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cecerose
Some people identify culturally, but not religiously, as Jews; they want to be able to say "I'm a Jew" but without the burden of mitzvot or believing in God or the like. Some of them gravitate to Reform congregations -- for things like school for their kids, not because they want to attend services. They know that non-observance is accepted by the Reform movement, so they don't think they have to worry about people questioning them on kashrut issues at potlucks or tsk-tsking them for going to a movie on Saturday afternoon or whatever. They see Reform as "freedom from religion".
Now add people who do take religion a little more seriously but believe that traditional observance is "outdated". They will have a lot in common, on an outward basis, with the secular Jews above.
Now along comes someone who appears to be more traditional. For the secular Jew this is inconvenient, but for the modernist this is a threat. I have heard lots of people in this group complain that we're becoming "too Orthodox" if we do more prayers in Hebrew or ask people to not bring meat/milk mixtures to potlucks. For them, the Orthodox are the enemy, and they do not distinguish practice from theology. (Most have probably not even spent a lot of time thinking about the question.) To them, traditional observance is sort of like someone deliberately returning to pre-modern values like subjugation of women. It doesn't matter if that isn't true; it's a visceral reaction. Or so it appears to me, anyway. The people I've talked to seem completely unable to comprehend that someone might willingly choose to keep kosher or walk to shul or the like.
2. Both the reform and the reconstructionist movements hold that religious observance of halacha is nonbinding and voluntary -- what I find troubling is that lay reform and reconstructionist Jews often don't have enough of background to make meaningful choices. Do you see this as a problem?
Yes, it's a problem. I think it's something that's getting better; with the current swing toward tradition comes increased education, including for adults. But it's a challenge, and in practice only a very small number of Jews will put in the effort to approach this intelligently.
It's not a huge problem, though, because I think most of the rest wouldn't have "done religion" anyway, so this approach doesn't lure people away from practice. I think those who want to practice will practice, and ask questions as needed, and those who don't want to will avail themselves of the "I don't have to" excuse.
I'd actually be happier if my movement were, say, a fifth its current size but with five times as many people taking these questions seriously. Any outcome is fine but I'd love it if more people would make the effort and could articulate their positions.
3. How did you get involved in gaming? What do you enjoy most about it? (I've tried, Lord knows, I've tried and my character is currently riding around in someone's sack.)
I assume from your parenthetical comment that you'e mostly talking about role-playing games. I started playing D&D -- badly -- with a group of friends. We were all social-outcast geeks anyway and this sounded cool to several of us, so why not? We bumbled along but never really connected with experienced players. I hooked up with other players in college and played in some games then. I also got into the SCA in college, and found that there was high overlap among SCA people, D&D players, and my circle of geeky friends.
At this point, gaming is something I do with friends because it's an activity we all enjoy. I haven't sought out strangers to play with since college, and I've never played at conventions or competitions. I think I see it as primarily a social activity, so I naturally want to do it with people I like to socialize with.
As for what I enjoy about gaming itself, I think it's the chance to experiment with a character who isn't me in a world that isn't mine. Even if my characters often bear a striking resemblence to me, I can at least try. It's a creative outlet, but in a shared environment so I get help from other people.
4. Describe your favorite childhood comfort food.
Hmm, that's tough. There were several. Grilled-cheese sandwiches (unadultrated with other ingredients such as tomatoes) and cream-of-tomato soup often filled this role. So did baked ham-and-cheese sandwiches -- take a bun, load it up with thinly-sliced ham, american cheese, mustard, relish, and onions, wrap it all in foil, and stick it in the oven until gooey. No, I don't know where that came from. (Obviously, I haven't had this in rather a while...)
And then, of course, there was chocolate. I had a pretty serious sweet tooth. :-)
5. If you were given a year long all expense scholarship for Jewish study, where would you go?
Assuming I could qualify for admission (a pretty big assumption, but so's the funding :-) ), the Jerusalem campus of Hebrew Union College (the Reform seminary). Part of this is a cop-out, though; no Orthodox institution would take a woman interested in the rabbinate, which rules out most formal learning programs, and I don't think I'd gain much from the material that is traditionally taught to Orthodox women. So that means that if it's a formal program it's connected with one of the other movements, and of those Reform speaks most clearly to me.
Re: Reform Jews
It sounds like your parents come from a "classical Reform" background -- the phase of the Reform movement that defined itself as "what we don't do". These are the folks who wanted to fit in with the surrounding culture; they abandoned visible observance (kashrut, clothing, much of Shabbat, etc), made services more like Protestant ones (organ, English, responsive readings), and threw out a lot of good stuff without realizing it. Now the pendulum is swinging the other way, but there are a lot of people who grew up with classical Reform and who are still alive, and they fight change as "becoming like them" -- you know, the people they saw our movement as being differnet from.
Now, this is no excuse for your parents to try to do things with your kids that you don't approve of. Kashrut should be no different from, for example, rules for discipline or TV viewing or whatever. They should respect your wishes. If they won't, the same responses that are taken by people who object to the granparents' views on spanking are available to you. It's unfortunate when families can't work these things out, and I hope you are able to find some way to fix the current problems without keeping the kids away from their grandparents. (As for what to tell your four-year-old about grandpa's shrimp, you can say something like "grandpa thinks the rules are different from what we think, but we don't eat shrimp". Or something like that, I guess -- I have no background in family counseling, and your rabbi probably has better suggestions.)
The list goes on but my point here is that I'm puzzled at what exactly it means to be a Reform Jew.
I would say that if you're serious about it, it's not for the faint of heart. You have to study, and be prepared to change your own behavior as a result, while defending yourself from people who say that Reform is all about eating bacon cheeseburgers on Yom Kippur. I'm a Reform Jew because of what I believe, and I have a fantastic rabbi who helps me along the path. Some people might not have good resources, or might not avail themselves of those that are available. I get the impression that the currnet generation of schools is doing a better job than what came before, but I'm not a parent so I don't have direct experience.
It sounds like you can fit into Reform just fine, though it would be better if you had a good rabbi or a "buddy" who will help you find answers to questions and argue with you and stuff. Have you had a conversation with the rabbi you mentioned, the one who started keeping kosher at 60? I'll bet he's got a fascinating story to tell -- ask him about it. He'll probably be happy to tell you about it, and to encourage you to remain active as well.
I've experienced religious prejudice all my life and it seems that my response to it has been to become far more religious. Does this seem strange?
Not strange at all. There are two canonical responses to bullying: to cave in, and to become even more firm in one's position. You did the latter. Good for you!
I'm curious as to why you became more religious (those sandwiches sound strange and like something my mom would love.)
I'm a convert. There's a long story behind that but, basically, I was a seeker (not converting for marriage etc). I'm here because I believe this is the right place for me to be.
Re: Reform Jews
Actually, the older Rabbi retired and the current one is fantastic, the best, most interesting and thoroughly educated Rabbi I've ever met. I've been back at school (changing careers, partly due to my fibromyalgia) for several years, while caring for my kids and my parents so spending time with the Rabbi has been impossible. He offers many programs and classes I'd love but.....I just can squeeze in even one more thing. (Also, the prior Rabbi wouldn't have been open to the kind of discussion you suggest; the current one most definitely would.)
I believe you are right about the parental conflict and I will approach it as such.
I do have some issues with all the "classifying" that goes on in my Jewish community. I've been told, directly and indirectly, but ultra-Orthodox Jews that I'm not a "real" Jew and I tend to only be a little disturbed by the Protestantized/secularized Reform Jews amongst whom I was raised. My disturbance is rooted in their reaction to my return to traditions, not me scorning them (because I don't do that. It's something they infer but which I do not imply. I just realized that by having this discussion. Thanks.)
Much to think about as my daughter's Bat Mitzvah approaches. I do remind myself that if we were Orthodox, her life would be very different right now.
And she brought up "The Passion" tonight at dinner.......