Tonight marks the second day of Passover and I can't help but make a distinct observation about the way I am watching other Jews observe the holiday this year. They way I see it, Passover is another way of "setting ourselves apart" from other religions and cultures. Even though the majority of American Jews who do not hold themselves to the strict Rabbinic laws of kashrut every day of the year, I am watching while several take on keeping kosher for Passover this week as a challenge to themselves. Abstaining from bread (among several other foods) this week makes people look at us differently, which in turn challenges us (the Jews) to look at ourselves in a different way. At this point in our lives, I am watching while many of my friends (and I) stop accept traditional practices as the "truth" and begin questioning them. At the seder I went to this evening, a few girls I was sitting by grew a bit pertrrbed when a ketchup was served to them without a passover hecture. On a whim I asked if anyone knew the reason behind why we were forbidden from eating corn syrup products. I received a ton of strange looks. Nobody knew! After we leave our parents homes, we are given the opportunity to take beliefs and practices we have engaged in throughout our lives and ask the big question - WHY. We are granted this liberty by the nature of the society we live in and this is unique to communities like that of Jewish America. Why then are so few numbers asking the question? Is it out of pure laziness or acceptance? No matter what the reason, this can lead to frightening results. If we accept everything we are told and don't challenge even the little things like the "corn syrup mandate," so that we can obtain a better and more nuanced understanding for ourselves, are we really learning anything?
With that said, I have decided to take on this challenge for myself this year and watch the ways in which my other Jewish friends who have not decided to "keep Passover" respond to my decision. I just find it interesting that as I get older, more and more of my friends lose their ties to Judaism. Last year they felt no need to fast on Yom Kippur, this year, they visited a friend out of town instead of going to seder. What will it be next year?
1 comment:
Great questions, Becca. A couple responses:
1. There's a difference between the corn syrup issue (a part of the kitniot [prohibition of legumes/corn among Ashkenazic Jews] situation) and being served a processed food without a Passover Hechsher. Of course, the people sitting next to you might not have see these things as two separate issues. . .
2. While it's taken me a while to accept this, it's important to consider that people don't "trend" like simple mathematical equations. People discard and adopt traditions at different times of their lives for different reasons. Perhaps you're seeing Jewish friends distancing themselves from the traditions of their youth in order to come to terms independently with their *own* senses of personal identity. I've seen these things happen over the course of years, and I've found these journeys fascinating. I encourage you to see the big picture as a lot more complicated than the parables you're often encouraged to believe. Perhaps these folks are in fact asking the big questions you see lacking in your Seder table-mates. . .
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