I don't care.
The question wasn't, What should the Rabbanut in Israel do. Nor was it, What should American Rabbis do. Nor was it, Who should count in a minyan in your shul. It was, Who do you think is Jewish.
And I don't care.
I really only had one criterion for who counts as a Jew that was actually within my jurisdiction; I wanted to marry a Jew. (Why that was essential is another question I haven't explored.) And now I've gone and done that, so I can check that off my list.
So, other than that, why should I care to parse who is a Jew? No one is going to hire me to be their rabbinic authority. No one needs my rulings on the matter. (Whether anyone needs anyone's ruling on the matter is also a question I'm not exploring here.) No one needs me to make the policies at their congregation, perform their marriages or bnei mitzvah, or anything else. I'm just not anyone's professional or lay arbiter on the matter.
(Instead, call me when you have a question about the ramifications of HIPAA on medical research.)
Therefore, I don't care.
But, EMN, what if you're in a minyan and there's only 10 people there and someone might have dubious Jew credentials? Would you act like there's a minyan? What if they want to read Torah? What if they want an aliyah? What if they want to lead the service? And what if it's Yom Kippur?!
You know what? I don't care. I think the overall ramifications of someone davening alongside me whose Judaism is called into question -- who may have had a conversion that someone doesn't like, or a non-Jewish mother, or whose maternal great great grandmother had a conversion that someone didn't like -- are nil. I don't actually think something transformative happens when there's 10 people who are Glatt Kosher Jews. I don't think my prayers go anywhere different if there's someone in a leadership role of any kind of questionable heritage. I'm not sure they go anywhere, but I bet they go to the same place regardless of who is being counted in the room.
Do I think that God is somewhere and doing a background check on everyone davening, and is FREAKING OUT when someone comes up a bit fuzzy? No. I think that if we have a God who likes to micromanage, there are some bigger fish to fry. This doesn't need that much input.
That's my revelation. I simply no longer have to wonder if I think someone is Jewish enough for something. I'm off that committee.
Phew!
Like a lot.
ReplyDeleteBut you care how you count your husband as a Jew. I mean, sure, your husband's Jewish credentials are beyond reproach, but hypothetically, in another less perfect life where you never met your amazing husband, it is possible that you could have fallen in love with someone who had more dubious credentials, and then it would have mattered. However, you're probably going to say that it didn't happen, you would have crossed that bridge when you came to it, but since you didn't, you don't care.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool. I approve your apathy! :-)
I have come around to thinking that being a Jew is a process. Those who are born into a home where Jewish practice is abundant can wrestle with what is the natural expectation...that this will be continued during the progeny's adulthood. It is as if nature and nurture both are sealed at birth. Many people proceed this way with great comfort. Other's with or without this experience venture in or out different doors and are changed. From the vantage point of 61 years I am sure that exclusion is not a community virtue and anyone willing to do set up and cleanup are welcome . What I also think is that like marriage, or singleness or friendship or a job or a neighbor or a citizen being a Jew must be thought about and worked at continuously.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I will go out on a limb...marrying a Jew is very comfortable but not the only route to the journey to a Jewish life. (Don't let my mother see this!)