By: Renee Greif, Outreach Chair
To some, Outreach means how-to workshops and education, to others, it is taking advantage of spirituality discussions; but sometimes it is nice to take a moment to listen to the story, the voice, of one person’s journey in life. Lisa Bock has become a local Outreach leader, and this month, it is her voice we present as a voice of one that resonates with many.
by Lisa Bock
There was a time
When being Jewish referred
To someone else.
Someone short or fat and bald,
With a big nose and dark curly hair.
Someone who was “the other’,
Somehow not like ‘the rest of us”.
Different.
And now I cringe at these words,
How shallow and even hurtful.
What did I know?
I really didn’t now what Judaism was
Or what being Jewish meant.
I remember learning, at fifteen,
What a bagel, cream cheese and lox were.
Was I ever really that uninformed?
And one day,
I fell in love with a Jew.
With bright blue eyes and bright smile to match,
All my preconceived notions were swept away
In an instant.
And then I began to learn
About what it means to be a Jew.
It felt warm, connected, and inviting.
Scary too.
I had to leave behind all the things
I thought I knew
About being Jewish.
Twenty years later,
After converting to Judaism,
Having a Jewish home,
Surviving my own Adult Bat Mitzvah,
And raising Jewish children,
I am struggling to remember
How it felt
Not to be Jewish.
Have I come so far?
Is it really possible?
Somewhere between ‘doing Jewish’
And just being Jewish,
Something sunk in.
Perhaps it sunk in
While I braided challah,
Or while lighting the Shabbat candles,
And teaching our children the prayers.
Or was it while driving the children
To Hebrew school,
Handing out change for the tzedakah box.
The Adult B’Nai Mitzvah class I took,
Not to mention a library of Jewish books
That I’ve read and re-read.
Perhaps it happened volunteering at the Purim Carnival,
Or while dining underneath the Sukkah?
But I know that it did.
The calendar used to be from month to month,
And indeed, it still is,
But now it is punctuated with
Jewish holidays and festivals,
And the numerous events at temple
That leaves no excuse for boredom.
There was a time I used to wonder
What we’d do this weekend,
And now it begins with Shabbat services,
And now I do.
There was a time that I thought that being
Reform
Meant that you were just a little bit Jewish.
And now I know that Reform is a branch of Judaism,
Not an excuse for eating ham or being a non-observant.
That being Reform requires a level of understanding,
Introspection and choice.
There was a time that to me the politics
And struggles in Israel seemed so far away.
Perhaps the world is truly getting smaller,
Or perhaps I am listening more.
There was a time I never thought I’d
care who my children
Would fall in love with and marry – only that they should be happy.
And now I hope they fall in love, marry, be happy,
And have Jewish children.
There was a time I used to wonder
If I was Jewish enough –
Or worry I might be too Jewish,
Depending on whom I was with.
Now I’m just Jewish.
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