testing

A few days ago I had my second Jewish history test. I watched as people stressed over every detail of the Jewish people from 586 BCE to 132 CE, valuing the grade they would get on the upcoming test more than a decent amount of sleep and their own sanity.

            I have always had a disdain for big tests- they made me stressed out and consumed so much of my time. Because I would always forget the information I crammed for just the night before, tests never helped me actually learn, they just helped me do school. And I don’t believe I am the only high school student who believes that tests actually reverse the learning process that school is supposed to be for; many students would attest to studying endlessly for a test only to quickly forget it. Forgetting is a sign of lack of care, so clearly school at home is doing a poor job at inspiring us to apply what we learn at school to our real lives, a duty I believe school is responsible for.

            That’s why the EIE Jewish History tests are different: I actually have grown to care about what I am learning. Because I have visited the history of what I am learning about, and have meaningful conversation with my peers about it, I have formed a real connection and genuine interest about my Jewish history. I talked to my brother about Jewish history yesterday, and he still remembered nearly every detail of what I had just been tested on. Rarely would you see that happening on a topic that you were tested on in regular high school.

            Not long ago, we were talking in class about how to make people remember the destruction of the second temple, and I responded by saying that we should make people remember by teaching them about it, so they would create a desire for themselves to remember it.  But now I realize that there is more to remembering the destruction than vaguely teaching about it- there is a specific way that it must be taught. In order to make people truly care and remember, they must talk about it, and they must visit it. I did so, and I care very much, and I will always remember.

Ezra Shrine in Iraq

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/02/iraq-tomb-jewish-prohet-ezra-turned-islamic.html

An Iraqi journalist claims that the shrine to Ezra, a Jewish prophet, is a symbol of “religious tolerance and confessional coexistence”. However, it seems to me that rather than it being a symbol of religious tolerance, it is a symbol of a lack of sympathy and sensitivity towards other religions. The Iraqi Shiites deliberately removed Jewish symbols, replaced them with Islamic versus, and replaced any explanation of Ezra’s story with Islamic books and Shiite figures. Obviously this exploitation of a significant space for Jews will not positively affect Jewish-Muslim relations.

Shiite leaders justify the Muslim domination of the shrine by stating that Ezra is a holy prophet according to the Quran. It is clear that Jews and Muslims then share a role model- Ezra- so why not take advantage of this shared admiration to bring these seemingly tension-filled religions together?

Gadna

This past week I finished Gadna, a weeklong program made to educate youth about what it is like to be in the Israeli Defense Force. For 4 days, I did what seemed to be useless activities, going countless times from the shape of a “chet” to two lines, and rewashing plates until an inspector arbitrarily decided that I was done. At the time, I was frustrated with these activities. I try to do everything with a clear purpose, and to do anything otherwise seemed completely pointless.

            Now that I am completely done with Gadna and am able to reflect on the program, I realize that things that may appear pointless at first are not always actually pointless. Running back and forth created a disciplinary atmosphere, and made me take the program more seriously. The constant rewashing of the plates may not have been completely arbitrary; I was probably asked to rewash the plates because I hadn’t washed the plates well enough the first time and was just too foolish to notice.

            Not primarily knowing the meaning behind things is not applicable to only Gadna. People are drawn away from things that they do not know the reason of. For instance, people do not want to participate in more traditional Judaism because they do not see reason behind following many of the rules of the Torah. But maybe there is a hidden reason for following the Torah that isn’t so clear, that takes actual participation in to understand the reason behind. Maybe, as reform Jews, we should give seemingly “pointless” things a chance, before completely dismissing them as useless.

Intermarriage?

            Today in Jewish History we talked about inter-marriage. We talked about how intermarriage affects the Jewish people, to what extent Jewish authority should curb inter-marriage, or whether inter-marriage should be curbed at all. I learned that when Jews marry non-Jews, their children would most likely not identify as Jewish. We obviously do not want the Jewish population to go extinct, so why was most of our class in favor of allowing inter-marriage to take place?

            As Reform Jews, we grow up learning about the importance of accepting others. And as students who have most likely read romantic books of literature, we grow up learning that no matter what happens, true love will win in the end. These two beliefs are so deeply engrained in us, but they directly contradict the suggestion of preventing inter-marriage that Jewish leaders propose. What if our true love is not Jewish? Then, we wouldn’t be accepting of him or her into the Jewish community. Then, we wouldn’t even allow a potential love a chance to try to win. Don’t get me wrong, the future of Judaism is extremely important to me, but these beliefs of acceptance and love are vital to any good nature. I want the future generation to be able to believe in acceptance and love the same way I do. The natural perseverance of love may be a lie, but it’s one of the most important and beautiful lies we, as a society, have.

            http://jewishcurrents.org/the-subversive-power-of-jewish-humor-40591

This article made me reflect on why famous people changed their last names away from typically Jewish ones, such as Kubelsky and Konigsberg. The name-changers may claim that the Jewish last name is “unclassy”, but that makes me question what makes it as so? The reason that the Jewish last name is seen as unclassy is perhaps a product of there being hardly any Jewish last names in media and culture. However, if they ceased to change their last names, then it would not be unusual or unclassy to see Jewish last names in the media. In a world where media surrounds Christian culture, young Jews need to know that it is okay to be Jewish in a public setting- to not be ashamed of it. Famous people, the modern world’s role models, who hide their Jewish heritage by changing their last name will in no way support young Jews who are unaware of how to display their Judaism.

Learning

Tonight concluded the second Shabbat at Kibbutz Tzuba. While sitting in a circle filled with sixty three people whom I hadn’t known just a week and a half before, I reflected on my past week. A week ago the whole EIE experience was completely unfamiliar to me. I had no idea what to expect from my peers, nor from my classes, nor from any of the days that would follow. I remember feeling a bit scared that I would let school consume me, as I usually do. I had a bad habit of putting school above all else, and not letting myself learn outside of the classroom through real life experience. But for the next four months I wanted to get to know my peers, and truly understand Israel through participation in activities that did not involve schoolwork.

Now, after one entire week out of the eighteen weeks in the program, I realize that good schoolwork and getting to know Israel and my peers are not mutually exclusive. Going on Tiyuls helps me understand Israel on a deeper level, but it also helps me do well on Jewish History tests. Doing homework with my peers helps me get to know them, but it also helps me understand different perspectives on assignments and ultimately turn in better schoolwork. I don’t need to risk getting good grades in order to truly make the most of my time here at EIE and better form my Jewish identity. Rather, I must be curious about what I am learning and learn with my peers- and there is nothing more Jewish than that.

Tel Gezer

We visited Tel Gezer today. I was standing on ground in which 27 civilizations constructed their communities, built a culture, and crafted history. Each person in each one of the 27 civilizations looked out onto the same mountains I did, and looked out into the same flat land I did. But I, and the person at Gezer from 4,000 years ago did not see the same thing. I see what society thinks of now as progression, technology, and justice, seeing cars and people being shocked over learning that human sacrifice existed, but the Gezer citizen 4,000 years ago also saw what they thought of as progression, technology and justice- a trench and a room within a wall. What allowed this great progression within these 4,000 years is the idea of the Tel itself- building off of what someone else has already built. Each one of these civilizations’ culture and history was not completely distinct. Rather, each of the 27 civilizations’ culture and history was influenced by the culture and history of the civilization that came before them in the Tel. They saw what was before them, took it, and often made it better. This learning from the past civilization, not a constant recreation of a distinct culture, was what allowed progress on the Tel.

            Like the 27 civilizations that built off from one another, I, along with most other Jews, build off different people. Just in the short while that I have been in Jewish history class, I have heard the words “building off of what ___ said” countless times. Usually what follows these words is a more deeper understanding than what the person before them said, but these deeper words would not existed without the inspiration that came from words before them. People must listen to others, and this listening is what allows inspiration for progress in ideas. Just like we have listened to history in order to progress, the future will listen to us, so we must act as role models.