Jewish World Updates

Chaviva writes:
jewish organizations
I would stare at the ceiling, tears running down my face, asking questions and hoping someone or something would answer. I spent two weeks scared to death of dying, and every night I would ask the same questions, and I would spend my days in class filled with fear. I grew up in the Bible Belt in southern Missouri, where everyone was white and the golden rule was as religious as my family got. My exposure to religion and faith was through my friends – all from families of devout Christians – and I spent my summers at Vacation Bible School with friends. I never fit in, and when I couldn’t sleep at night I’d poke through the Bible my parents had bought for me. When I hit middle school, we moved to Nebraska and I grew to resent organized religion. All my friends in high school were devoutly Christian and I took on many of their habits and joined many Christian organizations. I grew weary of no one being able to talk, discuss and argue about the finer points of the Bible with me. No one was willing to waiver – the answers to my questions from friends and pastors were always, “Because that’s what the Bible tells us.” When I went to college, I lost most of my high school friends. I found a friend in a devout Christian who would talk to me well into the night about religion. We discussed, debated and I started to find myself curious about my beliefs. I took an “Explaining Religions” class my first semester, which would take an issue and discuss how each religion touched on that issue. It suddenly hit me that this was something I should explore, so I began to buy books on Judaism and conversion, and I read book after book. I then started taking Judaic Studies courses and quickly decided I would minor in Judaic Studies. In “Jews in the Middle Ages” I found myself amid the persecution of Jews in Europe. I was so immersed in Jewish culture and religion, but I lacked the reality of the experience. I continued to read and immerse myself in whatever books I could find, and in August 2004 I began attending South Street Temple with a friend from school. I started keeping mildly kosher and began observing the holidays, while working with South Street Temple’s then-rabbi Debbie Stiel on conversion. I got heavily involved in Hillel and started to attend events in Lincoln and Omaha with Jewish 20somethings. The singing and prayers and service and food and community made me feel so alive in my Jewishness and Judaism.
basic beliefs of judaism
Finding a community that shares my basic beliefs while also being willing to discuss, argue and hypothesize about all things also is incredibly important to me. I learned very early that prayer allowed me something unique.

Learning Biblical Hebrew helped me to understand the passion and poetry of Torah, both written and oral. I admire Judaism for it’s ability to grow and change, allowing individuals to explore and try to understand who they are and why they believe what they believe. My connection to my Jewish community, the Temple, my Jewish friends, the history, the Holocaust, Israel, the Torah, the Talmud and G-d continues to grow with each moment I am awake and learning and breathing these histories, stories, words and paths. My heart and soul are happier and healthier since I began building my Jewish life these years ago. It took searching, learning, feeling and exploring to find my place among the Jewish community, but here I am, and here I hope to stay.
jewish people