Personal Narrative: My Jewish Community

In addition, going to the baptist church made me realize that no matter what your culture is, humans all want the same things. People want a sense of meaning and purpose, and to feel inspired, hopeful, unconditionally loved, accepted, and uplifted. People want to have an understanding of who they are, and what that entails. When people are feeling scared and insecure about the present and future, they demand explanations for the unknown, or the difficult elements of their life. Furthermore, people need order, structure, and security in their lives by being told what they should think/believe, how they should behave. People also seek a sense of belonging and community. Overall,it doesn’t matter if you’re Jewish, Christian, Caucasian, or African American, at the end of the day, humans generally all want the same thing, but just have different ways of showing it or expressing it.

Another moment when I was clearly reminded of my Jewish identity while attending elementary school was, when the religious holidays approached. My mother had to go to the school in advance to ask if I could miss school those particular days, they generally said that I could miss one, maybe two days. When I came back to school from those holidays the kids would always ask me ignorant questions such as why do I not believe in the real god and why do I wear that hat (kippah) when I go to pray. I would generally simply differ the questions by answering that my parents would force me

Today, I went on a guided tour of the Lloyd Street Synagogue. This synagogue was the first synagogue built in Maryland by the Hebrews in 1845. It is also, the third-oldest synagogue remaining in the country. The Greek Revival style building was designed by architect Robert Cray Long, Jr. In 1861, due the Synagogue had to be expanded by architect William H. Resin due to the growing number of members needing additional space. The original interior and exterior décor was not affected. The building is pink in color. The outside did not have any visible Jewish symbols so the building did not appear as a Jewish structure and was less distinctive. The star of David, the ten commandments, nor Hebrew saying adorned the exterior of the building as it does today.

Growing up with two different Heritages is like growing up in two different worlds, it was tough growing up being Native and Hispanic I would either get made fun of because I was Native or I was made fun of for being Hispanic. I guess you can say that I have somewhat of a different life, living with any Hispanic family but considering myself more Native, because just at home i just speak spanish, and eat amazing food made by my mother who isn’t even Hispanic who’s just Native American who didn’t consider herself Native American because she herself lived with my grandmother or she lived with a family friend who was Hispanic and showed her things about a culture that she didn’t know anything about.

It was the spring of my freshman year in high school. Through the means of various archeological facts, and others personal accounts I had changed from an orthodox Mormon to an agnostic in a matter of hours. I grew up in a family, the youngest of three, of devout Mormon faith. I had always been quite odd as a child, always asking the “why?” and the “how?” of everything Mormon. My intellectual concerns were placed atop of a shelf in my mind and were regarded as “unnecessary,” and “dangerous” by my church leaders and parents. By the end of my freshman year my mental shelf of faith had strained all it could and collapsed. Through my new mindset, I have gained more independence than at any other point in my life. To me, my ability to be independent has been my key to success in learning.

All I could fit in my only small bag was a few clothes and a toothbrush and all my parents

On March 11th, I went to the Touro Synagogue for my religious visit, which is located at 4238 St. Charles Avenue. The Touro Synagogue is a part of the Judaism religious affiliation. The Judaism religious group practice their religion on the Sabbath day, which meant that they service I attended was on Saturday at 10:30. The Touro synagogue is a more reform synagogue. When first arriving at the Synagogue I was nervous and scared about not being received by everyone. Also, I think I acted off these feeling because I thought I would feel out of place because of my race; however, while I was standing outside I evaluate that I was just using race as an excuse not to try to try something new. After I was able to confront my fears, I turned around and became even more nervous when I realized that it was a

The first way I fit into my community is by helping in outside events I helped out at an Alzheimer's marathon. Which helped me see that there is a lot of effort from Oklahoma towards this community of people with Alzheimer. It helped me understand how there are different communities and from that event, it helped me identify with which community I fit in. Actually, I started to realize that I fit into the Baptist people because I met my best friends there also I felt like I was welcomed there it felt natural to me. I learned from that event is that a community is an identity. When I was at the event I was passionate about helping and representing the place I came from. I had

I am an atheist, but it wasn't always that way. My entire life there was a constant pressure on me to accept that there was a supreme being that created all. Even at a young age I couldn’t bring myself to fully believe this. I continued grasping for straws because, just like every other religious person, I was scared of the “consequences” that would come with not believing. My Non-Denominational Christian Church promoted telling this to everyone, even children.

I was in the Buchenwald camp when I heard about the defeat of the German Army at the Stalingrad. I was excited, and wished that I had witnessed the defeat in person so that I can laugh at the German soldiers. However, my imaginary laughter was halted when one of the guards hit the floor with a bat thrice, which means labor time. My role in the camp was to wake up before sunrise, work the entire day and starve. The camp is the most dreadful place I have ever encountered. Yet, this may not be true for the SS guards, who can visit the zoo or the brothel in the camp anytime they desire (Bergen “Chapter 7”). Fortunately, I was blessed with my skills I acquired in the Volkswagen, for it assigned me into one of the workshops that build war supplies for Germany. The starvation in the camp is intense, for a chunk of bread

I have always been interested in learning about religion in conjunction with experiencing it. Growing up I was raised in a Christian home and learned very little about any other religion including other monotheistic religion. Judaism is the religion that I knew the least about and decided that the best possible way for me to learn more was to experience it. I had only ever heard of Judaism in a comical or historical way. I chose to go to a Synagogue to further my knowledge and experience Judaism first hand.

“Wait, what?” “but, how?” “is that even allowed?” All common responses to my not-so-common commitment: active membership in a Jewish youth group, as a Christian. This unusual involvement began as a joke among friends, but has evolved into a life changing decision.

Judaism is not being born into a Jewish home, but spending your life learning, teaching, and transmitting. The five books of the Torah teach the foundation to how the Jewish people evolved over years of prosperity. Following the books of Torah, and being a part of the Jewish faith requires several different rules, or commandments, to be followed. There are expectations to be met and a life time of traditions to be learned, for instance, the holidays and how to pray and recite prayers in a certain manner. These traditions can only be taught from doing and watching generations of loved ones partake in God’s will. For the past several months, I have experienced these traditions and teachings through the eyes of Orthodox Jews. An analysis of the

Before attending the service, I was extremely nervous. I felt unsure of what to wear, what to expect, and even how to act. Once I met up with my Uncle, my nerves settled a little bit, but never fully disappeared. I wanted to come off as polite and that I was not intruding in a place that I did not belong. When we sat down in our seats, I tried to stay to myself and not bother anyone. I did not want anyone pointing out or realizing that we were new. I was terrified of someone finding out that I was not Jewish; though I am sure it was obvious. During the service, these feelings continued. I felt tense and kept my head down and in the prayer book for most of the service. I felt that if I tried to follow along and mind my own business that maybe

At this point in the experience, it could have been plausible for me to make a connection from my past experiences to my current realizations about Judaism and the practices surrounding it. There is a consistent idea regarding connections, spirituality, and tactile relationships that appear in the two phases of this mulitcomponential experience. However, it wasn’t until after my interview with an insider, Rabbi Steve, and my subsequent listening of the recording that the pieces began to come together, the clouds parted and suddenly there was a clarity that hadn’t been there previously. At the end of phase two I discuss Moran’s final stage in his cultural framework, appropriately named, “Knowing Oneself”. As it suggests, this is the point in the cultural experience where the experiencer reflects on different elements to not only include the experience but the individual feelings and opinions, and reactions that accompany it. While I engaged in some level of reflection, I can now say that this reflection was somewhat superficial as it merely penetrated the surface of a much deeper and complicated issue. I concluded the second phase saying that although the experience was new, it was still familiar as I have had previous involvements in church settings. The positive that I walked away with was this notion that perhaps we aren’t as different as we think, and that there will always be a connection. This statement, is the beginning to what I believe Moran meant by his last stage