Yet the few that I do visit are authored by such lovely women, whose own faith helps to strengthen mine rather than threaten it. Chris from The Mom Cafe is one of those women. Her blog exudes warmth and acceptance, much like the woman behind it. A few months ago, Chris began a Devotional Diary series. She invited readers to share their faith stories on her blog, as a place that was “safe from judgment and full of grace.”
And so I shared. I was nervous, but I trust Chris and the community she has created on her blog. The comments I read when she published it yesterday were so lovely and positive; thank you to those of you who took the time to leave a comment.
I hope you will visit The Mom Cafe to read my contribution to her Devotional Diary: The Chosen People – Judaism.
And, just left you a novel there. All positive. 🙂
Thanks so much for reading and commenting, Nina!
Going to check it NOW. I actually write about Judaism quite a bit, but those posts are usually ones I write on a freelance basis for Kveller and The Forward. Truly, their my favorite articles to write as it’s on of the subjects that gets me going the most!
What a wonderful feeling it must be to find a safe place to experience your faith with those of other faiths. We recently moved from Canton, MI with Muslim, Jewish and Christian places of worship around the block and down and across the street from one another. My mom was very interested in (as were many people in each faith background) participating in inter-faith activities. I think living there, teaching there (and having students from many different faith backgrounds) was a huge blessing.
I agree, Stephanie – to live in such a diverse area is wonderful. I feel fortunate that we also live in a community with people from many different faiths and cultures. You said you recently moved – I hope your new town has some diversity too, although it sounds like it would be hard to top Canton!
Dana, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get over to Chris’ place to read your post! It is AMAZING! I love how the grandparents were gracious of your decision, but I do agree with you, it is better to be raised with faith than none at all. Wishing you a wonderful week!
LOVED your post, Dana! Here’s my thoughts… why should I judge you because you practice Judaism? You would NEVER judge me for practicing Christianity, I know that just from exchanging friendly banter. Life is a journey, we arent gonna meet cookie cutter, exact replicas of who we “think” we need to meet… that would be boring & frankly I think it would suck… just sayin’. Ya the saying “you can’t judge a book by it’s cover” works so well here, you can’t judge a person by the stamp of christian, jew, etc…
Otherwise- I would have noone in this life to listen to me gush over Idina!!! So sad about she & Taye, but, wasn’t it coming?
~A~
We would be much better off without all the judging, that is so true, Amber. And as for Idina and Taye – so sad, yes. I was hoping those crazy kids would make it.
Dana your post was perfect, just perfect. How perfect our world would be if we all took the time to understand each other without judgement but simply with love and an open heart.
I so agree, Mo!
And you should do an Our Land about it!
Thanks, Kristi. Maybe I will, after I take a break from weekly guest posting. One more to go this month!
DANG Dana! THat was some good stuff.
I’ve been excited to go there all day, since I saw it while I was peeking at FB statuses while trying to do dinner, and work and well. Life. Going RIGHT NOW.
I think I could write an entire post length of response here, but I will try to control myself.
I’ve commented before that we are a mixed family, though our children will be raised Jewish. I’m the only non, actually. We made that decision because Judaism is obviously more important to my husband than Christianity is to me. I don’t buy into everything in Christianity, but I do love most of Jesus’ teachings, and my husband and I always agreed that these would be part of our children’s moral upbringing in the context of influential Jewish rabbi rather than Son of God. And we still celebrate Christmas because I could never give it up.
Your memory of talking to your father rings very true for me. Having the religious conversation with my parents, who are very strong Christians, was a hard one. I definitely felt I was throwing their teachings back in their face, though I don’t believe that is wholly true. That was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
I also agree with you on so many blogs written by Christians. I most certainly do not believe it is the one true path or that Christianity has a different God than that of other religions, and I am afraid I am put off by any hint of evangelism. I have much room for growth, but I do think being married to a Jewish person has made me somewhat more sensitive to this.
The focus on service and the limited dogma are the most appealing aspects of Reformed Judaism to me. In many ways, it seems freer than Christianity though I have a very liberal take on Christianity which is pretty darn free.
I actually have hated the term “chosen people” because I had always heard it used in a very exclusionary sense, specifically by a rabbi who would not marry my husband and me. This was extremely frustrating, hurtful, and degrading to me, especially when I knew many, many Christian pastors who would have no problem marrying us. I am moved by your take on it, and became more open to the religion when my husband’s congregation brought in a new female rabbi who never used the term “chosen people,” and was always extremely welcoming of our entire family. I was actually very sad to leave that congregation when we moved away.
Finally (and I am wrapping this up), I loved that you took on religion. I like what you have to say about Judaism, and I feel I am still learning. I want to be able to participate in the religion with the rest of my family, but I am not willing to commit or totally give up my own faith background (though I am hesitant to call myself a Christian either). If you ever feel up to it, I’d love to hear your take on forgiveness in the Jewish tradition. A frustration for me is that it does not seem to be emphasized in the same way it is in Christianity, but I’m not sure how much of that is just my own ignorance.
Thanks for your post!
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment, Sarah. It’s so interesting to hear from you, as we are in the same situation but different sides of the couple in terms of our interfaith marriages. I bristle at “chosen people” a bit too, and I like how Reconstructionist Jews have removed that phrase from their prayerbooks.
In terms of forgiveness (I know this is brief, but I’d like to respond to you now), here’s my take. We are obliged as Jews to forgive any person who admits their wrongdoings against us and asks forgiveness. We in turn must ask forgiveness of the person who we wronged. God does not forgive until we have asked the wronged person for forgiveness. God forgives if you sincerely repent. I’m not sure how much more forgiveness is emphasized in Christianity, but our holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, is the Day of Atonement. Asking forgiveness of others and God is central to atoning for our sins.
I went to the Catholic funeral mass of my husband’s uncle today, and it had been a long time since I’ve been to Mass. I was struck by how often sin and forgiveness were mentioned during the service. You are right; I don’t think Judaism puts the same emphasis on this concepts as Christianity does – and least not so overtly.
Thanks for responding right away, Dana! You gave me some good food for thought and reminded me of the Yom Kippur practice.
It’s interesting: there may be more emphasis put on asking for forgiveness from others in Judaism and from God in Christianity. (I do not want to speak in absolutes here because I am barely scratching the surface here.) Not that both forms of asking forgiveness don’t exist in both religions.
It seems in Judaism that God created man in his image, gave some rules, and then kind of stepped out of it? Now the emphasis is on using the rules to interact with others in positive ways. Do you think I am getting this right?
That’s my take too, Sarah. And Reform Judaism in particular allows for individual interpretation in many ways, which is something that I love.
I loved your share over there, Dana!! I like that you choose to just pick one religion for your kids to follow (it’s so confusing otherwise) but I know that you expose them to a variety of cultures!!!
I know I found having two religions confusing, but I think it’s all in how it’s presented to your children. Exposure, as you said, is key. I feel fortunate that my experiences have exposed me to different faiths.
Way to go, Dana (and Chris!)! Heading over to read the post right now.
Thanks Alison – I’ll head over and read it soon.
I loved this post – was so eye-opening to me, who is in so similar a position, and yet far different.
Yay for you and Chris!
Thank you Tamara. I’m so glad I summoned the guts to write it!
I am so deeply touched and honored that you took this step of faith and you put your trust in me and my readers. You are such an incredible woman, as is your faith Dana!
Thank you Chris, and thank you for the opportunity to share on your blog. You are pretty incredible yourself!
I love this post of yours! I have a dear friend who is Jewish and we have had a conversation or two of how difficult it is to be a minority when it comes to her faith. For example, school picture day. She had to contact the school and let them know it was a high holiday and therefore please reschedule it! But even beyond the silly, it is hard when someone says you must be ‘saved’ without understanding that Jews were the first people. More that so many do not understand that being Jewish is as much a faith as it is an ethnicity.
Awesome post my friend!
One of the first years my kids were in a soccer league, picture day was on the Saturday of Yom Kippur. My kids were crushed that they couldn’t be in their team photo, and I emailed the commissioner just to let him know of the scheduling issue. He bit my head off, but wouldn’t you know it? It never happened again.
Cannot wait to read! 2 of our favorite people in the same place! :)-Ashley
Dana, so glad you took a leap of faith and shared your story on The Mom Cafe! Loved hearing about your decision to raise your children in the Jewish faith. I was raised Catholic but no longer practice. My husband was raised without a religious background. I struggle with how to raise our daughters. I want them to have a foundation of faith and spirituality without the trappings of religion.
I think you can do that, Nicole – it will just take some work on your part if you don’t have a formal religious school to rely on for help. You’ll figure it out!
Oh, Dana! I feel sort of privileged, because I know I’m a Christian yet you are a follower of my blog. I try not to really talk about my faith in a way to where I’m teaching or condoning what I don’t believe in. Sometimes God comes up because it’s a vital part of who I am, of course :), but I do try to shy away from things that bring out my strong beliefs. I’m not ashamed, but I just don’t want to blog about that. I blog about practical things about my life that all women of different faiths can share common ground in. I hope you’ve felt that way since you’ve been a reader. I thought you might have been because you keep coming back hehe. I hope so, though, because I never want to make people uncomfortable especially since I’m not trying to convert people to Christianity or change their beliefs with my blog. 🙂
You never make me uncomfortable, Brittnei. Most people don’t; our faith is a part of who we are and I would never expect you or anyone else to suppress that. My feelings are similar to yours in that I don’t choose to focus on blogging about religion. Of course it comes up sometimes because we write about ourselves, and I enjoy learning about other people’s faith. Like Chris, you share in a way that makes me feel welcome and respected, and I appreciate that. You are one of the lovely women I mentioned in this post!
Guess who is the moron last night who wrote my comment and then didn’t go read your guest post? LOL. I can’t believe I did that. Scatter brain! Going to take a look now! 🙂