Having been reared in a traditional (Orthodox) Jewish home, the accommodation to the tenets of my faith was simple. Like many religions, the rules comprised a well-established array of do’s and don’ts.
At age 7, I was placed in a Yeshiva (Jewish parochial school) where I was introduced to the Tanakh, a compendium of five the five books of Moses (aka The Torah, the sacred text of Judaism), and the multiple books of the Prophets and the Scribes. Later, without much historical context, I was moved up to the study of portions of the Talmud which was authored by the early rabbis, and which included the Mishna, Gomorrah and the Midrash. All of this material was presented to our class as if it were a dinner prepared by a divine chef whose menu was not subject to question. It was presented to be learned, often memorized, but rarely questioned.
The education of those of my friends who attended only Sunday school, or evening Hebrew school, was often limited only to Bible stories and or explanation of Jewish holidays.
My productive years were spent in the practice of law. My wife was a law professor and all three of my children were graduate, licensed lawyers. In 2015, I found myself alone, retired, an empty nest widower. Shakespeare put it best when he stated that “Sweet are the uses of adversity which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head”. My precious jewel was time unencumbered by need, employment, or other preoccupation. At last, I could examine and digest the religious meal served to me in my early youth.
For the most part the writings contained in this blog are an outgrowth of that opportunity and effort. They represent a series of examinations into the origin, politics, mutations and restrictions of modern-day Judaism. They include matrilineality, conversion, anti-Semitism, and a host of other essential considerations.