I think I have a need to explain myself. Not sure where it will lead to, but organizing my jumbled feelings into something resembling a cohesive thought may actually help me understand myself. (After writing this sentence I understand why I will never become a writer, no patience for word organization)
Trying to pressure me into something with preaching is possibly the worst way to get me to do anything.
Let me give you an example.
A teacher at our 5 Year Old's Russian school has asked me recently why I didn't enroll said child into her Jewish History class. The teacher also has her for a Russian speaking class, which the kid enjoys, and they have a good relationship. I guess the reason for the question was when asked last week about the Holiday last week (Passover) The 5 Year Old happily said that it was Easter. This answer truly shocked the teacher. Since then (or maybe even before that), said teacher has been pestering me to no end (last Sunday I was at a loss for words and was pissed for the better half of the day) about my child's apparent lack of knowledge. I beleieve the teacher had actually made me even less wanting to do as she asked. Spite? maybe, but I rarely do things out of spite. It rubs me the wrong way.
Allow me explain something about my Jewishness. I know that I am a Jew. I know about the suffering and all the nastiness that comes with anti-semitism. I know why my parents took my brother and I to the USA (bless them for that). Maybe for these reasons, I am reluctant to expose my own children to that. I am not a religious person, more than that I am fairly anti-religious person. I have enough rules and regulations in my life without having a sleuth of additional rules imposed on me. I am a moral person, I follow the ten commandments even without acknowledging them as rules for life. Some people would consider me without a moral core, a godless wonder, or lacking soul. Well screw that. My parents are some of the moral people I know in my life, and they instilled that in me. Anyway, that is off the point, if I am still keeping to it.
Others have mentioned that you don't have to follow religion but you can learn about history and what makes the Jewish people what they are. Here is what I think. These teaching come from Torah, Old Testament and other RELIGUIOUS texts. I have never heard of anybody picking up a non-biased history book to teach history (do these books even exist)? In my mind Jews have been spread all over the world for so long, that motives have changed and adopted to the cultures they lived in, and you can not use a single text to teach the history of people. The only lesson that can be taught about Jews, IMHO, is that adaptability is the KING, and Darwin should have concentrated on humans rather than birds. Sticking to thousand year old text is a sure-fire way to decline, isolation, and eventual demise.
That was completely unreleated to topic as well. As I said, I have more feelings about it than rational thought.
I think my point is this. Let 5 Year Old be a kid. Don't burden them with religion. If she wants to have a christmas tree, why not, it's a beautiful tradition. If she wants to run around looking for chocolate eggs, why the hell not?
Religion and history mean accountability. The only thing kids should be accountable for at that age is properly wiping their behinds, washing their hands, brishing their teeth, and once in a while saying "I love you daddy/mommy."
Did that make any sense at all?
Trying to pressure me into something with preaching is possibly the worst way to get me to do anything.
Let me give you an example.
A teacher at our 5 Year Old's Russian school has asked me recently why I didn't enroll said child into her Jewish History class. The teacher also has her for a Russian speaking class, which the kid enjoys, and they have a good relationship. I guess the reason for the question was when asked last week about the Holiday last week (Passover) The 5 Year Old happily said that it was Easter. This answer truly shocked the teacher. Since then (or maybe even before that), said teacher has been pestering me to no end (last Sunday I was at a loss for words and was pissed for the better half of the day) about my child's apparent lack of knowledge. I beleieve the teacher had actually made me even less wanting to do as she asked. Spite? maybe, but I rarely do things out of spite. It rubs me the wrong way.
Allow me explain something about my Jewishness. I know that I am a Jew. I know about the suffering and all the nastiness that comes with anti-semitism. I know why my parents took my brother and I to the USA (bless them for that). Maybe for these reasons, I am reluctant to expose my own children to that. I am not a religious person, more than that I am fairly anti-religious person. I have enough rules and regulations in my life without having a sleuth of additional rules imposed on me. I am a moral person, I follow the ten commandments even without acknowledging them as rules for life. Some people would consider me without a moral core, a godless wonder, or lacking soul. Well screw that. My parents are some of the moral people I know in my life, and they instilled that in me. Anyway, that is off the point, if I am still keeping to it.
Others have mentioned that you don't have to follow religion but you can learn about history and what makes the Jewish people what they are. Here is what I think. These teaching come from Torah, Old Testament and other RELIGUIOUS texts. I have never heard of anybody picking up a non-biased history book to teach history (do these books even exist)? In my mind Jews have been spread all over the world for so long, that motives have changed and adopted to the cultures they lived in, and you can not use a single text to teach the history of people. The only lesson that can be taught about Jews, IMHO, is that adaptability is the KING, and Darwin should have concentrated on humans rather than birds. Sticking to thousand year old text is a sure-fire way to decline, isolation, and eventual demise.
That was completely unreleated to topic as well. As I said, I have more feelings about it than rational thought.
I think my point is this. Let 5 Year Old be a kid. Don't burden them with religion. If she wants to have a christmas tree, why not, it's a beautiful tradition. If she wants to run around looking for chocolate eggs, why the hell not?
Religion and history mean accountability. The only thing kids should be accountable for at that age is properly wiping their behinds, washing their hands, brishing their teeth, and once in a while saying "I love you daddy/mommy."
Did that make any sense at all?
Comments
I can to tell a lot on this topic from the different angles.
But, first, thanks for appreciation of our efforts to make your life (and brother) better, also for put us on the pedestal. It is very nice to read what are you thinking about us. May be this is the first time that coming instead of "I love you mommy/daddy".
R9egarding your religious conception, I can tell "like mother, like son". I have the same feeling.
But still I think, that Maya deserve to know where she come from- may be not from school, but from her parents explaining her the most common knowledge of our belonging to Jewish nation.