"I Am Jewish" Meme....yup....I've been tagged and you're next!

TikkunGer started a meme and because I'm his "girlfriend" I am a lucky recipient of the "I Am Jewish" meme. This meme is different from all other memes. It's a 500 words or less essay about what Judaism means to me. Tonight I did my essay. I can't say I'm thrilled with it. I don't think it reveals all I feel, but it is what came out tonight and so I'm sharing it with you. I look forward to reading YOUR own essays too. Especially the people I tag:

Mia,because I always love to hear your point of view
Yael, because after reading your blog for some months, you simply amaze me.
Amishav, because I can.

And so here we are, my essay...

To be a Jew takes on a myriad of meanings for me. First and foremost, consciously and subconsciously; it is what I am in my blood, bones, and my DNA; it is my true essence and core. It is ancestral heritage, known and unknown. It is knowledge and the continuous process of education, it is family and community, it is about improving self in order to improve the world.

I am Jewish because my parents were Jews and their parents were Jews. This means I come from a family where knowledge of self, participation in community and perhaps most essential, a constant desire to learn were a crucial part of Jewish life.

Since early childhood, learning has always been a focus in my life. I remember how exciting it was as a child to devour a new book. From before kindergarten, I could read. Reading is a simple part of being a Jew. As I got older, that learning turned into Hebrew and religious school, a Bat Mitzvah, and eventually college and a degree in education. Learning has always been essential in Judaism historically and in my life.

Family is core in Judaism. It is the first understanding we learn about ourselves and our world. Most special for me were the Jewish holidays. This is where the true essence of family shined. We worked together to make a meal. We set the table together. We sat together and participated in traditional Jewish rituals, as a family. Chanukah, Passover, and Rosh Hashanah were times when family felt together and warm and perhaps normal. Family includes not just genetic relatives but community as well.

Being a Jew means being more than just a piece of a community, it means being a contributing part of the community. It means collecting food for the disadvantaged, helping the elderly, volunteering time out of pure selflessness; not to feel good, but to contribute to other’s feeling good. It’s about treating the community with care, including the environment.

Nature is absolutely a piece of the Jewish puzzle. Caring for G-d’s planet is crucial. I remember family camping trips when I was quite young. Being in nature and becoming a part of it, is for me, part of being a Jew. Climbing thousands of steps to a breathtaking waterfall, taking a light walk along a dirt path, sitting around a campfire and embracing simplicity, planting a tree; appreciating G-d’s gifts in their purest form, this is part of being a Jew.

Perhaps the most significant thing that is part of being a Jew is about self. It’s not about selfishness but about caring for, improving, and honoring self in order to honor the world. Being Jewish means always striving to understand myself and finding ways to be more productive and more grounded. In order to be a productive member of my own life, my community, the world; I believe that the core values of Judaism must constantly be worked on: Knowledge, Family, and Community.