Why exactly are you Jewish? Have you converted over to Judiasm? Were you born into a Jewish family? Have you sought anything else? Keep the responses as brief or as long as you choose, anything will help.
Thanks for reading --Timo
Stories
darkphoenix1247
Umm...Wow I've never been asked that question before.
Before I say anything, I would like to thank you for not pushing your beliefs on us and not saying "OMG! Jesus was so the messiah youre religion is so fake!111!!"
Hmm....Why I am Jewish.....Well... That's a number of reasons
1) I was and am brought up in a very Jewish family
2) The same reason you are Christian
3) I truly believe in my religion for reasons that would take way too long to explain here, and I'm too bored to do that..
Erm...I've never wanted to be anything else, and I was always proud to be Jewish...I didn't convert...and umm...I think that is it....
Before I say anything, I would like to thank you for not pushing your beliefs on us and not saying "OMG! Jesus was so the messiah youre religion is so fake!111!!"
Hmm....Why I am Jewish.....Well... That's a number of reasons
1) I was and am brought up in a very Jewish family
2) The same reason you are Christian
3) I truly believe in my religion for reasons that would take way too long to explain here, and I'm too bored to do that..
Erm...I've never wanted to be anything else, and I was always proud to be Jewish...I didn't convert...and umm...I think that is it....
Kiashana
Hey there. So... yea. My random list of answers. Woot woot.
I was born into an observant Jewish household. We've kept kosher for my entire life, go to synagogue every Shabbat and Yom Tov (holiday) and I was sent to Jewish preschool followed by a Jewish Day School through part of eighth grade. Other options have never really occured to me. I've always been happy with the Jewish way of looking at things, and that's enough.
I'm not sure why I'm so okay with all of it though. Until my bat mitzvah, it was just kind of something I did. Like, I go to school, I go to dance class, I keep kosher. A week after my bat mitzvah, I did the same thing I do every summer, which all the guild regulars know about: I went to camp. I attend a Jewish sleepaway camp in the Poconos every summer, and it just so happened that I left exactly eight days post-bat mitzvah. Well, anyway, back on the to the point, that summer I actually missed the more observant ways I follow at home compared to camp. I missed things enough that I went to a counselor, borrowed a copy of the prayerbook I use at home, and started saying the daily morning prayers whenever I woke up early enough. Ever since, Judaism has been a big part of my life.
I'm not sure if that explains why. In fact, I don't know why Judaism works so well for me. It just... fits.
I was born into an observant Jewish household. We've kept kosher for my entire life, go to synagogue every Shabbat and Yom Tov (holiday) and I was sent to Jewish preschool followed by a Jewish Day School through part of eighth grade. Other options have never really occured to me. I've always been happy with the Jewish way of looking at things, and that's enough.
I'm not sure why I'm so okay with all of it though. Until my bat mitzvah, it was just kind of something I did. Like, I go to school, I go to dance class, I keep kosher. A week after my bat mitzvah, I did the same thing I do every summer, which all the guild regulars know about: I went to camp. I attend a Jewish sleepaway camp in the Poconos every summer, and it just so happened that I left exactly eight days post-bat mitzvah. Well, anyway, back on the to the point, that summer I actually missed the more observant ways I follow at home compared to camp. I missed things enough that I went to a counselor, borrowed a copy of the prayerbook I use at home, and started saying the daily morning prayers whenever I woke up early enough. Ever since, Judaism has been a big part of my life.
I'm not sure if that explains why. In fact, I don't know why Judaism works so well for me. It just... fits.
Lavyne
Hmmm, I don't believe I've ever answered a question like this before... let me see...
So, both my parents are reform Jews. I didn't grow up being very observant, though I did go to classes every weekend. I didn't really enjoy myself at services when I was a child. Then, as I started to become more involved in the services, I began to appreciate them more and more. I ended up becoming friends with a girl at my temple, and we studdied together, had our bat mitzvahs together, and got each other even more interested in out religion.
Though, as I grew older, I realized that the temple that we attended was a very bad learning environment. I recently joined a new temple, and every time I go for Torah study, I am reminded why I enjoy being jewish.
It's very hard to explain everything that I feel, and I don't believe that I can put it into words, but I'll give it a try.
First off, I think it's a sense of community. My old temple lacked this, but at the new one, everybody is quite close and friendly, and we all try to help each other out. Beyond that, I think it's that I just agree with most Jewish beliefs. I like how Judaism focuses more on life, rather than what comes after. And that there is a sense of inquisitiveness that I quite enjoy.
Now, I know that I could never be Orthodox, and I'm sure that I have a few beliefs that conflict with what the majority of the Jewish population believes, but I'm quite sure that I will always consider myself Jewish. I've never really felt the need to be anything else. As Kiashana said, it justs fits.
So, both my parents are reform Jews. I didn't grow up being very observant, though I did go to classes every weekend. I didn't really enjoy myself at services when I was a child. Then, as I started to become more involved in the services, I began to appreciate them more and more. I ended up becoming friends with a girl at my temple, and we studdied together, had our bat mitzvahs together, and got each other even more interested in out religion.
Though, as I grew older, I realized that the temple that we attended was a very bad learning environment. I recently joined a new temple, and every time I go for Torah study, I am reminded why I enjoy being jewish.
It's very hard to explain everything that I feel, and I don't believe that I can put it into words, but I'll give it a try.
First off, I think it's a sense of community. My old temple lacked this, but at the new one, everybody is quite close and friendly, and we all try to help each other out. Beyond that, I think it's that I just agree with most Jewish beliefs. I like how Judaism focuses more on life, rather than what comes after. And that there is a sense of inquisitiveness that I quite enjoy.
Now, I know that I could never be Orthodox, and I'm sure that I have a few beliefs that conflict with what the majority of the Jewish population believes, but I'm quite sure that I will always consider myself Jewish. I've never really felt the need to be anything else. As Kiashana said, it justs fits.
famusamu
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Why exactly are you Jewish?
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Have you converted over to Judiasm?
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Were you born into a Jewish family?
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Have you sought anything else?
YvetteEmilieDupont
Why exactly are you Jewish?
Eh, ok long and hard question to answer... Well I'm 15 and I have no rights of my own what so ever and I can't drive, so everything I do is controled by my parents. Right now my plan is to convert to Judaism when I'm 18, I would either join the Reconstuctionist movement, or the Refromed movement.
From the beginning of my youngest memories and going to church as the "Ideal Cathlic Girl", I never felt in place. I had a very religious grandmother whom had 4 brothers whom became priest out of the 8 she had, when I was around 6-8 she told me how great it would be if I became a nun, she still hasn't dropped it today. That wasn't the most awkard thing I was exposed to, the few major things that replused me from my religion are 3 things.
-The churches teachings, I didn't plan out agree with anything in the new testment about how people whom don't have the "lord jesus" won't go to heaven. I was taught at home that all good people would go to heaven god didn't care who you were or what, and frankly I loved the idea that my mother was giving me not the church.
-Secondly, the fact that going from preschool where they told me god loved all his children, to telling me , he only loves certain people the people whom don't sin and love him and his son, and only they would be excepted into interial life. I hated that, because they were contradicting them selfs all the time, and if I confronted them on it, they would either just stare at me like I had just started runnign around screaming in some freaky forgein language or somethign really odd like that, or they would attempt to give me an answer but the answer would just basicly be the same thing that I always heard. "God loves all his child, but only those whom are good and love the lord and his son will live with him after death". That responce just how do I say, fuiled the fire even more.
- Thirdly, was the religions seemingly unexceptance of other religions and life styles. I was being taught that a nice cathlic family that may have not gone to church at all didn't do anything invauled in it, would have good chances, but a woman whom went to church and was very invauled but she was lesbian and happily married to another woman, she on the other hand would be damned to hell. That lite the fire that I couldn't stand in any longer. I was brought up you could say liberally, where I was very exceptting over other people. Several of my mother friends whom I knew very well were different, one of our closest friends are Mike and Jo they are happily married. Mike works with my mother and Jo is an aids doctor and gives tens of thousands of dollars every year to programs that help people whom need help, he also helps people with aids live as long as they possibly can as comfortable as possible, and he does this all while he suffers from aids also, and he's so kind doesn't think the world owes him anything. Yet my church says that Jo even though he is a rare selfless caring person that is hard to find in today's world he will still go to hell.
So now that the fire has been light and I can't stand in it anymore, in the year 2002 I set out to change my life, because I had decided that I didn't want to live like I was, being forced to church on sunday, having a bad religous aspect realtionship with my family, but mostly I didn't want to be unhappy anymore. Religion has always been a big part of my life, and always will, I just feel that I wasn't in the right enviorment to bloom correctly as a child.
I found Judaism, looked at their ideals, morals, different forms, history, todays aspect, the peoples aspect, the life style, the tolerance for other people. Everything, and well I liked what I saw, and that brings me today. ^.^ and I love my life now, i'm so much more happy because I can be comforted by the thought that I can have a god that I can agree with, and find people whom are kind of the same as me.
Have you converted over to Judiasm?
eh, not yet but you just wait
Were you born into a Jewish family?
eh... 0.o .... maybe... kiashana you adopt me right now... once she adopts me... yes i have ^.^ ofcorse do I not look jewish to you. -.- thinking I wasn't born into a jewish family ::mocking laugh::
(kiashana was first person to come to mind)
Have you sought anything else?
what do you mean but sought anythign else, like religion wise, oh yea i looked at muslim, islamic, voo doo, wicca, egytian greek roman (not to worship just think all the gods are funny), eh what else did i look at, oh luthern, eh... uh... i think that was it then judiasm yup that meh list of religions i looked at and researched, in the mind aspect of would i want to convert?
Eh, ok long and hard question to answer... Well I'm 15 and I have no rights of my own what so ever and I can't drive, so everything I do is controled by my parents. Right now my plan is to convert to Judaism when I'm 18, I would either join the Reconstuctionist movement, or the Refromed movement.
From the beginning of my youngest memories and going to church as the "Ideal Cathlic Girl", I never felt in place. I had a very religious grandmother whom had 4 brothers whom became priest out of the 8 she had, when I was around 6-8 she told me how great it would be if I became a nun, she still hasn't dropped it today. That wasn't the most awkard thing I was exposed to, the few major things that replused me from my religion are 3 things.
-The churches teachings, I didn't plan out agree with anything in the new testment about how people whom don't have the "lord jesus" won't go to heaven. I was taught at home that all good people would go to heaven god didn't care who you were or what, and frankly I loved the idea that my mother was giving me not the church.
-Secondly, the fact that going from preschool where they told me god loved all his children, to telling me , he only loves certain people the people whom don't sin and love him and his son, and only they would be excepted into interial life. I hated that, because they were contradicting them selfs all the time, and if I confronted them on it, they would either just stare at me like I had just started runnign around screaming in some freaky forgein language or somethign really odd like that, or they would attempt to give me an answer but the answer would just basicly be the same thing that I always heard. "God loves all his child, but only those whom are good and love the lord and his son will live with him after death". That responce just how do I say, fuiled the fire even more.
- Thirdly, was the religions seemingly unexceptance of other religions and life styles. I was being taught that a nice cathlic family that may have not gone to church at all didn't do anything invauled in it, would have good chances, but a woman whom went to church and was very invauled but she was lesbian and happily married to another woman, she on the other hand would be damned to hell. That lite the fire that I couldn't stand in any longer. I was brought up you could say liberally, where I was very exceptting over other people. Several of my mother friends whom I knew very well were different, one of our closest friends are Mike and Jo they are happily married. Mike works with my mother and Jo is an aids doctor and gives tens of thousands of dollars every year to programs that help people whom need help, he also helps people with aids live as long as they possibly can as comfortable as possible, and he does this all while he suffers from aids also, and he's so kind doesn't think the world owes him anything. Yet my church says that Jo even though he is a rare selfless caring person that is hard to find in today's world he will still go to hell.
So now that the fire has been light and I can't stand in it anymore, in the year 2002 I set out to change my life, because I had decided that I didn't want to live like I was, being forced to church on sunday, having a bad religous aspect realtionship with my family, but mostly I didn't want to be unhappy anymore. Religion has always been a big part of my life, and always will, I just feel that I wasn't in the right enviorment to bloom correctly as a child.
I found Judaism, looked at their ideals, morals, different forms, history, todays aspect, the peoples aspect, the life style, the tolerance for other people. Everything, and well I liked what I saw, and that brings me today. ^.^ and I love my life now, i'm so much more happy because I can be comforted by the thought that I can have a god that I can agree with, and find people whom are kind of the same as me.
Have you converted over to Judiasm?
eh, not yet but you just wait
Were you born into a Jewish family?
eh... 0.o .... maybe... kiashana you adopt me right now... once she adopts me... yes i have ^.^ ofcorse do I not look jewish to you. -.- thinking I wasn't born into a jewish family ::mocking laugh::
(kiashana was first person to come to mind)
Have you sought anything else?
what do you mean but sought anythign else, like religion wise, oh yea i looked at muslim, islamic, voo doo, wicca, egytian greek roman (not to worship just think all the gods are funny), eh what else did i look at, oh luthern, eh... uh... i think that was it then judiasm yup that meh list of religions i looked at and researched, in the mind aspect of would i want to convert?
oh em jyu
I'm Jewish because the moral values fit me exactly. It's a religion I can be a proud member of. I was born into a Jewish family and have had Jewish values instilled in me since before I can remember. I imagine that even if I wasn't born into a Jewish family I'd probably convert, although a lot of my love for the religion deals with its emphasis on tradition. I've never sought anything else.
On a guild-organization note, I think I'll get all the curious Christians in the guild to compile some sort of permanent Christians-wondering-about-Judaism thread. Every so often we get people in here wondering a lot of the same things, and I think it'd be easier to consolidate these threads.
On a guild-organization note, I think I'll get all the curious Christians in the guild to compile some sort of permanent Christians-wondering-about-Judaism thread. Every so often we get people in here wondering a lot of the same things, and I think it'd be easier to consolidate these threads.
