Religious Zionist
From Aish.com
One December afternoon, my precious four-year-old niece Jodi* walked into my mother's suburban New Jersey kitchen and asked, "Bubbie, are you Jewish?"
"Yes, I am," my mother answered proudly.
"So am I," Jodi confided, "but don't tell Santa Claus."
I laughed when my mother told me this story, and I chuckled every time I thought of it --for twenty-two years. Last week, Jodi got married, in a Catholic church, kneeling in front of a huge gilded cross. I stopped laughing.
Apparently, Jodi's perception of Judaism as a liability grew with the years. At the age of four, being Jewish made her a persona non grata to Santa Claus. At the age of sixteen, growing up in a town whose century-old bylaws stipulated, "No Jews or Negroes," Jewish identity must have been a social non-starter. At the age of twenty, as a sophomore at Boston University, being Jewish must have threatened her budding romance with a handsome Catholic senior.
But was there nothing on the asset side to balance Jodi's Jewish ledger? After all, her Bubbie and Zeydie were committed Jews. Her Zeydie was a life-trustee of his Conservative synagogue, an ardent check-writing Zionist, a lover of everything Jewish, from Mollie Picon to Bernard Malamud. Her Bubbie spoke Yiddish, made blintzes from scratch, and devoutly attended Friday night services every Shabbat. Was there nothing of nostalgia or Jewish tradition to stay Jodi's knees from kneeling before the cross?
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Dead_End_of_Jewish_Culture.asp
One December afternoon, my precious four-year-old niece Jodi* walked into my mother's suburban New Jersey kitchen and asked, "Bubbie, are you Jewish?"
"Yes, I am," my mother answered proudly.
"So am I," Jodi confided, "but don't tell Santa Claus."
I laughed when my mother told me this story, and I chuckled every time I thought of it --for twenty-two years. Last week, Jodi got married, in a Catholic church, kneeling in front of a huge gilded cross. I stopped laughing.
Apparently, Jodi's perception of Judaism as a liability grew with the years. At the age of four, being Jewish made her a persona non grata to Santa Claus. At the age of sixteen, growing up in a town whose century-old bylaws stipulated, "No Jews or Negroes," Jewish identity must have been a social non-starter. At the age of twenty, as a sophomore at Boston University, being Jewish must have threatened her budding romance with a handsome Catholic senior.
But was there nothing on the asset side to balance Jodi's Jewish ledger? After all, her Bubbie and Zeydie were committed Jews. Her Zeydie was a life-trustee of his Conservative synagogue, an ardent check-writing Zionist, a lover of everything Jewish, from Mollie Picon to Bernard Malamud. Her Bubbie spoke Yiddish, made blintzes from scratch, and devoutly attended Friday night services every Shabbat. Was there nothing of nostalgia or Jewish tradition to stay Jodi's knees from kneeling before the cross?
http://www.aish.com/jewishissues/jewishsociety/The_Dead_End_of_Jewish_Culture.asp
