Why I love "Jewish"

Growing up in what I always described as a "white-bread, bible-belt" town, my Judaism was not something I really thought about a lot. I was Jewish, and my friends were not; that was it. This lead to many a Jewish holiday shared with my classmates, as my father would come to my Elementary classes around Christmas to teach about Channukah and usually we'd play Dreidel. At every Passover Seder and Channukah celebration each of us kids got to bring a friend along and by high school my close friends (mostly varying degrees of Catholics, some Mormons and Baptists ) considered themselves Jews by association. They knew the prayers, knew the traditions, and above all, saw the way my family came together. My best friend, Megan, eventually began to walk around touting the phrase "I love Jewish!" And I thought it was, cute, but I'd never really given much thought to it.

The exchange of religion growing up, however, was not one-sided. Like I said, I grew up in a very conservative town, think the movie "Saved" meets "Stepford Wives." On a regular basis, I would go to Church with my friends after spending the night, or youth group where they held leadership, and even to Bible Study every so often. I usually really enjoyed this exchange, but I didn't know a lot of my own feelings about Judaism, except for the extreme pride I had in being one of the few Jews I knew. I had an expereince one evening attending Bible study at one of the most conservative Baptist Churches in town. The youth pastor pointed out 2 verses to the group (from the new testament), and asked who thought the two verses contradicted each other. I read them, and as far as I was concerned, they did. The verses may as well have been arguing that the sky was blue vs. red. To my surprise I was the ONLY one in the room with their hand raised. At which point, I was blasted by the youth pastor who exclaimed, "the Bible NEVER contradicts itself."

I came home from the whole experience quite confused, and my father simply pointed out, "that's what so great about being Jewish Ruth, we are supposed to disagree, supposed to ask questions, we are constanstly supposed to be figuring it out."

From the moment I was a little girl, my dad has said those very words to me. Judaism has instilled in me the value of questioning, never taking things at face value, and always believing there is more to be learned or understood. There are refrences to this all throughout Judaism. The word Israel means "one who wrestles with G-d;" the Talmud presents differing commentary and interpretations from Rabbinic scholars, with no seeming rush to resolve these differences. Why? Because Judaism thrives on the process of the discussion, not the answer.

I have been lucky enough to have such conversations in my time here at Oregon, and it has helped bring my feeling of Judasim full circle. When I was younger, my Dad implored me to always ask questions, in both my secular life and Judaism, but I didn't make the connection. Now, when I think about Megan, and her constant high pitched proclamation "I LOVE JEWISH" I am infused with my new understandings of this beautiful culture.

Ruth Kerman