"I Am Jewish": A Response

A rabbinical friend recently forwarded a thought-provoking email to me. It came from Rabbi Carol Stein in California and read, in part,

I am preparing to teach a course at the High School for Jewish Studies in San Diego this coming semester. The course is entitled "I Am Jewish" - the last words spoken by the journalist, Daniel Pearl, before his death at the hands of his kidnappers in the Middle East. I am hoping to guide the students so that they too can make that same statement proudly and with an understanding of what "being Jewish" means to each of them. I ask your help.

Please take a few minutes to write a few sentences or a few paragraphs explaining what you mean when you say "I am Jewish." Of course, there is no "right" answer -- being Jewish means different things to each of us. Some of us may think only of the religious aspect -- some the cultural or social or gastronomic.

Below is my response to Rabbi Stein's request.

We live in a lonely world. Families scatter, friendships are hard to forge, what we hope will be permanent slips away and we don't know where to turn. "I am Jewish" orients me in this social chaos; being Jewish provides a faith, a community, and comfort that justice will ultimately prevail in the world.

Sometimes while waiting for the commuter train I imagine God standing beside me, aware and concerned and always, always ready to listen. I close my eyes to sense the world swirling around me, sounds, winds, smells, and God is there, too. To paraphrase Deuteronomy 30:14, He is very close. The gates of repentence are always open; I need only approach them.

Wherever I travel, if a synagogue can be found I know I can expect familiar rituals, friendly faces. And I have found them, in places like McAllen, Texas; Dublin, Ireland; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The accents change, but the essential welcoming community of Jews remains. Being a Jew means I belong.

Finally, being Jewish gives me confidence in the future of the world. Some people may consider me superstitious or hopelessly unhip for this, but I take seriously the 13 Principles of Maimonides. The last two principles assert, with perfect faith, in the coming of the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. Those principles make sense to me, with their vision of justice and reunification with Jews who came before us, as well as Jews of far distant generations. My duty as a Jew is to act -- here, now -- in ways that will bring this vision closer.