Explaining Judaism

By Emily Gordon
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Sometimes I feel as if I am walking around with a giant Jewish star stamped on my forehead. Whether I'm informing a professor that I will be missing class to go home for the Passover seder ("What's a seder?") or explaining to a fellow student that being a Conservative Jew does not necessarily mean I align myself with conservative politics, my religious identity seems to follow me wherever I go. I frequently find myself describing my religious background and affiliation with Conservative Judaism to friends, advisors, teaching assistants, acquaintances, and even the more Judaism-savvy people at the UW Hillel.

Even though Jews and Jewish holidays tend to pop up on the news on a regular basis (no thanks to Mr. Madoff), many people remain uninformed when it comes to anything Jewish. Just ask a random person if they can identify Israel on a world map—you'll still be waiting for them to point it out by the time the rest of us are singing "L'shanah Haba'ah B'Yerushalayim". What is a hamentaschen? It's probably something wrapped in a pig product, either ham or bacon. What do you use an etrog for? To season a summer salad, of course!

For those of us who are able to correctly locate Israel on a map, who spent countless days at Hebrew school filling hamentaschen with jelly and chocolate chips, who sweat every time we hold an etrog because accidentally breaking off the pitom (stamen) would give us more guilt and anxiety than missing a Shabbas meal with your bubbe after she spent hours slaving over the matzah ball soup. For the very few of us who are Jewish, it is important that we remain true to our Judaism in this secular world. It is important that we share our customs and traditions. It is important that we take the time to help others understand where we come from and what makes us a unique people. After all, we are in school to be educated. Would it be so bad if we did a little educating ourselves?

Emily Gordon is a sophomore at The University of Wisconsin-Madison and is double-majoring in Hebrew and Semitic Studies and Gender and Women's Studies with a minor in LGBT Studies. She is a native of Denver, CO. and participated on Nativ 26.

[Posted 2/23/09]