My Roots Trip in Jewish Week
Shalom readers and advanced wishes of Shanah Tovah.
Please share my nachas at the publication of "A Few Things Are Illuminated--A Wild and Crazy Roots Trip To the Old Country" in the Jewish Weeek. I am also providing links to an accompanying sidebar piece and an article I wrote about a brave group of Russian-speakers who come together to share their grief about loved ones lost on 9-11.
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=14475
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=14476
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=14481
posted by Walter @ 4:43 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
As a Russian Jew, I found your "A Few Things are Illuminated" to be an inspiring article, but with one important piece missing. Like you, my ancestry also boasts a diversity of opinions, from rabbis to communists. However, the most important part of any Jewish family tree is the present. I am not yet married, but already asking daily, will my children and grandchildren be Jewish? Will they make as great an impact on our people's history as Ruby's esteemed ancestors?
The answer lies in Jewish education. Teach your children to be a proud of their heritage. It is in our ancestors' merit that we are alive as Jews today. Had our ancestors not observed the Torah, their children would have assimilated long ago.
The definition of what, exactly, a Jew is or is not, has changed so much over millennia that the question, what will our grandchildren be, does not have an easy answer, except the hopeful, 'alive.' I think one of the major points of the roots journey is to see the differences between our Jewish ancestors and our Jewish selves, and in doing so become prepared for, however different our descendants may be from us, the only way they can fail to be Jews is by willful, conscious rejection of their heritage -- and against that, yes, the pride is of the greatest importance. As for the Torah, no one observes it in all its minutiae -- at least I hope not (it is a good thing that we are not judged on Deuteronomy).
Locke
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