BECOMING JEWISH
  • Welcome to Becoming Jewish!
  • What's New?
  • Reading Recommendations
  • About Our Rabbis
  • Jewish Places in the Bay Area
  • What Do I Have to Do to Become Jewish?
  • Why Be Jewish?
  • Online Jewish Resources
  • Our Conversion Stories
  • Judaism FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Blog: Into the Jewish Pool
  • Media Coverage
  • Converting Outside the USA
  • Conversion Videos

What Role Does Kashrut Play in Your Life? My Experience, by CP

11/10/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
We attend a Reform temple that has a full spectrum of opinion about kashrut observance. Some people get around the meat/dairy challenge by becoming vegan. Many are vegetarian, a couple keep a complete kosher kitchen at home and a great many do not observe kashrut at all -even eating pork and shellfish and mixing meat/dairy. While our temple kitchen is "kosher-style" but not strictly kosher - at people's homes and in public their eating varies from family to family.  
 
It made it difficult initially to figure out just how observant we wanted to be about dietary laws.  When you would try to get a handle on "how to be Jewish" in our temple community you got a different opinion from everyone. Each person you asked (not surprisingly) thought their way of doing it was "correct."  I remember there being a few big controversies over the years around whether we, as a temple, were going to be Ashkenazi or Sephardic at Pesach - the big 'do we or do we not eat legumes' debate.  
 
In many ways it might have been easier to join an Orthodox synagogue or a very Conservative one where rules are followed more explicitly.  All this ambiguity can be challenging for new Jews.  When you convert as an adult (especially if you already have a partner/children) it is especially tricky.  It's not just your OWN eating practices that you are changing, but theirs as well. 
 
For many of us who have not adopted kashrut laws (or pick and choose when and where we will abide by them) the sense that somehow you are inadequate if you do not follow them to the letter saddens me.  We all can express our Judaism in different ways and while one person may be in touch with their Judaism through setting themselves apart from the secular world and being conscious of their Jewishness with their food choices there are others who may adhere to other mitzvot in a very public and passionate way.  
 
I may be mixing meat and dairy but I sometimes find myself on a street corner with an Israeli flag counter protesting a hate-filled crowd of people in my own community calling for the destruction of Israel.  I have raised a family of children to be passionate about TikkunOlam - making it their life's work and speaking out in the secular world on behalf of the Jewish community -organizing Holocaustrememberance days and fighting for the separation of church and state in the public square. 
 
So, who is the better Jew? And do we need to judge one another about the food we eat? We all find our place in the tribe in our own way - arriving with different gifts, possibilities, hopes and limitations.  While I applaud those who keep kosher, I'm not beating myself up over the fact that I do not. 


By CP, a Female Reform Jew
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Thoughts from our Email List

    Hopefully our blog entries will concern issues that matter to YOU, the curious about Judaism.  Please let us know what you'd like to read about!

    Categories

    All
    After Conversion
    Anti Semitism
    Beit Din
    Blessings
    Child Conversion
    Christmas
    Circumcision
    Connecting
    Conservative Judaism
    Conversion Process
    Dating/relationships
    Death/Shiva
    Find A Rabbi
    God
    Hanukkah
    Hatafat Dam Brit
    Hebrew Name
    Hell
    History
    Holidays & Fast Days
    Interfaith
    Jewish Places
    Kashrut
    LGBT
    Mikvah
    Mitvot/Commandments
    Mourning
    Movements
    Non Jewish Family
    Non-Jewish Family
    Orthodox Judaism
    Parenting
    Passover
    Personal Stories
    Questions From Readers
    Reform Judaism
    Social Justice
    Spirituality
    Synagogues
    Torah
    Transgender
    Why Be Jewish?
    Yahrzeit

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    August 2011
    May 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010

BecomingJewish.net is a great resource for anyone who is thinking about converting to Judaism or has recently become Jewish.