“Indeed, all Jews who are preoccupied with fashioning a Jewish life have a stake in understanding the Halakhah. Regardless of their definition, secular or religious, all forms of contemporary Jewish life must arise out of a confrontation with the past. Whether one lives in harmony with tradition or in tension with it, one must contend with that tradition. Comprehending the Halakhah is necessary for a Jewish life, whether one seeks to follow Jewish law or depart from it.”
From Women and Jewish Law, by Rachel Biale.
I had a conversation recently in which someone asked me why I was interested in converting to Judaism instead of just studying it if my intentions were to live mostly secularly. My response had been that if something is yours, it is yours to follow or to fuck with. This excerpt speaks to part of what I meant.
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11 January 2012 at 2:26
pcc2011
Maybe related but maybe not. When I was deciding to discontinue my faith in Islam, I was told that once you start believing in a religion, you never really leave it. I’ll admit, from time to time I feel ashamed when eating pork or drinking. Now, if we’re not willing to commit to a religion, but pick and choose what we want out of it, are we being disrespectful? Could it be applied in the same vein as ethnicity? I like Cajun food so to some degree I could reclaim that identity? Forgive me if this sounds like hogwash. Quantitative methods and Research Design back to back leaves me no room to decipher coherently at the end of the day.
13 January 2012 at 12:47
Sofia
I’m sure there are many people, maybe most, that would not appreciate/agree with/condone my choosing to be selective in the way I want to live and practice Judaism. I’m sure many would think it disrespectful, ignorant, or that it reflects a lack of true commitment to Judaism. But I know that I have no interest in pleasing an Orthodox community that would want a convert to only wear skirts and never eat squid. Besides, I’m okay with not knowing everything and being a bit irreverent.
In other words, I know that my choosing to define my own practice is not accepted by most others, but it is not for those people that I want to convert. They are not the community I want to be a part of, and for the time being I have no problem with that (I imagine that might change when if I send my kids to Jewish schools, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it). But all this is a very personal response to that situation.
As for ethnicity, these days I think it’s all constructed and what matters more is biology and socialization. Ethnicity may determine what we look like, but ultimately it’s our upbringing and environment that makes us who we are.
What do you think, my lovely?