October 3rd, 2007 - filed in Relationships
Moving from Jewish and Catholic to Connected…and a response from Rabbi Rami Shapiro
Straight from Spirituality and Health’s site… to read other questions go to their site..
Hello Rabbi Rami,
I knew you as a child in Miami and am so excited to see you here. Real simple, how do I support my Jewish mother by acknowledging the holidays when I find more in the language that doesn’t resonate than does. I have a hard time believing we’re still slaves in Egypt or chosen for that matter. And although I know we should remember, I feel we’ve been reinforcing an identity of victim. In fact, I created a game called Shift that shows us that our thoughts create our reality. You can play a demo at www.shiftthegame.com.
So, how do I acknowledge my heritage and support my mom when I feel I’m moving further from my religion? My answer was to acknowledge the holiday my way and let go of my mother’s vision of what a good jew looks like. I chose to acknowledge what I wanted to let go of from last year and what I wanted to bring in for the new year on Yom Kippur. I made a brisket too. And yet, I do not see myself as Jewish anymore. I see that as limiting. I’d rather be a citizen of the world. I guess it’s being detached from the other person’s expectation. Did I just answer my question?
It’d be great to hear from you though. Blessings and love,
Nicole
Submitted by Nicole Casanova on Sep 29, 2007
Rabbi Rami Shapiro: You are not alone in this. Lots of Jews find the Judaism of their parents irrelevant to their lives. It may well be that your mother felt the same about the Judaism of her parents and grandparents.
There are two issues here, and you already grasp them. First, there is the matter of being a dutiful daughter. Second, there is the matter of being true to oneself.
I suggest you do what you already seem to be doing: reinventing Judaism for yourself. For example, Passover is about liberating oneself from Mitzrayim, literally the narrow places in which one is enslaved. Everyone can relate to that. And Yom Kippur is about awakening to your oneness with God.
Recently I spoke with one of my spiritual teachers about the challenge of identifying with one tribe or another in a world that needs to become increasingly post tribal and global. He said I was putting too much drama into a word. Being a Jew, he told me, is just another garment we wear. Put it on and take it off as seems appropriate.
I do not look forward to a homogenious world, a world without diversity. I have no problem with people belonging to different tribes, religions, etc. as long as we realize these are garments, and beneath them all we are all equal manifestations of God.
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