On the first day of Jewish History class, we labeled what being jewish means in Israel. To many native israelis, being religious can only mean practicing orthodox judaism. At first, this idea seemed irrational to me. I consider myself religious as a reform jew, and now Israelis are telling me that I'm not? Although I don't follow all of the commandments, I do follow the ones that I believe are morally and politically correct. I believe that Judaism should be up to interpretation, or at least reform judaism should be. There are reasons why there are so many holes that need to be filled in. They should be filled in with each person's beliefs to make the religion that much more personalized and real. Everyone has their own interpretations of the practiced religion, even those who are orthodox. I felt like the Israelis were unfairly labeling me without knowing why I practiced the religion. They didn't have the right to tell me who I am. I do.
Then, last night, EIE took us to a reform temple in Tel Aviv. The sanctuary was full up to the brim with people of all shapes, colors, and sizes. This trip showed me that judaism can be practiced in any way, shape, or form, even in religious places such as Israel. These people had no correlation with anything religious, according to Israel, and yet they still came to temple. Their dedication inspired me. I decided that I don't care if I am labeled by others as "unreligious". If I believe that I am, then I am. My belief in myself is more important than any other beliefs that people have about me.
--A Religious Jew
I'm glad you had such a positive experience for Shabbat! It certainly sounds like you were able to pray with a really diverse community. Do you think there are some things that should be decided by the community? Or should everything be left up to the individual?
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