Over a year ago, my Jewish learning journey began. Josh and I attended a Humanistic Judaism course taught by Rabbi Adam Chalom in Scottsdale. We both instantly connected with the Rabbi, their values and joined their local congregation as members. Throughout the past year, we continued to learn much about Judaism. We attended several Shabbat services on Friday night, celebrated many of the holidays separately and with the congregation, and we enrolled Madilyn in Sunlight Sunday school to teach her about Judaism from the child's perspective. We found this to be a good experience for us, however, after the past year, I was yearning to learn more about Judaism and looking for a community of people for our family to have a deeper connection.
Thus begins the next chapter of my Jewish journey. This fall I have decided to take a religion course -- Introduction to Judaism. For the next eighteen weeks, every Tuesday night, I will be learning the fundamentals of Jewish thought and practice. Topics include Jewish holidays and life cycle events, theology and prayer,
Israel, history and Hebrew. The course started last Tuesday night and I love it already. I know it was only the first night, but I already gained a level of knowledge of Judaism that I did not know before. I feel like I am back in college with mandatory text books to read, a syllabus to follow and a final exam. Every week, we have a journal assignment to complete. As I wrote this week's journal entry, I found myself struggling to convey my thoughts into words. I am still not sure this encapsulates everything about where I am in my religious life, but wanted to share it on my blog anyway.
Judaism Journal Entry: Week One
Write a personal statement about where you
are in your religious life right now.
Religion has
always been an influence in my life. I
am not saying that at various times in my life, my engagement in religion has wavered. It definitely has, but I have always returned
back to my faith to ground me.
Here are my
religious beliefs right now in my life:
- I believe in God, in something greater than myself.
- I also believe that others have the right to have their own opinions and religious beliefs. I believe in God, but that doesn't mean that someone else does.
- I believe that science and religion can co-exist.
- I believe religion creates a community of people. A family.
- I believe that religion provides the guiding principles and foundation for people live their life with a high standard of values. It teaches morality, the giving of oneself to others whenever they can, honesty, love, respect, tolerance, diversity, and humility. It is these values that I would like to teach my children.
- I believe that religion makes me feel good. It makes me strive to be a better person. It is a constant reminder of what I can do better in my life. It also reminds me that life is not perfect and that sometimes things happen for a reason.
- I believe that religion creates traditions and holidays.
- Lastly, I believe that you never stop your religious journey. Life should be full of everlasting learning and knowledge. Thus, the reason I am learning more about Judaism; its traditions, cultures and beliefs.
Comments