Final Thoughts on Jewish Identity
This class has been a real journey for me as an individual and as a Jew. As an individual, it is very interesting to look at any group of people closely. Truthfully, I did not know how the class would end up being structured, but I think that by addressing completley different topics each time, we got to have a taste of many different walks of life for American Jews.
I feel that my whole life, I've questioned my own identity. I know that my political and ideological beliefs are liberal, yet many of the rituals that I observe in my life do not fit into the liberal catagory, for example, keeping kosher, or not being openminded to the possibility of dating a boy who isn't Jewish.
I loved learning about the many different ways that Judaism is manifested in the United States. What was truly interesting for me though, was the fact that as I learned about so many other approaches to Judaism, I became more strongly attached to my own personal beliefs, affiliations, and approaches. However, I don't think that that's necessarily a bad thing.
posted by Rachel Kaplan @ 7:28 PM
2 Comments:
I agree with you- this class has made me see more of who I am as a Jew and as a person and I will keep in mind all that we learned while going through life.
I also really enjoyed this class. What I found most interesting was the way in which we were able to incorporate Judaism into pop culture and vice versa. I have taken a number of Jewish studies courses in the past but they always involve learning about history and never look at Judaism from a modern perspective. I also loved the discussion based structure of this class, it really allowed me to get involved and learn in a hands on way that kept me interested even beyond the classroom. Furthermore, I agree with you about learning about myself and my own Jewish identity as well, as I touched on in a recent blog, I have decided to really look further into the reconstructionist movement and I am very excited about my new found connection with so many aspects of my religion(and culture.)
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