Judaism, Christianity, and Me

I left a comment for fellow blogger GapCohen, who asked me about my knowledge of Judaism and Jewish culture. As usual, my response to her query was long enough for a post, in and of itself, so I’ve put it here instead of cluttering up her comments page.

I was born and raised Protestant, but I dabbled in Catholicism and Judaism back in my high school and college days. Today I’m just an eclectic sort of Christian, cherry-picking what I like from all the various denoms. I still hold mostly to Protestant beliefs, but every once in a while I’ll come up with something that my (Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian) friends roll their eyes at and say “you’re so Catholic” or “you’re so Jewish.”

As for Judaism, I have always loved God’s People and their culture. There is so much to celebrate in Judaism. I studied Biblical Hebrew in college (two years) and attended the local reform shul, for which I baked challah every Friday for a year. I learned a lot there, about Judaism and about myself.

One thing I learned about myself was that I am very attached to the idea of a personal God and a personal Saviour. It’s the reason I never converted to Judaism. I needed a more personal God than Judaism teaches.

And one thing I learned about Judaism is that observant Jews are very socially conscious — it’s a religious obligation to help those in need. They call it mitzvot (/MITTS voht/) and each mitzvah performed brings both the doer and the recipient a little closer to God.

My boss laughs at me about the college-level Hebrew, by the way. You see, it was in the course catalogue at my college, but it was almost never offered. No demand. So I demanded. Actually, I went to the chair of the religious studies department and told him I wanted to take it. He said that it would only be offered if I could scare up at least five other people to take the class. So … I did. I was hopeless — a C student — for the whole four terms, but I did learn how to sound out the Hebrew letters, and I learned some vocabulary. I can still recite the entire first chapter of Genesis (Bereshith) in Hebrew.

Anyway, so my boss asked me one day why I was do determined to take that class, and I told him that I wanted to learn it so I could read the Old Testament in its original language. He nearly fell out of his chair laughing. Because, of course, Jewish scholars devote their entire lives to the study of Tenakh and even then few master it. And here I thought I could gain enough knowledge in a few years of college study to read it in the original. I’m nothing if not ambitious.

You wouldn’t think that studying Biblical Hebrew would have done me much good in preparing for a career, but, oddly enough, it actually got me a job after my divorce. I was looking for a secretarial position, and applied at a place where the owner simply couldn’t afford me. But he asked if I would object to his passing my resume along to someone else who needed a good secretary. Um, no, of course I wouldn’t mind.

So I get a call from the Senior Rabbi of the local Modern Orthodox synagogue. I asked him a few questions on the phone, including what branch of Judaism his shul represented. When he told me they were Mod. Orthodox, I said, “Okay, I won’t wear a sleeveless top or slacks.” He asked me in the interview how I knew … and then asked about the Hebrew on my resume. I told him that, while I could sound it out, I didn’t usually have a clue what it meant. He hired me. He used to brag that his was the only rabbi’s secretary in Memphis who could type his notes in Hebrew. And I could, too. MS Word has the Hebrew characters in the Times New Roman font. The only hitch is, if you are typing, say, a eulogy that includes both English and Hebrew, you have to type the Hebrew backwards! (Because Hebrew reads right to left, instead of left to right.) It was a fun challenge.

I learned a lot about Jewish culture and religious observance working at that shul. I was very sad when “my rabbi” resigned and I was laid off. (If you don’t have a rabbi, you don’t need a rabbi’s secretary on the payroll. LOL!)

Fortunately for me, while I was working at the shul, I met a man who liked me enough to hire me for his company when I was laid off. So I now work for three Jewish men, each representing a different branch of modern Judaism: Modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. It’s fun, and it’s nice to still be able to use my esoteric knowledge of Jewish holidays and culture to benefit them in their positions.

Tags: Christianity, culture, diversity, Education, Judaism, Religion, respect, True Stories