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What It Takes To Be a Jew

December 30, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

jewish boy

So if you’ve ever read any of my other blogs, you probably know where I started off. But if you haven’t, I’ll just give you a little bit of a rundown so that you can understand this blog.

My mother’s family is Jewish, but my mother converted to Christianity before my brothers and I were born. I was raised in a predominantly Christian household, but now that my mom is in contact with her family a little bit more (they lost contact for a while, but that’s a long story), she’s starting to go back to her Jewish roots, with me leading the way.

For the past 7-8 months, I’ve done nothing but lived, breathed, and ate Judaism. Everything has been about my religion, my religious identity, and where I am in Judaism. So it came as a shock to me when I went to visit a Rabbi  a couple weeks ago and was told I am not, in fact, a Jew, and that I would need to go through the conversion process.

Now let me just stop  right here to say a few things. Before this rabbi, any Rabbi or any one else I had talked to confirmed that I was, in fact, Jewish. They said, “well, once a Jew, always a Jew, and your mothers family is Jewish, as are you”. So I’ve believed I was Jewish, all up until this one man tells me that I’m not.

I didn’t know how that made me feel. I felt almost like a fraud, that I’ve been living a lie by saying I was Jewish, when I, according to this one man, am not.

So what exactly makes someone a Jew? Well, I’ll ignore the Talmud and the Torah for a second to answer just based on what I think. The mentality that “I’m not a true Jew because so and so reasons” got me thinking, who exactly gets to tell me whether or not I’m a real Jew, except for G-d and myself? Sure, the conversion process is a good thing to validate your feelings about the religion, but I know I’m Jewish, with or without it. I don’t need a Rabbi’s confirmation to solidify my faith. I know many people will tell me, “well that’s wrong”, but think about it: your faith is yours alone, and what does a Rabbi do for you that you couldn’t do for yourself by reading books, the Torah, and going to shul, besides taking you to a mikvah and declaring you Kosher? I can understand how one would see the conversion process as helping to weed out the “true believers” from the “nonbelivers”, of course. I’m not saying that we should throw away a tradition (on the contrary, I think that there should be a conversion process), I’m just saying that you shouldn’t let someone else’s beliefs dictate your own.

On another note, a couple months ago I visited another Rabbi, who confirmed that by what I said, since my mothers family is Jewish, that I am as well; but because I have a “goyish” first and last name, that I would need “proof” that I was Jewish. He explained to me that I would need a family member’s Rabbi to sign off that my family member was, indeed, Jewish, and that I would need birth certificates of my family members to prove that I was related to said family member. Let me stop right here for a second, and just ask something: I need papers to prove that I’m Jewish? If any history buffs are reading this, or even anyone that is a little bit knowledgeable about the Holocaust, they might think that this sounds a little bit familiar.

In Nazi Germany, Jews were required to have papers saying that they were Jewish, and were required to wear a Star of David to further prove that fact. In telling me that I need papers to prove my Jewish Identity, this man single-handidly pushed all efforts any Jews have made in these past years since World War II, back 65+ years.

I’ve lived my life in a more Jewish fashion than many of my Jewish friends who’ve grown up in Jewish homes, have. I’ve talked the talk, walked the walk, and done hours of research and studying. I’ve made my religion into every single part of my life. I know I’m a Jew, and I’m proud of that fact.

This journey has been a long one, and the path continues to grow every day. The experience that I’ve had with others opinions have shown me that my journey will be filled with slight road blocks that might knock me down. But I know that I can get right back up, brush off my knees, and walk around the road blocks, which will in turn make me a stronger person in my faith. If I go through the conversion process, or get papers from family members proving my Jewish Identity, it’ll be of my own accord, not because someone else made me feel like less of a Jew because of it.

I guess the moral of this story is, is that the old saying really does ring true “Two Jews, Three Opinions”, but just because someone else’s opinion might differ from ours, it doesn’t always mean that they’re always right, or that even we’re right. Judaism gives it’s people a lot of leeway in regards to opinion, which sometimes proves to be a hassle, but overall can make us stronger in our faith, and, if we can accept that others will sometimes have differing opinions, it can help us grow more as a united Jewish people.

Filed Under: Converting To Judaism, Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, kristin the jewbie, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rabbi's opinions, what it takes to be a Jew

Kristin the Jewbie: Jewish Community + Some Homework For PunkTorah

October 21, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

My English teacher insists that we try not to start off essays with questions. I can’t remember the exact reason why he tells us this, but it has prevented me from starting off this blog with what I was originally intending to say: “what is the one word that can almost sum up how Jews react with one another?” But I did work that question in nicely, didn’t I?

In case you’re wondering, the answer is “community”.  Community is the one word that best represents what happens when Jews get together and interact with one another. Think about it, how many times have you been in a room full of Jews, most of whom you hardly know, and you just felt at home? Plenty, right?

I went to a BBG meeting the other day (the girls division of the Jewish Youth Group BBYO), and there must have been 15+ girls there (and that wasn’t even the entire chapter. Some didn’t even come). They all greeted me warmly and spent the time trying to get to know me, and they all genuinely acted like they wanted to be my friend. In fact, they acted like we had already all been friends since forever. It was pretty awesome (and I say that because girls are usually catty and don’t get along well with the “new girl to the group”), and this whole experience got me thinking about all of the other times that I had felt at home with other Jewish people. There was the time I attended a new synagogue (actually, a few new ones, with all of the same results) and everyone greeted me with “Shabbat Shalom” and took the time to get to know me and how I had ended up at their shul, or the time I went to New York and ended up chatting up a fellow Jew about religion, etc.

It’s such an awesome thing to be a part of a community that actually acts like just that-a community. No matter where I’ve ended up in these past few months on my path of The Jewish Journey Less Taken I’ve always felt like old pals with other Jews that I have met. And that is such a great thing, isn’t it, to be a part of such a loving community when the rest of the word can feel so full of hate sometimes? And I must admit, not every religion (and yes, I realize this is generalizing) offers a feeling such as this. I was raised in a predominantly Christian household, and going to church or attending Christian youth groups (and trust me, I went to plenty of each) never felt quite as inviting as it does within the Jewish world.

My assignment for you is to go try out a new Jewish Group (such as something at the JCC, etc.) or go to a new shul and test this out. I can almost guarantee you that you’ll feel welcomed and loved, and you’ll walk out with a feeling of togetherness.

With so much love and adoration,

Kristin the Jewbie

(I would just like to add: Baruch Hashem that we are able to experience such a feeling of community among other Jewish people, because the absolute, pure awesomeness of it is truly beyond words.)

Filed Under: Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, debate, jewish community, kristin the jewbie, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, shabbat

Meet the Jewbie: Your Average Jewish Girl Who Has Never Practiced Judaism

September 20, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

I always hate writing things for the first time, because my introductions usually end up sounding like a instant replay of those occasional glimpses of Alcoholic Anonymous meetings I see on the fake cop shows I watch obsessively:

“Hi, my name is Kristin the Jewbie, and I have an addiction to blogging.”

You can all now repeat back to me, “Hi, Jewbie,” while curiously scratching your heads as to why I came here and how the heck did I earn myself a moniker so silly as “The Jewbie”.I’d like to say it’s all a funny story, (cue the dim lights and the spotlight swinging around to settle on me, while 50’s style music plays softly in the background) but let’s be honest here, it’s really not a funny story.

Let me start at what I’d like to consider a good place to start, which isn’t necessarily the beginning, but it’s an explanation of why I’m here, and why you should read my blog (and trust me, you should).

So to begin things, I’m sure you’re wondering why I call myself the Jewbie, and if you’re not wondering, then you should be (you might be starting to notice by now that I’m a little demanding. Trust me, it’s my mother’s and my boyfriend’s biggest complaint about me, except they use the sweeter, more endearing term “brat”). When I started my blog Jewbie,I wanted it to be completely anonymous, and so I needed a good moniker for myself so that I wouldn’t have to go by “anonymous”. I chose Jewbie because, in a way, I’m new to Judaism.

I was born a Jew, because my mom’s family is Jewish (we have many Cohen’s, -berg’s, and -witz’s) but my mom converted to Christianity when she was younger, and is therefor not observant of Judaism (but we all know the old saying, that you can be baptized by every priest in the whole entire world, but once a Jew, always a Jew) so I didn’t grow up in a Jewish home. I took it upon myself, though, to start learning more about her family’s faith, and lo and behold! It fit me perfectly. So when I found that it was the religion for me, I decided to start attending shul, reading all the books I could get my hands on, and (very soon) taking classes on Judaism. So, I’m a newbie to Judaism in a sense, thus “Jewbie”. Now that you now how I coined that nickname, let’s get on to bigger and better things, such as who I and what this blog will be about.

I’m a 17-year-young aspiring novelist with a knack for saying and doing the most inappropriate things at the most inopportune times without meaning to (my friends expressed that I need to clarify this statement, so: such as laughing when I’m being yelled at, which happens often, surprisingly). I’m also trying to define who I am and who I want to be, the biggest problem being my “Jewish Journey”, as I like to call it, and what it means to be a “good Jewish girl”. I’m hoping to share my experience with “traveling the Jewish road less taken”, and my journeys in my now Jewed-up life (yes, I do have an uncanny ability to make everything revert back to my Jewish-ness). This is going to be about my travels in the Jewish world, ranging from the B’nai Mitzvah class I’m hoping to attend this year, down to my thoughts on Halachic laws such as Tznius (and how I’m having a terribly hard time following them).

I hope you enjoy reading these blogs as much as I enjoy writing them, and, until I catch you next time:

With more lovin’ then you’ll ever know what to do with,

Kristin the Jewbie

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, halachka, jewish college student, jewish youth, kristin the jewbie, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, teen, tznius

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